Seems like cooking is the theme of the day, so I want to take this opportunity to ask you guys something.

I know nothing about cooking and having just passed my 1st year in a university, I've eaten fast food for the vast majority of that time. My body has taken a beating because of this and would like some healthy dishes even a novice like me could do. Any suggestions?

But what about the crownicles?

I think we often get "Healthy" mixed up with "Balanced". Where Balanced is the word that should be used. As long as you have your protein, preferably lean beef, fish, or chicken, your veg for Vitamin B12, Iron, Calcium, etc. and some type of grain, whatever you make will be umm..."healthy" I guess. And of course you can have a little fat so maybe a dessert like Dark Chocolate or something so that your body can process your vitamins. So like I don't know, maybe grilled tilapia or salmon, with snap peas and brown rice is a meal that I like to make. I don't necessarily have a recipe though.

And trust me, I understand as a now 3rd year university student, fast food is almost a necessity unless you go my route and get like 20 boxes of Maruchan and put chicken and veg in it.

I've put it on hold for a while. Kind of hit a dead end, I want to get back into it and finish it, but right now I got a lot going on with my summer courses at uni and a few other things too. The story ended up being bigger than I imagined it to be, the end product will probably be above 10k words or more. Sorry to dissapoint you, but yeah its gonna be a while until I finish it...

I dont think you really need to worry much about it.For the food itself, making rice with some kind of meet is easy and somewhat healthy enough.To balance it further, just buy fruits.Apples, bananas, melons and so on.Cant go wrong with that.

Always use fresh ingredients. And make big stews that last a couple of days.

I got tons of tips and recipes if you're interested

Yes, please! I'd really appreciate it.

Yeah, I guess a balanced diet is what I meant to say. I'll keep what you guys said in mind. I barely go to the grocery store, but that's gonna have to change now. Thanks guys 

Okay.

I'll try to put up some general principle first, then I'll put up some recipe guidelines.

1. Root vegetables are your friend. They're delicious, and cheap. Like dirt cheap. Especially if you find them in season.

Instead of just eating potatoes and pasta and stuff, you can make root vegetable mash.  It's good with most kinds of food. Boil potatoes and your favourite selection of root vegetables, like carrot or root selleri or rutabaga (If you don't know which ones you like just buy some new ones every once in a while and google how to cook them and try them out). Mash them with a potato masher (one of the best tools you'll ever have in your kitchen). Along with some butter, salt, black or white pepper (most people seem to prefer white but I prefer black) and a little milk.
To get the right consistency, mash them with a little butter, then add some more, mash, and repeat until you think it's just right. Same with the spices, put in a little, then taste, then a little more, until you think it's good.

2. whenever you're done frying some kind of meat in maragrine or butter, pour some milk into the frying pan (about 2 decilitres or cups or whatever you call it). Add a couple of drops of soy. throw in about a tablespoon flour. Salt, pepper and allspice to taste. Maybe a little butter or margarine. Mix it well in the pan. Mash the balls of flour until they are dissolved in the mix. Turn the heat up to medium high. Fry until it bubbles and gets thick. You'll get a delicious sauce that gets its flavour from whatever you fried in the pan before it.

I'll come back to this thread.

No problem! A delayed story will eventually be good, but a rushed story will be bad forever.

Also, homemade tomato soup is simple to make, healthy to eat, and you can make a lot in one go and just heat some when you need it. I'll give you a great recipe if you want (but it'll have to wait a few hours, I'm a bit busy right now.)