Beginner Guide – Making Yourself Dinner

So you have created a budget, but it is dinner time and you want to save some cash and make it yourself. The only problem is you have no idea what you are doing and even if you did, you probably don’t have the tools you need to try. Don’t you worry, YOU GOT THIS, and I am here to help you!

Let’s assume you just moved in to your new apartment all by yourself! (GO YOU!) Let’s also assume you have nothing but plates and silverware in your kitchen cabinets because you are just starting out. If you have a few pots and pans GREAT you are ahead of the game and can skip through some sections, but if you are new to all of this, I will explain all you need to know from start to finish. Now let’s get cooking!

I thought a nice simple way to start things off would be with pasta. I personally could eat pasta every day and not get bored! It is also very easy to adapt to food allergies or preference and requires very little equipment and know-how.

Difficulty – 1        Adult Level – 2        Fun Factor – 5-10!

Tools you need:

Microwave: I would think you have one of these already but if not, you can one for under $60 just about anywhere.
Large Pot: 10 to 12 quarts will be plenty. If you find you need more you can go bigger. This size will be enough to throw a whole box of pasta in, and then some!
For the frugal type: This Guy
For miss moneybags: My New Baby

Colander: A colander is for draining your pasta once it is done cooking. There are lots of styles and options depending on what you want, but if you are just starting out just go simple. My current colander was a thrift store find, it is solid metal and I can just throw it in the dishwasher!
For the frugal type: This One (also I bought one in the $1 section at target before)
For Miss moneybags: In so many colors! (This is purely aesthetic, it isn’t a complicated thing, get what you like)

Big Wooden Spoon: The spoon needs to be long enough so you can stir contents of the pot without worrying about burning your hand. It is also important to get a wooden spoon, they are better all around for the beginner. A plastic spoon can melt if you set it close to stuff or forget and leave it in a pot or pan, and a metal spoon can scratch the nonstick layer off of nonstick pans making them useless and possibly toxic.
Anything long enough will do, but here is an example: Spoons!

Note On Buying Kitchen stuff: This depends on what is in your budget at the moment for kitchen stuff. I suggest getting the nicest thing you can realistically afford because you really get what you pay for when it comes to most cooking equipment. A nice sturdy pot/pan can last generations. That being said, go thrifting! You can find grandmas old colander for a fraction of the price of a new one. PLUS once you are in a better financial place, and know what the heck you are doing, you don’t feel so bad about donating a perfectly good (and ugly) old pot, and buying a fancy new one! I also recommend asking around, friends and family might be looking for an excuse to upgrade and will happily give you their old kitchen equipment to get it out of their house!

I also give you my promise (ala Alton Brown) to never tell you to buy a gadget that only serves one purpose. Everything I tell you to get will be a multitasker or an everyday use item that you can’t substitute for something you already have.

Food Items Needed:

For the main example we are going to be making CHEAP AND EASY fettuccine Alfredo with peas. Sound like another language? That is because it is! Classic fettuccine Alfredo is made with butter and cheese, but we are making this as simple as possible for you so we are going with a jar of white sauce. If this isn’t your thing skip to the bottom for some other options, then meet me back up here for the how to.

Dried Pasta: The “Fettuccine” in fettuccine Alfredo is the pasta. Pasta has a ton of different shapes and awesome names to go with them, that I mostly have no idea how to pronounce. So next time you are in the pasta isle looking at the seemingly endless wall of options, look through that little window in the box and pick the shape or type that seems the most fun to you, because they all cook the exact same way, in a pot of boiling water… it isn’t complicated, so have fun with it.

Kosher Salt: So you might say “OH I have that!” but before you go shaking that crazy shaped salt shaker into the pot, hear me out!
You need to go buy KOSHER SALT!
But why Alyssa, will the salt of my tears not do?
NO! You need to use kosher salt because it is a heck of a lot easier to work with and you are far less likely to mess up your salt content because you have to add a lot more of it to get to the same saltiness as regular old table salt. It is what the pros use and I have the rare opportunity to catch you early in your cooking habits, so I want to brainwash before someone else gets to you!

Sauce: This is the Alfredo part of the name. For the sake of simplicity while you are at the store picking out your pasta grab a jar of “Alfredo” sauce. There are going to be a ton of brands with a ton of options(added mushrooms or garlic or some other nonsense), but they are all basically going to be about the same and taste about the same.

Veggie: To save from needing another pot you can get veggies in a steam bag in the frozen food section of the grocery store. Usually they have a picture of a microwave on the bag. For the example you will need to get peas. The little round green ball kind 🙂

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: If you really need to you can skip the Olive Oil, but it is a kitchen staple so it isn’t like you won’t use it again if you do decide to buy it. The olive oil keeps your water from boiling over when it starts getting starchy bubbles from the pasta cooking. It also helps your pasta not stick together if you have leftover pasta.

Time You Will Need: 30min

After you have all your tools and ingredients it will take about 30 min.
That is a really rough estimate though and you will get quicker each time you make it. It also depends on what type of  pasta you grabbed and how much you are making (some cook faster than others) and if you are adding meat, or making your own sauce.

In it’s simplest form I can have noodles in a bowl with sauce in 8 min.

Directions:

Now that you have gathered all your stuff it is time to start cooking!

1. Fill your big pot half way with water and put it on the stove on the highest heat you can!
2. Throw in a few big hefty pinches of salt (about 1 tablespoonish)
3. Pour in a few glugs of Olive Oil (about 2 tablespoons)
4. Wait for water to start boiling (like crazy boiling with all the bubbles!!!) Then throw in the Pasta and give it a stir!
5. Your box/bag that your pasta comes in will have the amount of time to cook the pasta so set a timer for the time on the box.
6. Get your veggies going in the microwave. Either microwave peas in microwave safe bowl for 4 min or follow instructions on the bag.
7. While you are waiting for your pasta to cook put your Colander in your sink, get your bowls ready, and open your jar of sauce.
8. Stir your pasta every few minutes so it doesn’t stick together (This is super important for long noodley pasta like Fettuccine & spaghetti)
9. Once your timer goes off you can test to see if your pasta is done by fishing one of them out ad THROWING IT AT A WALL! This only works with the noodley ones, but if it sticks it is done! So when it is ready turn your stove off and using oven mits (or rags, or old clothes, or whatever you got) grab your pot and pour the whole thing into the colander in your sink.
10. Now get that pasta into the bowls, you can use a fork here if you don’t have tongs. (I like tongs best for moving long noodley pastas, and big spoons for short pasta)
11. Next Spoon a few spoonfuls of sauce & peas over your hot pasta and give it a little stir.

Dinner Accomplished! GO YOU!

Fun Fact! I used to test noodle doneness on my cat and he would eat the noodles off his back… The noodles will really stick when they are ready. You are an adult now you can do what you want! Throw the noodles everywhere and have fun! NOODLES!

BONUS POINTS!!!!!
Add a meat!

Meatballs – Buy some frozen meatballs and heat them up in the microwave or oven following the instructions on the bag!

Chicken – You can buy pre-cooked, pre-sliced chicken breast at the store if you want to make it super simple. You just heat it up in the microwave and throw it on top of the pasta before the sauce. On the other hand, buying frozen chicken breasts and cooking them yourself will get you a lot more meat for your money, AND I learned a trick that makes it OH SO EASY! This Post explains it very well and in a very beginner friendly way.

Sausage – You can buy cooked sausage and slice it up to put in with your pasta. Like the meatballs you just need to heat them up and they are ready to go.

Skipping to the bottom? Here are some other options:
Spaghetti with red sauce & broccoli
Penne with vodka sauce and Salad (you can get a bag salad, throw it in a bowl & stir, done!)
You can also slice up some french bread to go with your meal.
The combinations are really up to you though, just pick up a bunch of different options from the store and just keep trying stuff until you find something that you really like.

Notes:
The great thing about pasta is it is as complicated as you want to make it. Since the core parts of it can all be bought pre-made, you can ease into more complicated cooking by making only certain parts from scratch. For example when you are ready to make your own sauce you can still used died pasta and pre-made meatballs, but still end up with a completed meal without committing a whole night to cooking. Once you have that down, why not try making your own noodles! AND THE BEST PART! The closer you get to making it from scratch the cheaper it gets!

Imagine a few weeks/months from now looking in your fridge to find it “empty.” Then fearful of starvation you look to your pantry and realize you have all the core ingredients you need for dinner just waiting for you to make it! Just sitting there always ready to go. I’ll get started now on the “building your pantry post” just to be ready for you 😉 So practice up and try some new things!

Also Below is a recipe card! You can find them on all kinds of cooking blogs and they give you the info you need to make the recipe without all the fluff and pizzazz of the post. It makes it easy to refer back to this post just for the ingredient amounts and directions for when you want to make it again!

What other things are you having a hard time figuring out in this crazy grown up world? Let me know in the comments below!

Note: This post contains affiliate links- I only share what I truly love though!