Stressed is “desserts” spelled backwards!

Photo from Chelevision

I think everyone at the University of Michigan is stressed right now.  I find when I am stressed I am too lazy to cook and end up eating whatever I can find.  Unfortunately Big Ten Burrito is right across the street from my apartment, making healthy choices even more difficult.  I’ve found that soup is always a good choice (especially when the wind chill is below zero) and so is salad and fruit.

It’s great to have a sweet treat to keep morale high when studying, but don’t fall for the most common sugar traps: overly processed candy bars near the checkout at stores.  They may look delicious when you’re overcaffeinated and got 4 hours of sleep the night before, but they will NOT make you feel better.

For me, the act of baking is a great stress reliever.  I love to bake and doing something I enjoy automatically makes me feel better about upcoming exams.  Maybe instead of giving in to your candy bar craving you could try and make a simple dessert.  If you make something yourself, it is almost always more natural (who has a jar of trans fat in their kitchen cabinets?!) than a store bought Snickers bar.

Good luck studying (and baking) during finals season!

Fun Facts

I had the pleasure of baking in an understocked kitchen last weekend.  Don’t get me wrong, it was a very nice kitchen, but it lacked some of the basic baking supplies I needed to make the Red Stripe cake.  Things I learned in the process:

1. Lowe’s sells measuring cups.  Yes, the home improvement store. At least the one in Sunnyvale, CA does.
2. Washcloths can double as oven mitts.
3. Ask a married couple to borrow a stand mixer because they most likely received one as a wedding gift (Thank you!).

A College Kitchen

I live in a tiny apartment in Ann Arbor, affectionately referred to as “the cave.”  The tiny apartment has a tiny kitchen, complete with a miniature dishwasher.  The dishwasher is currently broken, which proves my point that cooking in a college kitchen is a difficult task.

As you can see in the picture, the the kitchen consists of one wall.  Counter space is almost nonexistent.   Cooking is always an adventure and I usually end up making a huge mess that extends into the living room (sorry roommates).

One thing I’ve learned so far is this: do NOT–I repeat–do NOT bake something without testing the oven.  All ovens are different.  In this oven, 350 degrees is enough to burn a pan of brownies.  Scary!

Look for more tips about cooking in a college/small/nonprofessional/understocked kitchen in the future!

**Update:  We are supposed to be getting a new dishwasher this week, cross your fingers!