Several days before making the move to college for my freshman year, my parents took me to the Kash-N-Karry to stock up on goodies . My cart was bursting with things I assumed every college student on-the-go would eat: Doritos, Oreos, beef jerky, candy, and a ton of those little microwavable cups of nacho cheese that taste sooooo good after a night of binge drinking in the student center.
It's painful to revisit those few months in my mind...the loneliness of being away from home for the first time, coupled with the load of classes I was taking (but rarely going to, and hardly passing) made it easy for that box of Famous Amos cookies to be my BFF. Rarely did I utilize the meal plan pass my parents paid so much money for...and when I did it was for pizza, waffles, or ice cream.
The truth is I was depressed. I was also lazy, and more than likely, I went a little hog-wild when off the reigns of my parents. Meal times were mandatory in my family growing up and consisted of homemade things prepared by my mother and to a lesser extent my father, older sister and self: tacos, goulash, or baked chicken. Grilled kabobs, pork chops, and beef stew. Always with some vegetable side and always a salad to start. We rarely ate fast food for dinner, and because there were six of us, chips, soda and snacks went fast.
So at college, I ditched the healthy values my parents gave me and ate everything in sight.
And gained something like 20 pounds freshman year. And tried to lose them over the next four years. And have been largely unsuccessful in doing so.
But the story doesn't end there :)
The next year, I ditched the dorm life, and the bad habits I had accumulated. I still love my Oreos, and eat out but I have made a commitment to cooking, to measuring and caring about what goes into my body.
I love entertaining, I love having friends over and making them be my "sous chefs" (my friend Diana is especially good at this game :P).
So, the point of this blog is simple:
- I'm going to post recipes, meal ideas and dining out tips for college students and working professionals who *think* they're too busy to cook. For the student who always resorts to pre-packaged, nutrition-less fast food, vending machines and corporate chain restaurants.
I hope you'll enjoy my blog :) Comments are welcome and encouraged.
-Shauna, aka The College Gastronome
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