To Cook or Not to Cook? That is the question.

I confess, I've fallen into a habit of getting takeout more often now.

Before we moved into the house, living at our tiny apartment was simple.  I cooked all the time and we would occasionally treat ourselves to eating out or ordering pizza.  For our first night of living in the new house, we bought takeout to treat ourselves after moving.  Things were busy for the two of us--I had work 9am-5pm and my boyfriend had work 4:30pm-2am.  There was a lot more prep needed in the morning or at night to prep breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all (including my 3 cats and dog!).  So then, it became more of a habit to order takeout when we had a lot less time to unwind.

Personally, I really love cooking.  I wish I could spend all day cooking, perfecting a recipe.  (Hello, Barefoot Contessa.)  I talked about this with my boyfriend when he asked me to pack two dinners for him since he often got hungry at work because of the way his hours are.  I told him how if I didn't work, I would gladly spend more time to prep delicious meals for him.  And we agreed that, in the future, when he could support it, I would get to stay at home.  Perhaps I exhausted myself covering everything when he was unemployed, but it really felt reassuring that he supported me and we came to the mutual decision to work towards that.

But for now, I cook when I can.  If I'm not sick or lacking sleep, I spend almost my whole morning from 7 until I head out to prep food.  Prior to 7, I prep the fur babies' food.  I don't spend any time watching TV in the morning anymore.  All I do is get up, feed the pets, eat a quick breakfast, cook, and get ready for work.  And in the evenings, I am usually tired and just want to unwind.  So if it's cooking, I try to do something fast or easy that I can let sit on the stove for a while.  And when we want to, we don't feel guilty for choosing takeout over a home-cooked meal.  We enjoy what we can. :)

What's in Your Kitchen?: The College Cook, Part 2

Welcome to Edible Culture's mini-series: What's in Your Kitchen?


Today, I'd like to start with...

The College Cook: Apartment Life

Whether it is living in school apartments or an apartment you found on your own, living in an apartment gives you full control over what your eating habits will be.  I had moved out to an apartment for my senior year at college and never looked back.  The key to what types of tools you'll need is what kind of cooking you will be doing and how often you'll really cook.  It's best to make a conscious effort to cook when you can instead of opting for takeout.


Essentials for apartment life:

• A standard set of eating utensils
• A medium-sized bowl (ceramic or plastic)
• A large plate (ceramic or plastic)
• A few tupperware containers (Rubbermaid)
• A mug/cup/tumbler
• Cooking utensils (wooden spatulas, etc)
• A small set of pots and pans
• Microwave (if your apartment doesn't provide one)
• An all-purpose/santoku knife or a set of knives (I got this one)
• An electric kettle (Proctor Silex) or a stainless steel one for the stove
• Coffee maker
• Can opener
• Peeler
• A wooden or plastic cutting board

Extras

• Rice cooker
• Slow cooker
• Blender
• Measuring cups and spoons

Pantry Items

• Salt & pepper
• Other spices (basil, parsley, garlic powder, oregano, etc)
• Vegetable oil or olive oil
• Sugar

As an experienced cook, I had a use for having a wider variety of tools.  This includes getting the knife block set of 14 instead of just a set of 5.  If you are not as experienced a cook, start small since you will likely not need to use so many knives (such as a fillet knife).  Start with at least one large knife to cut raw meats and vegetables and have one or two smaller knives for fruits, smaller ingredients (like garlic), or cutting cooked meats like chicken or steak.

The same goes when deciding on what pots and pans you will need.  I started out with one large pan, Anolon Advanced Hard Anodized Nonstick 12-Inch Covered Ultimate Pan, so that I could easily make anything.  Hard anodized means that the aluminum material was treated to heat more evenly and provide a more non-stick cooking surface.  Having the glass cover allows you to watch things more carefully if you're simmering or boiling.  The size is useful to fry rice, cook vegetables, steam fish, boil spaghetti--you name it!  That's why I selected this pan to start with.  With cooking pretty much every day at least twice a day, this pan lasted me about two years.

It is useful to also have a smaller sized pan for eggs.  That leads me into the pots I had.  For pots, I recommend getting a 2 or 3 quart sized saucepan, also with glass covers.  The pot is large enough to cook 2-3 packs of ramen in one go if you wish.  You can also comfortably cook half a package of pasta.  I bought a set which had a 3-qt saucepan and a smaller 1-qt saucepan (similar to the ones pictured here) which shared a lid.  I used the smaller saucepan as my egg pan.  I also had a larger stainless steel pot, probably 4 quarts, for boiling noodles, pasta, or making soups and stews.