Larry Westler/The Ithacan SOPHOMORE MATT YOUNG is no chef, so ICTV helped him out.

Pizza, ramen noodles and macaroni and cheese usually rank high on the list of dinner options for college students. So when it comes time to move into apartments of their own and meal plans are no longer an option to fall back on, meal preparation can be a daunting task for young adults.

In an effort to help students prepare simple, healthier meals, senior Abigail Kirk, a video production major, developed the idea for a television show.

“I came up with the idea after noticing that a lot of my good guy friends, who were highly intelligent, ended up eating very poorly at school,” she said. “When they moved off campus, they just only knew how to make very simple things, like ramen noodles, and they ordered out a lot.”

Kirk shared her idea with senior Alexander Wysocki, a cinema and photography major, and together they created “One Meal Makeover” and approached ICTV.

At the ICTV recruitment night, students were asked to nominate their cooking-challenged friends to be on the show.

Armed with a toolbox filled with spices and cooking utensils, the producers, two hosts, the friend and a camera crew surprise the “victim” in his or her apartment and help prepare a quick, healthy meal. Ithaca College Dining Services provides aprons for the participants.

Wysocki said “One Meal Makeover” will be different from typical cooking programs.

“The reality aspect of the show was a way for us to give a little more flavor, instead of being just a strictly cooking show like Martha Stewart or any of those other ones that are sit-down at a desk,” he said.

Kirk and Wysocki said they plan to tape three episodes for this semester, which will air shortly after spring break.

“We’re not trying to make everybody into cooks,” Kirk said. “We’re just trying to show them that, ‘Look, you are intelligent. You can make one thing, and maybe if you like making this one thing, you can go on to make other things.’”

Sophomore Matt Young said he didn’t think he was a bad cook, and he was surprised when the “One Meal Makeover” crew showed up at his Garden Apartment one Saturday afternoon.

“They got a lot of shots of how dirty our kitchen was,” he said. “A couple [bags] of moldy bread were on top of our refrigerator that we forgot to throw away.”

After washing dishes and straightening up the kitchen, Young and the crew went shopping at Tops for groceries and a casserole dish. They prepared chicken and carrots with a caramelized glaze for dinner and apples filled with brown sugar and walnuts for dessert.

Young said though the entire process was time-consuming because he had to clean and shop, he definitely learned from the experience and thinks it was a good idea.

“It taught me how to make a nice meal,” he said. “It’s tasty, and it’s really easy to make up.” He said he’s already used the leftover chicken to make quesadillas and a pasta dish.

Junior Karen Herbert said she thinks the show is a good idea.

“You definitely have to plan ahead and make sure you have every single little ingredient,” she said. “You just normally think of the big picture, and you really need all the little stuff to go in there and all the pots and pans.”

Herbert, a physical therapy major, had her first taste of apartment-style cooking while studying in Rochester for the summer.

“I tried,” she said, laughing. “Some [meals] were better than others.”

While Herbert followed some of her mom’s recipes at first, she said now that she’s living in a Circle Apartment with a full academic schedule, she rarely finds time to read through a cookbook or make elaborate meals.

“I’ll definitely go for the microwaveable stuff,” she said. “I’ll buy a bag of chicken nuggets or something like that. I definitely won’t make big meals.”

Wysocki said he thinks all students, whether they are trying to obtain new recipe ideas or just enjoy laughing at someone who’s learning how to cook, will benefit from watching the show.

“Maybe next time instead of a frozen pizza, someone will make themselves a burger or some chicken,” he said. He added that while most of the episodes are already planned, they’re still searching for future victims, so students should be aware.

“Watch out, you may be next,” he said.