Student life is busy, and constantly filled to the brim with more and more assignments than most find they can keep up with.
That’s why — as far as I can tell — most folks choose not to cook a great deal. They’ll order in, or they’ll throw a bit of frozen food in the oven.
But everyone has their forms of recreation, and food can be one of them.
Instead of procrastinating from work with a two-hour Netflix binge, that time can be devoted to challenging yourself creatively in the kitchen in crafting unique, exciting dishes.
I know, from your perspective, that sounds like work. But it isn’t.
That’s the key to inverting your perception: cooking is not a chore. Say it out loud: Cooking. Is. Not. A. Chore.
That’s the perception that you need to break. Get yourself a bag of flour and some eggs and there’s a whole world of opportunity at your fingertips. Got a favourite thing? A favourite flavour? Cook with it.
Think honey is awesome? Start throwing it in your soups and stews.
Big fan of pumpkin? Toss it in with mac and cheese, or make cookies out of it.
The world of ingredients is big and versatile and so long as you put a bit of yourself into it, you’re going to have a good time.
If you want to start easy and tasty, just remember that Buffalo sauce is just a mixture of half Frank’s Red and half butter.
Slab some chicken in egg, coat it in flour and bread-crumbs and fry it in a bit of oil and suddenly, you’re eating as well at home as you do at any bar.
That’s when you start to realize: this doesn’t have to stop here.
A million years ago, back in the stone ages, people had to venture out to the local bookstore to find and purchase a guidebook that could teach them how to make chicken pot pie from scratch.
But this is the new world, where every desire you could possibly imagine exists as a recipe in some dark corner of the internet.
Think of things you like, slam the words together and Google them. There’s recipes out there for you.
Avocado salmon soup? Cheesecake beer brownies? Pizza cronuts?
They’re all real, just waiting for you to grow the hell up and make them happen. All you do in class is watch Tasty videos anyway.
Why not actually try and realize some of those simple snacks? Why not learn the craft and elevate them?
Cooking can be a recreation and a hobby.
Cooking can be a gateway into incredible flavours and experimentation.
Cooking can be a cool way to impress that somebody special in your life, and it can also be an amazing way to treat yourself after a long, hard week.
So, slap in your earbuds, crank up a fresh podcast and bask in delicious aromas as onions crisp in a small pool of butter on the stove.
When you realize that the joy of cooking is both in the craft of it as well as in the sharing and the love that comes from creating unique, exciting food, you’ll find that you’re able to treat yourself from the comfort of your own home almost every single day.
Some cookbooks you can start with are: Thug Kitchen, if you’re vegan (or even if you’re not). The Joy of Cooking has always been a famous favourite and Cooking with Beer. Though, truthfully, I mostly use websites and www.seriousseats.com is godsent.