A group of Penn State students have formed a club that's putting an end to the cereal and mac-and-cheese diet.

The Culinary Arts Club, a student-run club that aims to teach students how to cook simple meals and expand their culinary skills while keeping in mind tight budgets and time restraints, is in its first year.

President of the Culinary Club Santina Staino said so far the club has 15 members.

"We're all friends, and we decided to form this group because kids have a problem adjusting to apartments," Staino said.

The members of this club aim to make delicious food too.

"Events are when the group members get together at someone's apartment and cook a meal," Craig Plante, secretary of the Culinary Club, said. "So far we have three different events scheduled before Thanksgiving. The first event is making pizza from scratch -- easy and affordable. There is a Spanish-themed dinner, and we have a Thanksgiving dinner event planned."

The Culinary Club is a mixture of meetings and events.

"We have events that teach kids to cook on a budget and the food is edible. Recipes are mostly from family, the food that I grew up on," Staino said.

Club member Laura Nirschel said the meetings are open for anyone.

Kristine Clark, the Culinary Club's faculty adviser, said she thinks students have a hard time adjusting from dorm to apartment living.

"[Students] think it's going to be easier and better living in an apartment, but usually it's worse. You're the only person making food for yourself, and food costs money," Clark said. "Consequently, the variety of food students eat gets narrower when they move into apartments."

Clark said there are several reasons for the unhealthy diets of students.

"After a long day of being a college student, the last thing you want to do is cook, so you'll just each junk food like cereal and popcorn, then you'll move on to Oreos and ice cream," Clark said. "The whole idea of being tired leads students to eat what's lying around or stop on the way home and grab fast food."

Clark said students' unwillingness to grocery shop is another big part of students' poor diets.

"Some kids don't know how to shop for food or don't know how to cook. It's more common than uncommon," Clark said. "Students need to understand that a food that they didn't like when they were 10 years old, they might like now because taste buds change."

Students interested in joining the culinary club can e-mail Staino at sus191@psu.edu for more information.