Customer Reviews

Cooking Outside the Pizza Box: Easy Recipes for Today's College Student

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I originally bought this book for myself, and found it to be too introductory for me, so I gave it to my brother, who despite being older than me still calls me to ask things like how you mash a potato. The recipes are very easy to read, making no assumptions about previous knowledge, and they utilize store-bought pre-prepared ingredients (the author is especially fond of frozen potsticker dumplings) in a way that is helpful to college students, although I thought occasionally the scratch alternative would have been no more difficult and probably cheaper and better tasting.
What I love best about the book is the way it is organized. Recipes that require no cooking or are microwave-only are marked with big icons on the page, and while the recipes are organized by meal or food type, like most books, the book also contains multiple tables of contents that group the recipes differently--vegetarian, microwavable, appropriate for a date, seasonally, etc.--and even has one set of listings that put together recipes for a complete meal. While not particularly elaborate (as most of the recipes are pretty simple anyway) I love this feature, because matching flavors can be particularly difficult for a new cook, and for any cook a recipe book can be unhelpful in planning a meal if you don't kind of already know what you want.
The first section of the book is also really good for first-timers because it goes over the basics of setting up, cleaning, and sharing a kitchen. It provides lists of basic equipment and the basic ingredients you should always have on hand, and this list is in general pretty sensitive to the limitations of dorm sizes and mini-fridges. It even gives cleaning instructions for some of the less obvious cleaning challenges in the kitchen. I thought the list of things to discuss and agree on with roommates regarding kitchen use was particularly helpful. Lastly, the book itself is well-designed, being spiral-bound rather than a traditional paperback, so that it lays flat easily while staying open to the same page hands-free. This seems like a silly note, but I have a lot of cookbooks, some with a similar target market as this one, and I've had to waste a lot of time copying recipes down onto other paper or recipe cards just because I needed both hands and the book kept closing itself or flipping to another page.
In summary, a great book for someone who doesn't know anything about cooking. Would make a great high school graduation gift perhaps made more interesting by pairing it with some of the basic kitchen tool necessities listed in the first few chapters of the book.

I don't know about college students, but I do know that I'm not sure how I've made it 33 years in life without this book. The great thing about this cookbook is, the meals don't take 5 hours to prepare, and it's all very simple--almost as fast and easy as calling up the pizza delivery guy, and a helluva lot healthier. I even impressed my new fiance. ;)

These recipes are quite simple and perhaps someone who is an experienced chef might not like them, but I am a singleton who works 60 hours per week and this book is full of quick dinners, and more importantly, stuff that I can make and take to work to reheat for lunch.

I wish somebody had given this book to me when I left the nest. It covers all the basics and would have saved me a lot of calls to Mom. Everything is organized so well, with what you need listed at the top of the page and careful, step-by-step instructions below. The spiral cover makes it easy to set it down on the countertop and not worry about it flipping over to another page. The perfect gift for a graduate.

As Jean Patterson's sister, I was the target audience for this book. Since I was a college student with little to no experience in the kitchen, I needed help. Scrambled eggs were a nightmare, and macaroni and cheese from the box was as good as got.
After testing recipes that my sister sent me I discovered that the directions were not only easy to follow, but the results were incredible. My brownies have even been praised as the best ever tasted. Yes, even better than Grandma's. I find with this book I am eating much healthier, and saving money as well.
This book did wonders. Plus it makes a great gift for students!

I bought this for my daughter who has almost no time to cook and is on a tight budget. What college student just happens to have a bag of avocadoes, asian dumplings, or fresh basil leaves lying around? The recipes in here are strong on the hippie vegetarian San Francisco side rather than the "top ramen" quick fix side. What a college student really needs is ideas of what to do with NORMAL ingredients and items that can be stocked without going bad. This book may be better for someone who actually has some interest in the "art" of cooking rather than just getting something on the healthy side in your stomach quickly. I guess I will keep looking for a true college student cookbook.

I gave this to my 21 year old son who just got his own apartment but was still in college and living 3 hours from ome. He was interested in cooking and was calling me up for "recipes" and advice on how to cook his favorite foods. This book seemed too simplistic to me, but he said it was just what he needed and was a great help.

If it wasn't for this book, I would have starved.

I didn't get this when I went away to college. I'm going on my third year and this is also the first year I have to start cooking all my meals. I got this book for the how-to on simple everyday things that I think every kid/teenager/young adult should know about cooking. I've used it a few times already, mostly just to consult with and build off of. I do think it will always serve as a good reference or for those nights when I want something different I know I can always open it up and find something new that isn't complicated and doesn't call for too many ingredients. Overall I would definitely recommend this book. For once I'm not reading a recipe and going "what's that ingredient?" I'm more comfortable being able to check things like whether or not I need butter/oil in the pan to cook french toast and other such simple things that the experienced cook doesn't even think about. A very good guide to get you started.

This book is a good cookbook for poor, mac and cheese eating college students. The receipes are easy to follow and cheap to make. The only thing I didn't like about it was that is was too short...more receipes please!