Get the Complete Uni Bundle for Only £34.99

10 Things Every Student Should Know Before Cooking for Themselves at University

Blog post description.

STUDENT GUIDES

Aisha Mello

9/4/20262 min read

worm's-eye view photography of concrete building
worm's-eye view photography of concrete building

10 Things Every Student Should Know Before Cooking for Themselves at University

I have a little confession to make.

I think I spoiled my boys when it came to the kitchen.

And I didn't really realise how much until university started getting closer.

Growing up, I had a lot of responsibility. I cooked, I cleaned, and I had plenty of jobs to do around the house. So when I had my own children — three boys, three busy lives, sometimes three different schools, activities, work, a husband, and somewhere in there trying to find a little time for myself — I think part of me wanted things to be easier for them.

And if I'm really truthful, sometimes it wasn't even about spoiling them.

Sometimes I was just trying to get dinner on the table.

There were plenty of times when one of the boys would come into the kitchen and say, "Mommy, what can I do?"

And I'd say, "No, no, I've got it."

Because I knew that if I stopped to show them what to do, dinner was going to take twice as long.

At the time, it felt practical.

Looking back, I realise I was also taking away some of the opportunity for them to learn.

That hit me when university came around.

Suddenly I wasn't preparing three boys for dinner anymore. I was preparing young men who needed to know how to feed themselves.

So this summer, I made a conscious effort to get them into the kitchen more.

And they surprised me.

Zen especially.

He started sending me pictures of the meals he was making at university. And because he's an art student, of course he didn't just throw food on a plate. His meals actually looked beautiful. He would arrange everything, photograph it and proudly show me:

"Mommy, look what I made."

And I loved it.

He became far more inventive than I expected.

The funny thing is, though, he still didn't always feel confident.

He could make something that looked restaurant-worthy and still ask me if he'd done it right.

That taught me something.

Cooking confidence doesn't necessarily come from knowing a hundred recipes.

Sometimes it comes from making the same few things enough times that eventually you stop asking, "Am I doing this right?"

You simply know that you can feed yourself.

And that's really why I wanted to create The Student's First Ten Meals.

It's not about turning our children into chefs before they leave home.

It's about giving them ten things they know they can do when Mum or Dad isn't standing in the kitchen beside them.

So, from one parent who wishes she'd said "Come help me" a few more times instead of "I've got it," here are ten things I think every student should know before they're cooking for themselves.