Meal Prepping for the Mind & the Body

As college students, our lives are nonstop. There always seems to be an endless list of tasks to be completed and once we are off meal plan, cooking and going to the grocery store becomes yet another chore to add to the pile. My sophomore year, I moved into an apartment. I was terrified of cooking because I didn’t really know what I was doing, so I avoided it. My diet consisted mostly of pasta and boxed mac n’ cheese, maybe some dino nuggets if I was really feeling adventurous. These were quick and easy solutions to two things: lack of time and lack of knowledge. However, my second semester I decided to challenge myself. My rules were to meal prep at least once a week and the recipes had to be relatively easy, cheap and nutritious. Through this challenge, I grew to love cooking and started to actually enjoy searching for new things to cook. While I enjoyed cooking, it also made me feel better about myself. I felt like I was taking care of myself, while also providing myself with meals that were ready after a minute in the microwave throughout the week. Although finding the motivation and an hour or two to cook every week is not always easy, I think that it is highly beneficial to emotional and physical wellbeing. Because starting a new challenge is often the hardest part, I have attached some recipes that I have found through my journeys along with some tips to hopefully encourage and give a starting point to you all :)

Pesto Chicken Pasta

Tomato & Spinach Pasta with Sausage

Chicken Teriyaki Stir Fry

Quinoa Salad