Kit Leffler/Jayplay photographer
Models:
Dave Stevens
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Family-style
By Laura Snyder, Jayplay writer
Sharing the cooking responsibilities with your roommates will help you bond and save some cash
Gabby Quigle, Portland, Ore. senior lived with five female roommates and three
three of their boyfriends her sophomore year. With classes and extracurricular activities, the roommates rarely saw one another. To make sure they had time to socialize and bond with each other, they scheduled house
Jenny Gross, Auburn junior and proctor of Margaret Amini Scholarship
Roommate dinner tips
- Figure out what meal you want to prepare before going to the grocery store.
- Make a list of the ingredients, and decide who will be responsible for each menu item.
- Take turns with food responsibilities. Don't make one roommate always buy the meat while the others have less expensive items like bread or salad.
dinners together two or three times a week.
amm scholarship Hall, agrees that cooking together is a fun way for roommates to bond. Gross is in charge of divvying up cooking and cleaning duties for the hall's 50 residents, who take turns preparing meals - lunch and dinner on
weekdays and dinner on weekends Gross says cooking for the other residents builds community. "You're cooking for your own people," she says.
Stretch your dollar
Quigle says her roommates saved money by each buying only one part of the meal - the salad, meat, bread or dessert -- which was cheaper than buying all of the ingredients to cook for themselves individually. Leftovers are
The cost of food preparation also weighs in, says Gross. Because the residents at Margaret Amini prepare their own meals instead of paying someone else to do it, students save more money than they would on a residence hall meal plan.
an added bonus. "We always had big meals with lots of leftovers that were up for grabs," she says.
Make a plan for dining
Susan Fee, counselor at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, Ohio and author of My Roommate is Driving Me Crazy, suggests that roommates establish a food policy before moving in together in order to avoid conflict later.
If you do decide to have meals together, how will you split the bill? Who will be in charge of cooking and clean-up? After you've answered those questions, plan out a couple weekly dinners with your roomies and get cooking.
Chili and cornbread
Ingredients:
Ground beef
Packet of chill seasoning
Can of red beans
Can of diced tomatoes
1 onion (chopped)
1 to 2 cups water
Sour cream
Grated cheddar cheese
Jalapenos
Fritos chips
1 box Jiffy yellow cake mix
1 box Jiffy corn bread mix
Preparation: One roommate can fry out the hamburger and onion in a pot, add the other ingredients and bring to a boil. The chili should simmer for an hour or two before serving topping with sour cream, grated cheddar cheese, jalapenos and Fritos chips. Meanwhile, another roommate can make cornbread for a side. Combine the corn bread and cake mix for an extra-sweet corn bread. Follow the instructions on the back of the boxes.
Taco night
What you'll need:
Lettuce
Tomato
Cheese
Onion
Ground beef
Packet of taco seasoning
Taco shells
Preparation: Have one roommate brown the ground beef in a skillet and add taco seasoning while the others chop lettuce, tomato, and onion and grate cheese. Have another roommate experiment with making homemade salsa to accompany the tacos, or mix margaritas to top off your festive meal.
Spaghetti dinner
What you'll need:
1 box of spaghetti noodles
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
Ground beef or Italian sausage
Loaf of bread
Salad (lettuce, vegetables, dressi
Salad (lettuce, vegetables, dressing)
Preparation: While the spaghetti is boiling, have one roommate brown ground beef (or Italian sausage if you want a little spice) in a skillet and add spaghetti sauce. Another roommate can chop vegetables such as peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms and onions for the salad. Someone else can slice French or Italian bread, butter it, sprinkle with garlic powder and place it under the broiler until toasty. And don't forget the wine!
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Jayplay 12.01.05