Don’t show up with Hot Pockets for every meal
More stories from Abri Hausman
Photo via Flickr (Pete's Place) under Creative Commons license
Quick, easy meals to make are a lifesaver when wanting to eat pseudo-healthy on a limited budget. One example is a baked potato that can be filled with anything. Students should show up to college and at least know how to make a few simple meals that aren’t frozen or microwave dinners.
Okay, people, let’s start adulting.
Time and time again, I hear of people who show up to college and only know how to make one item, like hotdogs or eggs, and nothing else. No one can survive on one food no matter how hard they try.
So instead of eating Ramen and microwave meals all the time, you should at least show up knowing how to cook a few basic meals for yourself to stay healthy.
Chicken
First off, chicken is very easy to cook, save, and you make a lot of different things out of it. Plus, instead of eating junk food, chicken is a lean, white meat that can be healthy when not fried.
When buying raw chicken, you want to make sure there aren’t a lot of fatty parts (off-white slim strips on top the meat), and if there are any, cut those off before cooking. Then wash the meat and pat it dry. You can also add seasonings or rubs to make it more flavorful.
You should at least show up [to college] knowing how to cook a few basic meals for yourself to stay healthy.
— Op-ed Editor Abri Hausman
Heat a pan until it is between warm and hot when your hand is three to four inches away. Put the chicken on the pan for five to seven minutes, then flip and wait another five to seven minutes and stick a meat thermometer into the middle of the largest part of the chicken and make sure it reaches at least 165 degrees fahrenheit.
In an oven, preheat to 375 degrees, put the chicken on a pan, and cook for 20-30 minutes and then wait until the internal temperature (same way as before) reaches 165 degrees.
Rice
For every cup of rice you are using, put 1 ¾ a cup of water into a pot and boil it (its boiling when there are large bubbles), add some salt to make it more flavorful. Then lower the temperature and add the rice to cook for 18 minutes after you’ve broken up the rice with a spoon to make sure it don’t stick to itself. After that, let the rice cool down in the pot for five minutes and strain the rice.
Potatoes
Take a potato (or multiple potatoes), and cut a shallow “X” into opposite sides of the potato. Put it in the microwave (I recommend putting a paper towel under it) and cook for four minutes, then flip it over and rotate it 180 degrees and cook it for another four minutes. Ta da!
Once you’re on your own, you’ll likely learn how to cook more things, especially with the amount of grocery store items that have recipes printed on the packages.
