Repeat after me: "I will not become a cooking blog..."

I originally promised myself that my new blog wouldn't end up turning into a cooking/food porn blog but I can't make any promises, especially since I don't live on my college campus anymore and I actually live in an off campus house with 6 other friends with a huge kitchen to work with. I loved cooking/baking when I was younger but as I'm getting older I find myself becoming more tired and lazy with age. It's just so much easier to open the doors of Chipotle and order a vegetarian burrito bowl with a bag of chips and guacamole or hit the drive through somewhere but I find it a lot cheaper (and healthier) to use fresh ingredients instead to make meals.

My roommate Hanna and I have been experimenting a lot in the kitchen since we moved into our house almost a month ago. Hanna is extremely adept around the kitchen and enjoys cooking but I feel like being around her is making me catch up! I'm usually so tired after a full day of school, double swim practices, evening classes, plus study sessions at the library and cooking is usually the last thing on my mind but a girl's gotta eat, right? And now that swim season is in full training mode, it's not very smart to be drowning my body with junk food or pre-packaged processed food with a ton of packed salt or filler chemicals. But just because I'm swimming doesn't mean I won't indulge every once in awhile with my friend John Michael, who loves to bake desserts all the time! I just learn to try one from every batch of cookies we make.

I figured I could post some of the meals/desserts I make every day on here simply to document small parts of my daily life that make it so meaningful. Eating meals should be an important ritual; you should enjoy food, you shouldn't ever rush meals or eat on the go, (despite I'm always rushing and running to class and the pool with 15 minutes to spare!) Dinner is no exception, especially since that's the only meal I know I can enjoy slowly, prepare mindfully, and eat with purpose.

The things I make aren't really very difficult; it's perfect for the average lazy college student or even bachelor. I don't make anything too fancy, I just make basic things that I know will fill me up. I'm into eating a lot of protein since I'm an athlete, and I also make sure to include something "green" or fruit-like every night, so I can have something to mix into my diet other than just a bunch of carbs. I usually make vegetarian friendly meals but I throw in chicken and fish once in a blue moon (I desperately need protein because I'm a swimmer) into my meals.

The first meal Hanna and I made were cheese quesadillas and tofurkey taco salad. It wasn't too hard...I grilled 1 tortilla in 1 pan over high heat on the stove, got 1/2 cup of shredded 4 cheese blend, spread it around the tortilla, then laid another tortilla on top of that, then let it sit for 2 minutes, then flipped it over. I repeated this process until both sides of the tortilla were slightly browned, or until the cheese melted.

For the taco salad, we chopped 2 servings of tofurkey, grilled it over the stove, strained beans, chopped up some spring mix, sprinkled some more cheese on top, then crushed tortilla chips and scattered them over the bowl. Super easy and quick!