Cooking for yourself is hard. Cooking to accommodate four different people is even harder.
I live with three of my friends and we do our best to eat dinner together a few times a week, barring our busy class schedules. After living with them for an entire semester, we’ve established a few recipes that find their way to our table every week.
1. Chicken and Cheese Quesadillas
Aldi chicken nuggets are my favorite store bought nuggets ever. We love to put them in the air fryer and cut them up to put in our quesadillas. Add a little Chick-fil-A sauce that we got on Amazon, and voila. Trust me, they are addicting.
2. Croissant Wrapped Hot Dogs
We’ve tried pizza dough and biscuits, but croissants have prevailed. My friends love to add pepperoni, but personally I love keeping it simple with some minced garlic and butter. Pop them in the oven and you get a great meal.
3. Fried Rice
The first thing I asked my mom to teach me how to make was fried rice. Rice is a staple in my home, so I knew I had to bring it to my kitchen at school. My friend got me a little rice cooker for Christmas and I use it quite often. Sometimes I add bacon, spam, or keep it vegetarian. You can do whatever you want with fried rice; it’s so customizable!
4. Pasta with Shrimp
Shrimp is such a good protein alternative when you don’t want to eat so much red meat. We like to alternate between chicken, beef, and shrimp, and eating it with pasta is always a good idea. We like tomato sauce, but sometimes we do a nice garlic, butter, and parmesan sauce.
5. Bubba Burgers
I know they aren’t the greatest for you, but they’re cheap, easy, and taste pretty good. Chef tip: lightly butter your hamburger buns and toast them on a pan; they add a new element to a simple burger.
6. Roasted Vegetables
I never ate brussels sprouts before I came to college but now they are a staple part of my diet. We love to roast brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and potatoes. Drizzle a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar on your brussels sprouts and on your cauliflower, add some grated parmesan!
7. Lettuce
More vegetables! While iceberg lettuce doesn’t have any nutritional value, we like to think that it’s healthy. Right?