You can probably already assume I HATE Ramen noodles.
Let me tell you what college kids should eat instead...
You're Poor So Eat Ramen!
I remember when I first started college and moved into the dorms. Everyone I talked to was like "you gotta get you some Ramen Noodles! Since you're a poor college student you need to eat lot of Ramen." I remember the first week in the dorms people kept advertising this seminar where you could learn 101 ways to eat Ramen Noodles. It's a huge stereotype that when you go off to college you're expected to eat cheap horrible food and Ramen is super cheap.
I tried them. I hated them. Those little packs of Ramen were gross. I may have been poor but I wasn't poor enough to ever eat them again. I tried everything I could to doctor them up but nothing helped. As someone who loves food and cooking, I get really tired of hearing about people pushing Ramen Noodles on college campuses.
My Ramen Did Not Look As Good As This Pixabay Picture
Cook? In A Dorm Room?
What college kids need to be taught is SMART SHOPPING because there are other cheap foods out there and if you are creative you can have lots of variety. Couponing and learning how to wait for sales are other important skills young shoppers need a good seminar on instead of Ramen recipes.
If You've Got Heat You Can Cook
Ever see the movie Benny and Joon? If you haven't then that's the movie that made me realize I could make grilled cheese sandwiches with my clothing iron...not the best sandwich I've ever had but it was better than those dang noodles.
Scene From The Movie
Moving On To Better Technology
I got a cheap George Forman grill so I could cook in my room and I ate good because of it. I would get 50 cent packets of blueberry muffin mix and would make blueberry pancake/muffins on the grill. One packet was 10 pancakes. A loaf of bread would provide me a number of meals each week (grilled cheese, french toast, turkey sandwiches, and more). The George Forman grill allowed me to cook hot sandwiches with lots of variety.
In the early days I stuck to boxed meals and mixes you just added a few ingredients into. One box of boxed macaroni and cheese could be warmed in the microwave for several meals. You could get boxed mixes of instant pizza crust, cook it on the grill, and with a little sauce and cheese you had mini pizzas. There are so many foods you can cook that are extremely cheap. College kids should be given advice on more than just 101 tips to eat Ramen. They should also be shown inventive ways to cook because most kids I saw had no idea they could do hundreds of simple things with a small George Forman grill.
Later on I was given a toaster oven which opened up new avenues for me. I could bake anything I wanted. It's an oven so I found recipes for oven foods. I made cookies and chicken wings. Learning to coupon and watch store sales helped me to keep my costs down. If you know the basics of cooking then you can use any equipment to make a delicious meal.
Unless You Really Love Ramen...In That Case Enjoy Your Noodles and Ignore Me.
How To Make Chicken Wings In A Toaster Oven.
- Wait for chicken wings to go on sale
- I like to cut my wings in half so that I have the wing tip and what looks like a little bitty drumstick. Cook as many as you think you'll eat.
- Set the toaster oven to 425 Degrees
- Coat the raw chicken in Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce.
- Put them on a pan (could cover it with foil for easy cleanup if you want to spend the money...remember costs add up!).
- Bake for 25 minutes until the BBQ is nice and caramelized on the chicken. If it doesn't look brown enough on top then kick on the broiler setting for a few minutes. Broilers cook things fast so keep your eye on things.
- Eat!
Simple am I right?
Ramen Noodle Photo Credit: Amazon