The Beginner’s Guide to Feeding Yourself in University

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been one of those people that are not meant to be around kitchen appliances. Something ALWAYS goes wrong—I’ve melted plastic onto the toaster, I’ve turned cookies into hockey pucks, and one time, I almost set a microwave on fire by putting a bowl of instant noodles in… without water. So you can imagine that the idea of having to cook for myself in university was daunting, and I’m sure I’m not the only person living without a meal plan (or living with a very mediocre meal plan) that feared they would probably gain the freshmen 15 purely in instant noodles. It is week four of university, however, and I have not burned down the kitchen, gained any extra chins, OR opened a SINGLE pack of instant noodles. How did I do it? Here are my very rudimentary tips to feeding yourself when your signature dish is still the idiot sandwich.*

*Disclaimer: Although I have managed to subsist on the food that I’ve been consuming, it should be noted that this diet is not necessarily healthy. I’m not a nutritionist, just a lazy student on a budget.

DON’T Neglect your vegetables

Your parents have probably been telling you this since you were little, but seriously, vegetables are useful. They give every dish—including those instant noodles you love so dearly—into an actual meal. Personally I have a small army of vegetables on hand that I just toss into whatever I happen to be eating that day, and voila! I’m under the illusion of being healthy AND I get to pretend that I’m Gordon Ramsey (especially when I’m cutting onions, at which point I employ some of the same language he uses in the kitchen).  

DO Skip the chips

Snacking is one of the hardest habits to kick, especially when you’re in university and you eat away your problems. In order to avoid creating health issues on top of your existing stress, however, consider replacing junk food with fruits (and not just the gummy ones), or granola bars—you know, the yummy stuff that isn’t toxic to your body? You might think you can’t live without Doritos Sweet Chili Heat, but the truth of the matter is that when the munchies hit any food in sight is a sufficient option. Who’s really willing to leave the apartment for a bag of chips? Not me (yet).

DON’T Plan for leftovers

Funnily enough, when I wrote the first draft for this article I said DO make more than you need to avoid cooking multiple nights in a row. I have since discovered that this is a terrible, terrible mistake. There are three possible outcomes when you make four days worth of pasta:  1) you eat all four days of pasta in one sitting and hate yourself 2) you eat pasta for the one night then don’t feel like eating pasta for the next week, and you’re forced to shamefully avoid looking at it every time you go in the fridge for something else 3) you completely forget you made pasta and end up cooking a large meal AGAIN, leaving you with unreasonable amounts of food that you feed to your roommate under the guise that it “probably” hasn’t gone bad yet.

In summary: cook enough for one meal, two at maximum. It’s just the less stressful option.

DO Stir fry, often

Honestly, I’m not sure what I would do without stir fry. Stir fry is the most accepting dish—it works with as little or as many ingredients as you have, and doesn’t discriminate against anything that’s been sitting in your pantry collecting dust. Basically, if you have at least three vegetables and you have stir fry sauce (which you can just buy in a jar rather than make—I highly recommend the General Tao sauce from VH), you have a meal. It’s amazing.

DON’T Bother with aesthetic

I’m addicted to Facebook cooking videos (Get In My Belly and Buzzfeed’s Tasty are my personal favourites). I hoard recipes in my bookmarks and when I’m feeling brave I attempt them… and almost never get the same result. But that’s okay! My ground rule is that if it’s edible, it’s successful, so don’t be discouraged if everything you make looks like it fell on the floor twice before making it to your plate. Be adventurous, make those dishes, then just eat them—don’t worry about the Insta-worthy pic, save that for the pros.   

Picture sources:

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• cooking
• first year
• food