As midterms begin to rear their ugly heads and the thought of how you are going to feed yourself through the frenzy starts to weigh on you – fear not! Late night takeout for a week straight, or worse – ignoring the demands of your physical form entirely, are not your only options. Provided that you plan ahead a little, you can eat well in the midst of this horrid paper tornado we call October.
I admit that I often find it hard to balance both my budget and diet when school gets busy. Despite my intentions to eat well, stay on target with my spending and maintain good grades, I often find that studying takes precedence — as a student, it kind of has to. So I’m definitely not opposed to the occasional late night pizza or Pad Thai if it means I get to focus a little more on what needs to get done. However, I worry when reaching for the takeout menu becomes automatic because, while it’s a quick and easy option, it’s not the only way to meet both of those criteria. It’s certainly not the cheapest or healthiest way either.
Instead, I try to put aside some time in advance to get organized. This saves more time and stress in the long run. I’ve found that it is useful to incorporate this philosophy into multiple aspects of my food preparation from shopping to chopping. Here’s how to do it:
First off, plan things out. It might seem like this is taking precious time away from studying, but it doesn’t have to be comprehensive. Just think about the range of things that you might want to eat over the next few days and when you’ll want to eat them. It’s ultimately worth it if only to avoid finding yourself a week later subsisting on a diet of Kraft Dinner and ketchup — tomatoes count as a vegetable, right? Make a list of ingredients that you’ll need for each dish or meal and keep in mind how long they’ll keep in the fridge or on your shelf. Also think about how much time you’re going to be able to spend preparing food. You can save some time in advance by buying pre-prepared meals or ingredients, just keep in mind that you generally pay extra for the labour.
Next step: grocery shopping. After checking your fridge and pantry for what you already have, arm yourself with your ingredients list from meal planning and do a big grocery run. Gather any pantry ingredients and fresh foods you’ll need for the next couple days. If you want to continue using fresh foods later in the week, it can be good to do smaller supplementary food runs as needed so that grocery shopping each time won’t be as labour-intensive and time-consuming.
Now that you’ve stocked your fridge and pantry, do some advance prep-work. Packing lunch (and/or dinner and breakfast) the night before will keep you well-fed for long hours in the library and you won’t have to scramble in the morning to get everything together. Here are some things that you can mix and match for easy grab-and-go meals and are also great for throwing together dinner in a pinch:
Rice and potatoes are easily reheated when you want them. Make a big batch for the week to keep in the fridge.
Cooked proteins, like meat and tofu, will keep for several days. If you have a spare half hour, use it to get those ready for when you want to eat them later.
Hard-boiling eggs are even easier and cheaper — here’s the best method.
Roasting vegetables is surprisingly hands-off once the chopping is done. Take a 10-minute chopping break and then forget about them for the next hour while they’re in the oven.
Make a batch of homemade hummus to last you the week for a source of protein in a pinch. It’s easy if you’ve got a blender or food processor and very cost effective — learn how here.
Cut fruits and veggies into snack-size portions and divide them into small Tupperware or Ziploc bags to grab as you run out the door.
Chop up a bunch of vegetables for salad and leave them undressed in the fridge. Dress as needed.
If you’re feeling ambitious (or, like me, you relieve your stress by baking), make a banana loaf or a batch of muffins to take as snacks. Wrap the muffins or loaf slices individually in plastic wrap for convenient transportation. Also freeze half so that you can eat the first half of the batch while it's fresh and pull out the second half when you need them.
The more forethought you put into your food, the more stress you will save in the end. If you find yourself floundering amidst piles of pizza boxes, it’s never too late to sit down and get organized if you want to. Now, if only we could say the same for midterms…