My biggest challenge as a college student has been trying to plan and cook meals for myself during the week. I was always overwhelmed with figuring how much I needed to buy at the grocery store, and I never knew what to look for. To make matters worse, everytime I would Google search for a recipe, there were so many variations of one meal to the point where I didn’t know who to trust! Thankfully, these three recipes have been tried and true for me, and they’re perfect comfort foods to make for your meals during the week or even for you and your friends to enjoy.
SINGLE PAN CHILI
Start to finish: 30-60 minutes
Servings: 4
1 package of ground beef
1 can of tomato sauce
1 onion, diced
1 potato, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
¼ teaspoon of chili powder
½ teaspoon of dried basil, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Cut all the veggies into bite size pieces and dice the onion. Leave the potatoes and carrots on the side until the end.
In a pan, cook the ground beef and break it up into smaller pieces along with the diced onion on medium heat with a light oil of your choice. Once the meat is cooked, add 1 can of tomato sauce, and turn the heat to low-medium.
Add the potatoes and carrots into the pan. Stir in seasoning until desired taste.
Let the chili simmer and cover to let the potatoes and carrots cook completely. Occasionally check and stir every few minutes. The finished product should be a thick chili that is best served alone or over rice!
2 INGREDIENT PUMPKIN PIE COOKIES
Start to finish: 20-25 minutes
Servings: 24
15-ounce can of pumpkin puree
1 box of spice cake mix
Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a bowl, mix the pumpkin puree and cake mix together until there are no lumps. Feel free to add pumpkin pie spice seasoning to taste at this point.
Drop rounded, tablespoon sized dollops onto the prepared baking sheets. Place them 2 inches apart.
Bake for 13-15 minutes until the edges start to turn golden.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
At this point, I usually like to frost them, but they are delicious without as well!
GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
Start to finish: 40 minutes
Servings: 6
10½-ounce can of Cambell’s Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
½ cup milk
4 cups green beans, cooked and chopped
1 ⅓ cups fried onions
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat oven to 350 F, and stir the soup, milk, green beans and ⅔ of the fried onions in a 1 ½ quart casserole dish. Season with salt and pepper.
Bake for 25 minutes or until hot. Stir the mixture and sprinkle with the remaining fried onions.
Bake for 5 more minutes until the onions are golden brown.
