By Erika Kuehl | Staff Writer
It’s no lie that ramen noodles and pizza rolls constitute most college students’ diets. A home-cooked meal is rare, and our stomachs suffer greatly throughout these four years. Our parents’ cooking is a warm hug we all miss. The Arts and Life Desk asked our parents for their best advice on college cooking.
Emma Weidmann | Arts and Life Editor
My mom’s cardinal rule of college cooking: Keep it simple.
This means don’t do too much when you’re just trying to feed yourself on a budget. She constantly advises me when shopping to buy things that I can make a few simple meals with. For example, buying a pound or two of ground beef, cooking some and freezing the rest can yield tacos, spaghetti sauce or mini sliders — all from one purchase. And come on, you already know what goes in a taco and what goes on a burger. This tip takes the guesswork out of cooking, and it’s pretty wallet-friendly as well.
My mom’s other tip? Eat your veggies.
Yeah, you might have heard that one from your mom too, but that’s only because she’s concerned for our health. Crazy, I know. But this is actually easy to accomplish, as all you really need to do is buy a bag of frozen veggies and bust that bad boy out every once in a while. Making chicken? Add some veggies on the side. Having pasta? Veggies. You get the idea.
Erika Kuehl | Arts and Life Writer
Nothing compares to my mom’s rice pilaf and maple salmon. I’ve seen her make this a million times, but it doesn’t hit the same when I make it. She told me the best way to recreate meals from home is to modify them. Instead of making the whole recipe, cut it in half. She said to remove any potentially unnecessary ingredients and make use of what I have in my pantry. Use canned tuna or chicken to make a salad that will last for days when in a pinch. My mom uses filling foods like avocado and peanut butter to stay full for hours.
“Make sheet pan meals with veggies all on one pan, and shred up a rotisserie chicken,” she said. “You can use the chicken for quesadillas, salads, tacos, soup. It can be used for anything. Coordinate with your roommates so you don’t waste all your food. Oh, and don’t leave me alone in the kitchen during the holidays. Try to learn after me.”
Olivia Eiken | Arts and Life Writer
The meal I miss most from living at home is my mom’s buffalo chicken dip. It seems so simple, but it has never tasted like hers when I’ve tried to make it myself. I also have an irrational fear of undercooked chicken, so attempting to make it myself has never been easy or an enjoyable process.
When I moved to Baylor, I knew the day would come when I would have to face my fears and make the buffalo chicken dip myself. Mother Eiken has a few words for anyone wanting to recreate the comfort dish.
“You need a small Crock-Pot,” she said. “You can get a small one on Amazon for 20 to 30 bucks, and if you take care of it, it should hold up for a while.”
According to my mom, boil the chicken until it’s white. After that, “Drain it, shred it, throw it in the Crock-Pot. Add four ounces of cream cheese, couple cups of Frank’s buffalo sauce, cup of ranch and a couple chopped green onion pieces if you’re feeling fancy. Then, give it one big stir. Cook it on low for a half hour or so until it’s all melted. Keep stirring if you need to.”
Bella Whitmore | Arts and Life Intern
When I think of where to get good cooking advice, I think of my grandma. Whether it’s asking how to work something on my oven or begging for her famous chocolate chip cookie recipe, my grandma is always there to help me out in the kitchen. There was simply no better person to ask when it came to college cooking advice, and she did not disappoint.
“Spices are the key to the taste buds,” she said. “Grill the meat of your choice, whether it’s chicken, steak, pork or turkey, but make sure to use different seasonings for each one. For more variety, you should definitely incorporate more Mediterranean and Mexican spices when you can, and always remember, spices with no sodium are always healthier.”
My grandma is a big advocate for eating healthy when you can, even as a broke college student.
“Always try to eat healthy and cut out processed foods as much as possible,” she said. “Crock-Pot and instant pot recipes are typically very easy, quick and nutritious. And in terms of saving time, cook all your food on Sunday and then freeze so you’ll have plenty of meals for the week. And lastly, olive oil is a great healthy substitute for butter.”
