Cooking As a Cure-all
By Mary Skobieranda
As we return to the hustle and bustle of daily life at college, it’s increasingly important to prioritize activities that promote mindfulness and stress relief. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve found that cooking at least a few nights a week by myself or with friends is one of my favorite ways to achieve a sense of calm. Even as a total beginner, I’ve already found endless benefits to having access to a kitchen!
1. The freedom to control what you eat
It’s no shock that you can never truly know what you’re putting into your body on a meal plan. I’m honestly embarrassed to admit how many bagels I’ve eaten in past years simply because it was the easiest option to grab-and-go in the mornings. One of the best aspects of cooking is the variability it allows, giving you the freedom to choose ingredients and recipes that fuel and energize you. Being able to create your own balanced meals can ultimately have a large impact on your motivation outside the kitchen. When I’m mindful about what I’m eating, I generally tend to feel more positive about other aspects of my life.
2. Quality time with friends and roommates
Nothing brings people together like sharing a meal. On overloaded days, we often create plans around grabbing dinner off campus or ordering food to go. Cooking with friends is a great way to mix up this routine and allows the perfect opportunity to fit quality time into busy days or get together on weekends. It’s always exciting to experiment with a new recipe or share an old one with friends or roommates. Either way, you can relax and spend a peaceful hour or so with people that bring you joy!
3. Allow yourself a break
As college students, our to-do lists inevitably increase by the day. I’ve tried to treat cooking like a mandatory break. Especially at the end of the day, putting together a meal you’ve planned (and maybe thought about all day) lets you reward yourself with a fun, creative, and stress-relieving break. Unlike grabbing a quick dinner while your eyes stay on your laptop, cooking forces you to get your mind off worries or responsibilities. Luckily, you won’t have to think too hard about how to measure a cup of rice or add a sprinkle of salt.
4. Satisfaction of a task completed
Cooking not only serves as a healthy dose of relaxation, but the process of successfully following a recipe or creating your own meal can actually be a really fulfilling small win in itself! There are endless existing recipes that take no expertise or fancy skills to follow. Even searching for recipes that involve only a few ingredients left in your fridge can result in a delicious meal. As a novice, I’ve really enjoyed making lots of simple salads and my favorite pastas. The best part of cooking is, of course, the meal itself!
