I’m sure this doesn’t apply to everyone, but as a kid I was spoiled. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all made by my mother. I would wake up to my breakfast ready to go, go to school with a bag full of a sandwich and an apple and come home to a home cooked meal. Even when my mom and dad didn’t cook for me, my version of cooking for myself meant ordering in or popping something in the microwave.
Then I went to college, living off of a dining plan for two years of my life. I could go in and out as many times a day as I needed to grab anything I needed. The only “cooking” I ever did was the ramen I would make after a night out.
Then suddenly, and it seemed out of nowhere, I was in junior year, living on my own; no parents, no dining hall plan, just me, a kitchen and a budget for cheap groceries.
The first few weeks of living this kind of life style is scary, and if you are anything like me you have no idea what you are doing. Then it finally clicks, because it has to. It actually becomes easier than it seems, if only because if you didn’t quickly learn you would starve. Not all my meals are “fancy,” but it is definitely better than the many bowls of cereal I used to eat when I didn’t feel like walking to the dining hall.
Learning to cook a variety of different things is important, as is learning to cook things quickly and that you can eat a few days in a row. Learn to love frozen vegetables and fruit, they last forever and taste just as great as the fresh stuff. Scope out your most inexpensive grocery stores; you are better off going out to Walmart or Aldi instead of the big named grocery stores for the same things with lower prices.
The worst part about cooking, is cleaning up after yourself. If you are like me when you are done spending an hour cooking dinner and eating it, the last thing you want to do is clean up after yourself. Yes, I know it’s annoying but it has to be done. Think of the many frat houses you have been to with dishes piled up to the ceiling, you don’t want to be like that. Lucky enough I am blessed with a dish washer but if you are not as lucky as I am you just have to suck it up and get it done.
I’m not saying living on your own is easy; the cooking is difficult, the cleanup is difficult and getting forced into being an “adult” when you still feel like you’re 14 is pretty difficult, but it’s all part of growing up!