Cooking is not my strong suit. Though I am a below-average cook I get really motivated to cook at the beginning of each semester, saving recipes on Pinterest and taking note of different recipes I find in cookbooks. Usually the first week of school I’m prepping my meals the night before and creating a variety of different recipes. However, a week later I find myself cooking yet another frozen pizza or only living off of smoothies. Therefore, I’ve compiled some methods that I’ve used to minimize my kitchen burnout and hopefully yours!
Meal Prep
As students, weekdays can get pretty hectic with various assignments, exams and external commitments so it can be hard to make time to cook your meals during that time. What I like to do is make or prep some of my meals for the week on Sunday night, so I don’t have to worry about cooking during the week. I usually will make a giant batch of a simple recipe and pack it up in containers, so I can grab them as I head out of the house.
Cook with Friends
Cooking can be a tedious task depending on the recipe you decide to make. Preparing a meal with your roommates can be a great way to socialize, relax and also be productive in getting your meal cooked and ready to eat.
Making Food to Freeze
This one may seem obvious, but I like to prepare food on a weekend when I do not have much going on so that I can freeze it and then if one week I don’t have enough time to make my own meal I can reheat the meals I made prior.
Scroll through food accounts
I find whenever I need some inspiration to cook a quick scroll through Instagram food accounts helps drive me to prepare a meal.
Find Simple Versions of your Favourite Meals
Certain recipes can get complicated and messy very fast. Finding simple recipes of your favourite meals can be a great way to get yourself excited to cook and not spend a large amount of time cooking and cleaning.