The Demonstration Kitchen

Freshmen year of college some three years ago my food consumption went from home cooked meals to dry noodles that come out of a crunchy, plastic bag. The microwave became one of my best friends. Fast and easy was the key and I was on the quick road to an unhealthy lifestyle. Who needs great meals when most of our consumption is coming out of textbooks? And money is spare and fleeting? I know better than anybody that frozen foods, foods that come out of a can, or a plastic bag are hard habits to kick.

But if you’re finding yourself craving Coco Puffs at two in the afternoon, here’s something that might kick start your creativity and “beef” up your fast food options the healthy way.

Not many students are aware of all the services that our University Rec Center provides. Among those at the top of the list is the Demonstration Kitchen, which is an interactive cooking demonstration. A member, and fellow blog writer Aneliz Silva, who works in the offices at the Rec Center, says that “most students who pass our offices stop and ask about the kitchen area at the rec center because they’d never even seen it before.” The Demo Kitchen provides instructional lessons on cooking techniques, recipes, and the nutritional content. All the meals prepared are designed to be healthy, inexpensive, and easy. Sounds like the perfect recipe for any college student!

The goal of the demo kitchen is to make meals easy on the college student’s budget and easy to prepare, you’ll walk away with a meal cost sheet and the nutrition information provided by our registers Dietitian on campus. Each class will typically last 1 hour. 1 hour is all it takes to revamp your meals.

Level 1 cooking demonstrations require only the basic cooking utensils, cooking techniques, and ingredients. Each recipe consists of 8 ingredients or less and takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. But for those of you more advanced in the kitchen, the demo kitchen also provides Level 2 cooking demonstrations. This level incorporates more diverse cooking techniques and ingredients. Each recipe will consist of 12 or less ingredients and should take 40 minutes or less to prepare.

Buffalo Chicken Pita, Grilled Sweet and Spicy Thai Shrimp Pizza, Zucchini Lasagna, Cheesy Jalapeno Popper Baked Stuffed Chicken, Spicy Black Bean Burgers with Chipotle mayonnaise. Feeling hungry yet? These are just a few of the meals prepared in Rec Center’s Demonstration Kitchen. Eating healthy, hardy meals is exactly what we need to do to get us through the semester so start feeling better, cooking smarter, and impressing your friends with these fast and inexpensive meals. Learn how by visiting the Demonstration Kitchen at the UTSA Rec Center. 

-Kristi