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I'm a sophomore in college now, which means that I'm off my required meal plan. Along with mooching off free food events and ordering takeout, I've started cooking some fresh food for myself. It's cheaper, healthier, and tastier, although it usually takes more time. Regardless, I figured I'd share some of the recipes for things that I've made. To start off, here's a simple and flexible pasta dish that can be made in large batches:
Beefy Saucy Pasta
Ingredients: (prices are approximate)
- 1 lb. box of your favorite pasta [$1]
- 2-2.5 lbs. ground beef [$4]
- 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce (I prefer Classico) [$2.50]
- Some spices to season beef (I prefer Montreal Steak Seasoning)
- 3-4 cloves of garlic
- A bit of Parmesan and melted nacho cheese dip
These ingredients are fairly cheap, especially if you can find the beef on sale and just freeze it. You can easily defrost 2.5 lbs. of beef in the microwave in about 25 minutes. You don't need many spices for this, and only a a little bit of cheese is necessary to give the flavor some more depth. Now, here are the instructions:
Instructions:
- Heat water up in a large pot. When it boils, add the pasta and let it cook, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick.
- At the same time, heat up a large frying pan or saucepan. When it's hot, add a bit of oil to the pan (not too much, since the beef should have a decent amount of fat).
- Add the garlic and fry it up a bit until it browns. Then, add the beef.
- Season the beef with whatever you find appropriate (steak seasoning alone should be enough, but if you don't have that, try salt, pepper and garlic powder). Cook until brown (about 3-5 minutes).
- Add the pasta sauce to the pan and let the mixture cook for a few minutes to heat up the sauce. The pasta should be done by now, so drain it and return it to the pot.
- Add the beef/sauce mixture to the pasta and mix well. Sprinkle on the Parmesan and about half a cup of nacho cheese. If you don't have these lying around, feel free to try some grated cheddar or something.
- Mix well, incorporating all of the cheese into the pasta. Done!
Servings: 6+
Cost/serving: <$2
This pasta will feed you for many days, and there's plenty to share. It shouldn't take more than 45 minutes to make, and if you're fast, you can probably do it in 30. Enjoy!
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Korea (South)11595 Posts
so this is like macaroni and cheese with some beef in it?
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Classico is truly where it's at
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On November 02 2009 05:12 BlackJack wrote:
Sounds disgusting
you mean delicious
I remember making something very similar during breaks with another guy on my hall
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"[College Cooking]"
I hope to see this type of topic a lot now lol.
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Defrost 2lbs, 25 minutes? ew dude. leave that shit out on the counter for a few hours. The defrost setting on the microwave is so f'in disgusting. turn the outside gray and cooked while the inside is still a block of ice, gross. YUCK.
plus 25 minutes seems outrageous. five maybe ten?
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If you're gonna cook ground beef for pasta you should make your own sauce with tomato paste + water + onion + spices and make a nice thick meat sauce. Dumping it in with a jar of store bought sauce is just wrong. No idea what is with the nacho cheese either.
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Just buy a frozen chicken and a box of rice. That'll last you all week.
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it's easy, cheap and maybe even tastes ok. but who needs a guide on how to cook a pre-made pasta sauce? :/
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On November 02 2009 05:21 BlackJack wrote:
If you're gonna cook ground beef for pasta you should make your own sauce with tomato paste + water + onion + spices and make a nice thick meat sauce. Dumping it in with a jar of store bought sauce is just wrong. No idea what is with the nacho cheese either.
You obviously missed the [College Cooking] tag or you just never attended college to understand lol.
It does sound pretty good to me though I'd try it haha
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On November 02 2009 05:39 iSiN wrote:Show nested quote +On November 02 2009 05:21 BlackJack wrote:
If you're gonna cook ground beef for pasta you should make your own sauce with tomato paste + water + onion + spices and make a nice thick meat sauce. Dumping it in with a jar of store bought sauce is just wrong. No idea what is with the nacho cheese either. You obviously missed the [College Cooking] tag or you just never attended college to understand lol. It does sound pretty good to me though I'd try it haha
I'm not quite sure what you mean by that. It can't be about available instruments since OP has access to a stove, pots, saucepans, fridge, freezer. It can't be about budget since what I mentioned was cheaper than what OP mentioned.
When someone says "college cooking" it usually involves what can be prepared in a dorm and wouldn't involve browning ground beef in the first place. A recipe would start with opening a can of Spaghetti-O's and end with spraying it with cheese whiz Lol
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(I prefer Montreal Steak Seasoning)
winner
I'll try it soon 
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Want others in similar positions to share some good recipes as well?
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Nacho cheese? What the fuck?
If you want to be poor and have bad food it's cool, but that's gross dude. Also don't defrost ground beef in the microwave.
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On November 02 2009 06:36 TimmyMac wrote:
Nacho cheese? What the fuck?
If you want to be poor and have bad food it's cool, but that's gross dude. Also don't defrost ground beef in the microwave.
Umm..... Nacho cheese is pretty good stuff.
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On November 02 2009 06:05 BlackJack wrote:Show nested quote +On November 02 2009 05:39 iSiN wrote:On November 02 2009 05:21 BlackJack wrote:
If you're gonna cook ground beef for pasta you should make your own sauce with tomato paste + water + onion + spices and make a nice thick meat sauce. Dumping it in with a jar of store bought sauce is just wrong. No idea what is with the nacho cheese either. You obviously missed the [College Cooking] tag or you just never attended college to understand lol. It does sound pretty good to me though I'd try it haha I'm not quite sure what you mean by that. It can't be about available instruments since OP has access to a stove, pots, saucepans, fridge, freezer. It can't be about budget since what I mentioned was cheaper than what OP mentioned.
I think the point you're missing is that college students don't have time. It takes a lot more time to chop the onion, measure out various ingredients, etc. Pasta sauce is quick, easy, and tastes pretty decent. And as for the nacho cheese, I'm writing about experimental things that I think taste good, so maybe you should go try it for yourself. Don't put a lot in, just a bit to give it a thicker consistency and hint of cheesy flavor.
On November 02 2009 06:36 TimmyMac wrote:
Nacho cheese? What the fuck?
If you want to be poor and have bad food it's cool, but that's gross dude. Also don't defrost ground beef in the microwave.
I've been able to safely defrost meat in the microwave, immediately cooking it afterwards. Of course defrosting in the fridge is the best, but sometimes I get back from classes/meetings and realize that I don't have anything prepared, so I make do with what I have.
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On November 02 2009 06:05 BlackJack wrote:Show nested quote +On November 02 2009 05:39 iSiN wrote:On November 02 2009 05:21 BlackJack wrote:
If you're gonna cook ground beef for pasta you should make your own sauce with tomato paste + water + onion + spices and make a nice thick meat sauce. Dumping it in with a jar of store bought sauce is just wrong. No idea what is with the nacho cheese either. You obviously missed the [College Cooking] tag or you just never attended college to understand lol. It does sound pretty good to me though I'd try it haha I'm not quite sure what you mean by that. It can't be about available instruments since OP has access to a stove, pots, saucepans, fridge, freezer. It can't be about budget since what I mentioned was cheaper than what OP mentioned. When someone says "college cooking" it usually involves what can be prepared in a dorm and wouldn't involve browning ground beef in the first place. A recipe would start with opening a can of Spaghetti-O's and end with spraying it with cheese whiz Lol
How much money did you have in college?
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On November 02 2009 09:17 teh leet newb wrote:
I think the point you're missing is that college students don't have time.
You serious?
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You should make a "college recipes" thread, rather than a number of blogs. I'm sure everyone has recipes they could throw in, that would otherwise never share. Imagine how many gems could be found on TL. There's so many college kids on this site, or at least ex college kids.
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EPT
