tips and tricks

10 cooking hacks

July 28, 2017 by Lea Leave a Comment

If you’re new to cooking (or if you’re a seasoned chef) you’ll know there are always new things to learn. I think I’m lucky because I enjoy cooking, so I’ve had a lot of practice over the years and have picked up some tips and tricks that make the whole process of cooking easier. Maybe you’re moving into your own apartment and will start cooking all your meals for yourself, or you are starting a new school year and want to try cooking a few meals during the week. Whatever level of expertise you have, I hope these tips and tricks will help. Making just a few changes makes cooking so much easier. I’m calling these my cooking “hacks” because these tips really are so simple and easy but make a huge difference!

Use a trash bowl. Choose any big bowl and designate it as your trash bowl. What’s a trash bowl? Just keep a bowl out while you’re cooking– chopping and peeling vegetables or unwrapping new ingredients– and put all the scraps and pieces of trash in the bowl. It really helps me to stay organized and keep the kitchen more clean. It also saves a lot of time and effort during clean up. This is also important if you’re working in a small space or sharing the kitchen with other people.
Use prep bowls. Just like with the trash bowl, use a big bowl to keep all of your prepped ingredients in. For example, if you’re making a big batch of stir fry or chill, you can keep all of your chopped vegetables in the bowl until you’re ready to use them. This makes any recipe move so much faster because you don’t have to stop and chop each ingredient while you’re trying to do other things. This also helps me not get overwhelmed with trying to do too much multitasking. Just prepare all of your ingredients before you start cooking and the whole process will be much simpler. You can even measure out all the spices and put them into one bowl to throw in when you need them.
Take out all of your ingredients first. This hack is pretty essential if you’re cooking in a residence hall and your kitchen is separate from your dorm. I can’t tell you how exhausting it is to sprint from the kitchen to your dorm every time you forget an ingredient. Laying out all of your ingredients also ensures that you don’t waste any ingredients that you bought just because you forgot to throw them in.
Read through the entire recipe before you start. Similar to the previous hack, reading the entire recipe before you start will make sure you’re not missing any ingredients and you won’t run into any surprises in the middle of cooking. One time, my sister and I were making whoopee pies and half-way through we realized one part required 4 hours! Not great. The recipe is like your game plan so just make sure you’re familiar with it and all ready to go. You can also adjust the recipe to make it work for you. If the recipe is telling you to chop all of your vegetables right before you put them in the pot, you can always reorder things so that you have everything prepped before you start.
Taste as you go. This hack is not just for fancy chefs on the Food Network but you’ll look like a real pro if you remember to taste your food every so often while you’re cooking. This really helps prevent the situation where you’re done cooking and you realize that it doesn’t taste quite right. Sometimes just a teaspoon more salt or a bit more chili powder will make all the difference and it’s much easier to add those things when you’re still cooking. Also, the measurements a recipe provides might not be exactly what you like, so tasting your food allows you to adjust for that.
Control the heat. This tip gets easier as you cook more, but learning how to control the heat while cooking really makes a difference. Every oven and stove is different, so learning how to control yours is important. Ovens and stoves have different heat settings for a reason, and learning when to turn up the heat and turn it down will be really helpful. For example, I learned that you want to heat your frying pan over very high heat when you’re making stir fry. This makes the vegetables cook much more quickly. Before I realized this, I’d say I was making stir fry over the usual medium heat and it took much longer. Alternatively, I turn the heat way down when I’m making chili or curry so that the flavors can simmer and cook slowly.
Modify and substitute. Don’t be afraid to modify and substitute recipes to hack any recipe. Don’t have a specific spice or you already have a different kind of bean? Use that. This will help you save money and make sure you’re utilizing all the food you’re buying. It should also help get those creative juices flowing so you can come up with your own recipes and foods you like! Taking some risks and getting a little experimental will get easier as you cook more, but starting off with substituting for ingredients you know you like is a great place to start.
Buy dish towels. This one seems pretty simple, but when you’re buying a bunch of your own cooking supplies it’s easy to overlook the dish towels. You probably use these all the time at home for drying off washed produce or for washing your hands while your cooking. When I first started cooking in college I didn’t have dish towels with me and I just ended up using a ton of paper towels and we all know that the paper towels schools give us are just not absorbent enough. Saving all the paper towels is also much better for the environment! It will also help keep your kitchen more clean and organized because you won’t have a bunch of damp paper towels scattered around (fun fact: this is actually my very random and slightly irrational kitchen pet peeve.)
Stay calm. This one is just generally good life advice, but it also applies to cooking. Just staying calm in the kitchen really makes a huge difference. If you’re a college student, you probably have ten other things to do aside from cooking. Sometimes, the only time I had time to cook was a break in between classes. Cooking with a limited amount of time can be pretty stressful. Even if you’re crunched for time, actually slowing down and taking your time will make cooking easier. I find that when I stay calm, I don’t make as many mistakes like forgetting about something in the oven. Taking a deep breath and slowing down will just make the whole experience much easier and more enjoyable. I like listening to music while I cook or talking to a friend on speakerphone. Even if you know you’ll be writing an essay when you’re done, I like to think of the time I spend cooking as taking a little break, rather than something that’s keeping me from doing schoolwork. Also, taking the time to make food in advance will save you time and energy during the week! Spending that hour or so on Sunday cooking will really pay off in the long-run when you have a healthy meal ready for you during the week. No stress.
Multitask, but not too much. This connects to my last hack– trying to multitask too much becomes stressful and hard, but learning how to multitask efficiently is a great cooking hack. As we talked about before, reading the whole recipe before you start can help you learn where to multitask. Read the recipe and see if there are places where you can have two parts going at the same time. For example, have the water boiling for pasta while you make the sauce or have the vegetables roasting while you’re chopping up the potatoes. In both of these examples, one part doesn’t require your full attention. It’s hard to try stirring and sautéing three things at once on the stove. As you have more practice, you’ll be more comfortable with multitasking. I’ve also found that a simple multitasking hack is putting away my phone. It’s temping to text or check Instagram if there’s some downtime while cooking, but I’ve found that putting my phone away just for an hour or so really helps me stay calm and organized. If I’m following a recipe I pull it up on my laptop or print it out and set my phone aside.

saving money vs. saving time

June 28, 2017 by Lea Leave a Comment

The conflict that plagues all college students– saving money versus saving time. When it comes to food, these two factors seem to be at odds with each other. You can eat out every meal (sounds great), you can spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on a meal plan (not fun but convenient), or you can pay for your own groceries and cook. For me, the last option has allowed me to be healthier and happier. I have found that it also actually saves money in the long run.

I’ll admit, sometimes it feels like a time-consuming burden. On a busy Sunday night when I have an essay to work on, it can be hard to find the time and energy to stop what I’m doing to cook. We all know what these stressful nights feel like and how easy it is to just order food or go to the dining hall for a quick but less-than-stellar meal.

Despite all this, setting aside even just an hour for grocery shopping and an hour for cooking once a week actually saves me time and money. I also eat healthier. Over time, I have learned how to make food that is time and cost efficient. This means creating recipes that are simple, can be made in bulk, and utilize ingredients that are inexpensive and easy to find. It also means learning how to grocery shop efficiently. Sometimes it’s worth it to spend a little extra money for something that is packaged or pre-made. For example, I probably could make my own hummus (it’s just chickpeas and tahini), but I would rather spend a few extra dollars for someone else to do it for me. Just check the nutrition labels to be aware of what you’re actually buying (if you can’t pronounce it, you probably shouldn’t eat it) and you’re good to go. Also, something like pre-washed salad can be more expensive than buying it fresh from the produce section, but it can be worth it to save you the hassle of preparing and washing it yourself. There’s also pre-cooked brown rice that comes frozen, but I’m willing to cook something like that myself.

Finding a balance between saving money and saving time is essential for the college chef. Learning where to compromise makes cooking less intimidating and more manageable. Maybe you can start off buying that pre-made meal and add vegetables that you cook yourself. Over time, start subbing some of the storebought products for things you make. You’ll probably find that what you can buy at the grocery store or at a restaurant isn’t hard to just cook yourself. It’s also helpful to transition into cooking more meals. As a freshman, I focused on making myself breakfast. Last year, I bought a smaller meal plan so I could use a meal swipe for lunch and make breakfast and dinner.This way, I could cook for myself while also having the option of grabbing a salad from Freshii or going to the dining hall with friends on particularly busy nights (or when I just really needed some ice cream). It’s all about finding what works for you, your schedule, and your budget.

tips for meal planning like a pro

March 3, 2017 by Lea Leave a Comment

Planning is the key to success. Taking the extra time to decide what you want to cook, noting what ingredients you have and need, and thinking about how much to buy will save you time, money, and stress. At first it can be hard to gauge how much food you need to buy and how long what you cook will last. Cooking for one can be a challenge because you need to learn how to scale back recipes and think about how much food you need for the whole week. Planning out what I want to cook also ensures that I won’t get too sick of what I’m eating.

Cooking in college and living out of a minifridge means redundancy– eating a lot of the same foods and ingredients in different ways throughout the week. Picking out a recipe that you are craving will help you not get bored of your food. Using some creativity while planning also allows you to stretch your dollar and get more out of what you buy. Meal planning gets easier over time. These tips have helped me along the way:

Look at serving sizes. It can be hard to measure how much of things like pasta and rice you need to cook in order to get enough servings and to not cook too many servings. I consult the nutrition labels to see how much of something is considered one serving and how many servings come in the package. That way I know how many bags or boxes I need to buy and how much I should cook at one time to get as many servings as I need.
Write out your list. Yes, I mean physically write out your list. You might think that you can go to the grocery store for a couple things and just remember what you need. This never works for me and I either end up forgetting something or buying things I didn’t need. Writing a list (either on a piece of paper or on your phone) helps you stick to what only what you need and know you will use, which will save you money. It will also save you time at the grocery store so that you can go directly to what you need, rather than wandering up and down the aisles and thinking about what you want to buy as you go.
Set numbers before you shop. When you get to the grocery store it’s really easy to get overwhelmed and go overboard. My instinct is always to get too much of something “just in case.” When I do this I usually end up wasting money and food when I can’t finish it all. To prevent this, I try to think about the quantity of things I need to buy before I go to the grocery store. That way I’m not trying to get the shopping done while also thinking about how much I need of everything. Write down how much of something you need on your list.
Find a recipe you are excited about. Finding a meal you are excited to cook will prevent you from walking aimlessly around the grocery store trying to decide what to buy and getting bored of what you eat during the week. Look at other food blogs, think about food you ate a restaurants that you loved, recall some of your favorite meals you ate at home, watch Chef’s Table on Netflix (I swear you will want to become a professional chef after watching this show). Feeling excited and inspired by what you’re cooking will make you feel that much more rewarded and satisfied.
Consider your space. Before you shop and cook, you should think about how you will be able to store what you buy and make. I am limited to the space under my bed, a shelf, and my minifridge. You might be working with a fridge you share with roommates and one cabinet, or somewhere in between. Consider how much food you will actually be able to save in whatever space you have. This also means that you might need to adjust what recipes you make. I try to cook things that can be stored in just one or two storage containers like a big bowl of chili and a smaller container of rice to go with it. I can leave things like avocados and bananas on my shelf and keep a larger store of food like canned beans and rice in the space under my bed. This should also keep you from buying too much food or cooking too much.
Get creative. To get the most out of your groceries and time, take some time think about how you can stretch the ingredients you have. You might be surprised at how many things you can make with just a few ingredients that you already have or that you are buying for a different recipe. Don’t be afraid to try new foods, make something up, or adapt recipes. Not buying every specific ingredient for every recipe will save you money.
Check what you already have. If you keep up with having a small stock of food, you shouldn’t need to go on full grocery shopping trips every week. If you have the staples like rice, beans, pasta, or canned tomatoes, you will save time and money at the grocery store. Keeping track of your inventory will prevent you from buying things you already have.

10 best spices for your college kitchen

February 26, 2017 by Lea Leave a Comment

Spices are the key to adding flavor to your food without doing any work. Cooking with spices makes it easy to elevate the food you cook and allows you to cook a variety of different kinds of food. My dream is to have a whole cabinet filled with spices organized in aesthetically pleasing containers, but for now a plastic box under my bed does the job. Like with everything else, start small and keep adding to your collection as you go. If you find a recipe you want to make and don’t have all the ingredients or spices, you can always omit them or get creative with substitutions. The spices on this list are versatile and easy to find, making them useful to add to many foods:

Cumin. This is what gives tacos and fajitas that smoky spice we know and love. It’s also useful to add to the base of sauces and many Indian dishes.
Old Bay seasoning. I did not discover Old Bay until I got to college. It’s a mix of black pepper, paprika, mustard, celery salt, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and a few others. It is supposed to be used on crab and other seafood, but because it combines so many spices into one, it’s great to add to sauces, soups, and especially chili. It gives the dish a salty and smoky flavor.
Vanilla extract. Vanilla is for more than just baking. It can be added to plain yogurt, smoothies, and oatmeal for natural sweetness. It’s a great way to cut back on sugar.
Cinnamon. I add cinnamon to just about everything. Sprinkle it on apples and bananas and add it to oatmeal, smoothies, and yogurt. Fun fact– cinnamon is supposed to be good for stabilizing blood sugar levels.
Curry powder. I just started experimenting with cooking Indian food. I love going out to eat at Indian restaurants and trying to recreate what I like at home. Indian food is great for people who are vegan or vegetarian, too. Curry powder is useful for many Indian dishes and is also great on roasted vegetables like cauliflower. Curry powder by itself adds an incredible amount of flavor to everything and a little bit goes a long way.
Chipotle chili pepper powder. If you like chili, get this spice. It’s exactly what it sounds like in that it has a smoky and spicy flavor.
Ginger powder. Ginger is great for Asian dishes. I add it to stir fry and salad dressings. It plays well with other flavors and adds some sweetness and brightness.
Cardamom. This is another spice useful for Indian cooking. It adds a warm flavor. You can also mix it into oatmeal and smoothies for a warm, deep flavor.
Garlic powder. Garlic is arguably my favorite spice. Put it in everything. Minced garlic is great too, but garlic powder is easy to mix into sauces, soups, stir fries, or chili. You can also sprinkle it on vegetables.
Turmeric. This trendy spice is great for Indian food like curries. It originated in Southeast Asia and is related to ginger root. Foodies love turmeric because it has anti-inflammatory properties. It doesn’t taste like much, but has an earthy and slightly bitter flavor if you use too much. Just a little bit adds a bright orange color to food (and your hands and clothes, so be careful). I use it for Indian cooking and I mix it into oatmeal sometimes for some added health benefits.

10 most useful ingredients

February 25, 2017 by Lea Leave a Comment

Having a stock of versatile ingredients is the key to making cooking in college easier. Stocking up on things like canned beans, pasta, different kinds of condiments or sauces, and frozen fruit will save you time and money. You can buy less at the grocery store each time. It’s comforting to know you always have back up for when you are short on time or for when you are hungry after the dining hall closes. Over time you can add to your collection and try new things, figuring out what you like and don’t like, what is easiest for you, and what you find yourself using the most. It also makes cooking easier because when you want to make a recipe you don’t need to buy all of the individual ingredients at one time.

Here are multipurpose ingredients that I like to keep around:

Nut butter. I probably consume more almond butter than the average person. Of course you can have the classic peanut butter and apple, but having any kind of nut butter is useful. You can add it to smoothies, salad dressings, and oatmeal for added protein and healthy fat.
Miso paste. You may have only heard of miso in the context of miso soup. Miso paste is just fermented soy beans and is a great ingredient for cooking. There are many different varieties of miso paste, but I like white miso paste. You can find it in a refrigerated section of the grocery store in small containers. A little goes a long way, so just one purchase of miso paste will last a long time. It has a kind of salty and savory flavor. Just adding miso paste adds complex flavor to things like salad dressing, stir fry, soup, and tofu. Using unfamiliar ingredients can be intimidating, but learning how to use miso paste is really easy.
Soy sauce. Another useful ingredient for Asian dishes, soy sauce is versatile and easy to work with. Mix it in with rice, stir fry, salad dressings, tofu, or vegetables and it adds a lot of flavor.
Canned tomatoes. Big cans of diced or crushed tomatoes are useful for acting as the base for Indian dishes, chili, and stews. Buying canned tomatoes is inexpensive (you can get large 28 ounce cans for less than a dollar) and because they have a long shelf life, it’s fine to keep them for a while. I use tomatoes in a lot of my recipes, so it’s nice to not have to buy canned tomatoes at every trip to the store.
Bulk grains. I always have quinoa, lentils, and brown rice around. Buying things like this in bulk will save you a lot of money, rather than buying small bags every time you want to make it. Cooking a big pot of rice for the week or adding quinoa or lentils to chili makes it easy to sneak in fiber and protein.
Oats. Oatmeal does not have to be bland and boring. Oatmeal and overnight oats are my go-to breakfasts. Oatmeal is another great thing to buy in bulk because you can get a big container of rolled oats with 30 servings in it for around two dollars. The little single-serving instant packets are convenient, but the flavored packs have so much extra sugar and cost so much more than buying plain oats in bulk. You can also use plain rolled oats to add to smoothies and for making granola.
Canned beans. As a vegetarian, canned beans are a lifesaver. I used to hate beans but I think that I just wasn’t eating them the right way. Added into salads, chili, soups, and pasta sauces, beans are really satisfying. Beans are high in protein and fiber and are easy to add to a variety of foods whether you are a vegetarian or not. Not to mention they are much less expensive than meat and easier to use. You can get canned beans for less than a dollar (buying dried beans in bulk is even more cheap) and you can keep them stored for a long time.
Frozen fruit and vegetables. Buying produce in college can be tough because it can be expensive and you don’t want it to go bad before you use it. I have a mini fridge with a small freezer on top which allows me to keep a little frozen food. Frozen fruit and vegetables are great because you don’t have to worry about it going bad, sometimes it’s less expensive, and it can even be more nutritious than fresh produce because it is frozen at peak ripeness. Frozen fruit is great for smoothies and adding to oatmeal. Also, if you ever find yourself with more fresh fruit than you can use, cut it up and put it in the freezer to use later. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to be healthy by buying a big container of spinach, only to watch it wilt in the fridge. Buying frozen vegetables like spinach and cauliflower is great because you can get your vegetables in without having to worry about it going bad. I like adding spinach and cauliflower into smoothies because you can’t taste it at all, and it’s an easy way to get an extra serving of veggies. Bags of frozen mixed vegetables are also convenient for throwing into stir fries and chilis. Not needing to chop up a bunch of different vegetables is a huge time saver.
Pasta and noodles. I don’t cook with pasta a lot, but when I do I am so thankful I had it around. You can make an easy and healthy pasta dish in less than twenty minutes by boiling some whole wheat pasta, adding some frozen spinach or mixed vegetables, throwing in a can of tomatoes, and adding a few spices. Pad thai noodles or brown rice noodles are also great for Asian dishes like stir fry when you get sick of brown rice. Noodles like this cook in even less time and are really easy to use. Pasta and noodles are also cheap.
Coconut oil. You can use olive, canola, or any other kind of oil you like, but I think coconut oil is the most versatile. Unlike olive oil, it can get to a high heat which makes it ideal for quickly cooking stir fries, vegetables, or tofu. It’s a great source of healthy fat, so it’s perfect to for adding to things like smoothies and oatmeal which make you feel fuller and more energized for longer. A big container lasts a long time.

10 college kitchen necessities

February 22, 2017 by Lea Leave a Comment

Taking the plunge and making an effort start cooking in college can be overwhelming. It’s not like at home where the pantry is stocked and all of the supplies you need are already there. It is most cost and time efficient to start off with just the essential basic items and add more to the collection as you go along. There are great sets of affordable tools and cookware sold at places like Target, Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Amazon. It’s also important to get some storage boxes to store everything under your bed or wherever you have space. Here is the list of some basic cooking supplies for the beginner chef:

A small sauce pan. This is useful for cooking pasta, heating up soup, making oatmeal, and preparing grains like rice and quinoa. 2. A large pot. I use this all the time to make big batches of food like chill, soup, and stews. Throw everything into a big pot like this, put the lid on, let it simmer while you do homework, and it’s done. 3. Small and large frying pans. Frying pans are useful for making food quickly. Stir fry, eggs, pancakes, and sandwiches can be made with a frying pan. Getting a bigger frying pan that is a little deeper is also useful for making sauces and stews. I would also recommend getting one that is nonstick. It’s nice to have a small frying pan and a large frying pan so you don’t have to wash a big heavy pan for just one serving of scrambled eggs.
4. A set of utensils. The easiest way to get all of the utensils you need is to get a set. The most important utensils are a spatula, a rubber spatula, a big spoon, a slotted spoon, a peeler, measuring cups and spoons, tongs, and a can opener.
5. Nonstick baking sheets. Baking sheets are essential for roasting and baking. I would recommend getting one or two so that you can make big batches of roasted vegetables or roast multiple things at the same time. 6. Cutting boards. Get yourself a big cutting board for chopping fruits, vegetables, and preparing food. You can also get a set with different sizes of cutting boards because it’s useful to have a small one for when you are cutting up a small amount of food. 7. Knives. Get a small set of sharp knives. If I was living in a space with a real kitchen I would probably invest in a bigger and better set of knives because it makes cooking a lot easier. A set that includes a seraded knife and a small utility knife is enough to start out. 8. Food storage set. It’s important to get a few pieces of food storage so that you can keep a big batch of food in the fridge for the week. I like the Pyrex set of bowls I have because it’s glass, has colorful lids that are easy to keep track of, and includes a useful variety of sizes. 9. Blender. I really enjoy having a small blender for making smoothies. Blenders can also be really useful for making sauces, soups, and making your own flours. My roommate and I have even made cheesecake using only a personal blender (do not try this one at home). If I had more space and a real kitchen I would get a real blender, but for now a personal blender is perfect for making a quick smoothie to take to class in the morning. NutriBullets really are great, but this inexpensive one from Oster gets the job done too.

10. Dining set and utensils. Again, finding a set of plates, bowls, and cups makes life easier. All of my dining ware is plastic so that I can store everything under my bed without having to worry about it.