a student's life

How often do you think about food?

To be honest, lately I’ve been thinking about food a lot. Not so much because I’m always hungry (although I could eat most of the time), but because I am forced to organize my daily meals on my own since I’ve moved to Graz. When I still lived at home I had a very easy life where cooking was concerned. I came home from school and went straight to my grandmother where a deliciously smelling, steaming dish was waiting for me on the kitchen table. In short, I was pretty spoiled when it comes to cooking. Also, I never had to think about which dish I would eat the next day, let alone plan the shopping.

Well, obviously my life has changed now. I’m living in a dorm in Graz and I try to plan my meals a day ahead, since my brain is not of much use once I’m hungry. I guess I have coped with the situation quite well so far, but I have to admit that I cheated. I spend the last few weekends at home and managed to persuade my grandmother to provide me with some extra food that I could take with me to Graz. The other days I lived on junk food or frozen food. The microwave turned out to be my best friend.

However, last week my guilty conscience caught up with me. So I adopted the resolution to start cooking (and I mean actual, preferably healthy meals). The first problem I encountered was the shopping. Did you ever notice that it is an almost impossible task to buy food in reasonable amounts for just one person? A lot of things are only offered in big packages and therefore the food is in danger of going bad at home. I mean seriously, what am I supposed to do with three onions, if I only use half an onion? Why do I have to buy a liter of vinegar? Or what do I need 6 eggs for?

I know, I could cook the same dish for a couple of days, but it’s just more fun to eat something different everyday, I can’t help it. Maybe another solution would be to be more creative and find various dishes that consist of similar ingredients. Unfortunately, I lack experience in this respect. However, I’ve just bought a cookbook and I decided to start experimenting with the ingredients I have bought so far. And by the way, if anybody has some good advice or knows recipes for easy dishes, he or she is very welcome to share them with me. I would be really thankful. :)