Kicking the habit: Living without Ramen - Leaving the meal plan doesn't mean you have to live off of noodles for the rest of your time at Hopkins

As this year's freshmen moved into their new AMR rooms, another junior class prepared to live on its own in the city of Baltimore. Among other things, this meant leaving the University's meal plan, which many look forward to from the moment they arrive at Hopkins.

It's freedom at first. No more eating meals in dining halls that were closed for health code violations. No more paying over $7.00 per meal to receive as little as $2.45 in meal equivalency. No more wondering what, exactly, is on your plate.

Then reality sets in. No one is going to cook for you. You can't walk across the street, or downstairs, for that matter, and do nothing but show a blue card to get your food. You not only have to cook your own food, but you also have to decide what to buy and figure out how to cook it. And while eating a meal should never cost $7.00 unless you're going out, groceries still aren't cheap, and finding time to buy them every week is a pain.

Wasn't leaving the meal plan supposed to be a good thing? The solution comes as you're remembering the home-cooked meals your mom made when you were younger. Somehow, your mind drifts to the "old fogy" stories your parents used to tell. "When I was your age, I had to walk 50 miles in the snow to get to school. And it was all uphill, both ways." "When I was your age, we were lucky if we got even bread and water for dinner." "When I was in college, I lived off of nothing but Cup-O-Noodles."

Wait, you think. Could that last one be true? Is it really possible to live on only ramen noodles?

Three weeks later, it's clear: you can stay alive eating nothing but ramen. And you've already begun to discover some of the many advantages of ramen. It costs almost nothing. It keeps forever. Preparing it is quick and easy, as is cleaning up after you're done. And there are so many flavors to choose from.

But is eating ramen noodles the only way to save time cooking, spend less on food, go to the store fewer times and have a little variety?

Thankfully, no. Just remember these things, and you'll find that it's possible to survive without the meal plan ? and without ramen:

1. Size matters.

When you buy more of something, it costs less. And if you buy in bulk, you won't have to visit the supermarket every week. Clearly, buying in large quantities is the way to go.

Those of you who have cars will find this easy: just get a membership at Sam's, Costco or another club store and stock up. Sure, it might seem strange when you're trying to find somewhere to store the 48 cans of corn and 20 cereal boxes you just bought, but you'll be happy when, 6 months later, you still haven't had to buy any more canned vegetables or cereal.

Without a car, it takes a little more effort, and for the first few months you might just have to visit the grocery store every week. But when you're there, pay attention to what's on sale, and if it's something you'll use, buy lots of it. Bigger boxes and cans, of course, are better. Since stores like to vary what's on sale, you'll find that within a few months, just about everything you need has been on sale at least once ? and you'll have a lot of all of it. No more shopping trips for you.

2. Use your freezer.

OK, so buying in bulk will help save money on some stuff, but if you buy 20 pounds of ground beef, you'll probably end up with about 18 pounds of rotten ground beef. Unless, of course, you freeze it.

As long as you have a freezer, there's no reason you can't save on refrigerated items too. Buy large packages of meat, separate it into single-serving-size bags, and dump them into the freezer. When cheese is on sale, get four or five packages of it and freeze all but one of them.

And you'd be surprised at what else you can freeze; in fact, just about anything but fruits and vegetables can be tossed into the freezer and will come out all right.

And there's no reason you can't freeze whole meals either. One of the biggest reasons people don't buy the large, cheap packages of food is because they know they're only cooking for one person. After all, who wants to eat the same thing 10 meals straight? But that's not necessary.

Cook as if you were making dinner for a family, and once you're done eating, separate what's left into single servings and freeze it. Next time you're feeling lazy or don't have much time to cook, all you need is a microwave and three minutes, and you've got a good meal.

3. Greenmount is good.

Not in the "I won't kill you for the two dollars in your pocket" sense of the word. Sure, Greenmount Ave. can be dangerous. Just look at the Crime Report sometime. But while the police officers giving safety presentations to freshmen are sure to warn of the dangers of Greenmount, no one at the University ever remembers to mention the good points of the area.

Take, for instance, the Thai Restaurant and Pete's Grill. You'll have trouble finding a better place to eat Thai food or to get a good breakfast in Baltimore. More importantly for our purposes, there is a farmer's market just off of 33rd and Greenmount every Saturday (at the intersection of Merryman and Barclay). At the farmer's market, you can always find fresh fruits and vegetables at relatively low prices. So, though fruits and vegetables don't freeze well, you can still have fresh food with little effort.