I know I've only been doing this a little over a week now, but some friends and I have been discussing this so I thought I'd share what I've learned so far.
- Have groceries at home! If you don't have food already at your house, going to pick something up will seem too convenient to pass up.
- Buy stuff you use a lot in bulk - it can be stored or frozen. There's a store here that sells oatmeal, cereals, flours, granolas, etc by the pound, which is pretty great. Oatmeal is actually just great because you can add so many things to it (brown sugar, any fruit, maple syrup, chocolate chips, instant coffee. Look at 2 for sales even if you won't use it all right away. Meats, cheeses, breads can so easily be frozen.
- Invest in herbs and spices. I have a starter spice box and picked up a few other things, including a window basil plant for my room. It is super easy to make ok food taste great! I had to get dried cilantro (booo) but it's still good. CIlantro plants are actually pretty hard to maintain and I am not exactly a star plant person. A head of garlic is also a good idea. Maybe that's just me. Oh, and onions! Limes too. Chicken and lime, black beans and lime. Lime garlic butter sauce for pasta. So good.
- Produce! I think this is what I spent a good chunk of my budget on. Veggies and fruits make great snacks, sides, and even toppings for everything else. I also picked up some cream cheese, hummus, and peanut butter that compliment these well.
- Don't be afraid to cook two or three meals' worth of food at once. It can be stored! I did this with chicken tacos that I made. Actually I do this with almost everything I make.
- Prepping dried black beans can be a little annoying (read: time consuming) but they are really easy to season and combine with other things. I ended up adding some to the chicken tacos, and it was great.
- Don't forget good snacks. I already mentioned produce, but I also like having peanut butter and rice cakes, white cheddar cheez-its, gold fish, etc on hand. It's also better to make your own granola bars than buy them. Seriously. They test better, they're fresher, there are less preservatives, and they will cost you less.
- This might also just be a personal problem, but I work over dinner 4 nights a week (3-8:30/9), and by the time I get home I really don't feel like cooking. I eat a bigger "lunch" pretty late, close to when I leave, and then I put the leftovers in the fridge to heat up when I come home.
- Go to the store with a list and at least a few meal ideas, ok? If you just buy random stuff, then when you get home you may not have any decent meals you can put together.
- Oh, and don't freak out the first time you go shopping. The first time you get groceries, you'll need to get everything, so the bill will be higher than what you'd normally expect for the weeks after.
I think that's it for now. I'll add "post grad cooking for one" to the list of books I'm supposed to write one day.
No comments:
Post a Comment