Food!

[SpecterGT260]

I don't know about all of you guys.... but I have started eating like an undergrad again since returning to school. I am currently enjoying a microwavable rice packet (broccoli and cheese) with some canned chicken tossed in.

anyone have a "gourmet for the med student" list around? What are people eating out there and what sorts of fanciness do you have time for with a med school schedule?

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[D elegans]

Toward the beginning of a block, I have time to occasionally cook meals. Toward the end of a block, my daily regimen consists of:

Breakfast: Eggo waffles

Lunch: PB&J sandwich, chips, granola bar, and banana

Dinner: Random crap

 

[turkeyjerky]

Just drink w/ your food--it classes up anything.

 

[SirGecko]

If you have a kitchen (aren't on an away rotation) get a slow-cooker. Most slow cooker recipes take like ten minutes to prepare (and then a while to cook but you don't need to watch them) and you can easily make a bunch of it and then keep leftovers.

As for eating on away rotations (we do a lot of away rotations at my school) I have to say it is pretty difficult. No kitchen and living out of a hotel room can get a little depressing. I eat a lot of cereal, sandwiches and salad kits. (I try the frozen microwave stuff every once in a while but they tend to suck)

 

[SpecterGT260]

ive got 2 actually lol. a little one and a bigass one.

best recipe i've found in terms of time, taste, and relative healthiness is either frozen chicken breasts or pork roast with a jar of green salsa dumped on it. slow cook all day until i'm hungry when I get home from classes ect.



wrap up a few tortillas and go. Although i should find a few good recipes that I could snack on throughout the day

 

[Abby_Normal]

Generally speaking, I try to make something for dinner that will last me the week (strategy I learned in undergrad). Or, if you like variety, you can make a bunch of things at once and then freeze them--kind of home-made reheatable dinners (I don't do this--too complicated). Some things obviously don't reheat well, like sauteed green beans, but if that's the only cooking I have to do on a busy night, it really isn't time consuming.

Recipes that I have found work well include lentil soup, curry (I usually do chick pea, though having chicken is nice if I feel like spending the money), salmon cakes (surprising cheap to make, but they really only last for 4-5 days), and really any kind of pasta. My "go-to" if I need a quick dinner is usually a frittata (I keep frozen broccoli around for this purpose) or some other egg thing.

Breakfast tends to be cereal, oatmeal, toast, or eggs if I'm feeling particularly ambitious. Lunch varies depending upon what's available (eggs, some sort of grain, mac and cheese, whatever I buy at school...).

 

[SpecterGT260]

Generally speaking, I try to make something for dinner that will last me the week (strategy I learned in undergrad). Or, if you like variety, you can make a bunch of things at once and then freeze them--kind of home-made reheatable dinners (I don't do this--too complicated). Some things obviously don't reheat well, like sauteed green beans, but if that's the only cooking I have to do on a busy night, it really isn't time consuming.

Recipes that I have found work well include lentil soup, curry (I usually do chick pea, though having chicken is nice if I feel like spending the money), salmon cakes (surprising cheap to make, but they really only last for 4-5 days), and really any kind of pasta. My "go-to" if I need a quick dinner is usually a frittata (I keep frozen broccoli around for this purpose) or some other egg thing.

Breakfast tends to be cereal, oatmeal, toast, or eggs if I'm feeling particularly ambitious. Lunch varies depending upon what's available (eggs, some sort of grain, mac and cheese, whatever I buy at school...).

*sounds out* fri... frita..... free-taaahhhh-taahhhhhh......

 

[Abby_Normal]

*sounds out* fri... frita..... free-taaahhhh-taahhhhhh......

It's basically an omelet you bake in the oven (or you could cook it on the stovetop).

My usual recipe:
1 egg (augment depending upon your appetite)
1 egg white
milk
olive oil
1 cup frozen broccoli, pre-chopped (or veggie of your choice)
garlic (if I feel like it)
pinch of dry basil or other herb, plus salt and pepper
mix of Parmasan and whole wheat breadcrumbs (enough to sprinkle on top)

Preheat oven to about 400F (if you're planning to cook frittata in oven)

1) Beat eggs with milk. Set aside.
2) heat olive oil in a small frying pan on medium. Saute broccoli, garlic and basil
3) turn off heat. Pour in eggs. Try to make sure veggies are evenly distributed.
4) If you're going to use the oven, put the frittata in the oven (NOTE:make sure your frying pan is oven-safe. Most cast-iron ones are. If you want to use the oven and don't have an oven-safe frying pan, place your sauteed veggies and eggs in an oven-safe dish and use that). If you're going to use the stove, turn the stove back on medium to medium-high and keep cooking. Cooking time varies depending upon size of frittata/method. For a 1-2 egg frittatah in the oven it's about 20 min.
5) When fritatta is almost done (i.e. when the egg is pretty much set--only a little liquidy, for 1-2 eggs, at about 15min), sprinkle breadcrumb/parmasan mix on top.
6) Cook until set
7) Remove from oven/stove. Transfer to plate with spatula.

 

[2012mdc]

I can't cook well so I keep it simple and try to do things that will last multiple days or are very quick to cook

spaghetti
chicken, shrimp, or scallops alfredo
Rice or mashed potatoes, veggies, and seasoned chicken, pork chops, steak, or tilapia.
turkey burgers.

If I know need to cook that night in the morning before I leave I just take stuff out of the freezer and put in the fridge. When I get home I'll marinate the meat and let it sit for an hour or two and then it's pretty quick to prepare. Pan fry it for 5-10 mins based on how thick it is and then bake it for about 15-20 mins. It's pretty simple and I say this as average cook (for a guy at least)

 

[Kevin Baker]

I've started eating out a lot more but some easy gourmet meals are omelettes, burgers, and pan seared steak. Omelettes are relatively simply and can be microwaved. I add some canned salmon to kick it up. For burgets, I make them like a meatball and add breadcrumbs to the meat. Then when I make a circular patty, I put cheese inside. When the cheese starts melting, I know the burger is done, plus there is delicious cheese on the inside. Alton Brown has a great pan seared steak recipe but tldr: heat oven 500 degrees, put in skillet, take skillet out, put meat on skillet for 1-2 mins, flip, put other side of meat on for 1-2 mins, put skillet+steak back into oven for 5-10 minutes, and you're good to go.

 

[D elegans]

It's basically an omelet you bake in the oven (or you could cook it on the stovetop).

My usual recipe:
1 egg (augment depending upon your appetite)
1 egg white
milk
olive oil
1 cup frozen broccoli, pre-chopped (or veggie of your choice)
garlic (if I feel like it)
pinch of dry basil or other herb, plus salt and pepper
mix of Parmasan and whole wheat breadcrumbs (enough to sprinkle on top)

Preheat oven to about 400F (if you're planning to cook frittata in oven)

1) Beat eggs with milk. Set aside.
2) heat olive oil in a small frying pan on medium. Saute broccoli, garlic and basil
3) turn off heat. Pour in eggs. Try to make sure veggies are evenly distributed.
4) If you're going to use the oven, put the frittata in the oven (NOTE:make sure your frying pan is oven-safe. Most cast-iron ones are. If you want to use the oven and don't have an oven-safe frying pan, place your sauteed veggies and eggs in an oven-safe dish and use that). If you're going to use the stove, turn the stove back on medium to medium-high and keep cooking. Cooking time varies depending upon size of frittata/method. For a 1-2 egg frittatah in the oven it's about 20 min.
5) When fritatta is almost done (i.e. when the egg is pretty much set--only a little liquidy, for 1-2 eggs, at about 15min), sprinkle breadcrumb/parmasan mix on top.
6) Cook until set
7) Remove from oven/stove. Transfer to plate with spatula.

That sounds great. Will try. Thanks!!

 

[Abby_Normal]

That sounds great. Will try. Thanks!!

Just as a note, I wouldn't totally trust my cooking times. My stove and oven are kind of crap.

 

[Dr McSexy]

Alton Brown has a great pan seared steak recipe but tldr: heat oven 500 degrees, put in skillet, take skillet out, put meat on skillet for 1-2 mins, flip, put other side of meat on for 1-2 mins, put skillet+steak back into oven for 5-10 minutes, and you're good to go.

Yup, especially if you are doing it right and it's done in a well seasoned cast iron skillet.

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For me, it's all about planning ahead and having ingredients around the apartment as well as various meat defrosted (beef, chicken, fish, etc). If I'm in a hurry, throwing some chicken on the George Foreman or throwing some pork chops in the oven or in the cast iron with some seasoning is easy. Some items I'll cheat on like getting a pre-made etouffee base and throwing some shrimp or crawfish in there and serve it over rice.

Else if I'm just lazy or forget to plan ahead, I typically am either finding something to pick up or am doing some kind of frozen food (pizza, stouffer's etc.).

 

[valkener]

In the morning oatmeal or bread. I have a bread maker so I can bake tons of whole wheat bread and make sandwiches for lunch breaks at med school. If you know what they put into commercial bread you'd do it too .

I usually cook large quantities for dinner that I can feast on for the rest of the weak like spaghetti, rice with chicken and cream, meatloaf - etc. Once you truly start cooking good food you can never go back to junky fast food because you feel robbed.

 

[Abby_Normal]

I have a bread maker so I can bake tons of whole wheat bread and make sandwiches for lunch breaks at med school. If you know what they put into commercial bread you'd do it too .

So do I. Scariness of store-bought bread aside, it saves money. Some friends of mine calculated that, with their bread machine, they could make a loaf for about fifty cents (that was three years ago, so it's probably a bit more now).

Also there's nothing quite like coming down to fresh bread in the morning. I can't do that now, because I live in a studio apartment and the machine would wake me up, but senior year of college when my friends and I were jointly renting a house...it made getting out of bed making one's way down to the freezing kitchen of our underheated house worthwhile.