As exciting as it can be to move out of the dorms and into your own apartment for the first time, nobody really tells you how difficult it can be having to figure out what to cook for yourself. Everyday. Three times a day. It’s especially more difficult when you want to eat (somewhat) healthy. After more than a semester living off of chicken tenders & fries, mac & cheese and a bunch of microwave meals, my roommate and I finally figured out a bunch of relatively quick and easy meals and I’ve decided to share them with you.
Chicken Parmesean
Chicken parm is one of my all-time favorite foods and it’s actually a lot easier to make than one would think! All you need is flour, breadcrumbs, and eggs to bread the chicken, then add some sauce and mozzarella on top when putting it in the oven. Make some spaghetti while the chicken is in the oven and voila! You have some chicken parm. You can also add spices as you’d like, I personally like to add salt, pepper, onion powder, and paprika to my breadcrumbs and some garlic and parsley to my eggs. I never use an actual recipe but there are plenty on the internet if you need a little guidance!
Quesadilla
Tell your roommates boyfriend to come over and make you quesadillas. That’s it. Your done.
Stir-Fry
Stir-Fry is one of the easiest dishes on the planet to make because all it requires is you to put some food into a pan and cook it. Just pick a protein and a few vegetables and you’ll be good to go! My roommate and I like to do chicken with spinach, mushroom, onion, and tomatoes, but you can easily switch in and out any of your favorite veggies. If you want to feel a little fancy you can switch out chicken for some shrimp or add some rice. Throw in any and all of your favorite spices as well.
Salmon
Finally, this salmon recipe is easy and healthy and sure to impress anybody you decide to cook it for. All you need to do is put some teriyaki sauce on a filet of salmon and put it in a pan with some asparagus or broccoli covered in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Cook some rice to add to the side of that and you’ve got yourself an easy meal that your mom would be proud to see that you cooked all by yourself.
These are just a few of my favorite, easy recipes to make, there are so many other good ones out there. Once you get in the habit of making food for yourself it gets a lot easier to keep up with it consistently. And remember, it’s ok to eat microwave or box meals, but you’ll feel much more energized if you eat some good food with veggies! You’ll also feel like a real adult and be so proud of yourself.