life skills for students [Recipes]

2013 Sep 4
I'm thinking of putting together a little tutorial in life skills for the first time college/university student. Not for this year, it's a bit late for that. However, this is an idea that has been percolating in my head for many years.

You know, how to do laundry, how to pay the bills, how to make time for your studies along with your fun, and how to make a few easy meals. There is a continually renewing pool of first-year students who have no idea how to live away from home. Some are from a typically modern, sheltered life and some are from different countries and don't know how things work in Canada generally, or what food might be available in Ottawa.

I'd have to target the parents in this kind of deal because students can't pay for anything, and this is a money-making scheme after all.

Obviously there will be a book to go along with the seminar/tutorial and I thought I'd pick your brains for a couple of typical college meals. Now, having said that, I believe that those who are vegetarian or vegan would more likely have had to gain some skill in the kitchen already, so I'm looking more at the typical Canadian meal of vegetables, protein, starch.

My plan is to put as many simple meals together as I can, but until modern medicine progresses a bit further, I still only have the one brain. I can't think of everything. Your experiences will be different from mine and would be a welcome counterpoint.

I had an experience in a grocery store a few years ago that helped me along this path where I helped a small knot of Asian students who had no idea how to cook a potato or what would go with it. They were curious, and I gave them 10 minutes of my time in the store. It was fun.

Seriously. I know dozens of kids who were shipped off to school who had no idea how to do anything. I was one of them, but I was living on campus (St. Mary's University, Halifax) and had a meal plan. That helped a lot.

So, I'll start with a few basics like:
- a good, cheap pasta and sauce dinner
- hummus
- protein shake (fruit, dairy, etc.)
- rice dishes
- the many uses for the humble hot dog
- what to do with Ramen packets
- how to make macaroni & cheese cheaper and tastier than a box from the store

I don't want to go too far. I want these to be introductory meals for someone who has never really turned on a stove before. If you have some idea how to cook, getting a place with a couple of mates should be a fun experience and a chance to experiment. I think I'm aiming this at the wooden spoon virgins.

Simple, cheap ingredients and only a few kitchen implements. In fact, hummus might be a bit advanced because you really require a good food processor. It's dead easy, otherwise.

Putting things into perspective for the class with cost analysis of how much it costs to eat out versus what it costs to eat in might help. Eating out one night for one person might cost the same as it would to feed 4 people at home. You can't argue with math like that. It just takes a bit of planning and some time to cook. That frees up more money for beer. Argument won.

Tips, shops, ingredients, anything is welcome. I appreciate any help or insight you might have.

2013 Sep 4
Rizak,

I will refrain from my comments on the current trend of helicopter parents being a significant factor and get back to the topic at hand....

-lentils: they are nutritious, cheap and can be made into some great ethic foods.
-sweet potatoes: there should be a cookbook entitled 101 sweet potato recipes. cheap, tasty and nutritious. cube, oil, season & bake.....mmmm!
-beans: red beans & rice, black bean salad etc.
-simple stir fry
-Indian recipes: have a few cookbooks that have great dishes on the cheap

Maybe I should not point it out but 2/3 of your list above is nutritionally void but now I am getting a bit religious ;)

I think a tour of Bulk Barn would be important.

Most of all brewing beer and distilling liquor should be tablestakes for any new university student.

Krusty

PS it took me 8 years to finish a 4 year program so maybe I will just go back under my rock.

2013 Sep 4
I knew I could count on krusty.

You're absolutely correct about those meals, but I'm they are the 'staple' student meals and I'd be working in some great additions. Add heaps of vegetables. Even the frozen kind can be a benefit.

I've got close to a hundred cookbooks at my disposal here at home, several of which are lentil and bean based. Thanks for the reminder.

2013 Sep 4
A stew recipe or two. Get a family pack of stewing beef on sale and drop it in a pot with veggies, beef stock, and a can of stout or two. Live off it for a week.

That and pasta bakes got me through two degrees.

2013 Sep 4
Being a peniless student, I might have tips.

Personally, one thing I do is get cheap stew bones at Loblaws, and make a giant batch of Beef Stock. Especially good during the winter.

I also recommend picking up a slowcooker, and tupperware. Make a mess of meals in your downtime, and then when crunch hits, you'll have food you won't have time to make.

Also, if your college/school has a culinary program, they likely sell the meals they make for really cheap (I.E. Got a confit duck leg/rice noodles and stir fried veggies for $4)

2013 Sep 5
Great idea! Here are a few things I made a lot as a student that are easy and not a lot of ingredients:
-Salisbury Steak (AKA hot hamburger steak) with fried/caramelized onions and a side of peas and mashed potatoes
-Steak salad
-Banana loaf or muffins
-Baked ziti
-Soups!
-Easy bolognese sause
-Chili
-Stir fry
-Tacos of course ;-)
-I think everyone should learn young how to properly roast a chicken. It's so easy and you can make so many more meals with the leftovers.
-Chicken a la king. When I didn't have chicken, I would replace the protein with sliced hard boiled eggs and canned salmon. Easy and tasty...

2013 Sep 5
I'd definitely include a section about food safety / handling etc. If you've never cooked before you might not have a clue on how to properly buy, handle, cook, freeze, store all kinds of different foods and even just the basics may be new knowledge to a lot of new cooks.

2013 Sep 5
Rizak A life skills course sounds like a great idea! When I went to night school at Algonquin last year I found out that the college offered a three hour cooking class for the students (and I think they offered a three hour budget class too) - I wonder how many schools do this. The students could probably benefit from your expertise!

I was lucky enough to have lived at home during my university years but my mom taught me a handfull of recipes to get me started. I knew a couple of slow cooker recipes, how to make rice, and how to boil and scramble eggs. In addition to teachin the students some of these basics I would give a strong +1 to what AD_2 said about teaching the students food safety/handling. I remember making alot of phone calls home to find out how long foods keep in the fridge and freezer, how long rice will keep in the pantry, etc.

Some ideas could include telling the students about shopping at the ethnic supermarkets (Chinatown, Al Jazeera, Al Kalaa, etc) and checking the grocery store flyers. The Ottawa Citizen still covers the supermarket specials in the food section on Thursdays.

Also some grocery stores offer student discounts (I know Hartman's and Herb and Spice does) so maybe encouraging them to inquire at their local grocery store (or making a preliminary list to give them) might be a good lead.

Many community health centers have a Good Food Box program and they even ran a Good Food Market program over the summer although I think it is winding down now. There is more on their website here: www.ottawagoodfoodbox.ca

Another option is telling the students about recycling stuff - using old jam/condiment jars to use for legumes, grains, spices, etc.

They might also like to connect with freecycle. I was on it a few years ago and the odd student would surf in looking for dishes, cutlery, jars, etc.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

2013 Sep 5
I always did well with a rice cooker.
Made many meals in that, most didn't even include rice.
That was back in the dorms, now I have a real kitchen. haha!

2013 Sep 5
Putting the stew in students - because done right stew is a week of meals.

Breakfast 101 - scrambled eggs, omlettes, simple hashbrowns, how to not ruin bacon and why not to cook it naked.

Storage 101 - How many days anything lasts before it should be tossed. Including pizza.

Cooking with beer - because students.


2013 Sep 5
BTW, when I mentioned Ramen or rice or pasta or mac&chz above, I meant that as a starting point for other things to be added.

I just KNOW nobody here would make a big pot of rice and pour ketchup over it and call that a meal. Well, not now anyway. Ramen noodles are far from the most nutritious items in a store, but they're cheap and filling. A lot of things we try to keep in mind may have to be sacrificed or at least bled out a little in order to meet some of the other requirements for simplicity and cost-effectiveness.

No, I have a plan to flesh things out a bit to go beyond the extremely basic to have a fairly balanced meal design. This is just the start point.

2013 Sep 6
Costing out meals is a good skill as well. Food is a large part of a budget, and knowing that you have X dollars per day to spend on food, so your meals need to cost Y is going to mean that you need to know how much a meal actually costs.

Also, the route you take through the grocery store can have a great effect on how you spend your budget. I recommend circling the outside of the store and hitting the fresh food, meat, dairy, and frozen foods before wandering the centre aisles with the processed foods.

2013 Sep 12
Back in first year, my roommate and I loved making pancakes for weekend breakfasts.

Just keep in mind the limitations of a res or student kitchen (we broke the rules just having a hot plate and griddle).

What about talking about common roommate squabbles (messiness, having friends over too much, dealing with loud music/videogames/tv) and ways to deal with them? And how to make the best choices in the caf? The freshman 15 doesn't usually come from eating well-balanced meals after all.

2013 Sep 13
A few good tips here.
I like the grill cheese made with an iron.

Http://youtu.be/VgOORxdtRH0

2013 Sep 13
@captain - can you make pancakes/crepes with an iron too? Maybe a teflon iron.

2013 Sep 16
I taught my nephew some recipes before he left for university and tried to teach him the basics of budgeting.

He knew how to open soup and open pasta sauce and boil pasta before that lol.

I taught him:
* chili
* quiche
* on his request I taught him to make jambalya from Zatrain mix

Other things I used to make as a student that can provide multiple meals:
* spaghetti sauce with ground beef and veggies
* beef stew
* shepards pie
* tuna / salmon casserole with cream of mushroom soup, canned fish, veggies and pasta

2013 Sep 16
you can do a lot with a magic bullet and a small george forman grill.

2013 Sep 17
It's been a long time since I was a student, but I think I would benefit from this as a kind of refresher, too, Rizak. One suggestion would be to maybe split out the recipes or include a vegetarian/vegan module, as that seems to be a dietary choice that people are making more and more.

2013 Sep 17
BTW, the Dragonlady thinks it's hilarious that I'm thinking about telling other people how to save money, shop smart, and plan and cook nutritious meals. It may be a case of DO WHAT I SAY AND NOT WHAT I DO, but I'm a great teacher if not such a good doer.

Also, shut up.
;)

2013 Sep 18
@Rizak.....

Here I was hoping to find you on a couple reality youtube episodes. When you give these sessions pls let me know and will bring video equipment along as this could become an internet sensation!

2013 Sep 19
It has community cable cult sensation written all over it.

2013 Sep 19
I can see it now: "MasterChef FROSH" ;)

2013 Sep 26
You mean like what the Broke Eats people do?

(I think their show used to be called Hand to Mouth, but they changed it. And I think it's all NSFW, but I'm too scared to check since I'm at work ;)

brokeeats.com/


2014 Aug 5
Ways to cook eggs in 90 seconds . . .

www.epicurious.com

2014 Aug 5
Rizak, as someone who went vegetarian in high school, I'd have to disagree with your assumption that vegetarians or vegans would likely have had to gain some skill in the kitchen already. Many people who try to go vegetarian or vegan at a young age are faced with parental opposition, and if the people paying for the groceries won't buy you things you can work with, you're kind of screwed. In that situation, people either wait to really go vegetarian until they go off to college and are in control of their own food, or like me, they spend their last years at home subsisting on junk food, peanut butter sandwiches, and whatever vegetable side dishes happen to come their way. Either way, plenty of vegetarians arrive at college with limited kitchen skills and no clue how to prepare balanced nutritious meals.

That said, I see you've already received tons of great suggestions that could work for vegetarians, like stir fry, pastas, eggs, beans and lentils. For some stuff you could probably mention simple vegetarian substitutions (e.g, tofu in a stir fry, veggie ground round for meat sauces). Simple stuff to make from scratch is great, but for that age group I think also focussing on how to improve packaged convenience foods for both nutrition and taste would be useful - e.g., adding vegetables (even frozen ones) to ramen, adding stuff to frozen pizzas, etc.

2014 Aug 6
Great points. Thanks! It isn't my own point of view, so I obviously have to rely on others for theirs. It hadn't occurred to me that this might be the point at which someone was making that choice.

2014 Aug 6
My favourite student meals were. I was on a very low budget: (just graduated a year ago)

-Tuna sandwich made with avacado and sriracha (no mayo)
-Pasta with red sauce and cottage cheese
-Salmon burgers made with canned salmon and breadcrumbs
-BBQ high liner pacific salmon filets and bbq'd mixed vegetables
-boneless chicken thighs with franks red hot sauce
-Breakfast either eggs or oatmeal mixed with fresh apples and cinnamon

One other life skills is how to make a good cup of coffee! I


2014 Aug 6
The thing is, you can eat vegetarian and healthy for very little, which I'm sure appeals to students. You can buy a huge bag of dried soybeans for $13 and make soymilk, soymilk yoghurt, and tempeh quite easily. Rice and potatoes are cheap. Vegetables are cheap in the summer (unfortunately students go to school in the fall and winter), but still cheaper than meat.

They need a few pots, a magic bullet or another blender, a sharp good knife (not necessarily expensive) . . .

If you want to go high end give your student an InstantPot. You can do so much with it (like cook dry beans).

2014 Aug 7
Some kinda blender is a top idea. And an immersion blender complements this well if space and budget aren't big issues.

I happen to be one of those (apparently few?) people who love tofu, so I'm blessed with a very cheap, versatile and nutritious ingredient at my fingertips. Learn how to use tofu and you open so many potentially great doors.

Other cheap but nevertheless tasty deals: eggs, quinoa, whole wheat pasta, sardines, tuna, tilapia.

For meatiness without the meaty price: mushrooms, eggplant, zucchini, season with nut pastes, get fresh herbs and make sauces, pesto, soups and stews with on-sale vegs...

It goes on!