Having just moved into a house with some friends of mine I've made several discoveries about the "real world" and my abilities as a single bachelor out on my own.
1.) I never learned how to cook. Yep, never paid attention when Mom made the meals. Now it seems like an art that I need to pick up.
2.) I have neither the time nor the patience to fix up complicated meals (During the weekdays anyway. Being able to cook for the ladies would always be cool). When I want to eat it better be a 5 minute project. Being in college and working full-time leaves no time to mess around.
3.) I have no idea what I'm looking for when I go to the grocery store on my own. This has gotten better after a few trips but I'm still searching for the foods that make up a healthy diet.
Things that work:
- Cooking up 5 or 6 skinless chicken breasts at once and then putting them into a container for the week. Almost instant chicken sandwiches whenever I call upon them. Very tasty and protein-packed.
- Turkey sandwiches - Not as tasty as chicken but the protein is a plus.
- Fat-free yogurt - An excellent snack that you can take anywhere. Less than 100 calories and it can kill that sweet tooth at times. It's also dirt cheap... <50 cents per cup.
- Fruits and veggies on call - I recently bought a dozen apples in a bag for ~$4. Now I can have a natural snack instead of eating something unhealthy or binging on some chips. Salads are a good side dish on any occassion as well.
- More tuna cans than my cupboard has room for - Not tasty and I'm starting to get tired of tuna...but it's loaded with protein, easy to prepare and fairly cheap.
Things that don't work:
- Getting fast food with the excuse that I don't have anything at home I want to eat. If anything, I should go to Krogers and get some healthy stuff I do want to eat. It's right down the street.
- Weight watchers/Lean Cuisine/single frozen meals. Let's face it, I don't want to spend $2-3 per frozen 400 calorie meal. There are better things out there.
- Living on beer. The college kid in me dreams of such a wonderful lifestyle, but sadly it's just not plausible.
