Elaborate Meals are a Thing of the Past, Tips for Cooking in a College Kitchen

All of my life, finding food has never been a problem. My mom buys it, my college cafeteria supplies it, and there are always easy-to-make snacks in my fridge. So imagine the huge reality check I get when I move into an apartment style dorm for part of the summer. The cafeteria isn’t open until fall and I am off to fend for myself in the food department. While I am armed with a kitchen full of essentials (microwave, refrigerator, stove, etc.) there is one tiny problem; I have never cooked for myself.

By S.E.

Now when I say I have never cooked for myself I mean that I have never bought groceries for myself and the only thing I have used an oven for is baking brownies. If I want scrambled eggs for breakfast, I make them in the microwave. Mashed potatoes? Screw the stove; I use the microwave. Basically I am skilled with the microwave and nothing else. But since a summer full of microwavable foods did not sound that enticing, I have found a few tips for all those who are cooking in a small kitchen.

Establish food ownership: This is only needed if you are sharing kitchen space with other people. I know many roommates who have fought over ownership of a jar of salsa or accused their friends of eating their whole bag of pretzels. These situations could have easily been avoided had everyone sharing a fridge talked over how they wanted to share the kitchen.

While my suite-mates and I shared utensils, plates, cups, and pans, we each had our own section in the refrigerator for our food. This way, no food was accidently stolen and no one mixed up their groceries with anyone else’s. Certain items were shared throughout the apartment, such as chips and dip, but we would rotate who would buy these snacks when they ran out.

Generic groceries are delicious too: During the year, I had one close friend who loved the supermarket Whole Foods. She would buy organic hummus and pita chips and gloat about how wonderful Whole Foods is compared to everywhere else. Now, I had only been to Whole Foods maybe twice and it was close by my apartment so as soon as I was moved into my room and could not put off buying groceries any longer, I decided to take go there. College has made me a very poor girl and I figured that since I was only buying food for myself I could manage to spend less then 50 bucks a week on groceries. Half an hour later, I had bought six items and spent about 60 dollars total.

This incident immediately made me more aware of food prices and a day later I managed to find a Morton Williams where I could find cheaper, generic brands. While popular labels are tempting, I have found that there really is no difference between generic brand cookies and name brand cookies. For the most part, grocery stores will have their own generic brands of certain foods that are undoubtedly cheaper. If you find yourself short on cash, skip the brand name and go generic.

Stick with the basics if you don’t know what you’re doing: While I would much rather make my own three course meal then eat cereal, I know my low kitchen skills would be no match for the oven. I had already caused the smoke alarm to go off once when I unsuccessfully attempted to make spaghetti and I had no intentions of hearing that annoying screeching noise again. Instead of attempting stove use, I found that making tuna sandwiches, pasta salad, and PB&J was just as yummy as trying to make a hamburger. While Ramen Noodles and Easy Mac are a favorite among college students, putting lunch meat, bread, and cheese together are much healthier alternatives.

The point is, you don’t need to be a cooking whiz in order to survive college. While I have gained a few chef points (I don’t make grilled cheese in the microwave anymore) I always chose to make fast easy meals over elaborate dinner dishes. College gives you a taste of the independent life and learning to cook and share a kitchen is just one of the many experiences of adulthood. Although even as an adult I don’t think I will ever stop microwaving scrambled eggs.