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Easy College Meals to Prepare in Advance
CollegiateParent
We all know that the typical busy college student schedule — packed with classes, studying, extracurricular activities, socializing and sometimes a part-time job — can leave little to no time for proper meal preparation.
Students often turn to fast food, pizza delivery and coffee shop baked goods. Expensive and not terribly nutritious.
If your college student moved back home with you this spring, the unexpected family time together provides a perfect opportunity to teach a few basic home-cooking techniques and try out some simple recipes that they can take with them when they return to college.
These tips and recipes are also perfect for students living on their own off campus.
Preparing meals at home might sound time-consuming, but is actually quite doable. Your student doesn't need to cook every single day or even week. With this list of basic ingredients along with a few simple yet delicious recipes, they can alternate between eating out or at the campus dining hall and cooking at home when time allows.
These easy and healthy recipes — one egg-based brunch recipe, three chicken entrees and two vegetable sides — are also budget-friendly. These are great rotational meals for students, and they can always cook a larger batch and store leftovers in the fridge.
For the six recipes included here, you'll need the following:
This Brunch Egg Bake is a super easy and tasty casserole filled with eggs, vegetables, ham and cheese (leave out the ham if you want to go meatless). You can enjoy it any time of day.
Not a lot of preparation is needed. Simply beat the eggs, add the veggies and cheese, and bake it in the oven. (Note: this recipe makes a lot. Depending on how many people you're feeding, you may want to cut it in half.)
You can adjust and swap the ingredients based on what you have on hand. Use bell peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, zucchini, etc. to complement the eggs. Give it a try and you will see how simple and convenient this recipe is!
How to make keto Italian chicken skewers:
For more details, the full recipe can be found here.
How to make oven-baked chicken breasts:
Full recipe with all the details can be found here.
How to make chicken and potatoes:
You can find the whole recipe here.
Asparagus is healthy and delicious side to go with the above recipes, and because it's in season right now it's abundant and affordable in grocery stores.
How to perfectly roast asparagus?
First, wash and trim the asparagus (cut or snap off the tough ends of the stem). Place it on a baking sheet (you can line the baking dish with parchment paper or foil if desired). Sprinkle with olive oil, salt, pepper and some fresh lemon juice (you can also wait and squeeze a bit of fresh lemon juice over the asparagus after it's cooked). Place in the oven and bake for about 15 min at 400 degrees F, tossing or flipping it once or twice (check for doneness after 10 minutes).
Leftover roasted asparagus is nice with eggs (scrambled, an omelet, etc.) or with pasta and freshly grated parmesan.
Cucumber salad is a quick, budget-friendly dish to enjoy year-round though it's always best when farmers' market cukes are available in the summer and fall. No cooking is involved, and you can prepare it in about three minutes. Feel free to add other raw, fresh veggies — tomatoes or broccoli could be an excellent option.
Here is some basic kitchen equipment used in the following recipes and useful for everyday cooking:
A little bit about me…
My name is Catalina Castravet, and I created Sweet and Savory Meals. I am a professional chef and food blogger who is always on the lookouts for tasty and delicious recipes. Over the past 10 years, my team and I have created well over 1,000 recipes, from quick breakfasts to delicious dinners. All the recipes are shared for free with our beloved followers and readers. Cooking is my love and passion.
