My mom is one of the best cooks in the entire world. I’ve been lucky enough to have some really incredible meals in my life, however now that I am somewhat living on my own and responsible for my own food choices, I’m slightly ashamed to admit that I haven’t exactly been the picture of health. What with a double major, multiple extra curriculars and an attempt to have some semblance of a social life, it’s hard to find the time to have a meal that doesn’t include the words fast or instant. And so, I decided that it was time for me to start cooking. I’m an adult now, legally at least, and cooking your own meals is apparently part of being a real grown up, not to mention the fact that it’s healthier and less expensive than eating out! And thus began a week of home cooked dinners and me calling my mom and scouring the Internet for super easy recipes.
Monday:
My first night cooking dinner for myself was wonderful. I made tilapia with squash, and it was so lovely. The weather was gorgeous, so I grabbed the fish I had bought over the weekend and got to it. One thing I didn’t account for was how to cook the fish, so I went online and cranked some music while I made the squash. I was completely surprised at how much fun I had with it and how relaxing it was.
Tuesday:
After the great time last night I wanted to try something different and went with a steak and asparagus. The steak was a little too well done, but I’ll do better next time. I also totally forgot to cut the ends off of the asparagus, but outside of that it tasted pretty good, and I was feeling pretty proud. I’m still not over how relaxing it’s been, even though I had to rush to eat so I could get to my meeting, it still provided me much needed me time!
Wednesday:
And now comes one of the issues with cooking meals for one, lots of cooking in bulk, which means lots of leftovers. And so I made fish tacos from the left over tilapia and tartar sauce. It was super easy, but I think it still counts as homecooked. So there we go, and it was good because I have a huge test tomorrow so the me-time had to be forsaken for some study time.
Thursday:
My Thursdays are particularly busy days so you have to understand that it’s totally okay that I cheated a little here. Thursdays I have a 4-6:40 p.m. class and then a meeting from 7-9 p.m. so when I got home I was starved, and I desperately did not want to cook. I popped in some frozen popcorn chicken and reheated my leftover squash, but at least I ate some vegetables! I call that a win in my book.
Friday:
More leftovers, but this time I made the steak right! It was a proud moment for me. I must say, the whole cooking thing can definitely be exhausting, but I am feeling healthier and more adult so there’s that. It’s so funny how something can be equally exhausting and relaxing, but that’s what it is. Now I just have the weekend and then it won’t be a responsibility any more.
Saturday:
I ran out of meat! Hint for the future, apparently you can put meat in the freezer and it’ll be totally safe to eat for a while. I didn’t know that, but good to know for when I’m at the grocery store and obsessing over “best by:” labels. At the time, I decided to go with some bow tie pasta with some ham and parmesan and it ended up being pretty good after a week of much better meals.
Sunday:
Pasta is homecooked, right? I think it counts, and honestly, this was a great way to end the week, dancing around the kitchen while waiting for the water to boil and the asparagus to cook. Not the most difficult of meals but it sure was good.
This week was exhausting, however it was ridiculously rewarding. While I don’t think I’d be able to make a home-cooked meal every night, it ended up being a lot of fun to find recipes and change them up to fit whatever ingredients I had around the house. With the craziness of college life, it’s hard to set aside time for yourself, but this week I did it, and I felt healthier and happier and more centered because of it. I was definitely relieved to finish the week off. The thing is I don’t think I’m quite at the age where I want cooking to feel like a responsibility but having it be a way of destressing was amazing and it allowed me to have a reason to give myself a break and take a breather at the end of the day. In the end it doesn’t matter how busy you are, in order to lead a healthy lifestyle you have to give a little time to yourself each week, and what’s a better way to do that than by making yourself a meal, after all, a girl’s gotta eat!
photo credit: Jessica Schuler