Wondering how you can ball out of a budget without losing the flavors and foods you love? Look no further.

Financials can be overwhelming to understand, especially if one does not major in business. The average college student spends $410 a month when eating off-campus while the average grocery bill is $257 per month. These costs are dependent on what you buy, how much is purchased, and the longevity of the food’s shelf life.

 It is highly stigmatized that with cheaper meals come cheaper quality and less flavor, but through weekly meal planning, picking versatile staple pieces, and buying bulk, one can stay on budget while cooking up some delightful dinners.

A sun-dried tomato chicken pasta dish was created using meal-prepping tactics and the pantry.

The American Institute of Stress published that, “Eight in 10 college student experience frequent bouts of stress,” due to heavy workloads, social stresses, finances, and life necessities such as eating and sleeping regiments.

Eating at home has large social and health benefits that can create healthy habits. Cooking should be used as a time to reconnect and relax; whether it is done solo or with roommates, cooking should be fun!

Julia A. Wolfson MPP, a CLF-Lerner Fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future explains that “when people cook most of their meals at home, they consume fewer carbohydrates, less sugar and less fat than those who cook less or not at all.”

Eating healthier help you not only live longer, but it improves the overall quality of life in people as it is a known therapeutic tool used by many in the field of psychology. 

Weekly meal planning helps alleviate some of these stresses by saving time on cooking, allowing students to have more time to do the things they need or want to accomplish.  

For some, meal prepping can be challenging as they get bored of eating the same cuisine for a few days straight. A preventative way to keep prepping interesting is to cook items that can be reused for different types of dishes.

Cooking chicken in simple seasonings such as salt and pepper at the beginning of the week can create numerous dishes. Feeling spicy one night? Chicken tacos are a good way to combat that specific craving. That same chicken used to make chicken tacos can be used in numerous dishes such as chicken noodle soup, chicken alfredo or etc…

Another staple food item that should always be present in every college student’s pantry is a bag of rice. A bag of rice (1 kg) costs around $3.77 and can be used for any meal on any type of day. For breakfast, one can make sweet rice cereal (rice with butter and brown sugar). The possibilities are endless for creating easy and cheap lunches and dinners using rice. 

Life is hard so cooking should be fun. It may prove challenging at first, but find what works for you and stick with it. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, and it certainly doesn’t have to be anything expensive, but pantry staples will take you further than anticipated. In the midst of college chaos, don’t try to escape cooking but rather let cooking be your escape. Nothing will satisfy your belly, or your mind, more. 

Written by Elisabeth Thomspon and Emma Kissling

Citations:

Hanson, M., & Checked, F. (2023, January 2). Average cost of food per month for a college student: 2023 analysis. Education Data Initiative. Retrieved March 22, 2023, from https://educationdata.org/average-monthly-food-spend-college-student#:~:text=The%20average%20cost%20of%20food,plan%20averages%20%24450%20a%20month.

PlannedGrowth. (2019, March 8). The Culinary Arts Program – Cooking As Therapy. Here’s Help — Recovery Through Education. Retrieved March 22, 2023, from https://hereshelpinc.com/cooking-as-therapy/#:~:text=These%20days%2C%20health%2Dcare%20clinics,people%20living%20tough%2C%20chaotic%20lives.

Stress in College Students. The American Institute of Stress. (2022, November 29). Retrieved March 22, 2023, from https://www.stress.org/college-students#:~:text=Anxiety%20is%20first%20at%2023.5,experience%20frequent%20bouts%20of%20stress.

Wolfson, J. A., & Bleich, S. N. (2014, November 17). Study suggests home cooking is a main ingredient in healthier diet. Center for a Livable Future. Retrieved March 22, 2023, from https://clf.jhsph.edu/about-us/news/news-2014/study-suggests-home-cooking-main-ingredient-healthier-diet