I occasionally cooked during High School, however, college was my
first real experience cooking on  a daily basis. Since I have lived to
tell the tail, I want to share some of the recipes that I
created/modified which got me through my first two years of college. 

# Level 1: Cooking in the Dorms

Being stuck in a dorm room you are limited to only being able to use
the microwave. Desperate times calls for depraved cooking solutions. 

## Ramen Pizza

![Romen Pizza Final Result](media/cooking/lvl1/romenPizza.jpg)

This recipe surprised me as to how it turned out. You start making
this by microwaving ramen noodles for about a third of the instructed
time in a bowl of water. When you place the noodles in the bowl, make
sure to not break them apart.  After cooking, take the romen noodles
out of the bowl, dry, and place on a plate. Next, you slather the
ramen noodles with your desired pizza toppings and place in the
microwave for around 2 minutes.  

### Ingredients

- Ramen Noodles
- Pasta or Pizza Sauce
- Shreaded Cheese
- Pizza Toppings

## Omelet In a Mug

![Eggs in a Mug Result](media/cooking/lvl1/eggs.jpg)

Life hack: you can cook scrambled eggs in a microwave using a coffee
mug. The resulting eggs are abnormally fluffy and taste a little
strange, but, it makes for a quick meal. It just so happens that you
can also cook hot dogs in the microwave. 

When I stumbled upon this recipe, I clung to it since it was fast,
cheep,  and most of the dinning places on campus were closed by the
time I got out of work.  To make this, you crack and mix two eggs in a
coffee cup.  You then microwave the coffee mug, mixing the eggs every
30 seconds. Half way through cooking the eggs, you add a diced hotdog
and some shredded cheese. Once your eggs have all cooked, you can add
a healthy dosage of salsa. Voila, you have an omelet which can compete
with whatever they are serving at the dinning hall. 

## Ingredients

- 1-2 Eggs
- 1 Hotdog
- Cheese
- Salsa

# Level 2: Cooking With no Time

Time is *very* scarce as a college student, I found the following
recipes to be fast and easy. These recipes are very forgiving in the
sense that you can change the directions and ingredients and still end
up with something resembling food.  

## Chili

![Chili with rice and cheese](media/cooking/lvl2/chili.jpg)

It is *very* hard to make a bad chili.  All you essentially have to do
is gather/prep all the ingredients and plop them in a crock pot and
cook for 6-8 hours on low. You don't have to cook this in a crock pop,
however, it takes more time to prepare on the stove since you have to
monitor it while it cooks for an hour on medium heat. I usually saute
the onions while I cook the ground beef so that it cooks in the grease
of the beef.  The average prep time for this recipe is around 20-30
minutes.  However, if you made this vegetarian you can probably cut
the prep time down to a mere 10 minutes.  

### Ingredients

**Recommended**

- 1 Sauteed Sweet Onion
- 1/4-1/2 lbs Browned Ground Beef
- 2-3 Cans of Beans (Chili and Baked Beans go Well Together)
- Can of Diced Tomatoes

**Optional**

- Can of Corn
- Diced Pepper
- Minced Garlic
- Mustard
- Ketchup
- Chili Powder
- Pepper Flakes
- Brown Sugar

## Poor Man's Chicken Parmesan

![Poor mans Chicken Parmesan Serving Picture](media/cooking/lvl2/chickenParm.jpg)

I call this poor man's chicken parmesan only because it uses chicken
patties, this actually tastes really good. To prepare this you slather
chicken patties with pasta sauce and cheese and then cook normally in
the oven. While the chicken patties bake, you can cook your normal
pasta noodles and sauce. You serve the pasta noodles with the sauce
topped with the cheesy chicken pattie. 

### Ingredients

- Chicken Patties
- Pasta Sauce
- Pasta Noodles
- Cheddar Cheese

## Soup

![Chicken Soup Served with Mozzarella Cheese](media/cooking/lvl2/chickenSoup.jpg)

This is an easy recipe which has *so* many combinations. I usually
make some form of chicken soup, the rest of the ingredients are
entirely dependent on what I have in the kitchen. You will have to
play around with my recommenced ingredient list to find the perfect
combination for you, however, I have not found a combination which did
not work with me-- yet.  Similar to chili, you just put all the
ingredients in a crock pot and let simmer on low for 6-8 hours. I
would recommend putting in spices like garlic and basil during the
last hour of cooking to keep their flavors sharp. You want to add the
salt and pepper to the soup in the beginning. 

![Chicken Soup with a red sauce](media/cooking/lvl2/redSoup.jpg)

### Ingredients

- Bag of Frozen Chicken Strips
- 3-4 Diced Potatoes
- Chicken Stock

**Whatever of these you have**

- Diced Carrots
- Diced Onions
- Can of Diced Tomatoes
- Can of Tomato Soup
- Can of Corn
- Diced Peppers
- Stalks of Celery
- Mushrooms
- Minced Garlic
- Basil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Brown Sugar

## Potato Casserole 

![Potato Casserole](media/cooking/lvl2/cheesePotatoes.jpg)

For this recipe you cut all the vegetables and place them in a large
baking pan with the chicken strips. If you want, you can also mix in
some seasonings like salt, garlic, pepper, and basil.  You then then
mix everything together with some canola or vegetable oil. Cook this
casserole in a 350 degrease oven for around 30 minutes. Briefly take
this out of the oven and top with cheese and ranch dressing and place
back in oven for another 10-15 minutes. If you are really cheap, you
can make this with hot dogs rather than pre-cooked chicken strips.  

### Ingredients

- 4-6 Peeled and Cubed Potatoes
- 1-2 Diced Onions
- Bag of Chicken Strips
- Minced Garlic
- Chopped Carrots
- Canola or Vegetable Oil
- Ranch Dressing
- Sour Cream
- Cheeses


# Level 3 Cooking

Once you master the art of sauteing onions and making soups, you are
ready to advance to level three. Nothing I will present is incredibly
difficult, but, there is more room for mistakes and takes longer to
prepare.  

## Fried Rice

![Fried Rice Final Result](media/cooking/lvl3/friedRice.jpg)

The challenging part of this recipe is getting the correct timing. To
finish this dish in 40 minutes, you want to cook 2 cups of rice, brown
ground beef with onions and cook 3 scrambled eggs all simultaneously.
You then combine all these ingredients in a large fry pan with
vegetables and soy sauce. If you want to prevent the dish from turning
out sticky, you should use left over rice.  Or, cook the rice first
and then let if cool in the fridge for a few hours. 

### Ingredients

- 1-2 Cups of Rice
- 1/2 lbs of Ground Beef
- 1 Onion
- Broccoli or Peas
- Soy Sauce

## Chicken

![Chicken Right Out of Oven](media/cooking/lvl3/ovenChicken.jpg)

Cooking raw chicken is definitely not on the syllabus for most college
students. When cooking the chicken I would strongly recommend using a
meat thermometer to make sure that the chicken reaches 165 degrease.
Either buy chicken breasts or cut a whole chicken-- use the left over
chicken spine and wings for chicken stock. On a baking pan lather the
chicken in the marinara sauce that you just mixed (ingredients below)
and sprinkle some salt and pepper on the chicken. Let the chicken cook
for around 30 minutes in a oven that is 400 degrease (until the
chicken reaches 165). After the chicken comes out of the oven, sear it
on a ripping hot skillet with some more of the marinara sauce. Cooking
the chicken this way will keep the chicken juicy and the skin crispy. 

![Chicken Searing](media/cooking/lvl3/chickenSear.jpg)

### Marinara Sauce Ingredients

- 4 TBSP Oil
- 3 TBSP Honey
- Minced Garlic
- 2 TBSP Lemon Juice
- 1/2 TSP Paprika

## Chicken Stock

![Ingredients for Stock](media/cooking/lvl3/stockIngredients.jpg)

If you happen to cook with a whole chicken and end up with some
chicken bones, you are in the perfect position to make chicken stock.
Essentially all you need to do is put your chicken bones, onions,
carrots, and basil in a crock pot cook for 8-12 hours on low. 
Periodically you should skim off the fat that surfaces to the top.  At
the end of the 12 hours you use a fine mesh skimmer to filter out all
the chicken and vegetables. If you want a darker flavor to the stock,
roast the chicken parts and vegetables in the oven before adding them
to the crock pot.  

![Cooking Chicken Stock](media/cooking/lvl3/cookingBroth.jpg)

![Stock Final Result](media/cooking/lvl3/ChickenBroth.jpg)

### Ingredients

- Chicken Bones
- 1-2 Quartered Onions
- 2-3 Carrots

**Optional**

- Celery
- 1 TBSP Soy Sauce
- Basil

## Chicken and Rice

![Chicken and Rice Plate Picture](media/cooking/lvl3/chickenAndRice.jpg)

My version of chicken and rice may not be orthodox.  This recipe came
into existence because I needed something to make which shared
ingredients with the other dishes that I frequently make. 

Essentially, you make rice and put a thick red sauce with chicken,
onions, peppers over it. You prepare the rice like normal. In a large
sauce pan you saute onions and peppers. Once the onions start to
brown, you add diced tomatoes, corn, minced garlic, basil, brown
sugar, frozen chicken strips and mustard. Once the chicken has thawed,
you are ready to serve this dish. 

### Ingredients

- 2 Cups Rice
- Bag of Grilled Chicken Strips
- 1-2 Onions
- 1-2 Peppers
- 1 Can Diced Tomatoes
- 1 Jar Pasta Sauce
- 1 Can Corn
- Minced Garlic
- Brown Sugar
- Basil
