Liberty Students Make the Most of Their Culinary Skills in Kitchens On and Off Campus
No oven? No problem. In addition to Liberty’s on campus dining options, some college students are skilled at navigating the cooking limitations of on and off campus living by preparing their own meals, and it is catching wind across campus.
From savory chickpea sandwiches to loaded smoothie bowls, Anna Cashmore, a senior majoring in interdisciplinary studies in Christian ministry, education and business, found both a passion and a necessity for cooking. Due to her health conditions and dietary restrictions, Cashmore had to adopt a vegetarian diet.
“I had a lot of varying health issues, so I had to become vegetarian,” Cashmore said. “So, I had to start cooking for myself.”
Cashmore took her health matters into her own hands. The journey to learn how to cook was not particularly easy, but she did find help in the online space.
“When I first went vegetarian, it was hard because I didn’t have a lot of cooking experience,” Cashmore said. “But Instagram definitely helped a lot in finding people who had the same diet.”
Social media platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest became another great outlet for Cashmore to find recipes and learn how to cook them.
Instagram users @fivesechealth and @earthyandy are two accounts Cashmore uses most often to find healthy, plant-based meals for any occasion. Each account provides easy-to-follow recipe videos perfect for students living on or off campus. From vegan, no-bake strawberry bars to nourishing tempeh spring rolls, students can avail themselves to dozens of recipes that don’t require kitchen access.
Cashmore learned to cook alongside her friends during quarantine. Experimenting with different recipes, as Cashmore does, is the key to gauging not only what you enjoy cooking, but also what meals are your favorite to eat.
“My friend and I started getting into cooking more plant-based, so we were in it together, which made the entire experience more meaningful,” Cashmore said.
Cashmore’s close friend, Taylor Maloy, a senior studying graphic design with a minor in clothing and textiles, lives on East Campus and has several hacks to preparing a meal in the comfort of her own dorm.
“When I don’t have time to grab campus food and want to cook a little something, I’ll buy the boxed organic Annie’s Mac and Cheese, a sweet potato, a zucchini and a pepper, and I’ll chop it all up and season it with Slap Ya Mama seasoning,” Maloy said. “Then, I heat the oven to 425 degrees, toss all the veggies in, and then top the mac and cheese with it all after 10 minutes in the oven.”
Simple, quick recipes like Maloy’s are time, budget and tummy-friendly.
Cashmore recommends smoothie bowls, vegan chocolate cake and veggie pizza as simple and fun vegetarian recipes to try if you are interested in self-made meals.
Cashmore recognizes the advantages of a plant-based vegetarian diet in her day-to-day life, and she is reaping the benefits of preparing her own meals to meet this end.
“Any diet that is more plant-based, whether it be vegetarian or vegan, we see that there is an increase in complex carbs, and associated with that, we see some amount of weight loss, lower rates of diabetes and lower risk of cancer and stroke,” Rachel Sanders, the campus dietician, said. “So overall, a plant-based diet is a very beneficial one for sure.”
If learning to cook simply isn’t in the cards, Sodexo offers several vegetarian-style meals at nearly every location on campus.
“Many people think you have to jump through a lot of hoops to make a vegetarian lifestyle work, but there is such an abundance of options,” Cashmore said. “It is honestly a lot easier than what you might think.”
For students who have never even touched a pot or pan, grab a friend this week or find a friend living on East Campus, the Quads or off campus and see if they would be willing to share their kitchen area to learn an important life skill.
Tso is a feature writer. Green is the feature editor. Follow her on Twitter at @jessigreen0.