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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Do-it-yourself dinners for the overworked undergrad

Recently, I’ve noticed that I’ve been returning home later at night, getting up earlier in the morning and having less time for breakfast, dinner and everything in between. Coming home from a long day, the last thing I want to do is feed myself. It just seems like making food will take too much effort and time. In comparison, my bed looks comfortable and inviting, and I usually fall right to sleep without giving food a second thought.

After four or five straight days of waking up to rush to class on an empty stomach, I decided something needed to be done. College students never have time for much of anything, but it’s important to stay healthy and happy by remembering to eat at least two solid meals throughout the day.

I know that this is harder than it sounds sometimes, with a busy schedule and exams just around the corner. There aren’t enough hours in the day to both prepare and completely enjoy healthy and filling meals. It’s sometimes too easy to just fall into bed dreaming about Thanksgiving dinner instead of actually consuming food, or to grab an unhealthy fast-food snack on your way back to the dorm. I miss the days when I sat down to dinner every night and enjoyed eating the food I was eating, just for the simple pleasure of eating well-made meals. These days it seems like if I am eating something, I am scarfing it down in ten minutes before running to class, or focusing on finishing up an assignment instead of savoring the flavor.

But food is meant to be enjoyed, and I feel as hardworking college students, we deserve to love what we eat. So, I am going to try this next week to really take time to eat my food. What we put in our bodies fuels us up for the entire day, keeps our brains grinding away at textbooks and our immune systems bolstered. This is going to be an experiment of mine. In preparation, I’ve researched up a little to have a stockpile of things that I can make this week if I get home late and would rather just go to sleep. These are my “Do-It-Yourself Dinners for the Overworked Undergrad” and I thought I’d share some, so that if you also want to spend more time actually enjoying your food, you can have some yummy options for those late nights.

#1: The Wonders of the Baked Potato

Baked potatoes are warm, filling and absolutely delicious. They are also really easy to make. Buy a bushel of potatoes and keep them somewhere dark so they stay fresh. (They are evil like that, on the dark side. Deliciously evil.) To eat, poke a potato a few times with a fork so it can vent, and then pop it in the oven for about 45 minutes. When it comes out, it smells absolutely heavenly, and can be paired with any variety of toppings for a yummy and filling dinner. Salt and pepper, sour cream, bacon bits, butter and cheese are always toppings that taste good on a baked potato. If you have a little more energy, you can heat up a can of a more hearty soup, (like Campbell’s pot roast) then strain out some of the broth and pour the meat-and-vegetable-soup ingredients over the baked potato. It is a much more wholesome, stick-to-your-stomach type dinner and also tastes fantastic. Never underestimate the baked potato. 

Click here for pictures of all the delicious things you can do with baked potatoes like wow

#2: Corn is Cool!

I’m a veggie lover, and this recipe is a little less filling than a baked potato and soup, but it is a good end-of-the-day quick meal you can munch on as a snack before going to bed to take the edge off hunger or combine with other recipes. Corn is super cool, already being such a versatile vegetable. You can steam corn, eat it off the cob, and put it in chowder or casserole. But guess what else you can do with corn? You can broil it! Who knew?

You can take completely frozen corn and scatter it across a baking sheet (right out of that icy-frosty bag or corn that is just sitting uselessly in your freezer right NOW), add olive oil and salt and pepper for flavor, and then just stick the pan under a broiler for 5 minutes. You can also put it in the oven for only 10-15 minutes and it will roast perfectly. Voila! Beautiful, golden-roasted corn kernels of crispy delight! Put them in salad, in soup, on your previously made baked potato, or just snack on them plain.

Click here for pictures of yummy broiled corn because you know you want to

#3: Freaking Amazing Kale and Avocado Salad!

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Are you a health nut? If you are, read this now. If you aren’t, still read it, because it’s amazing. Your taste buds will miss out if you don’t eat this. I’ve had it, so I know.

Kale, avocado and chickpea salad is easy, extremely healthy, gluten-free and filling. You will get the wow-I’m-awesome-for-being-so-healthy-and-eating-this-go-me feeling from eating this. All you need is kale, avocado (buy avocado that isn’t completely firm to add a sweeter flavor), and chickpeas. If you want to have flair and style, add red onion or garlic. Mix the kale, chickpeas and avocado in a bowl, then add salt and pepper with olive oil. Is it just me, or are we seeing a trend of olive oil and salt and pepper throughout this blog post? Yes we are! They are awesome cooking tools that make everything easier. They should be on everyone’s shelf. If you are feeling gourmet, sprinkle lemon juice on top of your salad as a finishing touch.

Click here for mouth-watering pictures of amazing kale and avocado salad

That sums up “Do-It-Yourself Dinners” for this blog post. There are a loads more, but I figure three is good enough to start with. Give these yummy recipes a try next time you are hungry and tired, because you are a cool person and you deserve it! Bon appétit!

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