College and Cooking: A Complex Relationship

College is a time of balancing school, work, social life, different clubs/organizations and, of course, stress. Trying to squeeze in time to eat a good meal is important to help you get through the day! While it’s easy to go through a drive-thru or more fun to go out to a restaurant, it comes at a higher price than students realize. 

Personally, I realized after my freshman year how much money I spent just on eating out. Lacking a kitchen in the dorm to cook with meant my meals came from the dining hall, which, let’s be honest, isn’t the best, and led to me wanting to go out to eat instead. Going into my sophomore year I was going to be living in my first apartment and one of the things I looked forward to most was, yes, a kitchen. When I first moved in and started to buy pots and pans, I started to think about different dishes I could make. They’re all basic, but with fresh ingredients, they taste better than most of what you could find around. When you look at certain recipes to try, most of them call for similar ingredients or spices that can be used in different ways to create a new dish. 

Thinking about where you want to pick up food is less work than thinking about what you want to cook, getting the ingredients and putting in the time to cook and clean, but is it more worth it? Eating out can be deceptive in thinking “Oh it’s the same amount as if I bought groceries,” but if you calculate how much ingredients cost (and that they can be used for other dishes) compared to buying out plus the tip, there is a notable difference. Buying spices that are used in dishes constantly should be looked at as an investment! Creating a “staple set” of spices and seasonings is a great way to start building your kitchen! 

I just started my junior year and when I look back at my sophomore year habits, I realized even though I started cooking a lot more I still went out to eat. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it easier to stay in rather than eat out. Taking advantage of the time to be socially distant and staying home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I have also had more time to try new recipes and branch out on my cooking techniques. Having the time to get better at cooking and get my basic set of pantry needs together has allowed me to enjoy the actual cooking part even more. The process of getting it together can be boring at first, but once you have the ingredients and can just start cooking it’s worth it!

Starting off with simple dishes is also a key step in getting into the cooking world. Trying to tackle a complex dish first will leave you feeling defeated and negative towards cooking. Being able to have a delicious meal, where you know where everything came from and knowing you cooked, it is one of the most rewarding senses of accomplishment. Each dish you cook is a step towards cutting off the “need” to eat out. Remember, not every dish is going to be amazing, but learning is more rewarding than going to the same take-out place. Keep trying new things!

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• cooking
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