The Importance of Quality Food During Exams - AND What I Ate for Dinner Tonight

Today, I have reached a conclusion that I feel is incredibly important to the rest of my time as a college student and perhaps my future beyond that. Today, I have decided that the most fundamental key to doing well on the end of the semester work, whether it be exams or final papers, is to take the time to eat a healthy and complete meal.

I will be the first to admit that like so many of my fellow students, when it comes time for exams, I sometimes neglect the fact that I should be eating healthy. I throw my usual food habits out the window and scarf down whatever is easiest. But after breaking down and eating cheese with pretzels for lunch yesterday, and following that with a single tomato for dinner, I realized that I must change my ways.

So today, for breakfast, I had a pear and a bowl of cream of wheat (with soy milk); for lunch I ate a kale and spinach salad with some baked beans (yeah i know there's a lot of added sugar in canned baked beans, but they taste good, and at least have a ton of protein); and for dinner I made an actual meal. Because of this and the time I spent relaxing and enjoying my food, rather than eating on the run or at my desk writing papers, I feel a million times better. It really does make a difference in quality and speed of work.

And here's a picture too!

I really liked the meal I whipped up for dinner tonight, so I would like to show it to you. When I'm in a rush, I'm horrible at measuring and writing down proportions, so I will post a recipe another night. But here are the ingredients anyways:

In one dish: chickpeas, peas, tomato, curry, cumin, coriander, ginger, chili powder, hing, salt, pepper.

In the other: mostly green beans and ginger, but there was also a splash of tomato juice, curry, cumin, salt, pepper

Both were sauteed in oil on medium heat. Also, add the spices first after the oil has been heated up. It helps bring out the flavor.

I really loved this dinner, but I do feel like adding another dish to it would make it even better (the picture looks like it's missing something, doesn't it). However, tonight just wasn't the night. If I had more time though, I would have also made some Indian style bread. It's absolutely delicious and relatively easy to make, so I would definitely recommend making that as well.

Whatever you do choose to eat though, remember food is fuel; and healthier food will keep you going strong for longer. Therefore, it is worthwhile to take the time to make a quality meal, especially when you're busy.