It’s 8 p.m. and you just made the trek from class to your semi-dilapidated home off-campus. You’re hungry. You’ve already called D.P. Dough three times this week, so you should probably just find something in the fridge to scramble together.
College is stressful. With classes, extracurriculars and a social life, you shouldn’t stress about what you’re going to eat. With some planning and supervision when you go grocery shopping, you won’t have to worry about scavenging for a meal.
Here are some quick tips and meal ideas for eating relatively healthy and on a budget.
- Make a shopping list for the week
Remember watching your parents make a shopping list and waiting for them to walk away so you could secretly add Oreos or certain junk foods to it, or was that just me?
Regardless, creating a shopping list that outlines everything you’re going to eat for the week makes life post-classes much easier. Write in detail every ingredient you’re going to need for meals. Not only does this avoid any stress of scrounging around in the cupboards for something edible, but it also lets you see how much goes into every meal. Maybe it even makes you appreciate your parents and their cooking. If you want to be extra organized, you could also map out how much everything will cost using Kroger’s website.
Planning out your meals with a shopping list will help you avoid overspending on random foods that will probably go bad before you get a chance to eat it. Making a shopping list is more work at the grocery store, but it saves you from getting headaches back home.
2. Stock up on staples
Pasta, potatoes, rice, beans, bread — these foods can be used in so many ways, and last a long time (except bread). Versatile food items like those can be the basis for your meals.
If you ever fall behind in planning your meals, boiling up some pasta and sautéing it with olive oil and a few simple spices is the easiest, quickest meal.
Having those food staples in the cupboard at all times will ensure an easy dinner.
3. Don’t wander the aisles
With a shopping list, you can probably avoid wandering aimlessly around the grocery store aisles. When you stroll down an aisle, anything could catch your eye. You’ll see many foods you really don’t need, but because they’re right in front of you, you’ll throw them in your shopping cart.
Shop with a purpose. Try not to dillydally in the aisles or you’ll get suckered into a heap of unnecessary things.
Also, if you’re one to easily get distracted and buy unnecessary items, you could try the online shopping option at Kroger. They’ll gather all your items for you and you can just pick them up.
4. Shop with a buddy
Sometimes, people can get carried away with shopping. They end up with a bunch of things they don’t need or are unhealthy. Grocery shopping with a friend or a roommate will not only keep you in check from going insane and throwing random stuff in the shopping cart, but it will make the trip way more fun.
5. Meal prep ahead of time.
Even if you’ve planned out your meals and bought all the ingredients, you might be left with an enormous amount of prep time. Coming back at 8 p.m. from class means you don’t have time to cook for an hour, not to mention cleaning up afterward.
Try picking a day you’re free, probably a weekend, to cook the upcoming week’s meals. Maybe you want to make a pasta salad to have on hand for lunches and snacks. Cook it during the weekend when you have time and then eat it throughout the week.
With other meals, you can cook now and then freeze to be eaten later. That will save you so much time when you get back from classes and don’t have time to spend hours cooking.
Hopefully these tips will make it easier to shop, cook and eat. When you’re so busy as a student, you don’t need to waste your time worrying about what you’re going to eat.
Treat grocery shopping as Justin Timberlake would. Not as a chore, but as a dance party.
jh240314@ohio.edu
