It’s that time of year again. Students are packing up the u-hauls and giving Target and Walmart a nice boost this quarter. For those of you moving into apartments this will be your first time with your OWN kitchen. I’ve seen it been done but it’s not right to just eat cereal and ramen and frozen pizzas for the rest of your college life. You can do better than that.

Whether you’re going to Iowa State, University of Iowa, Drake, UNI or any other college in Iowa you want to have the best kitchen and food. Here are 7 college kitchen essentials for you to become a Foodster.

Mixing Bowls

Essential. There can be many uses with mixing bowls. For the smaller sizes they can be used as snack or cereal bowls. The larger ones can be your popcorn bowl for when you decide to have a night in with your friends.

Pizza Slicer

When I first moved in, we had forgotten to pack a pizza slicer. That was super inconvenient. This should be towards the top of your list because we all know a frozen pizza is a crowdpleaser when you’re with your friends watching the away football games on ESPN.

 

Coffee Maker

College = Coffee and combing those two costs over several years might add up to own your own Starbucks franchise. Save yourself money in the long run and brew your own coffee at home. You can drink as much of it as you want and whenever you want and at the same time it’ll make your place smell good.

Frying Pan

What else are you going to cook your eggs on? Pick out a frying pan for your place that has a nice heavy handle and a non-stick surface. The suggested size would be a 10″ frying pan. That’s a pretty universal size and can handle all of your pancake and frying needs.

Magic Bullet

A magic bullet saves the day. You can make morning smoothies, protein shakes, milkshakes, and even grind your own coffee beans with this. A small, and powerful blender is a must.

Mixer

Unless you look like this, you’re going to want a hand-held mixer. There have been plenty of times where I thought I would be okay mixing up a baked good recipe only to find out you can’t really cream butter with a wood spatula. You can find really cheap ones at Goodwill for $5.

Cleaning Supplies

Oh yeah, don’t forget. Your mom isn’t home to clean up after you’re done cooking and eating. 😉