Don’t have a meal plan this year? HerCampus has the tips you need to make it through.
1) Shop the sales
When you walk into just about any grocery store and grab your cart, stop at the newspaper rack right that is right by the door. The paper has the week’s current sales. With some creative thinking you can save money and snag some tasty food. These sales are always listed online if you are more of a planner. Certain things like cold cuts or meats can be frozen for long amounts of time, so buying them and freezing them when they are on sale saves you money and gas. Want to double your savings? Use a frequent shopper card. Last week, I saved $30 with my Harris Teeter VIC card.
2) Leftover Night
Don’t throw away your leftovers! Leftovers are great lunch options. I recommend using your leftovers to create something new so you trick yourself into thinking it is something different entirely. Use leftover chicken on salads and wraps, or turn leftover fish or beef into tacos. My personal favorite is throwing last night’s leftovers on a flatbread. Flatbreads can be Greek, Asian, barbecue, Philly-cheesesteak style, Caprese style… If you can eat it, it can be a flatbread.
3) Wash fruits and veggies ahead of time
Fruits and veggies can go badly pretty quick, especially when you don’t have time to wash and cut them, meaning they are not readily available to eat when you are hungry. Take your grapes out of the bag, wash them and put them in a container. Berries should bet treated the same. Did you buy a cucumber? Cut and peel that too. I keep my fruit that holds at room temperature, like apples and peaches, on the counter where I can see it. This way, I remember to eat them before they go bad. With fruits and vegetables prepped and ready to munch on, you’ll be more likely to not waste money and have a fridge full of inedible food.
4) Always have one premade meal available for the days when cooking isn’t happening
There is absolutely nothing wrong with Ramen, Lean Cuisine, Easy Mac, or a personal-sized Stouffer’s lasagna. These are foods of convenience and will save you time that you would have spent cooking and money you would have spent on takeout. Every night? Not a good idea. A busy day studying for a test? Great idea. These modern “TV dinners” are great time savers and stomach fillers. I would recommend staying away from the Healthy Choice steamers though, these portions are, in my opinion, sub-par.
5) Bring snacks/lunch on campus
At this point in your life, you can’t simply slide by Hawks and get a smoothie or stop by the on campus convenient store and grab a snack. If you get them as often as I did last year, it will slowly but surely chip your bank account into oblivion. To compensate for my old snacking habits, I invested in Ziploc bags. I’ll bring fruit, trail mix, and anything else that travels well. I also have a lunch bag I will keep in my backpack for days when I can’t make it home for lunch. Campus food is expensive, and by doing this I save a bit of money just by packing my lunch.
6) Use recipes and spices
You deserve to eat more than just chicken, frozen vegetables, and pasta. You really do. Variety is key to keeping your attention on cooking what you have and not going out to eat. Pinterest boards and Google are great resources for recipes. I also recommend using spices. Garlic salt, pepper, onion powder, cumin (great for tacos), and montreal steak seasoning are my go-to seasonings. I also experiment with marinades and pasta sauces. Go in the spice aisle and grab something that catches your fancy. For me this past week it was marsala sauce… Wish me luck!
7) Ask your mom or dad
Speaking of recipes, don’t ignore the woman or man who made you fall in love with food—your parents. I asked my mom for a couple recipes when I left for school and she ended up giving me recipes for a couple of my favorite home-cooked foods. Not only does this give me a taste of home, but there’s also comfort in knowing how the end product is going to taste. Cooking is a science, and science involves experiments—a.k.a. trial and error. This is a surefire way of knowing you’ll like what you’re making and your efforts are not in vain.
8) Frozen vegetables and fruits
Frozen Steamfresh vegetables are a great option to always have something to add to the main course. They also have such a long shelf life. You don’t have to stress about them expiring, which means you should make sure to buy them or the store brand versions of these while they are on sale. To add to the benefits, most of these can go from the freezer, have a brief romance with your microwave, and *poof* they are ready to be eaten. Frozen fruits are a great purchase to keep in your freezer to make tasty smoothies. In summary, don’t ignore the freezer aisles. They have some hidden treasures.
9) When in doubt throw it in a pan
I mean it. Chicken, spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes? Delicious. Fish, frozen vegetable medley, and pasta? Put it all in there with some pasta sauce. Literally almost anything can go in a pan. Garlic salt is the safest bet for seasonings when you pile food in a pan, but get creative. Balsamic vinegar and garlic salt are super safe options for almost any dish. You can also experiment with Italian dressing as a marinade or buy an Asian-style sauce to throw over rice, veggies, and any meat. You’ll feel great after doing it, and your dishes will taste better by letting the flavors cook together.
10) If cooking goes awry, takeout is okay!
Previously, I mentioned cooking is a science and is, therefore, a lot of trial and error. Know when to accept defeat and call Domino’s, Ichiban Express, or Jimmy Johns, whatever you fancy. Don’t eat food you hate. Dig around the backseat of your car and scrounge up some dollars in your room and head to Cookout or the McDonald’s Dollar Menu if you are really worried about money, but whatever you do, don’t ruin your cooking experience by force-feeding yourself something inedible. You deserve better. I save my change for nights when my dish comes out a failure, and it’s okay. Everybody loves some takeout.