By: Helen Voelker
It’s 5:30 p.m. on another busy day when you start to feel a grumble in your stomach. Hunger is knocking and it doesn’t want to be kept waiting. Slowly, a terrible thought dawns on you, “What am I going to eat for dinner?” The thought of another trip to Subway or your local cafeteria makes you sick, but you have to eat and you don’t know how to cook. You would give anything for mom to appear and satisfy your craving for a home-cooked meal. Fear not amateur chefs, these easy recipes are for beginners and they taste (almost) as good as moms cooking.
“Garbage” Pasta
While the name of this dish isn’t particularly appetizing, the final product is.
Ingredients:
Pasta (one handful per person)
Water
Garlic Salt
2 tbs Olive Oil
Parmesan Cheese
Whatever veggies are in the fridge: spinach, mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomatoes etc.
Directions:
Bring water to boil in a medium size pot. Add pasta and cook until soft. While the pasta is boiling place veggies in a pan with oil and sauté the veggies until they are soft. Drain the pasta and place back in the pot. Once veggies are cooked through put them in the pot and mix the pasta and veggies together. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top and you’re good to go!
Chicken with Rice
Ingredients:
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 package of dry onion soup mix
1 cup of rice (white or brown-brown is healthier)
3-4 chicken breasts
1 ¼ cups water
Directions:
Preheat the over 350 degrees.
Mix Cream of Mushroom Soup, Dry Onion Soup Mix, and Rice in a 9×13 inch baking pan. Add the water and stir until the rice is well distributed in the pan. (the water will get absorbed when you bake the chicken) Place the chicken in the pan and bake for 1 hour or until the chicken is cooked all the way through (not red in the middle). Enjoy immediately.
Fried Egg Sandwich 
This recipe can be intimidating at first because it includes the art of frying an egg. This is an important skill to master, so follow these steps and you’ll be a pro in no time.
Ingredients:
1 Egg
2 slices of bread toasted
2 tomato slices
2 American cheese slices
Avocado (optional)
Onion slices (optional)
Directions:
Take a non-stick pan over medium-high heat and add 1-2 teaspoons of butter. Make sure the butter coats the pan. Gently crack the egg and place it in the pan, cover the egg with lid until the white is solid and bubbly. Once the white is bubbly use a spatula to gently flip the egg. The rest is all personal preference. If you like your egg over easy cook for 35 seconds, over medium 45 seconds and over hard a good minute.
Now that your egg is fried, place it on the bread with the cheese, tomato, avocado and anything else you’ve decided to add. Enjoy!
Hello Dollies or Goodbye Sallies (depending on who you ask)
Perfect for when that sweet tooth hits or you have to bring a baked good to class.
Ingredients:
1 box of pre-smashed graham cracker crumbs
1 stick of butter, melted
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 bag of chocolate chips
1 bag of butterscotch chips
Coconut shavings (optional)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While the oven is preheating pour the graham cracker crumbs into a 10 x 15 baking pan. Melt butter and stir in with crumbs until moist. Spread the mixture evenly over the pan forming a crust. Pour half the bag of chocolate chips and half the bag of butterscotch chips over the crust. Open can of sweetened condensed milk and drizzle over chocolate chips. Make sure to try and cover as much of the pan as possible. Sprinkle more chocolate and butterscotch chips and coconut on top to your liking. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool after you take out of the oven so let them set.
Now you’re cooking like a pro! For more tasty ideas check out the book “College Cooking: Feed Yourself and Your Friends” by Megan and Jill Carle. Happy cooking!
