I have the privilege to say that the thought of having to cook for myself and allow concrete self-survival haunts my days and consistently terrifies me. I don’t know how much longer I can pretend to be a 25-ish-year-old adult if preparing food for myself only seems to be an extortionate quest and the implication of having primordial necessities is so uninspiring. Especially in this economy.

I am (not) ashamed to declare that I have been a consumer of what, in traditional Gen-Z digital culture, is referred to as a “girl dinner.” Girl dinner doesn’t have specific components or dietary requirements; the only rules for a meal/life choice to be considered “girl dinner” are:

  1. It lacks real nutritional value.

  2. It makes no sense in terms of traditional pairing choices or the times of day in which you are consuming the food.

  3. It requires dedicated lack of effort.

  4. It vaguely reminds you of a more romanticised version of an eating-disorder meal.

  5. It is inclusive by nature and can be performed by anyone who identifies as a “girl” in vibes or is a devoted appreciator of the practice and the concept of “girlhood” as a constantly reworked yet unsatisfying social construct.

Girl dinners can include, but are not limited to: stale dry cereal (no milk, no intention to buy milk), three scoops of ice cream, a slice of toasted bread, a slice of cheese wrapped around ham, dry crackers, a can of Coke, pickles with jam, instant noodles with yellowy half-cut broccoli steam, half a banana with a black edge, two boiled eggs, stolen biscuits from co-worker.

Another weirdly connected huge plague of society is your usual and unsurprising 9-to-5, which is aggravated by your unpaid lunch hour while having to pay for your lunch (no gain, just pain) with a very expensive salad, a kind of unhealthy chicken fried roll, or your local Thai that is not too expensive but still costs 40 euros per week for a daily bowl of Veg Green Curry. The 9-to-5 plague also makes cooking a proper dinner after work practically impossible, thanks to fatigue and emotional overload, thus thoroughly justifying the “girl dinner” rituals.

Call me “mother” (please do), but I think that, notwithstanding devoted “girl” practices and societal plagues like working and eating chicken fried rolls, we deserve to be nurturing ourselves with better foods that make us feel better, more energised, and not too existential over our unpaid lunch hour. Within this spirit, I believe that meal-prepping is a mean solution. By meal-prepping I mean widely preparing food for oneself with the intention of consuming them in the next few days as well. Being revolutionaries within the food chain, the traditionally called leftovers now rightfully claim a higher-class status.

Within the internet and especially in the reel-zone, you can find different kinds of meal-prepping, which traditionally involve a lot of containers, 2–4 hours on a weekend day, and/or freezing some meals. While I believe these are valid options, they also have no class consciousness: it might be ambitious to possess a lot of containers, to have space in the fridge if you are sharing accommodation (same for the freezer), and to simply possess will on a weekend day. Also, I am personally not too much into cooked-frozen-unfrozen-recooked meals. They are just too watery; I aim to be dehydrated, thank you.

So, I came up with my very own class-conscious system to help myself. Here it is below.

What you buy is key

I can understand that thinking about meals and preparing a shopping list can be ruinous, and while it may be helpful in the long-term, you don’t have to do it. Not being sadistic is so okay.

However, there are a few things you can take into consideration to make your wicked cooking experience a bit more hospitable:

  1. Basics: Before going shopping, check if you have the basics for most meals. Mine are: garlic, onion, spices I usually use, oils/butter, oats, rice, bread, quinoa (or any cereal/dry carb component you prefer), milk, tomato sauce (that you can store and use whenever you feel like it).

  2. Vegetables: Get 7 vegetables, between fresh and frozen. My personal favorites: carrots (always present in my fridge), (sweet) potatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, iceberg lettuce, (frozen) spinach, and (frozen) peas.

  3. Protein: Get 5 sources of protein, 3 fresh and 2 dry. Personally, for my dry ones I always go for dry lentils and canned chickpeas. Then you can add fresh ones according to your dietary needs. I would usually go with eggs, chicken, and shrimp/cod/salmon for Omega-3 (your skin will thank you!).

  4. Snack Attack: If you are a bit peckish and want to snack, you’d better have it in your cupboard when the time comes. I always buy hummus and crackers, dates, (Greek) yogurt, dark chocolate, nuts, and some fruits, depending on the season, with my regular favourites being bananas, blueberries, and oranges.

  5. Miscellaneous: This set of ingredients depends on what is a staple in your own kitchen and diet. These are not basics, but presence is fancied. Personally, I aim to have Parmesan cheese, peanut butter, soy sauce, lemons, and chili peppers.

Prep with no stress

  1. Throw your groceries into a soup: By soup I suggest an umbrella term that welcomes any ingredient (with veg being mandatory) that is cut into pieces and cooked in flavorful water, boiled long enough that it becomes mushy enough to embody “soupy vibes.” This is more about comfort than scientific or traditional/purist soup criteria. There is no space for eugenics on this page. I love mixing and enjoying the difference brought by any veg with lentils, turmeric, chilli flakes, and olive oil bubbling in a sempiternal boiling cauldron.

  2. Throw your groceries in the oven: Whenever you are tired from work, the gym, or simply had a long, emotionally difficult day, looking at your stove and making sure the cooking is irreligious. Just put everything in the oven! Cut a few veggies, some of your favorite protein, a few potatoes, throw a few spices on top and some olive oil, and let it cook until ready. When I feel fancier, I love stuffing red peppers and/or courgettes with a simple mixture of breadcrumbs (great if you have leftover bread), eggs, Parmesan, salt, and pepper. You can make enough for the night and for lunch the next day. In the meantime, you can clean, finish work, relax, doom-scroll, or start your series. And you can also cook sooo much in the oven quantity-wise!

  3. Slam everything into a sandwich: Bread is always great and easy. I love prepping a plain egg omelette and slapping it into two slices with some cheese. Bosh.

Hope this helps!

These are my very simple survival suggestions. Cooking can be a great deal of fun, but it can easily shipwreck into unnecessary overwhelm, especially if you have a lot going on in your life and no community to help and sustain you. Hope this helps make being in your 20s (+ indefinite number) feel even a tiny bit more structured and less devastating.