As college students, we strive to eat fast, healthy, and easy meals, but it can be difficult to combine all 3. When you live with so many people it gets hard to cook something everyone will like, but these recipes are a great place to start. It is important to utilize the townhouse kitchens and this is the perfect way to do so.
1. Mason Jar Salad
This easy, non-bake salad is great for when you know that you will not be home for a while and do not want Salmo. These cute little salads will turn heads around campus, and lets you reuse the mason jar for another healthy salad choice! BuzzFeed has a page of 18 different options that you can find Here, but you can always put your favorites into this one!
2. Pita Pizza
Her Campus gave us the recipe to these cute little pita pizzas that you could make with your housemates and make a night out of it! You can find the direct link to the article Here, or use the recipe below.
Ingredients:
1 whole-wheat pita
¼ cup pasta sauce
¼ cup skim mozzarella cheese
¼ cup diced onion
Any other toppings of your choosing!
Directions:
Preheat your toaster oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place your pita on a baking sheet and pour the sauce over the pita.
Sprinkle with cheese, onions, and any other toppings of your choosing.
Bake until the cheese is golden and bubbly – about 6-8 minutes.
3. Spaghetti and Meatballs
Spaghetti and meatballs is a perfect meal, and makes so much that there are bound to be leftovers. These leftovers then give you another great meal that you can just heat up in the microwave. This recipe is simple enough and easy to follow. There are also different tips on the page Here.
Ingredients:
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg
1 pound ground beef chuck
1/4 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes in puree
3/4 pound spaghetti
Directions:
Set a large pot of salted water to boil. In a bowl, combine Parmesan, parsley, garlic, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Add beef and breadcrumbs; mix gently. Form into 16 balls.
In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium. Add meatballs, and cook, turning occasionally, until browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; cover partially, and cook, stirring occasionally, until meatballs are cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook pasta until al dente. Drain, and return to pot; add meatballs and sauce, and toss gently. Serve with Parmesan.
4.French Toast with Nutella and Strawberries
Alright Bulldogs, this might seem like a lot of work but it would be an amazing hangover breakfast food. It is French toast rolled up with Nutella and Strawberries. These look so good and the cravings will begin instantly. The website found Here for pictures for each direction.
Ingredients:
3-4 slices of buttermilk bread
4 strawberries
Nutella
2-3 eggs
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 teaspoons granulated sugar
Optional: syrup or powdered sugar
Directions:
1. Remove every side of the crust from each bread slice.
2. At one of the shorter sides of each piece of bread, slather on a good amount of Nutella. Be careful not to put too much Nutella on or else it might get too big to roll up.
3. Wash, cut and layer on strawberries right on top of the Nutella layer. Make sure to cut up the strawberries relatively small so that it’s easier to roll up in the end.
4. Once the Nutella and strawberries are placed on the edge of the bread, you can roll up the bread. To roll the bread, start at the edge with the Nutella and strawberries on it and roll all the way towards the other end.
5. Whisk up two or three eggs in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
6. Combine the cinnamon and sugar onto a flat plate.
7. Here comes the messy part. Carefully dunk the French toast rolls into the egg mixture, making sure to get it all over the bread.
8. Then, roll them all around in the cinnamon/sugar mix until they are completely covered.
9. Take these French toast rolls and cook them in an already greased pan on the stove. It doesn’t take long to cook these but do make sure the egg is all the way cooked.
10. Once they are finished, top with either powdered sugar or syrup and devour.
5.Stir Fry
Stir Fry is a great way to get your vegetables, starch, and a meat or tofu. It does require a little more work, but if everyone pitched in to help it would be easier. Plus, it tends to make a lot and that gives you leftovers for the next day, so you are making the most out of what you doing for that meal. Here is the recipe, but it can also be found Here. The recipe does not include rice, but that is what is typically served with stir fry and you would just follow the directions on the box.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast halves or thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 cups cut-up assorted vegetables (bell peppers, broccoli flowerets, shredded carrots)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
½ cup stir-fry sauce
Directions:
1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in 12-inch skillet or wok over high heat. Add chicken; stir-fry about 3 minutes or until no longer pink in center. Remove from skillet.
2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in skillet. Add vegetables and garlic; stir-fry about 2 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add chicken and stir-fry sauce. Cook and stir about 2 minutes or until hot.