I am a freshman at NC State, and like many of my peers, I was living in the dorms on campus and got kicked off about a month ago because of COVID 19. Due to my high risk family and my desire to stay close to campus, some of my friends and I decided to split an apartment together.
The ease into adulthood through dorm life was short lived. Now, learning how to take care of myself has been a little bumpy. Without dining halls and everything you could ever need within walking distance, the transition between living at home and living by yourself became a little bit more drastic than I was expecting.
Meal planning! Who ever thought it would be so difficult? It is hard to find time to finish all my homework, much less plan out my meals. Here are some tricks I found that not only motivated me to plan my meals, but cook them as well:
- Meal Planning
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Pick a time once a week where you plan out what you want to eat, how to make it, and what ingredients go into it. Keep this consistent! When you forget, going into the grocery store without knowing what you need to buy can be super confusing and personally, I just end up buying a bunch of snacks or ingredients I never even end up using.
- Grocery Shopping can be Fun
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Find a grocery shopping buddy! I have found it to be so much more enjoyable and fun to grocery shop with a friend. It turns the chore into a little date. This is also a good motivator to meal plan and buy groceries instead of going out to eat. (This was a real problem for me but I realized I was spending way too much money eating at restaurants).
- Cook with Company
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Similar to the last one, find someone you like to cook with! Usually a roommate, but cooking with a partner or having someone chop while you stir makes the entire night more efficient and fun.
- Have Fun with it
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Make a food playlist. Jamming to some good music while cooking is unbeatable. It gives you something to look forward to if it’s been a long day and having to cook a meal seems like the last thing you want to do.
- Explore!
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Try some new things. It is always exciting to expand your palette and find some more favorites. Eating the same three meals that I knew how to cook became so boring and made me dread cooking them. This way, you can add some adventure into an everyday activity.