Is this safe to eat and other questions college students ask about food

I have re-entered the world of college and thankfully there is nothing more exciting than the joys of college food.

Is this safe to eat? Can you smell this milk for me? How do you know if eggs are still good? Can I make a meal out of noodles and a package of lentil soup mix? Food tends to be a mystery to most overworked undernapped overly hungry college students.

I think this mystery partly comes from the fact that college is really the first time that most people are responsible for feeding themselves. Some people still manage to avoid the inevitable by living on campus all 4 years and choking down the dining room slop, or by living with their parents and enjoying their mom's cooking. Eventually all of us have to face this time in our lives when food becomes a personal responsibility, and that experience is normally a comical one.

I shared with you my first "what happened to my life" moment last fall when I started my bad Ramen habit. Last summer my boyfriend called me frantically begging for recipes, because he had been eating pasta for a solid month. He went into his whole moving out experience so proud and sure of the fact that he would be a perfectly happy typical bachelor, and a month later he was so tired of eating pasta he was avoiding the aisle in the supermarket so he didn't even have to look at it.

Coming of age with food can be awkward. I know I've made a lot of mistakes. I've also learned some amazing short cuts. Thin steak meat is not only cheap; but it is also quick to fry up, tasty sprinkled with a little bit of adobo, and can be made into a complete meal if you add a side of rice and broccoli. Chicken is cheaper if you buy it with the bone in and skin on. I promise you that it will take you possibly an hour to cut off the skin and to cut the meat off the bone and the dollars per pound you'll save will bring a smile back to your face while you watch meat prices go up and up and up and your pay check go down and down and down.

Once you've figured out where your food journey is going to take you, it is time to show off a little. I don't know about you all, but I really enjoy bringing people to my apartment and making a meal for them. It makes me feel like I really have grown up. *standing on soapbox in pigtails and overalls(yes I own overalls, don't judge)* Hey all you who think I look like I'm 12, I'm an adult and I can make you a really great meal if you come to visit me!!!*stepping off of soapbox* Maybe you don't feel that urge to prove yourself like I do, but I am sure you have friends in food puberty like yourself who would love to enjoy your new recipe for beef stew.

Tonight I am eating questionable stuffed shells. I say questionable because none of my roommates remember buying them and they were in our freezer. Frozen food is safe right? I think we're hungry enough that it doesn't matter, and school doesn't even start till tomorrow. Food puberty is so much fun isn't it? If you are beyond mature in your food life and don't understand a word of what I am talking about, I apologize and hope that you will forgive my imperfection.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily