My son will spend his summer doing an internship at a college. He will be living in a dorm with a microwave and a mini-fridge. No access to a real kitchen or kitchen utensils. He will bring a rolling pantry cart and microwavable plates/bowls. We have breakfast and lunch figured it out but we are trying to come up with ideas for supper that are both healthy and cheap. They also must be easy to prepare.
So far, we are thinking of:
* Soup and salad with chicken for $4 – on sale a bag of pre-made salad goes for $3, a can of a hearty soup is $2 and chicken strips already cooked is $3. This can last 2 meals.
* Lentils, rice, and sausage for $3 – microwavable lentils are $2, rice is also $2, and hotdogs or sausage on sale can be $2. Also, this should last 2 meals.
Any other suggestions? I want to avoid Ramen noodles and frozen entrees.
PS: The university cafeterias will be closed. There is an Aldi nearby and a grocery store I never heard of.
Suggestions for healthy dinners under $4 without a stove or oven
byu/Let_me_tell_you_ inFrugal
Posted by Let_me_tell_you_
27 Comments
There’s rice cookers designed for the microwave so he can always get one of those that will give him access to bulk bags of things like rice and lentils
Are rice cookers and hot plates prohibited? I was allowed to have a rice cooker.
Fresh brocoli only take 1 minute to cook in microwave. And buy whole lettuce instead of pre-mixed. Baked sweet potatoes in microwave is also a good one.
You can cook pasta and potatoes in the microwave. Ditto for most veggies.
For pasta you have to experiment a bit, but I found that a bowl with fusili that is filled about half with water and some tomato puree works ok. Nuke for 5 minutes, stir, nuke again. The pasta should soak up the excess water. The first few times you do it, you might need to add more water or find you added too much. Serve with a salad on the side.
For potatoes it is best to peel them and cut them up into small cubes, add water and salt, then cook for 8-15 min depending upon variety of potatoes, amount in the bowl and cube size.
Freeze-dried mashed potatoes (the stuff where you just add hot water and milk) and veggies is great too. You measure out the approx amount of water plus a bit more into a microwave bowl, add a small amount of salt, then cook (frozen) veggies in said bowl. When the veggies are done, add a bit of butter and the required amount of milk, dump the freeze-dried mashed potatoes on top. Stir well until you got a mix of veggies and mashed potatoes.
Frozen veggies / veggie mixes can be a good deal, even if you want to avoid frozen entrees. They cook faster and are thus better suited to the microwave and have a similar amount of nutrition as fresh.
Personally, I would consider bringing a gas cooker in the style used by hikers and use that. If needed, outdoors on the front lawn as not to violate dorm rules.
I would get him a plug in hot plate/griddle . Really ups the ability to make a real meal.
Spring rolls.
Salads, fruit bowls, cereal, oatmeal.
See if he can have an air fryer. It’s a game changer. With Aldi being close but he has a lot of good options.
Rice cooker with steamer tray.
Are they allowed air fryer? So many things can be cooked in there
I understand why hot plates might be prohibited, but are air fryers allowed?
Large mixing bowl. Can of green beans, can of black beans, packet of jasmine rice microwave (66 cents at Aldi). Assorted seasonings like paprika, chili powder, curry powder, salt/pepper, wash your sister sauce.
Mix all together. Microwave for 2-3 minutes. Stir in together. Plate and serve with shredded cheese. Gas meal and healthy. Full proteins and veggies.
Highly recommend. This is what I eat when I’ve just had it for the day and I’m fried.
Potato is microwaveable and then top it with butter etc. Open a can of beans and have it with it.
Microwave rice, black beans (in a can- strain them and put on top of rice), canned chicken, cheese on top of that. Salsa of choice (I like salsa verde). Separately get frozen veg bag- there should be like a “Mexican style” mix. All of that together in a pile, then put sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt) on top.
Microwave potato. Separately, microwave broccoli. Put the broc on top of the potato, add cheese, maybe bacon bits and microwave until done. Add sour cream and butter and stuff.
Oatmeal can be done in the microwave and you can add a ton of toppings like nuts and berries and seeds and milk to make it filling. Even add the peanut butter powder!
Honestly also frozen microwave meals especially if he’s going to be working hard on his internship, those can be pretty healthy if you look hard enough (I’ve found the ones at Trader Joe’s to be high enough calorie and not have a lot of crazy stuff in them; do have your son watch out for “low calorie” frozen meals).
Is there a Trader Joe’s nearby? Students love it!
They have Just add an egg for the microwave. It’s a cup you add eggs to and microwave. It’s like an omelette in a cup
What about crock pots? There are small personal sized ones that would open a lot of options.
Eggs
Canned black beans and precooked rice.
Popcorn.
A medium size avocado is a meal on its own.
Protein/veggie smoothies in a small blender
You can get pouches of tuna, chicken, and salmon. He can use these on salad, in sandwiches, etc.
I lived in a dorm in college, there was a stove and a fridge if I remember, but they were rarely used. Does his dorm permit an air fryer? Or a slow cooker that can be set up on a desk and cook meals when he is away?
Stuffed baked potato.
Buy a crockpot for him. 1 million meals.
The “Lean Cuisine” frozen meals are excellent, especially when I add choped fresh jalapeno peppers and those little fresh mozarella pearls. There are some other frozen meals I also like.
A slow cooker was invaluable when I lived on a run-down boat, I would cook some black beans with a teensy bit of meat for flavoring and it would last a week, for pennies!
Aroma rice cooker they are around $20 for the small ones. They make rice and pasta and can warm up soups and chili.
Loaded baked potatoes are an easy microwave dinner
Canned triangle ham
Crab melts with canned crab (or tuna melts, but canned crab feels luxurious)
You can scramble eggs in the microwave
Mix canned diced tomatoes, canned corn, canned black beans, green onions, a jalapeño (or buy the canned tomatoes with diced chilis). Serve it over rice and you get three or four servings
Baked potatoes are my cheap go to. $2-3 for a 5lb bag at aldi, which contains about 10-15 potatoes. Margarine ($2-3), shredded cheese ($2.29) and sour cream (under $2) as basic toppings can last about 2 weeks depending on serving size. Aldo also has reasonably priced bacon bits, microwavable bacon, French fried onions, fresh green onions, canned chili, and more to add variety. In a pinch I’ve also tried spaghetti sauce on baked potatoes or rice that actually was pretty all right.
Condensed canned cream soups (like cream of mushroom, asparagus, chicken, etc) are great over rice with about half the usual amount of water added. Toss in frozen veggies and/or pre-cooked grilled chicken strips and it’s a meal. Or soy sauce instead of soup is great.
I like to make scrambled eggs with cheese in the microwave. I put them on toast or a bagel for sandwiches, or add salsa and sour cream on a tortilla for burritos. that can also be put over a baked potato… Potatoes are really versatile and cheap!
As others have said, if allowed by the school, an electric hot plate would open up a whole world for him: fry up meat and eggs, boil water, boxed pasta or rice meals, quesadillas, etc.
Or maybe a small, electric toaster oven for toast, pizza, TV dinners, etc.
For microwaving, he can buy a bag of pre-cooked, frozen meatballs, breakfast sausages, pre-cooked shrimp, etc at the grocery store for sandwiches, a simple pasta dish, or just snacking on with simple bottled sauces. Individual, microwave servings of flavored oatmeals are filling, cook in about two minutes, and the ones like apple and cinnamon are sweet enough for a snack or dessert anytime.
If there is a Costco in town, a basic membership ( or a card on a family plan) would let him access to a $10 cooked, large pizza (or pizza by the slice), a 1/4 lb hotdog (with a drink) for $1.50, and a whole, cooked/rotisserie chicken for $4.99, as well as cheap gasoline if he has a car.
Couscous is good since all you need is hot water, and then you have a nice starchy base to work off of.