Off Campus Life: My Journey from Campus Dining to Home Cooking

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Learning to cook meals for myself was initially a challenge when I moved off campus, but over time, it became delightful. I learned to approach cooking by learning how to make just a few meals I know I enjoy. This simplified grocery shopping and allowed me to master the dishes over time. Below, I talk about the meals I learned to cook and how I got there. 

One of my favorite ways to cook new meals was trying to replicate my favorite foods from Blue Wall. With my dining plan, I ate lunch at Blue Wall every day for lunch, but I am not usually on campus for dinner, so I decided to try and remake my favorite dishes. I really love the chicken teriyaki don from Wasabi, which consists of sticky rice, broccoli, fried egg, and teriyaki chicken. I also usually add avocado and spicy mayo. The meal is simple to make and requires no special cooking skills. 

Another staple of mine was a simple pasta dish that I embellished with some added ingredients. It only takes four ingredients to make and doesn’t require using any spices. All it is is bow-tie pasta, sweet Italian sausage, grape tomatoes and spinach. This is by far the easiest dish I make because it is a one-pan meal. All you have to do is cook the sausage in a pan along with the tomatoes and spinach. The juices from the sausage and tomatoes will boil down the spinach. Once you add the pasta, you have a meal that is ready to serve. 

Another thing I have learned about cooking simple meals is that it is about experimenting with what you have in the fridge and pantry. As a busy college student, running to the grocery store can be hard, so using what you have on hand is often the best way to go. For me personally, I am not cooking extravagant meals, but just making something simple that I know I will enjoy. It’s also helpful to try to cook large portions so that you can wrap up the leftovers and have meals prepared for later in the week. 

Another tip I have for cooking as a college student is to get comfortable cooking a few things you haven’t cooked before. For example, chicken is a good thing to master because it is often incorporated into many dishes. Even simple things like vegetables can be experimented with. There are so many ways to cook vegetables, and I’m sure that we all prefer a different way. I personally like steamed vegetables, but I have been testing out air-fried ones, too. 

The last thing I’d like to mention is group cooking. Cooking with friends can be a fun way to spend your time and prepare a great dish as well. My roommates and I made homemade pizza for our friends, and it was fun not only to cook it but to serve it as well. From what I have gathered, a lot of college students are not cooking experts, so practicing with one another is a great way to improve your cooking skills. 

My journey of learning to cook meals for myself after moving off campus has been both challenging and delightful. The process involved simplifying my approach by focusing on a few meals I enjoy, making grocery shopping easier, and mastering dishes over time. Overall, my experience in the kitchen has taught me that simplicity, experimentation, and shared cooking experiences contribute to an enjoyable approach to preparing meals as a college student.