Healthy Soup for the College Cook

We just finished the last week of classes. Finals next week. I am crabby. My students are looking rather peaked. I'm sure they need some vitamins. I am also sure they are eating fast food and potato chips these days. How I wish I could make them eat their vegetables! I'm sure it would improve their studying.

I found an interesting recipe, almost perfect for the College Cook--no stove, ingredients easily stored, no special skills needed, no mess. All these things are important any time. Even more so at the stressful end of the semester.

Here is the recipe,from a clever cookbook called Almost from Scratch. I am adding the College Cooking modifications. I also cut the recipe in half. This makes 6 servings, so half would be--3. The amounts are for the 6 servings.

Broccoli-Spinach--Potato Soup with Cheddar

Saute 1 cup frozen chopped onions in a little butter
(CC Modification: just throw these in the rice cooker. You can try to saute in it, but it is a pain. Oh well.)

Add 32 oz broth.
(CC Modification. OR some broth with water and a few cloves of garlic. Or just water with garlic.)

Add about 10 oz frozen chopped broccoli and 10 oz frozen chopped spinach.
(Remember: you don't have to be exact.)

Turn rice cooker on. When it comes to a boil, click on warm. When everything seems done, puree with your stick blender.

Stir in 3/4 cup instant mashed potatoes. (OR a leftover baked potato or a few frozen french fries or--losing potato flavor--some cooked rice)

Keep on warm. Add grated cheddar and serve. (You can also add some milk or even stir in some cream cheese).

Don't boil once you add the milk products!

Jazzed Up Canned Soup in Your Rice Cooker

The seasonings that make your food taste good just so happen to be one of the more expensive components of stocking your kitchen. And then there's chopping onions and garlic, then sauteeing them: time-consuming and messy especially if you don't have a real kitchen.

I've written before about Roger Ebert's idea: use canned or powdered soup as your base. then jazz it up to lower the sodium and add some freshness. Your rice cooker will do the work.

Today, I put this idea to the test. I had some Progresso Albondigas (meatball, if you forgot your Spanish) soup that Big Lots had for a mere 50 cents a can. I added some drained low salt beans, some extra water, and a handful of preshredded cabbage (aka cole slaw mix). You could try frozen spinach instead.

Throw everything in the rice cooker and cook!

Folks, it was good. Add some of the hot sauce you have on hand. More than acceptable.




Any other ideas for jazzing up canned soups?

For other ideas, see the cookbook I put together with Frugal Son.

Veggies for the College Cook: Spinach and Broccoli Soup

The biggest problem for the College Cook (or the recently graduated cook or even for me) is vegetables. They are more expensive than you might think. They are messy to prepare. Frugal Son figured that out after two days in his new apartment. He called, "What is the best way to deal with vegetables?"

I flipped through some of my many cookbooks and came upon a promising soup. It is in a cookbook by Andrew Schloss. I got mine from paperbackswap.com: do not spend $100 on this!

It is a interesting--albeit gimmicky--book. Schloss likes to take things--premade hummus, premade polenta, and the like and make other things out of them. I like metamorphic cooking myself, but I do not have his skill, training, or imagination.

Broccoli-Spinach-Potato Soup with Cheddar (his recipe)

Saute a cup onion and some garlic in some butter. Add 32 oz chicken broth, box frozen broccoli, box frozen spinach. Cook for a bit, puree, and stir in 3/4 cup instant mashed potatoes (!!!! genius!!!). Add some cheddar before serving.


Easily adaptable for the college cook!
Pantry ingredients from the cookbook:
frozen spinach, frozen onion, cheese

What I did: I threw some butter and about 1/2 cup frozen onion in the rice cooker. After a bit, I threw in a few cloves of garlic (I decided not to use broth). I then added two big handfuls each of frozen broccoli and spinach. Water to cover. Cook for a bit. Puree with stick blender.

Then I clicked to warm and stirred in about 1/2 cup of instant mashed potatoes (I only had a flavored kind--with bacon and other things, so I did not use the broth). Then I added cheese.

Notice how adding a few ingredients to the basic 20 we call for in the book really expands the options. In this case, you need to buy soe instant mashed potatoes, frozen broccoli, and garlic. All cheap and easy to store, even in limited space.


I will test this out on Miss Em later. I think it came out well.

College Cooking/ Frugal Cooking from Publix: THE SHOPPING LIST

OK, College Cooks (and even people like me with a kitchen): with the list from this week's sales at Publix, you can make easy, nutritious, and (yay!) even frugal meals. If you go to the Publix site and make your own list, you will even get info on which aisle your delicious goodies can be found in.

Note that--as a lazy and disorganized person--I do not use coupons. And--as a healthy cooking nerd type--I do not buy any of the heavily processed or convenience foods that are good deals for those who might want them.

And--as befits the College Cooking rubric--I am assuming you have only a rice cooker, a microwave, and a fridge. You will have to supplement with some cheap pantry staples like cooking oil, but you can make a lot with what's on the list below.

For HOW TO do these things in a rice cooker, see the little e-tome I put together with my son (above right to order ebook from us or Kindle-ready on Amazon). OR just google around and you can find how-tos hither and yon. Or email me and I will write out an instruction for you.

Certain ingredients may pique your interest: we use smoked sausage because it's precooked. I love the big bags of frozen ravioli. This is an excellent convenience product.

And finally, in certain states you have to BUY 2 to get the BOGO price. In others--like where my daughter lives--you need only buy one and will be charged half price.

Next post will enumerate various things you can eat and cook. Stay tuned.









Hunt’s 100% Natural Tomatoes BUY 1 GET 1 FREE thru 2/28/2012

Hunt’s 100% Natural Tomatoes BUY ONE GET ONE FREE thru 2/28/2012

Alma’s Macaroni Product Organic Pasta BUY ONE GET ONE FREE thru 2/28/2012

Ronzoni Pasta BUY 1 GET 1 FREE thru 2/28/2012

Progresso 100% Natural Broth BUY 1 GET 1 FREE thru 2/28/2012

DiGiorno Cheese BUY 1 GET 1 FREE thru 2/28/2012

Mona’s Pasta Café Five Cheese Ravioli BUY 1 GET 1 FREE thru 2/28/2012

Butterball Turkey Smoked Sausage 2 FOR $5.00 thru 2/28/2012

Eat Smart Vegetables $1.00 thru 2/28/2012
Florida Strawberries 3 FOR $5.00 thru 2/28/2012

Florida Tangerines or Juice Oranges 2 FOR $5.00 thru 2/28/2012

Fresh Express Salad Blends BUY 1 GET 1 FREE thru 2/28/2012

Beginning as a College Dorm Cook: Equipment

The first few days of the semester can be very hectic. Miss Em decided to go without a meal plan this year. She also said No to my offer of lasagne and other homemade items. Ahhhh. It reminds me of when, as a six year old, she announced You know I can really take care of myself.

She did accept 30 or so burritos, which made the journey in a cooler in the back seat. She took a lot of food because she doesn't have a car. She is starting as a college cook with all the difficulties: no car, no stove, no space.

Here is what she took in the equipment department. I know I keep listing the same equipment. That is because this is the good stuff--AND it's not an investment. You can get the All-Clad when you have a more permanent abode.
rice cooker
electric kettle
French press coffee maker
Kuhn-Rikon knife
cutting board ($1 at Dollar Tree)
whisk (mine)
yogurt maker (my old one)

I've seen mention of panini makers and toaster ovens, but I believe these are prohibited (for good reason!) by most colleges.

Any other essential equipment for the College Cook?

Getting Stuff Together for My College Cook: Equipment

Miss Em is in Paris--or is it Barcelona? She will return only a few days before her semester starts. So, Mr FS and I are trying to get things together for her.

We bought most of her College Dorm Cooking equipment last year, and it proved its worth. I've written about these items before, but will do so again to save you a slog through the blog.



These few items will serve you well. The kettle has an automatic shut-off, which is why it is superior to the cheapies. Rice cookers are safe and allowed in most dorms. The colorful knife is cheap and easy to find when you misplace it.

My College Cook requested but one more piece of equipment: a yogurt maker. What do you think of a yogurt maker in a tiny dorm kitchen?

Any other essential equipment?

The Electric Egg Cooker: Frugal or Foolish for the College Cook

Electric egg cooker!!?? How I despise single-use appliances. Still, I came upon one at Goodwill for $2 and I thought it might be good for the stoveless college cook who might want to eat hard boiled eggs. Supposedly, you can make hb eggs in the rice cooker. I tried. But it was very time-consuming and annoying in several ways, so I decided it wasn't worth the effort.

The one I got is by Toastmaster and has an adorable name: Egg Head. It seems to be defunct. Unfortunately, it was missing the measuring beaker, which tells you how much water to use for how many eggs cooked in various ways. After a ridiculous amount of time perusing the internet, I found the measurements for a DIFFERENT brand. And I must say: the eggs came out well. These things have a LOUD buzzer, so you can zone out without fear.

The cutest one is called Henrietta

See what I mean? There are other kinds too, I do think Henrietta would look quite cute next to your red rice cooker. There are other kinds for a more tasteful aesthetic.

Is this a worthwhile purchase? If you are planning on eating a lot of hard boiled eggs during your college cooking years, then I would say yes. It makes soft boiled and poached too, but I haven't tried it.

What do you think of this appliance?

Gifts for the College Cook

I start thinking about gifts for my two College Cooks way ahead, because it's hard to think of good--or even halfway decent--ones. Example:

Me to Miss Em: What do you want by way of presents?
Miss Em: More burritos and soy milk for next semester.

Do frozen burritos and boxed soymilk count as presents? Of course, we are happy to provide them, but presents are fun for the giver.

I have a few plans for my College Cooks, but will not divulge them at the moment. If you ARE a College Cook, here is what you should request. And, parents and other relatives, these are gifts that will be used.

First up, I will recommend the little pdf or ebook Frugal Son and I put together.

This is a virtual stocking stuffer, I guess. Trust me, it's very helpful. If your giftee wants the Kindle to read it on, you can get it from Amazon. If you are sans Kindle, check out the pdf. It's only $2.99, the lowest price permitted by Amazon.

The Kindle has gone down in price, I think!

As for cooking equipment, this is not the time to go for Global knives or Calphalon pots. So cheap but good is my motto. I have recommended these items before, but they have proved their worth in my family.

Knife:

Rice Cooker (everyone is surprised by how cheap these are):

I don't think you need to have recommendations for measuring cups and the like. For dishes, I would go for Corelle. I've started using these myself because they are light and unbreakable (or almost).



Wow! Under $60.00 for the whole shebang. Under $30.00 if you skip the dishes and let your student use the remnants of various sets that may be inhabiting your cupboards.

Any other gift ideas for the College Cooks in your family?

Eggs for the College Cook

EGGS just seem to be in the air these days. On the College Cooking front, I have this report. Always on the lookout for stove-free cooking options, I discovered this little item.

Really, this is silly. However, I spotted one at Goodwill for 99 cents, so I bought it. It's definitely worth 99 cents. I put some of the beaten egg for a pasta frittata I was making in each side, cooked for a minute, added some cooked pasta and cheese, and finished it up. Then I folded it closed: tada! a very pretty fake omelet.

I think this would actually be good for microwave-only cooks: there is little clean up, really; it produces an attractive item (so important for solo eaters); it can accommodate all kinds of leftovers, and so on. Next time I use it, I'm going to try beating the eggs IN the contraption, for even less clean up.

Can you think of any other uses for this little item?

Equipment for the College Cook: Besides a Rice Cooker, You Need a Knife

I'm not going to bug you about the rice cooker, at least not for a while. YOU KNOW YOU NEED ONE. At least, I know you need one.

What else? With what did we send our College Cook off to her stove-less dorm suite?

A knife. We got the Kuhn-Rikon paring knife.

Then, since we liked it so much, we also got the Kuhn-Rikon chef's knife.

Since we are frugal types, I will let you in on a secret. We got our first Kuhn-Rikon paring knife from Amazon, but the other ones (yes, we are a 3 paring knife family) were found at Marshalls or TJ Maxx. They were around half the Amazon price, which is, in itself, reasonable.

You can get your Global knife (recommended by Anthony Bourdain) when you are settled after college. In fact, we have promised one to Frugal Son after graduation.

I have a Wusthof, which I hate. I find myself using the little Kuhn-Rikon all the time.

We did have a little tiff about who got which color of the Kuhn-Rikon. We worked things out. Peace once again reigns in our frugal family.