College Students can be Chef's too!

Has America lost it’s interest in cooking and enjoying a meal?, Would we rather jump from McDonalds to the eloquently proportioned, and separated into sections, microwavable TV dinners? Well, at least we can watch “Top Chef” while we eat those TV dinners, right?! No, no, no, we have it all wrong. The preparation and fostering of ones own meal, makes for a more healthy eating ritual and an accomplished belly. While reading Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, I realized that in the United States of America, we are minimalists, and often do anything to eat less, but this doesn’t mean we should forget about a good home cooked meal. I think Pollan makes a point that scientific eating through diets and the “less is more” theory, has taken away from the tradition of benefiting from a full meal, as food is the key to culture. In an article called 10 Affordable Meal Ideas for College Students, I was reading, I realized we are almost designed to eat unhealthy, due to the pressure of money and lack of time. Many of the foods they listed in this article, were both unhealthy, and something I admit I’ve eaten since I’ve been in college. Both This article and Pollan’s words inspired me to challenge my college-student habits, and prepare and eat my own meal.
As a college student, I suffer from a hectic schedule, which usually can only fit in a “To-Go” pizza from our campus dining areas. But I was inspired to set up a date with a friend of mine to go to his house and utilize the kitchen! Who would have thought to use the stove over the microwave? My friend and I decided to make breakfast, so he went to the store and bought eggs, bread cheese and a pack of assorted deli meat, I brought a frying pan, and we were ready to cook! First we cut holes into the middle of 4 slices of bread, I put butter on the pan, and turned the stove on medium heat. I placed one slice of bread on the pan, and cracked an egg in the middle of the hole. I fried the egg on that side until it was almost plastered to the bread, then flipped the bread over to allow the yolk from the other side to fry. Then I added cheese on top, and fried some turkey slices on the side and added it on top, then took that slice off the pan and made the others. After all four slices where done, he had two and I had two, making an fried egg, cheese and turkey, toasted breakfast sandwich. We took the time out of our busy day, me utilizing my free time between my two classes, to sit down to a homemade meal. We were so inspired that we even started seasoning some chicken breasts for later that night. So call me Chef-girl Marne, and forget the Easy Mac and Chef-Boyardee!



Until next time make Popeye Proud!