A few months ago, I got my first apartment. This was super exciting because I was now able to peruse through one of my favorite places (~the grocery store~) and buy things. However, I had no experience cooking. My roommates actually had to show me how to boil water.
Jk.
What actually happened was that my mom showed me how to cook chicken and broil sweet potatoes. I taught myself how to make quinoa, and with a little bit of sriracha sauce, I called myself a chef. Now, I also got the chance to finally look through Buzzfeed food and try out some of those 'non-cook' meals or those 'lazy-girl recipes,' but was extremely disappointed when they involved pots or ovens or things like baking soda (I really only invested in salt and pepper).
Since I'm going back to the dorm life in September, I thought I'd reflect upon the experience of avoiding ovens. Here are a few recipes for college that require zero cooking skills.
1. Smoothies.
This recipe is simple.
Ingredients: frozen bananas, other frozen fruit (this is up to you, whatever's on sale typically works but I recommend berries), plain yogurt with honey or flavored yogurt. Also, if you're using a lot of frozen stuff, add some milk to help blend everything together.
Put in blender. Blend. Eat.
Optional: add some dry cereal, honey, or veggies!
Who needs to spend money at Jamba Juice when you can just invest in one of those bullet things?
2. Ethnic supermarkets.
This might seem like a cop-out because there's no recipe here, but if you are proud of your culture or love exploring other ones, go to an ethnic supermarket of your choice (Russian, Asian, even the Kosher deli) and have a ball. I do this way too often and it's so much fun. China town has super low prices on the craziest stuff. You can definitely make a mean dim sum spread by popping some dumplings in the microwave.
Michelle (feat. Russian feast).
3. Raspberry ice cream sauce.
The microwave is your best friend. While you're picking up all of that frozen fruit for your smoothie, grab some raspberries (fresh ones are delicious but pricey), put them in the microwave for sixty seconds, and drizzle that on top of some So Delicious almond milk vanilla ice cream. Low sugar, much happiness.
This looks super fancy, tastes amazing, and is so simple to make!
4. Trail mix!
My friends give me major shade for this but I can make one badass trail mix. Dining hall access is expensive, but extremely practical.
Ingredients: Ziploc bags, cereal section, ice cream bar, chips/pretzels, and/or whatever else sounds good to you. If your dining hall has raisins, nuts, and seeds, go for those as well! (If you like them.)
I usually go for one plain cereal for crunch, one sweet one, M&M's, pretzels, and goldfish. Everyone judges me for making it, but they all eat it. Ha.
5. Avocado toast.
All you need to add is lemon, salt, and pepper to some ripe avocado on a piece of toast. It's exactly what it sounds like.
This pic features gluten free toast, and we added some spice by sprinkling homemade zatar (this is where the ethnic supermarket comes in) on the avocado, just before adding that final touch of lemon.
Disclaimer: recipe creds go to my dear friend Tayma. Ily.
6. Chia Seed Pudding.
There are so many different recipes out there to make chia pudding. I highly recommend you search them on your own and see how many/which ingredients you want to work with. The simplest version of the recipe is the following:
Milk, chia seeds, refrigerator, wait three hours. You can usually eyeball it.
Optional: Raspberry sauce mixed into the milk, along with honey and almond butter. Here's what it looks like when it's ready.
(The Brooklyn hipster in me just had to use an alternative jar.)
7. Chipotle Popcorn.
This is so simple.
I usually steal a bottle of Tabasco Chipotle sauce from the dining hall and keep it by the microwave for this exact purpose.
Drizzle some hot sauce on freshly popped popcorn, shake it up, and drizzle a little bit more on top. Don't add too much at once because this can cause sogginess. If you're like me and afraid of burning the popcorn in the microwave, you can buy it pre-popped. (I recommend SkinnyPop.)
This snack is low in calories and extremely satisfying.
Also: Plain popcorn + Cap'n Crunch cereal will blow your mind.
8. Microwaveable oatmeal.
One of the dangers of this is the sugar content of flavored options. So if you want to go healthy, choose a brand with the fewest ingredients. Then chop up a banana, toss it in the bowl, and it'll cook right into the mix.
Note: Please use disposable microwave-safe bowls. Ceramic bowls get really hot. You might burn your hand and explode spill it all over your (friend's) room. Not that I would know.
PSA: Quaker Maple & Brown Sugar oatmeal is the dark horse of drunk food.
Feel free to comment more ideas below! I know that we're all on the lookout for the easiest ways to be creative in the kitchen (especially those of us who will be living without one).
