How Do I Cook in College?
If you’re looking to avoid the “freshman 15” and want to have a healthier lifestyle for later in life, you may be wondering: How can I even cook in college? What resources exist in dorms?
Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. Many colleges have different resources. Either way, you’ll have to decide where you're going to live first.
You can live at your current house and commute to college, live alone in a new apartment, or live in a college dorm.
If you’re going to live at your current house, you should have most of the cooking appliances (stove, microwave, toaster, etc.) available to make a healthy meal, though some of the information below can still be helpful if you’re struggling with money. If you have a new apartment near your college or you’re living in a dorm, the appliances you have are very varied and dependent on what you buy/where you live.
There are two important parts to remember: Do your research and understand the cheaper options.
First, do your research. Know what options you will have wherever you will be living. If you're moving into an apartment, see what appliances already exist. If you're going to live in a dorm, do a virtual tour, look around the college website, find campus spots that might have cooking appliances, ask questions, send emails, and make sure you know what you'll have access to. Remember, this will be your life for the next 4+ years.
Do research on your college. If you’ll be in a dorm and interested in the food plan, look into it. It could be healthy, maybe not. There might be healthy options in the food plan, but it varies. Also, some colleges have specific rules on what appliances are allowed or rules on electricity.
Secondly, understand what appliances you want to purchase and the variety of food you can make with them. There are so many things you can make, but it depends on what you have available to you. Depending on what college you’ll go to, you might have a microwave, a wok, or nothing.
You can make many dishes with different tools, for example you could make the oatmeal on a stove or just by using the hot water from a coffee maker or a microwave. You can even make rice and eggs in a microwave (This requires careful attention though).
There are tons of recipes online to make. Some of them are great, some of them are not so great. You can even get a recipe book. There are some links on this website below to help you get started.
What appliances would be helpful to have? Remember that some of these you need to be careful with due to fire hazard, and some may even be banned depending on your college. A hot plate is like a mini stovetop and can be great for many things, like eggs, any small hot snack foods, and heating up anything. A mini fridge would be great to store food in. A small, cheap microwave can make many things and is very versatile (look up some recipes!). Electric kettles can be used for coffee, noodles, or oatmeal. A crock-pot can cook tons of meals, and you might not need anything else. A table-top grill can toast things like a toaster, make quesadillas, or even meat. You’ll also need silverware and possibly pans or a can opener.
The bottom line is that if you’re serious about health, whether it’s dedication to a sports team or you want to stay healthy, you need to do some research. Just know that everything that seems overwhelming at first very quickly becomes manageable once you put your mind to it. There are 7 billion people in the world, and billions cook every day. College is an important step in life, and I wish you the best of luck!
References:
Ellis, J. (2021, January). What is a Hot Plate? Retrieved February 27, 2021, from https://www.delightedcooking.com/what-is-a-hot-plate.htm#:~:text=A%20hot%20plate%20is%20a%20small%20electric%20device,a%20staple%20of%20hotel%20and%20college%20dorm%20rooms
Foster, K. (2019, May 01). 8 small appliances for Better DORM COOKING. Retrieved February 27, 2021, from https://www.thekitchn.com/8-small-appliances-for-easy-dorm-cooking-2227304
Gunn, J. (n.d). Dorm Sustenance: Hot plates and other fire hazards by Josh Gunn for CDKitchen. Retrieved February 27, 2021, from https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/josh-gunn/752-dorm-cooking/
Kissam, B. (2019, June 21). 9 best College cooking appliances for your tiny Dorm kitchen. Retrieved February 27, 2021, from https://www.thecoachkshow.com/best-college-cooking-appliances/
Patkar, M. (2018, April 14). Cooking for Beginners: 5 ESSENTIAL sites for newbies in the kitchen. Retrieved February 27, 2021, from https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/cooking-beginners-sites/