As college students, we definitely learn the value of a dollar. Most students will start off with a set amount of cash and have to keep that for the whole year. We learn to eat tasteless and greasy food and we start to realize how much we really do miss those home-cooked meals.
Let’s face it, the cafeteria food gets old fast and ordering food every night is just not an option for most college students. Living off of easy mac and cup of noodles gets old quick. Eventually, you might find yourself just wanting to make your own meal.
“I make pasta a lot because it’s the only thing I can cook,” Megan Sokolowski, sophomore communications major, said. “If you get some ground beef while on special you can make meatballs, with some sauce for under $10.” Many college students favor pasta because it is easy to cook.
Another fun and great idea is making pizza. It’s something that you can be creative with. Sauce can be purchased for around $3, the dough for around $2 and then the cheese for about $2, leaving you with a little extra for other toppings. Thomas Muir, a freshman business major, says this is his meal of choice to cook.
While ramen noodles and mac and cheese are favorites among students, one good idea is velveeta mac and cheese with hot dogs. “One of my favorite meals to make is velveeta mac and cheese with a hot dog cut up.” Kate Freyvogel, a sophomore marketing, major said.
“My favorite food to make is fish. There are sometimes good special’s on fish and you can get a pound for $4.99. All you really need to do is throw it in a pan with some butter, put some lemon and salt and pepper on it and you got yourself a gourmet dinner.” Giulia Germani, a junior business major, said.
For those of you who don’t like fish, another great idea is breakfast. “I love to make breakfast for dinner, it’s pretty easy all you have to do is get some pancake mix which is about $2, eggs are about $2 eggs and bacon for $3,” Lauren Deluca, a senior special education major, said.
There are a lot of meals that you can make that are inexpensive in price. Zach Fortenbaugh, a freshman exercise science major, likes to make stir fry which costs about $4 to make.
Almost all of the dorms on campus have a kitchen accessible to students complete with a stove and oven. A lot of people don’t know that you can use these, but they are public kitchens you can make whatever you want.
If you don’t like to prepare your food, a healthy meal that is easy to put together is salad. The lettuce costs about $3, if you want to get a cucumber or other vegetables to put on it they are about ¢70 each and you can get meat from the deli section for around $4 also. This is little to almost no preparation and is a great way to watch your weight.
The top ten most popular meals to cook under $10 are right here. So instead of dreading going to the cafeteria you have some great options. It’s not going to be a home cooked meal which we all miss but it’s something that is a healthy alternative and can be fun to make!
