A Week in My Kitchen: featuring Lauren Lucy Caddell

Aubrey Barb

This entry will be the first in a series exploring different cooking styles used by off-campus UChicago students.

Sunday: Food is ______?

For Lauren Lucy Caddell, a third-year majoring in Business Economics and East Asian Languages and Civilizations, the answer to this question is: energy. “Actually,” she says, “I get hangry really easily.” Since moving off-campus, Caddell has devoted her time to cooking well-balanced meals in order to keep herself at her physical and mental best. This doesn’t always mean a perfect textbook (or, perhaps, cookbook) meal, as Caddell confesses to frequently having so-called “girl dinners.” Her cooking style instead focuses on using fresh ingredients and a few classic recipes to pull together easy, balanced meals–and satisfy whatever she’s been craving.

Food is also a source of control for Caddell, who describes a need to feel “everything in its right place.” Meticulously choosing groceries, planning recipes, and meal-prepping are all reflections of her Type A personality and contribute to a sense of schedule and agency amidst the stresses of life and academics.

Finally, in Caddell’s apartment, food means happiness: good feels from good meals, the pride of self-sufficiency, and the joy of sharing baked goods with roommates and friends. Caddell has a nut allergy, but it doesn’t rule her food life–she can still eat peanuts and almonds, making accidents or culinary sabotage rare. And, although she cooks independently from her roommates, often eating while working to save time, she’s still been able to make many happy memories around the dining table during this academic year.

Monday: Genealogy of a Kitchen

As a child, Caddell recalls naturally gravitating towards the kitchen, and describes a classic “mother’s sous chef” experience: lots of washing lettuce and peeling carrots while watching her mother work. She eventually started experimenting in the kitchen herself and was cooking meals for her family by her junior year of high school.

From this period onwards, social media became an important part of Caddell’s continued kitchen education. She specifically mentions “What I Eat in a Day,” private chef, and “cooking mom” channels, such as Joshua Weissman (YouTube) and cabbages (TikTok). Even when at home, Caddell prefers cooking alone and rarely cooks together with friends or family members. She still believes, however, in having a collaborative kitchen in her future household–to constantly cook for a whole family would be “too exhausting.” (I agree.)

Regarding her time spent on-campus, Caddell found the student meal plans “restricting,” pointing to the limited, repetitive dining hall meal options. She does have a few fond memories, such as “Cathey Breakfast” with its abundant fresh fruit and custom egg bar (and, might I add, occasionally exceptional lentil stir-fry). But Caddell also remarks that cooking for oneself can become a restriction of its own. “I’m always thinking about food,” she says, whether it be cooking, eating, grocery shopping, or finding new meals. “Sometimes, I wish I got to escape.”

*Interior of Caddell’s mid-week fridge, stocked with produce, leftovers, and a prepared bowl of mashed avocado.*

Tuesday: Grocery Breakdown

Caddell’s grocery store of choice is Whole Foods, and fresh produce takes center stage on her weekly list. The total haul:

4 avocados, 7 honeycrisp apples, 1 head of romaine lettuce, 3 loose carrots, 3 lemons, 3 Japanese sweet potatoes, 1 carton of cherry tomatoes, 1 box of golden kiwis, 2 boxes of raspberries, and 2 boxes of blueberries

Her list also includes:

1 carton of bone broth, 2 packages of chicken breast, and 1 other meat (usually shrimp or pork)

Other staples, purchased as needed:

Peanut Butter (Santa Cruz salted and crunchy), dry green lentils, Andean Dream rice-quinoa pasta, Siggi’s skyr (2 mixed berry or acai-flavored cups), garlic, basil, avocado oil, and eggs

Caddell buys very few prepackaged foods, but occasional snack favorites are:

Boom Chicka Pop (kettle corn flavor), Lesser Evil Popcorn, Smash Snack Bites, and Hu chocolate bars (milk chocolate cashew butter)

The weekly total typically lands around $150, although for Caddell, food budgeting isn’t a huge concern. When making grocery store selections, she primarily chooses foods with organic labelling and looks for products with limited non-essential ingredients and plastic packaging. She chooses to make up grocery expenses with stricter budgeting in other areas of life, such as clothing or travel.

*Caddell cooking an egg and a slice of bread in her stainless steel frying pan.*

Wednesday: Kitchen Tips and Tricks

Since moving off-campus, Caddell has been doing most of her cooking with passed-down stainless steel pans, which can take a bit of getting used to. Her number one kitchen tip is to use “hot pan, hot oil” when cooking eggs on stainless steel. (This is in contrast to the “hot pan, cold oil” rule I had previously seen circulating on the internet, which has repeatedly failed me.)

“Try it out”: Caddell recommends heating the pan with olive oil on medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes before adding a raw egg. Adding water to the pan and covering with a lid during cooking can also help achieve that elusive no-stick egg.

*Caddell making oven-roasted tofu bites (drizzle with olive oil, coat with salt/pepper and seasoning of choice, bake at 350 F for 20-25 min).*

Thursday: Recipe Pass-downs

Caddell has one simple recipe recommendation: roasted Japanese sweet potatoes. To make, wash one Japanese sweet potato and bake for 2 hours at 350 F, rotating ¼ turn every half hour (that is, roll the potato like a rolling pin for ¼ revolution). When finished, the potato should be soft when squeezed. It can be eaten directly with no additional seasoning.

Other classic meal components in the Caddell apartment (more “concepts” than firm recipes) include oven-roasted tofu, roasted shrimp salad, avocado toast, lentil soup, and pesto pasta. She usually spends Sunday through Wednesday cooking daily, and relies on meal-prep or leftovers for the second half of the week–when she has less energy. All of this averages out to around 2 hours spent in the kitchen per day.

Caddell describes herself as a creature of habit, with regular class, workout, and meal times, and has regular “Monday” or “Tuesday” recipes. For baking, which she does about once a week, Caddell recommends the food blog Sally’s Baking Addiction, specifically the seasonal recipes for molasses cookies, pumpkin bread, and banana bread.

Friday: Eating Out

Caddell’s only regular restaurant visit is a weekly trip to the Sweetgreen on 53rd St. Her favorite Chicago establishments for special visits are: Voodoo Donuts (West Loop), Sweet Mandy B’s (Streeterville), and Chiya Chai (Loop).

As for her all-time favorites, Caddell recommends Tatte Bakery & Cafe, as well as Silver Diner’s burger and Oreo milkshake (like an upscale Shake Shack). Both are located in the Washington DC area.

*Caddell with one weeknight meal, featuring tofu, avocado toast, pan-fried egg, and fresh fruit.*

Saturday: Parting Words

“It doesn’t have to be much.” Caddell acknowledges the difficulties of living off-campus while being a student, and that time and money are often in short supply for college students and young adults. Still, she wants to provide a personal testament that almost anyone is capable of brightening their lives with a recipe, a few ingredients, and 20-30 minutes. She promises: “Making good, healthy food doesn’t take as much effort as you’d think.”