It’s Wednesday night. You’re on your own, fending for yourself, and you’re hungry. You rummage through cupboards, but you’re sick of your old routine of cereal, toast or boxed food. It’s time for a change.

For many college students, cooking is a challenging part of living in a house or apartment.

“I usually go to the store once a week and I always find myself buying the same things,” said UW business student Katie Boyko. “It’s hard to branch out and think of new things to cook.”

Not only is creativity difficult for many students to add to their food preparation, but cooking for one or two people is hard because so many ingredients are sold in bulk.

“I feel like I am wasting so much food,” Boyko said.

Many students resort to fast food as a quick fix or even snack on junk food to keep their hunger satisfied. However, a lot of easy, packaged meal options are unhealthy.

“You get in a rut with what actually works,” junior Amy Whalen said. “It’s nice when all your roommates get together and can cook, but it’s hard to do since everyone has such different schedules. You eat healthier when you eat with your roommates because you are more motivated to cook a decent, healthier meal.”

Alumna Lauren Fiedler attends the Seattle Culinary Academy.

“The hardest thing about cooking for one is knowing how to only cook for one. Going through the whole hassle of prepping, cooking and cleaning up for just one person seems almost not worthwhile,” Fiedler said. She believes having the right kinds of food and right utensils in your kitchen makes cooking smaller portions a lot easier.

“Some pretty basic but necessary ingredients for your kitchen are pasta, cheese, frozen chicken, salsa, canned beans, eggs, milk, butter, rice, sugar, flour, bread and cereal,” Fiedler said. “The great thing about chicken and bread is you can buy it in bulk and store it in your freezer — which prolongs the life of it.”

Spices are also a kitchen necessity. Some suggested spices to have on hand were salt and pepper, Johnny’s seasoning salt, cinnamon, garlic powder and onion powder.

“Besides the basics (forks, knives, spoons, cups, bowls, plates), your kitchen should also always have a wooden spoon, spatula, measuring cups, can opener, bread and paring knife and a timer,” Fiedler said.

Cooking for yourself or a smaller number of people can be difficult, but finding some new recipes and ideas that work can make it worth the while. Try looking at allrecipes.com for more ideas.