Feeling rushed on time? Do you have a college budget? Are you always hungry? Have no fear and let me help guide you through the wonderful years of college cooking.

The best way to go about this is to plan in advance what your meals for the week will be. For example, on Sunday I write out what meals I am having and on what day, so that way when I am busy during the week, I don’t have to think about it. The other thing that I do is make a list when I grocery shop. Finally, start preparing your meals on Sunday and make more than one serving. This is the perfect way to have plenty of time and left over food.

The following are quick, easy and tasty meals:

Fish, broccoli and sweet potatoes

Easy enough, right? Your fish and its size will determine the degree of heat to bake it at in the oven. Other than that, steam broccoli in the microwave and either boil or bake a sweet potato. If you boil the sweet potatoes, it will take around 15-20 minutes. If you bake the great form of carbohydrate, expect it to take about an hour. The broccoli will take anywhere from 3-6 minutes, depending on the amount of broccoli you use. Easy enough, right? You can also do this with chicken. Just throw some light Italian or Cajun seasoning on it.

Make enough of all three to have 2-3 meals out of it.

Homemade burrito bowls

Do you love Chipotle, but don’t want to spend $8 on dinner? Choose this, then.

Cook rice. Open a can of black beans. Buy a bag of shredded lettuce. Cut up some peppers and add corn. Do you like sour cream, cheese and salsa? Great! Now add it all together and BOOM! Dinner. Want to add protein? Try adding fish, shrimp, chicken or steak.

Pasta

How many types of pastas can you think of? Ziti, spaghetti, fettuccine, orzo, tortelloni, angel hair, bow tie (farfalle), rotini, shells, linguine and need I go on? Let’s talk about cheese now. Gorgonzola, provolone, Swiss, parmesan, Romano, mozzarella, or goat cheese, if that’s your thing. Sauce: oil, marinara, alfredo, meat sauce, tomato sauce, or if those aren’t hitting any taste buds, you can always go bare. With all of those pastas, sauces and cheeses I named, there is enough combinations for weeks' worth of meals.

I can go on and on about PB&J, cold sandwiches, frozen pizza, ramen noodles, mac & cheese, Pop-Tarts, cereal and whatever else processed, frozen, cheap, terrible so-called food out there, but where's the fun in that?

Buy a crockpot. It will save your life. Soups, stews, stir-fry and just about anything you can think is a great crockpot recipe. Leave the crockpot on low for 5-7 hours depending on what you’re cooking and it’s that simple. One of my favorite recipes is vegetarian burritos. You can add meat if you’d like.

Make sure you grease the crockpot by spraying it generously with Pam or any other form of spray butter. GREASE THE CROCKPOT (spray generously with pam)

Mix thoroughly:

Stir mixture in the grease crockpot. Cover & cook on low 6-9 hours. Top with sour cream and salsa if desired.

1 1/2 cups raw long grain rice

2 cans of tomatoes

1 can of refried beans

2 tablespoons of oil (like olive or vegetable)

1 cup cottage cheese

1 cup cheese

**1 can (4oz) of chili peppers, drained & chopped

** 1 finely chopped onion

** 1 teaspoon of garlic powder

Enjoy!

**: Can add it, but not necessary