Blog Post #1

I have spent the good majority of my life watching The Food Network and in doing so cultivated a vast and overly-specific knowledge base of everything food. I would love nothing more than to spend hours on end in a kitchen whipping up all sorts of recipes and sharing my food with friends and family. I’d make everything from beautifully hand made pastas to stocks that need half a day to simmer. Desserts, antipasti, main courses, aperitifs, hors d'oeuvres, you name it, I want to make it. 

One small issue. I don't have a kitchen. So what's a girl supposed to do when all she has is a mini fridge, a microwave, and a tea kettle? In a world where the main food source is a cafeteria that provides food that is often less than ideal, students get hungry. But why should we stuff our faces with Cup of Noodles and Totino's Pizza Rolls when we could, potentially, make some decent food without having to use the (sketchy) third floor kitchens?

This blog will include dorm-approved recipes, all tested and eaten by yours truly, a college student with excessively expensive tastes and very little money.

Recipe #1: Antipasto For One
Ingredients:
-Two fruits of your choice
-At least two types of cheese
-Nuts
-Bread
-Something pickled
-Dried/Cured Meat

There’s nothing fancier or more pretentious than making an antipasti for your lunch or dinner as a college student. That being said, there really isn’t anything easier or more delicious. Every single component of this meal is ready to eat; there is absolutely no cooking required. As long as you have a mini fridge to keep this all cold, you’re all set.

Here’s what I threw together: strawberries and grapes, a string cheese (balling on a budget) and a triangle of Manchego cheese, a third of a baguette, some pickled beets, a handful of cashews, and few pieces of salami. Given the time, this could all be beautifully constructed and meticulously placed on a cheese board, or, if you’re like me, a paper plate.

While these ingredients do sound relatively extravagant, they were all fairly inexpensive. Trader Joe’s is a college student’s best friend, with their extremely low cost produce and decent quality foodstuff. The most expensive thing that I purchased was a large bag of grapes, and that was completely my fault; I thought it was $2.99 for the whole bag; it was per pound. Stupid college student mistake, had I known it would’ve put be back a whopping eight dollars, I wouldn’t have gone through with the purchase. Anyway, even fancy cheese is inexpensive as hell, I got three small-ish wedges of Spanish cheese for like three bucks. With all the ingredients combined, I reckon I can make at least three different antipasti plates for myself, with plenty of my frivolously purchased grapes.

Considering I had neither the time nor inclination to make my meal look like it was ready to be on the cover of Bon Appetit Magazine, I was able to literally toss everything into my Tupperware in less than two minutes. I threw in a Frozen Ice Pack, complete with a cartoon of Elsa and Anna on one side, and boom, I look like a grown ass adult when I open my lunch box at the office. Little do they know, all this was made in a tiny, closet of a dorm room. College Student tested, College Student approved.