Cooking a home made meal can improve health, social life

Many college students become dependent on fast food, eating out and ordering take-out for their meals.

One of my roommates, who claims to not have the time or the inclination to cook for himself, almost never goes a day without drive-thru burgers or pizza delivery.

And while the convenience and time-saving aspects of this kind of lifestyle are without question, cooking at home can be beneficial for financial, health and social reasons.

Obviously, cooking at home is a money-saver. Several weeks ago, I deep-fried popcorn shrimp and baked cheddar biscuits, spending roughly half of what it would cost to get the same meal at a Red Lobster.

There will be a bit of a loss in free time, but losing 20 minutes versus losing a considerable amount of money is a rather easy choice to make.

Of course, there’s also the advantage of actually knowing what is being eaten.

Cooking at home affords the advantage of choosing what is being consumed and what is not. While this does not always translate to a more healthy diet, it does give more control over nutrition.

But the most important thing, from the perspective of a college student, is the social advantages.

I cook for myself all the time. It is difficult to cook amounts small enough for just one person, so I often end up inviting friends over as well.

Once somebody gets good enough at cooking and learns their way around a kitchen, eventually friends and roommates will start to request that they have meals cooked for them which, of course, affords favors or brownie points to the cook.

And of course, as a college-aged guy, being able to cook a good meal is a great quality to impress women with as well.

While it may seem like a silly thing to put such importance on, taking a little extra time and effort to cook at home now, while in college, will result in small changes in savings and health that will eventually compound into a huge difference.

Learning to cook now will also serve as an indispensable skill for years to come.

And who knows? Cooking one good meal may just net you the significant other of your dreams.