WEB WATCH

www.yumyum.com
www.allrecipes.com
www.aboutcollege.com

Have you already memorized the cafeteria menu?

Looking for a little variety in your meals? Then it is time to get in the kitchen and make some simple meals–no matter how little cooking experience you may have.

With the help of the following Web sites, cooking is made easy.

The simplest Web site is yumyum.com. This site must be geared to mainly college students because many of the meals require little effort to make. Recipes include those for oven barbecue chicken, steamed vegetables, pork chops and a vast array of desserts.

Yumyum explains how to make simple items, such as baked potatoes, that may not be found in most recipe books and that some college students may not already know how to prepare.

The site offers a beginner’s guide, a quick recipe search, a chat section, and contests to win prizes, such as heated gourmet servers.

The site also features advice such as household hints and microwave safety tips (valuable when preparing food in the dorms). Random recipes can also be viewed. An interesting selection is the “chocolate peanut butter cups a la Weight Watchers.”

As for meals, various recipes are provided for the same entree. Under the lasagna category, dozens of lasagna recipes can be found. This includes eggplant, spinach, or mexi-corn lasagna, to name a few.

Allrecipes.com contains more involved recipes, yet they sound ever so delicious. Even though they may require more kitchen know-how, the recipes are well worth putting the time in to make.

Simply search for a particular meal or search by ingredient. Recipes are included for pasta, vegetarian meals, seafood, and side dishes, among others. A listing of the “Top 10 Recipes” is provided. A few of its ingredients are cocoa powder, chocolate cookie crumbs, and best of all, Irish cream liquor.

Speaking of chocolate, links from allrecipes.com can take the visitor to Betty Crocker’s and Hershey’s sites. One of the best features of this site is that nutrition and calorie information is also included with the recipes. No wonder this site is ranked among the top ten food-related Web sites.

Visit aboutcollege.com/recipe.htm for easy to make, yet very tasty meal options. The best aspect of the site is that the recipes provided can be made easily in an apartment or dormitory room, provided that the right ingredients are stocked, of course.

Recipes for meals include: chicken Caesar wraps, garlic cheese bread, and turkey burritos, which can all be washed down with a refreshing banana smoothie.

While the site is not nearly as attractively laid out as the previously mentioned Web sites, it most definitely contains some good ideas for lunch and dinner.

At the bottom of the Web page there is the option to send in a recipe of your own to contribute to the site.

So stop complaining about cafeteria food and eating Ramen noodle soup every night for dinner. Get in the kitchen and get creative. But first, get online and check out these sites for some wonderful culinary suggestions.