I’ve put together a week of ideas (some breakfasts, some lunches, some dinners) for those of you who aren’t feeding a family. They are flexible recipes in terms of ingredients, meaning you can use up leftovers or adapt to your own taste. I hope it inspires you to rediscover your own culinary creativity.
I’m not known to be much of a fan of leftovers (my husband doesn’t mind taking them to work the next day for lunch, so I’m usually off the hook). However, I don’t like wasting food, so many times I will “refashion” leftovers into something that seems more like a new dish than just a reheat-and-eat situation. Even though I am pretty diligent about making quick use of leftovers that are hanging out in my fridge, sometimes something gets pushed to the back and when I finally find it, it’s a little “iffy” food safety-wise. That leads me to the first rule of leftover food safety: when in doubt, throw it out.
Lots of colleges and universities have healthy food these days, but sometimes you just want to make something in your own room (maybe in your jammies even). And that’s ok! A tube of cinnamon rolls baked in a toaster oven is tasty, as is ramen from the hot pot at midnight, but they’re hardly “real food.” If you want to cook in your dorm room more than just once in a while, it’s a good idea to learn to cook something that is actually nourishing. Here are a few suggestions to help you take your dorm cooking game up a notch…
End-of-summer exercise means different things to different people, of course. For me, the basics are covered in my gym, but I do like to milk the last few days of summer freedom with time spent outside. Outdoor fitness in your town might not look like it does in my area. But no matter where you live, I bet you can find some fun things to do that let you enjoy August’s precious days while also providing good exercise.
As much as you might enjoy smoked foods, you might be wondering about the food safety aspects of smoking foods at home, and whether smoked foods in general should be a regular part of your diet. Here are a few things we think you should know about cooking and eating smoked foods…
I teach nutrition at a local community college and one of my favorite lecture topics is “How to Evaluate News Reports About Food and Nutrition.” After an admittedly dry lecture on scientific method and the various types of scientific studies used in nutrition research, the students usually welcome a chance to talk about some nutrition topic they’ve heard about on TV, Instagram or another communication channel. As you may have noticed, there is no lack of nutrition studies to discuss—the media covers the topic nearly daily. Unfortunately, most times the public is left to fend for themselves when it comes to understanding these reports.
You’ve graduated from college and are headed out on your own. Really on your own, with no meal plan as your food safety net, perhaps no roommate to share the burden of purchasing and preparing food—and if you’ve got a job, it’s likely you won’t be getting regular infusions of cash from the bank of Mom and Dad, either. Congratulations are in order for sure, but it’s also time to test your mettle. One thing you might not have given any thought to yet (and that’s okay), is how to best feed yourself something that is actually nutritious, and not just quick and tasty (looking at you, instant ramen noodles). Now is a good time to learn a few basics so you can eat like the newly minted adult you are.
Maybe you’ve got a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share and have received something you don’t recognize. Maybe you saw something new-to-you at the farmer’s market, or maybe you just want to broaden your culinary horizons and picked up something new in the produce department. Whatever the reason, the question “what in the world do I do with this veggie?” is something most of us grapple with at some point.
With Mother’s Day upon us, there’s a good chance that you’ve been thinking about all that your mother (or grandmother or whomever has or had that role in your life) did for you. As my own mother will soon be celebrating her 95th birthday (and still lives on her own at our family home), I find myself ever grateful to still have her in my life…and to have those kind of good genes in my corner. I also count myself lucky to have learned a lot of things from her, including a few good life lessons that came to me by way of the kitchen. Making fudge, to be exact. Maybe you have a similar tale of life lessons acquired in the kitchen?
Eating with the seasons isn’t a new idea of course—it’s what humans have been doing since our hunter-gatherer days. With the arrival of modern supermarkets, the requirement to eat whatever was growing or available at the moment waned. Now we can eat fresh peas and raspberries year ‘round, and the terms “winter” squash or “summer” squash hold little seasonal meaning when it can be purchased in the opposing season, but that doesn't mean that seasonal eating is a pointless exercise.
