How to calculate how much ingredients do you need when cooking for yourself and still clinging to your student loan monthly budget
How to calculate how much ingredients do you need when cooking for yourself and still clinging to your student loan monthly budget
One of the most important things is for you to have a storage place where you can keep the ingredients and the uncooked as well as the leftover cooked food, being in a dorm room regardless of the size, or even sharing an apartment means that you could use a refrigerator of a small size or at least a frigo-bar. These can be even second hand, all you need to make sure is that it does not work with CFC or any other environmental polluting substance and that the door shuts hermetically.
The other thing that you need to have is a microwave, since it is here where you will be cooking all your meals. New generation microwave ovens have multifunction, which means that they can microwave, bake, and roast just as easy as pressing a button, so the options and menus available are almost endless.
But what is indeed truth is that you need to do an estimate on how much food do you need to prepare yourself a meal? Of course, you can make the traditional steak-and-eggs just for you but eating that all year long can be boring, and it certainly will do little to your own esteem. The answer is to read recipes that are calculated for two, dividing the ingredients in half will allow you to calculate and prepare the meal just for yourself; in addition, when you have company you will know what to do –because you did it in advance- simply by multiplying what you already do by two.
This will certainly amaze your company. The best way to know if a recipe is calculated for two people or more is to read the entire recipe, as a thumb rule published recipes state how many portions or serving they yield. There are some other recipes that don’t provide such measures in their published versions, but common sense can guide you through them; after all, it is highly unlikely that 2 pounds of meat, are adequate for two people.
If you are not following a recipe and feel like venturing in the wonderful world of cuisine, then you need to consider how much will you be eating on any given meal. For example, if you are attempting to cook a stew, then you need to figure how much of each ingredient will you be having. Of course, you can buy small amounts of meat and even eggs you can buy by the piece, depending on the store where you will be buying them; but you cannot buy half a tomato, that is why having a refrigerator or at least a mini-bar will come in handy.