Evening Food/Dining

[ad00163]

Hey everyone,

For current, past and future graduate students, I am looking for insight on what people do, or plan to do, about evening meals. Whether you are in class for hours, or studying for hours in the library, I am interested to know what other people do and what they eat. 

If you had an evening class, did you eat before class? After class? Between class?

What did you eat?

Did you find yourself eating out a lot?

Do you just snack throughout the evenings?

Tips on snacks and recipes are welcome. Thanks!

-Amy

[TakeruK]

I'll answer this anyways although from your sidebar info, it seems like we are in fairly different programs (it seems like you are in a professional program while I'm in a research based program).

With one single exception, I have not had any evening classes as a graduate student. Generally students & faculty decide on a time that mutually works and few people will choose evening timeslots. So my general plan is to go home and cook dinner after the work day is done (around 5pm for me). During busy times, I do eat out more often, but this isn't ideal. Sometimes I am able to cook many meals ahead of time and freeze them, so then cooking in the evening is easier!

The one exception was a class that wasn't really a class but more like a weekly workshop on presentation skills. That class met in the evenings over dinner time, so the students and instructors ordered pizza and ate that during the workshop/class. Free pizza was nice, but I'd still prefer to have class during the day!

[Beals]

I'm pretty passionate about healthy eating and budgeting.  Which means I cook a lot, and seldom eat out (for reasons of both physical and financial health). Which means I pre-prepare food and take it with me no matter where I'm going (if I'm going to be on campus all day that means I bring 3-4 containers of food... yeah, I'm that weird girl!).

Due to time and financial constraints I like to bulk cook.  I plan for each meal I make to feed me around 5 servings.  This conserves both time and money, and if I have the freezer space and it's a meal that lends itself well to freezing I'll make a double batch. 

A website I like is budgetbytes.com.  She has good, simple recipes, that will feed you several servings, and she's very $$ conscious.  She uses a lot of canned/packaged stuff, but it's very easy to modify that if you'd rather use fresh.  This is a good beginning website and as (if? I guess not everyone likes cooking) you get more ambitious/ find out your cooking style you can find others to replace/supplement it.   I love cooking so if you want to talk recipes I would love to.

I also pre-prepare fresh veggies for snacks one day per week (cut up a couple carrots, peppers, cauliflower, etc.), and that way I have a quick and healthy snack to take with me wherever I go!  I usually bring hummus along too.

During my MA I never had evening classes, but I would brings snacks to eat during my day classes.  It wasn't a problem, and in a few of my classes we had a 'snack rotation' and someone was responsible for bringing food each week.  It was pretty neat.

[MarineBluePsy]

I had some evening classes in my Master's program and I either brought food with me or bought a salad on campus.  I was pretty lucky that the campus dining options were very affordable and featured a ton of fresh produce, mostly organic, so it was pretty easy to eat healthy regardless.

[TakeruK]

7 hours ago, Beals said:

A website I like is budgetbytes.com.  She has good, simple recipes, that will feed you several servings, and she's very $$ conscious.  She uses a lot of canned/packaged stuff, but it's very easy to modify that if you'd rather use fresh.  This is a good beginning website and as (if? I guess not everyone likes cooking) you get more ambitious/ find out your cooking style you can find others to replace/supplement it.   I love cooking so if you want to talk recipes I would love to.

I love BudgetBytes!! I have her book now. I really liked it because it was one of the first food blogs/recipes site that emphasized the practical-ness of cooking. All of the money saving tips were things I already learned from my parents and it was very practical/realistic instead of many other food blogs / recipes sites where it seems like the author has 4-5 hours every day to cook and select the best ingredients etc.

[rising_star]

I had a bunch of evening seminars (running either 4-6:30 or 5-7:30pm) while a PhD student. My strategy was to eat a healthy snack beforehand (so half an hour or so before seminar started), have another healthy snack available during, and then have a slow cooker meal or leftovers waiting for me when i got home. After being on campus from ~9:30am until 7pm, even a 20 minute meal was more cooking than I was interested in. And, I always had a healthy frozen dinner or two in the freezer (bought on sale) as a back p in case there weren't leftovers, I didn't get things in the crockpot, etc.

[Beals]

10 hours ago, TakeruK said:

I love BudgetBytes!! I have her book now. I really liked it because it was one of the first food blogs/recipes site that emphasized the practical-ness of cooking. All of the money saving tips were things I already learned from my parents and it was very practical/realistic instead of many other food blogs / recipes sites where it seems like the author has 4-5 hours every day to cook and select the best ingredients etc.

Totally agree- her practical approach is what sold me!  She's responsible for me learning how to stock a pantry.  I'll have to buy her book when I've got some spare pennies to rub together (I use her free recipes so much I'm pretty much obligated to support her by actually buying something at this point, haha). 

[sjoh197]

I can't eat out much... due to major dietary restrictions, and I certainly can't eat at the typical campus food selections. I have classes that run till 7PM twice a week this semester, and I will be bringing a snack to eat, and then having a dinner already prepared for when I get home. I like to either crockpot something, or make a big batch leftover meal, like a stew or soup or stir fry. Something that reheats well. I have some pinterest boards with lots of good dinners and lunchy snacky stuff if you'd like some extra ideas. 

https://www.pinterest.com/sjohn19999/dinners/

https://www.pinterest.com/sjohn19999/lunch/

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

I totally need to learn to cook... I looked at the budgetbytes site and it all still seems so complicated. I have a crockpot that I've never even used hahaha

[MarineBluePsy]

When I had no clue about cooking I found a crockpot to be a lifesaver and still use mine regularly now.  Anyone can dump ingredients in it, close the lid, and hit start.

[shadowclaw]

When I did my masters, classes were mostly in the evening (usually 5 - 8), although there were a few that ran in the afternoon. I did a lot of crockpot cooking so my husband could eat when he got home from work and I could eat when I got home from class. I was really into Thai and Indian dishes that paired with rice, so I also got a rice cooker that had a delay timer. 

Now that I'm in my PhD program, I don't have many evening classes, but I still do a lot of crockpot and pressure cooking dishes because they are easy to prepare and I can throw food in the pot and walk away. The pressure cooker is amazing for soups and doesn't take long, and I can typically freeze half of it for another time. I also really like doing frozen fish fillets in the oven. A local grocery store sells 2 packs that they prepare in-house with different breadings and they are super easy to toss into the oven while I cook some veggies.

As far as eating before, after, or during an evening class, I try to have a late lunch so I don't get too hungry during it and then plan to eat dinner after. However, I have had classes that start at 6 and run until 9, and in those cases, I just eat dinner beforehand. Sometimes I do eat on campus if I'm there all day or at a nearby restaurant. I make sure I don't spend more than $10, though, and usually I spend less.

[spectastic]

like others, I like to cook in bulk, and make several meals in one session.

also a good idea to keep office snacks like nuts, dried fruits, clif bars. etc

[pterosaur]

1. I concur with everyone else: Budget Bytes is awesome
2. When you don't have a lot of time in the evenings, slow cookers are your best friend
3. Freezers & bulk cooking. I'm only cooking for myself, so a meal from Budget Bytes will make like 6 meals worth of food. I divide it up into individual containers, freeze some of it, and stick some in the fridge. Always a variety of meal options handy that way! (Requires more investment in food containers, though.)
4. Also possibly check out something like "meal prep Sunday." (I think it's got a subreddit.) I haven't done it, but it looks interesting; make all your meals for the week on Sunday afternoon and enjoy a stress-free food week.

[MathCat]

I also cook several servings when I do cook, and then I can pack the leftovers to reheat in the office if I will be there late - I have had a few evening TA assignments, for example. If I'm at home, it means I don't have to spend 1 hr+ cooking every night. I don't mind eating the same thing for several days, so I don't usually freeze the leftovers, but you certainly could. I do the same for packing lunches on week days.

I bought an Instant Pot off Amazon on Prime Day (discounted to $70) and it was a great investment. You can use it as a slow cooker, or if you are home and want to cook a similar type of dish quickly, use it as a pressure cooker. I also like not having to turn on my oven in the summer.

[ad00163]

Thank you everyone! I am so glad to hear that others still cook in some capacity. I have had some people tell me that you live off of junk food the whole time because of the lack of time. I don't want to live off junk food for the next few years, so this is inspiring to see that others find a way to maintain cooked meals. I have a slow cooker that I use every few weeks, and will definitely look more into that. Snacks sound like the way to go for my Tuesday class (4:30-7:00) while simply eating before fits my Wednesday class (7:15-9:45).

[ad00163]

On 7/22/2016 at 10:02 AM, sjoh197 said:

I can't eat out much... due to major dietary restrictions, and I certainly can't eat at the typical campus food selections. I have classes that run till 7PM twice a week this semester, and I will be bringing a snack to eat, and then having a dinner already prepared for when I get home. I like to either crockpot something, or make a big batch leftover meal, like a stew or soup or stir fry. Something that reheats well. I have some pinterest boards with lots of good dinners and lunchy snacky stuff if you'd like some extra ideas. 

https://www.pinterest.com/sjohn19999/dinners/

https://www.pinterest.com/sjohn19999/lunch/

Thank you for these links!

[spectastic]

http://www.budgetbytes.com/recipes/

ohh.. YISSSSS

 

 

*then looks at list of ingredients, and don't know what half of them are*

Edited August 14, 2016 by spectastic

[Beals]

6 hours ago, spectastic said:

*then looks at list of ingredients, and don't know what half of them are*

I'm one of the people who sung the praises of budgetbytes above, but if you're not loving the complexity of it, maybe try this too:

https://8b862ca0073972f0472b704e2c0c21d0480f50d3.googledrive.com/host/0Bxd6wdCBD_2tdUdtM0d4WTJmclU/good-and-cheap.pdf

It's actually written by a grad student, with a goal of eating on $4/day.  You can get the cookbook free (see link above), or buy it on amazon if you have $ and want to support her quest to share how to eat "good and cheap."    

[spectastic]

3 hours ago, Beals said:

I'm one of the people who sung the praises of budgetbytes above, but if you're not loving the complexity of it, maybe try this too:

https://8b862ca0073972f0472b704e2c0c21d0480f50d3.googledrive.com/host/0Bxd6wdCBD_2tdUdtM0d4WTJmclU/good-and-cheap.pdf

It's actually written by a grad student, with a goal of eating on $4/day.  You can get the cookbook free (see link above), or buy it on amazon if you have $ and want to support her quest to share how to eat "good and cheap."    

wow, thanks for the link. I may buy the book

and it's not so much complexity than me being lazy. I shop based on what I think I'm lacking nutrition wise, and make my meals based on what I have in the frig. it's probably a good idea to broaden the cooking knowledge so I'm not buying the same things over and over

[BooksCoffeeBeards]

9 hours ago, Beals said:

I'm one of the people who sung the praises of budgetbytes above, but if you're not loving the complexity of it, maybe try this too:

https://8b862ca0073972f0472b704e2c0c21d0480f50d3.googledrive.com/host/0Bxd6wdCBD_2tdUdtM0d4WTJmclU/good-and-cheap.pdf

It's actually written by a grad student, with a goal of eating on $4/day.  You can get the cookbook free (see link above), or buy it on amazon if you have $ and want to support her quest to share how to eat "good and cheap."    

I downloaded this PDF a few months ago, and I'm already finding it to be helpful!

I have one evening class, but I also have two long days on campus where I take a morning class, and teach two classes from late afternoon-to-early evening. I can't stress enough what everyone is saying re: cooking, leftovers, a filling snack before/during class, or just being aware of all the options available to you and planning ahead. Luckily for me, ASU is right in the middle of Tempe, and there are some fairly affordable food options between my light rail stop and the buildings I need to go. But, that's not something I can do *every* day, and is only helpful if I am on a tight schedule that day, or am in between leftovers and a new set of meals.

Additionally, I would say make sure you also have water with you during the long classes. During my MA studies, I would only drink water since any caffeine jolt to keep me focused would ultimately keep me up well into the night, and I would be regretting it in the morning as I ran off to teach.

Above all, just get into a routine for preparing food and you should be set for evening class.

[pterosaur]

Mozzarella?? That's not poutine!!

[Beals]

On 8/14/2016 at 2:04 PM, spectastic said:

wow, thanks for the link. I may buy the book

No problem!