Food for vet students

Started by twelvetigers
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twelvetigers

twelvetigers

stabby cat
Verified Member
Veterinarian
15+ Year Member
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So, as a bit of a distraction from FREAKING OUT ABOUT APPLICATIONS, I thought it might be nice to have a thread about a different topic: food.

Now, I love to cook, but after a long day of class/work/whatever, it doesn't always sound so great. (And I can only imagine that it gets worse in vet school!)

However, eating out is less healthy, more expensive, and sometimes isn't even any less time-consuming depending on where you go.

Money is tight right now, so I decided I would like to challenge myself: no eating out for me (or the husb)... FOR A MONTH. (Except on Wednesdays when I have class right after work until 9:30pm, so it can't be helped.)

I'm also keen on trying to make a bunch of meals in advance and freeze them (so a one-day cook-a-thon to make a lot of frozen meals ready to go in the oven whenever). So far, I have lasagna, chicken enchiladas, pasta ziti, beef stroganoff, some other chicken shiz, and a stockpile of meatballs planned. What else can be frozen easily? What about quick meals? Crock-pot or slow cooker meals that I can leave all day? Share your culinary secrets! 🙂


P.S. I eat my share of PBJs, grilled cheese, mac and cheese, etc. but that stuff gets old and sometimes I need MEAT, lol.
 
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Ah, you beat me to the punch! But yes, I would like more ideas as well... You'd think with all of the Good Eats I watch I would have some ideas for recipes and advice on food storage, but I am pretty much a disaster in the kitchen. 🙄
 
I always keep a box of "texas toast" garlic bread in the freezer. Cheap, cooks quick and makes a nice side to meals.

Quick:
Some Boil in a bag rice + whatever fish is on sale at the store + texas toast is what I eat every shopping day.

Large bag of frozen stir fry mix + white rice is a quick and easy option.

Macaroni (cooked) + can of tuna + condensed cream of mushroom soup (+ milk to thin it).

For meat I buy large packs of chicken and pre-made hamburg patties then throw them all in individual ziplock bags when I get home and freeze them. Otherwise I never have it on hand when I want it. George foreman grill is also a lifesaver at times.
I also have no qualms with buying the "Mangers special" meats since I am going to immediately freeze it.

Ghetto as hell, but I made some spaghetti last night. I had a bag of frozen chicken nuggets so I threw some pasta sauce on them and mozzarella cheese on them for some pseudo chicken parm.
 
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Soup! Soup! Make a giant pot on a weekend afternoon, and freeze it in little containers or individual bags. It's the easiest dinner ever, and a comfort on cold tired nights. Down here in Texas, it's just barely feeling like fall, but I'm still drooling at the thought of curried pumpkin soup...black bean soup...potato and leek soup...yum. Just make sure it's something filling, add a big piece of bread, and you're set.
 
twelvetigers said:
What do you guys make on the George Foreman?
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Well, its just me in this case, so I will usually grill up a piece of chicken or a burger. I've never broiled a burger and the george foreman cooks way better than trying to pan fry one. Chicken is real easy on it, and ill then use it for grilled chicken sandwitches, over a salad or to add to some other meal. Chicken on the george foreman is great because there is basically no clean up to it.
 
Best (and easiest) pot-roast ever.

1 roast (whatever size fits in your crockpot)
1-2 packages of dried onion soup mix
carrots and potatoes- as many as will fit well under/around the roast

Put the roast (thawed or frozen) in the crockpot. Chop the carrots and potatoes to the desired sized (whole doesn't work as well) and arrange in the crockpot with the roast. Add enough water to have about 1/4 inch in the bottom of the pot. Pour the dry soup mix over the veggies and the roast. Turn the crockpot on low when you leave in the morning and when you get back that evening you'll have the best roast ever. Leftovers make a great stew if you add some canned broth and mashed potatoes to thicken the broth. 🙂
 
jennywren, I am just waiting for it to be cold enough to make turkey chili and lemon chicken soup for freezing/reheating!

Until "soup season," I've been buying mostly chicken/fish, opening the packages, wrapping individual servings in foil to put in the freezer, and moving a piece from the freezer the fridge the night before to defrost. Then I usually bake, stir fry, grill, or sautee it in olive oil. I'm a big fan of couscous (really easy to cook and the extras keep pretty well) and sweet potatoes. I'll also usually make a salad or steamed vegetables. On average, it takes me about 30 mins a night. I like cooking, so it's a nice break in between classes and studying.

And then there are some nights where I just make scrambled eggs or an omelet, toast, and some fruit.
 
david594 said:
Well, its just me in this case, so I will usually grill up a piece of chicken or a burger. I've never broiled a burger and the george foreman cooks way better than trying to pan fry one. Chicken is real easy on it, and ill then use it for grilled chicken sandwitches, over a salad or to add to some other meal. Chicken on the george foreman is great because there is basically no clean up to it.
Click to expand...

I will have to agree with david chicken and burgers on a george foremen are easy and quick. All you need is a little seasoning. Pepper works great as a seasoning for burgers. Since I am from AZ spicy and extra spicy is the way I like to season meat, especially tacos.
 
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omg i'm so excited for this thread! good call twelvetigers! btw can you pm me your enchilada recipe pwease??
 
My no-time dinner favorite, simple and soooo tasty:

Pork chops (tenderloins are better, but chops are way cheaper, albeit a bit on the tough side) marinated in Italian dressing overnight, then fry on the stove next day. They are surprisingly good for being so easy!

Anything soup/crockpot is good too... If anyone is interested, I have a killer Minestrone recipe for the crockpot, just PM me 🙂
 
twelvetigers said:
So, as a bit of a distraction from FREAKING OUT ABOUT APPLICATIONS, I thought it might be nice to have a thread about a different topic: food.

Now, I love to cook, but after a long day of class/work/whatever, it doesn't always sound so great. (And I can only imagine that it gets worse in vet school!)

However, eating out is less healthy, more expensive, and sometimes isn't even any less time-consuming depending on where you go.

Money is tight right now, so I decided I would like to challenge myself: no eating out for me (or the husb)... FOR A MONTH. (Except on Wednesdays when I have class right after work until 9:30pm, so it can't be helped.)

I'm also keen on trying to make a bunch of meals in advance and freeze them (so a one-day cook-a-thon to make a lot of frozen meals ready to go in the oven whenever). So far, I have lasagna, chicken enchiladas, pasta ziti, beef stroganoff, some other chicken shiz, and a stockpile of meatballs planned. What else can be frozen easily? What about quick meals? Crock-pot or slow cooker meals that I can leave all day? Share your culinary secrets! 🙂


P.S. I eat my share of PBJs, grilled cheese, mac and cheese, etc. but that stuff gets old and sometimes I need MEAT, lol.
Click to expand...

Haha, I love that you're thinking about food right now! In the mist of my applications, I was wondering whether vet students get summer vacation. Talk about counting your chickens before they've hatched! 🙂

When I'm super busy/poor I just eat cereal. If you want meat, have you tried making sloppy joes? It's easy to make and fairly inexpensive. Just buy the canned sauce + ground beef.
 
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When I'm not on my diet of cocktails and liquor like this past weekend, I eat out of the weightwatchers cookbooks so that I eat more or less correctly and so I can moniter what I eat. I marinate a lot of chicken in healthy marinades or I cook up some turkey sausage and mix it with whole wheat pasta and random vegetables and then freeze it in portions. I also make a lot of the recipes out of their homecooking cookbook. They have recipes for mac n cheese, onion rings, fries, and other stuff I like, made in a way that should kill me a little less quickly. A lot of that stuff is fast, the leftovers are freezable, and the ingredients are cheap.
 
twelvetigers said:
Like, if you freeze potatoes, in what? How? Mashed?
Click to expand...


Potatoes don't freeze well, they get kind of grainy. However, instant potatoes do freeze.


Also, something awesome you can do on the George Foremen grill - cut an onion into slices about 1/2" to 3/4" thick, put a slice of butter on top, and close it. All the yumminess of sauteed onions without all the stirring.
 
i complain a lot about this....but i think you all should invite your mothers to live with you! lol. my mom doesn't like to cook, but she does it b/c she knows we're tight on money. and i LOVE to eat out.

anyway, most of our meals involve boiled or baked chicked with rice or mashed potatoes. today she spiced it up by putting a sauce and added pieces of carrots in the mix. lol.
 
I just made and froze 8 meals - they can go straight into the oven. Also 3 servings (for 2 people) of soup, and several things that will have freezable leftovers when I make them. I still have to separate and freeze a lot of meat tonight. I hope it's all worth it!
 
Wow, I'm impressed!

My family is into Spanish and other Mediterranean cooking styles, so we use lots of olive oil (yum). This is a relatively frequent chicken-eating pattern for us:
- Make a whole roast chicken on the weekend (pretty easy - empty it out, put some rosemary in the cavity, glaze with a little olive oil to keep it from drying out). Meal for day 1.
- Once chicken has cooled (fine to put in fridge for a couple days if you don't feel like carving on day 1), carve all meat off chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces. Put in tupperware and freeze.
- Take chicken out of freezer and defrost at least minimally, by putting in fridge 12-24 hours in advance or microwaving briefly.
- Heat up olive oil on low-med heat in pan on stove. Add smoked paprika to taste (smoked paprika is like essence of barbeque, try it!). Put chicken in, heat for a few minutes.

The advantage of this over "dump" chicken is that the chicken is already cooked, so it is ready in less than 5 minutes.

For the George Foreman grills, bacon! Grilled bacon is the best. You can't make as much at a time, but it is much less messy than stovetop or microwave bacon, and it tastes better.

Mmmm, now I'm hungry, time for a bedtime snack.
 
Quick Crock Pot meal that I like...

2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 cans H20
1 pkg of dry onion soup (Lipton)
1 bag carrots (add what you desire)
1 lb + of stew beef
3-4 chopped onions (large pieces)
Place in crock pot on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.
Add 8 oz. of sour cream prior to serving.
Serve over Rice or mashed potatoes.

YUM!
 
i REALLY need to get a crockpot. i've wanted one for a few years. this might be the year i actually invest in one. 🙂
 
I did sumstorm's salad idea, only they had the spinach already washed and in a plastic container to buy... i got a bag of carrots, chopped walnuts, some croutons, and raspbeery vinaigrette. I'm eating that with a side of cottage cheese... instead of a bag of Chee-tos and a Pepsi. 😉 Woo!

ETA: What do you guys eat with your cottage cheese? I don't like pepper so I'm eating it plain. Pineapple sounds gross... but I'd try it I guess... haha. If I have to. Anyone?
 
twelvetigers said:
I did sumstorm's salad idea, only they had the spinach already washed and in a plastic container to buy... i got a bag of carrots, chopped walnuts, some croutons, and raspbeery vinaigrette. I'm eating that with a side of cottage cheese... instead of a bag of Chee-tos and a Pepsi. 😉 Woo!

ETA: What do you guys eat with your cottage cheese? I don't like pepper so I'm eating it plain. Pineapple sounds gross... but I'd try it I guess... haha. If I have to. Anyone?
Click to expand...


Goes great with tomatoes, and a little salt and pepper. Yummm!
 
In addition to chicken, I really like to George a burrito. Make a burrito, then toss it on George to make a homemade (actually tasty) version of a grilled stuffed burrito. Really good.

Soup is easy, can make a lot, and can freeze well. Potato and kale soup is embarrassingly easy, and I typically throw in low-fat turkey kielbasa or whatever is cheap (chicken usually, but I've also used mussels since they can be quite cheap sometimes). Vegetable soup with whatever vegetables are laying about (stock cube, some oregano), plus a can of chopped tomatoes and a can of chickpeas is quite nice and filling. Add a couple of handfuls of pasta for a minestrone-like dish. Makes a lot as well!

My current favorite student-friendly dish is this one from Bon Appetit: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spicy-Chicken-and-Rice-239828 I haven't yet made it exactly like the recipe states, but it is very versatile, very easy, and importantly for students: cheap. It also cooks in one pot making less to clean up.

On Sundays, I make a large batch of steel-cut oatmeal, then nuke single servings for breakfast. Add raisins or craisins, chopped apples, whatever other fruit or sliced almonds or whatever is around and it makes a great breakfast that I just don't otherwise have time to cook during the week.
 
So I know we're getting into the cold months (except for in AZ where I live and it's still 105!), but I was just thinking about how convenient smoothies are. Just buy some frozen fruit, toss whatever you like in the blender, add a banana, some OJ and some yogurt then blend! Put it in a to go cup and you can take it out the door. Good for breakfast or as a treat later in the day.

I also make a poor man's chicken parmesan like david, but I get those pre-marinated chicken breasts and then sprinkle on some breadcrumbs and bake. It's a slightly more effort but it might be a little healthier than the chicken nugget version.
 
My fav is no calorie veggie soup, which my mother has successfully freezed and thawed out three months later! Can also be made in a variety of quantity

Cabbage(I go ahead and use the whole head, but you don't have to) and any of the following veggies:
Squash
Zuccinni
Onion
Carrots
Broccoli (steam cooked first)
Snow Peas
Really any veggie that you like

One large can of crushed mexican style tomatoes
One carton of low/no sodium chicken broth (32 oz I think?)
Horse radish if you like it spicy

Throw in crock pot on low for the day or in stock pot on a low boil for an hour or two.

The perk: Cabbage takes so much energy to digest that it ends up being negative calories. And tastes good too!
 
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twelvetigers said:
I hate tomatoes and I always will. Sorry tomatoes.

Any other suggestions? :d
Click to expand...
You can also put anything in it that you would put in yogurt. Fruit, granola, etc. I like to put jam in it. I love jam. I agree on the tomato sentiment though. Icky and slimy!
 
ckd816 said:
So I know we're getting into the cold months (except for in AZ where I live and it's still 105!), but I was just thinking about how convenient smoothies are. Just buy some frozen fruit, toss whatever you like in the blender, add a banana, some OJ and some yogurt then blend! Put it in a to go cup and you can take it out the door. Good for breakfast or as a treat later in the day.

I also make a poor man's chicken parmesan like david, but I get those pre-marinated chicken breasts and then sprinkle on some breadcrumbs and bake. It's a slightly more effort but it might be a little healthier than the chicken nugget version.
Click to expand...

I understand your pain. I am also in Phoenix during the summer, but I am in Flagstaff right now. The weather was really nice last week low 70's, but now it has gotten warm again but nothing like Phoenix. I can't wait for the weather to cool off I absolutely love fall!
 
ckgilabert said:
i complain a lot about this....but i think you all should invite your mothers to live with you! lol. my mom doesn't like to cook, but she does it b/c she knows we're tight on money. and i LOVE to eat out.
Click to expand...

:uhno: I'm pretty sure I'd rather live in a cardboard box and eat roadkill and tree bark than live with my mother again. I love her, I really do, but we get on each other's every last nerve 75% of the time.

and just so I'm contributing to the thread:

My favorite thing to make in bulk is soup, like a lot of others! I like to find different cartons of soups (roasted red pepper, tomato bisque, corn chowder, whatever) and mix them all up with a couple cubes of chicken boullion and some water, maybe or maybe not throw some grilled up chicken into it, add a can of corn, some jalapenos and bell peppers, a dash of hot sauce, some cayenne pepper and let it simmer. I could probably eat that every other night and not get sick of it.

Also, a head of lettuce, a bunch of spinach, plus whatever veggies are in season is good for the non-soup nights. I subscribe to a CSA service and get a box of random vegetables and fruits delivered to my door every 2 weeks for $30/delivery. It adds variety and makes it so that I always get enough vegetables. Greek yogurt mixed with oregano, dill and cucumber makes a really really good, strong dressing that you only need a little bit of, and it has a lot of protein in it. 🙂
 
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Just thought of another!

French Onion Soup in Crockpot.....actually VERY delicious!

2 cans Campbell's Beef Consume
16 oz beef broth (either from cubes or can)
1 pkg Lipton dry onion soup mix
3-5 finely sliced onions
Cheese
French Bread

Place beef consume, broth, onions, and lipton pkt in crock pot for 8 hrs on low, or 4 hrs on high. This is really good!!
 
Well I don't think they are freezable, but both are pretty quick, and since my boyfriend has been scarred for life by his mother's crock pot, that leaves these...

Take 1 chicken breast and do an egg wash but instead of breadcrumbs use smashed up cornflakes. Season the breading with salt, pepper,and (a little)cayenne if you like semi spicy. Brown/cook through in frying pan. Then I just slice it and serve on top of salad greens ( I like butter leaf and the red mixes) with a honey mustard dressing.

Another easy one you can do with any meat is the curry sauces that they sell at places like Trader Joe's and Henry's and serve it with rice. You just cook the meat on the stove top,pour the sauce on top,warm it through, and eat!
 
twelvetigers said:
I hate tomatoes and I always will. Sorry tomatoes.

Any other suggestions? :d
Click to expand...
I think I love you. 😛 I hate tomatoes, too. You are the first person I've met who agreed with me on that point. I'm the best person ever to plant-sit tomato plants, because I promise I'll water them and I won't even be TEMPTED to eat any.

Sorry, continue on with your regularly scheduled thread.
 
To put the thread back on topic... not that I mind bitching about tomatoes...

I made some garlic bread to freeze, and it was cheap and tastes awesome!

I just bought some bread from the bakery (French or Italian loaf both fine). I cut it lengthwise, and also into reasonably sized pieces for a single serving (I used French bread, and cut into thirds). I then mixed some melted butter, chopped up garlic, and Italian seasoning, and then spread it on the bread (I used two sticks of butter... French bread is long! and two cloves of garlic, two tbs of Italian seasoning). Then I sprinkled a bit of parmesan on the buttered part of each loaf, put the loaves back together (buttered sides facing each other) and wrapped them each in aluminum foil.

When I'm making spaghetti or whatnot, I'll just take one out, cook it 15 min at 400F mostly wrapped and then 15 min unwrapped. It was crunchy and wonderful. 👍
 
eventualeventer said:
I think I love you. 😛 I hate tomatoes, too. You are the first person I've met who agreed with me on that point. I'm the best person ever to plant-sit tomato plants, because I promise I'll water them and I won't even be TEMPTED to eat any.

Sorry, continue on with your regularly scheduled thread.
Click to expand...

I am going to third on the hating tomatoes. Whole tomato= :d

Tomatoes in pastas, soups, ketchup, salsa, etc. is AMAZING. I always thought I was just weird, but at least I know other people agree with me now.

Anyway...back to more food and less about tomatoes. 🙂
 
Wow, that sounds amazing. Mmmm, I'm such a food nerd. It's not that I love to cook, it's that I love to eat!

Yup, ketchup, tomatoes in soup, etc. = yum. Raw tomatoes in salad, even right off the vine, can't stand em.
 
I mostly agree with you guys about tomatoes except for the little green and yellow heirloom tomatoes I got a few times, they didn't even taste like tomatoes and weren't mushy at all. Sooooooooooooooooooo awesome!
 
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