Kitchen Basics: Tools Edition

Now this list may look incomplete but these are just the things you need to start off a healthy kitchen. Now you may need to add different things, but for me this is what I needed and could be useful for a college apartment kitchen. So the list is as follows:

1. Crock Pot: I love my Crock Pot. Her name is Betty. Yes, I name my kitchen appliances (my coffee pot's name is Bella). Any way, Betty is great. I got a Crock Pot mainly because it is perfect for making soups. I can throw my soup together in the morning before class, stir is occasionally during the day and I have soup for days. 
2. Knives and a Cutting Board: These are really important, especially when you are cooking whole foods. Your knives do not have to be expensive just functional. I found some knives at Walmart for that come with their own blade covers and are pretty colors. I got three knives for under $10. I also bought a cutting board for about $8. It is important to get a board that is big enough but not too big that you cannot store it. Always keep your knives and cutting board clean. 
3. Plastic Bags: Plastic bags are great for portioning foods. When you go shopping before you put stuff away portion out foods like carrots and grapes. Your foods are more likely to get eaten if you don't have to take time to pull stuff out and portion it. Just grab it and go. Also, portion out junk food.  Stick the portions in the back of a top shelf this way you have just enough of your junk food but it is still harder for you to get to. 
4. Containers: Going off of the last one, to help portion foods out you should have containers as well. Having one big container and several smaller sizes is good. I use the largest container for the soup I make in Betty, but it can double as a mixing bowl. 
5. Egg pan and Pot: Again you do not have to go out and buy the most expensive pots and pans out there you really just need an egg pan and a medium size pot. The egg pan is perfect for not only eggs but single serving foods. The medium pot is best so that you can still make pasta, but also heat up one serving of soup. 

My Goals for this Blog

        College is expensive. Between the over priced books you need for class, tuition, room and board, there is little money for anything, let alone for food. The little money we do have for food makes it hard to make healthy choices. It's not fair that over processed foods are the cheapest and therefore a staple in most college students diets. College dining plans are nice but again the healthy options are hard to come by. It's easy to think that since we aren't with our parents anymore that means we can eat junk all the time. What we don't realize is that the "Freshman 15" is very real. So what are we supposed to do if we want to maintain or lose weight while at school? 

   That is what I would like to explore this year. Keeping in mind I live in on- campus apartments, which have a full kitchen available to me. I will also have a meal plan that will supplement some of my meals. I went for a single declining balance meal plan, which gives me flexibility where "use it, or lose it" weekly does not apply. The stores I have available are Walmart (with a full supermarket), Weis, and Giant. None of these stores are convenient. Walmart has a bus during the week, Weis is about a 2 mile walk downhill and a very steep walk uphill to get back to my apartment, and Giant requires a car to get to. 

For the first few weeks of the semester I will be compiling a list of whole foods, their serving size and calories, their price, and price per serving. This gives me an idea of what my budget needs to be. It also will show me where the better prices for some foods will be. It is important to wait until you are local to create your budget since prices may be different than your home town. The goal is to get most of the foods we eat for the outside edges of the store and less from the inner aisles. Everytime I go shopping, my goal is to post: prices, and what I bought. During the week I will post pictures, recipes and snack ideas to keep track of what I have ate (the good ideas and the bad ideas). This is a learning experience for me so whatever input anyone can share with me will be helpful. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.