Meal Prep: Preparing for the Transition to Postgraduate Life

Meal prepping as a precedent for postgraduate life.

This year I am off the meal plan, which means that I don't have the gift/curse of running to chase for a quick bite to eat before and in between lessons. Instead, I have to wake up earlier in order to get breakfast supplies ready and wash dishes after cooking all before morning classes. Something that I learned in my first few weeks of classes however, is the art of meal prepping. Essentially, in the evenings of the latter half of the weekend, I chop up different vegetables that I am in the mood for and sauté, bake, and grill dishes to last me for the following few days. It is funny because I was initially reluctant to prep meals after my sister suggested doing so, but after the first week of running to classes, clubs, organizations, and meetings without a proper amount of time or energy to cook a nourishing meal, it has turned out to be the best advice I have gotten up to date.

Sautéing Kale and Taro (purple potato-like starch) for the week

Along with the efficiency, meal prepping has gotten me to think a lot about the diverse ways in which my own family deals with food; my sister preps entire meals for the week due to concern for nutritional balance, my mom takes whole fruits, cheeses, and different types of nuts and crackers to satiate her during long work hours, and for the most part, meals and snacks have always been readily available to me so that I would just eat what I was given without having to think about the time or process involved in my instant satiation. 

While I am aware that living on campus is very much separated from the "real world," I like having the responsibility of nourishing myself and feel that in this bubble, being off the meal plan as a senior is both a way to gain a deeper understanding of  time management as well as a way to transition from being a "student" to being a real "person".