Are you struggling to figure out what to eat for dinner after a late night class, or what to eat for breakfast before morning classes? Here are a few easy, quick and delicious dishes to make that will save you time and energy!
For students that have access to a full kitchen, these recipes are perfect for you. Budget Bytes, which has over 30 different recipes, recommends some of the following:
- Bowties and Broccoli
- Pizza Roll Ups
- Microwave Breakfast Scrambles
- Bean and Cheese Burritos
Beth Moncel, the founder of Budget Bytes, says, “One of the things I’ve learned about eating on a budget is that simple recipes win. The fewer ingredients you need, the fewer ingredients you need to buy, and that generally helps keep that grocery bill low (not to mention, it makes cooking easy).” Easy recipes will save your bank account and also it will prevent college students to waste their time trying to figure out what to eat and what to cook.
Budget Bytes is Moncel’s personal blog. On it, she supplies and organizes her recipes with by breakfast, dinner and snacks.
Bowties and broccoli is a quick and easy dish. It saves time and gets the job done. All you need is 12 oz. pasta, one lb. frozen broccoli florets, a pinch of salt, three tablespoons of grated parmesan and a pinch of cracked pepper. Boil a pot of water and then cook the pasta for 7–10 minutes. Add the frozen broccoli florets to the boiling pasta water, turn off the heat and let sit for one minute or until the broccoli is tender. Drain the pasta and broccoli in a colander. Transfer the pasta and broccoli back to the pot —with the heat off— or to a bowl and add butter. Toss until the butter is melted and has coated everything. Then make sure to add the parmesan, salt and freshly cracked pepper.
This dish is great for dinner and Moncel mentions, “Sometimes, I’ll boil extra pasta, freeze the leftovers in single serving freezer bags, then I can just toss the frozen pasta and broccoli into a bowl and microwave for a minute or two until hot. Then it’s even faster than fast!”
Pizza roll ups are another fast and quick snack. If you make a lot of pizza rolls, you can share them with your roommates and save the leftovers for the next day. No one can say no to pizza, and making them into roll ups is even better. For this recipe you will need tortillas, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese sticks and pizza sauce. You can also add other ingredients depending on what you’re interested in. You can had seasonings to your rolls and other dipping sauces such as Ranch, or BBQ sauce.
“The most important trick with these pizza roll ups is to microwave the tortillas for a few seconds with a damp paper towel before rolling,” Moncel says. “This makes the tortillas soft and pliable so you can get an extra tight roll on that mozzarella stick.”
You need small flour tortillas, 40 slices of pepperoni, four mozzarella cheese sticks and a 1/2 cup of pizza sauce. Slice each of the mozzarella sticks in half lengthwise. Place about five pepperoni slices on the bottom one-third of each tortilla, then place the halved mozzarella stick on top. Fold the sides of the tortilla in to cover the ends and roll them up tight like a burrito. Bake the pizza roll ups for 12–15 minutes or until they’re lightly browned and the cheese is just beginning to ooze.
The next helpful dish is the microwave breakfast scrambles. If you are in a rush to get to class and have no time to make a full breakfast meal, this dish is perfect for you! All you have to do is put 2 oz. diced ham, ½ cup of bell peppers, ½ cup of shredded cheese and two eggs into a ceramic mug. After you put them together, mix them and microwave the mug for 30 seconds. Then stir the contents of the mug and microwave for 15 more seconds. Continue to microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring after each, until the eggs are mostly set but still moist. If you prepare the ingredients the night before, all you have to do is microwave the mug in the morning before going to class.
Buying freezer burritos is easy to do, but have you ever tried making your own freezer burritos? All you need are canned beans of your choice, shredded cheese, green onions, taco sauce and tortillas. However, you can fill your burritos with anything you want, such as scrambled eggs, seasoned meat or vegetables.
Moncel says, “Ingredients with a lot of water won’t store well in the refrigerator or freezer and are best added to burritos that will be consumed the same day.”
If you’re up for it, and have enough time, you can cook a few cups of white or brown rice to add more flavor. Mexican rice always brings amazing flavor to any burrito dish!
This recipe is great for making on a Sunday afternoon and eating for the rest of the week. Stack four tortillas on a large plate and place a damp paper towel over top. Microwave the tortillas for 30 seconds to steam them and to make them easier to roll. Steam the next four tortillas only when you’re ready to begin working with them. Add to each tortilla 1/3 cup beans, 1 tablespoon taco sauce, 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese and some green onion. Roll the burritos up tightly, and make sure to fold in the sides to hold in the the filling. To save the leftovers, you can either keep it refrigerated or store them in the freezer.
Hopefully some of these dishes have inspired you to get cooking. Try them out, and check out the other recipes available on Budget Bytes.