Healthy meal ideas for the busy college student!

piccolocandy

I'm a college student and I'm always looking for new and healthy food options to incorporate into my diet. Variety is the spice of life!

The problem, as many of you might imagine, is the lack of access to most of the supplies required to make overly complicated foods , business, and questionable access to a grocery store would I need it.

There is an oven in my dorm, but to be quite honest I've been sticking to the microwave to make my meals. Right now my main meals revolve around soups, grits, rice, peanut butter sandwiches, cereal, fruit shakes (I borrow a blender), microwaved scrambled eggs, and salads.

I do not eat red meat (i.e. beef and pork), but I am worried that I am eating too little meat and not getting enough of the benefits that might come with that (such as iron?)

I'd love your ideas!

rachelmarie1

Hi, if you have access to a fridge, this is something i just posted for someone else.
Set your goals up for 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fats. this should keep you fuller longer. also dont thing of cheese as a dairy, think of it as a meat bc of the amount of protein it has, try a low fat/fat free mozzerella, also low fat PLAIN yogurt can count as a meat too. dont just eat 3 meals, schedule a snack after breakfast, after lunch and after dinner. So what you might eat could look something like this:

BREAKFAST- 84 calories- 2 egg whites from large eggs and 1 slice of Natures Own whole wheat bread. (cook using pam)
SNACK1- 60 calories- low fat mozzerella string cheese
LUNCH- 224 calories- 1 cup fresh baby spinach, 1/8 cup almond slices, 1/8 cup craisins, 1/4 cup diced tomato, 1/4 cup peas, 3 oz grilled chicken, 1/8 cup fat free shredded moz. cheese, and Maple Grove Farms of Vermont - Strawberry Balsamic All Natural Dressing, 2 Tbsp (my all time fav.)
SNACK2-105 calories- medium banana
DINNER- 588 calories- 6oz lean top sirloin grilled, med baked sweet potato, corn on the cob (no added butter)
SNACK3- 120 calories- 1 cup seedless grapes

all together this would give you:
calories- 1206
carbs- 132
protein- 108
fats- 28
you can always add more grilled chicken to your lunch if you are still hungry. The string cheese is quick and portable, I often eat this a couple times a day. If you dont feel like cooking the steak/chicken, you can buy it pre-cooked and just heat it in microwave, it just cost a little more. I hope this helped, you can try playing with it. I personally do something similar to this almost every day, but with 1000 calories. If you add more protein or sources of protein throughout your day, you wont feel as hungry. Good Luck!!

threeohtwo

Hey! Here are some ideas for you:

1. I buy a rotisserie chicken at the store and buy the prepackaged salad bags and put some with that. I also make homemade chicken salad but with avocado instead of mayo and whole wheat crackers.

2. I eat a lot of peanut butter and banana sandwiches on wheat

3. yogurts, yogurt, yogurt.

4. Small bullet blender to make smoothies in the morning. You can add PB for protein or protein powder if you aren't meeting your protein macros for the day.

5. You can make lots of things in the microwave that are healthy! Egg quiches in a mug etc etc. Here's a link:http://freshman15minutemeals.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/denver-omelet-in-a-mug/

PS - pork is a white meat. It's good for you eat up!

HollisGrant

I'm an older person who works in an office, plus I go to college part-time. I don't have time to do a lot of cooking. I make meals ahead of time and freeze some of them.

Here is my basic diet:

Breakfast:
Steel cut oats with a sliced apple.
I cook a package or 1/2 package of Bob's Red Mill steel cut oats, enough so it lasts almost a week. I just add a little water and reheat some in the morning.
I order the steel cut oats from Amazon because I can get 4 for the price of 2 sold in the grocery store. I also have a student Amazon Prime membership ($40 for one year) so I don't pay shipping costs. I order all kinds of stuff from Amazon, including groceries, and they deliver to my door, which means I don't have to spend the time going shopping. I keep the extra steel cut oats in the freezer.

Lunch and dinner I make variations on this:
Lentils with vegetables and brown rice
For example, one meal: 1 cup lentils with 1/2 cup brown rice, stir fried with chopped onions and carrots.
I use an inexpensive rice cooker for the rice so I don't have to watch it.

You can buy packs of dried lentils for 99 cents to $1.20 in the bean/rice aisle of most grocery stores. One measuring cup of lentils has 18 grams of protein or the protein of 3 eggs (18 grams versus 6 grams per egg). You do not have to soak lentils. They cook in 20-30 minutes. You do not have to refrigerate dried beans, so they are easy to store. They keep up to a year on a shelf.

I cook one bag of lentils, which makes about 5 cups, enough for 5 meals, and then stir-fry some in a little olive oil with chopped vegetables and spice. For the spice, I use McCormick's Perfect Pinch -- garlic & herb, lemon-pepper, Cajun, etc. They have some with no MSG/no salt.

Sometimes I cook a large batch and freeze it in 1-2 cup amounts, so all I have to do is heat and eat it.

I have been doing this since April of this year and have lost 40 pounds. My food bill is under $100 every month. I vary the vegetables so it isn't too boring, but basically that's it. I also eat a lot of steamed kale and steamed collards (steaming keeps the nutrients). Everything else can be made ahead of time in batches that last for days.

Edited to add that lentils have a lot of iron. Eat them with something with vitamin C for the iron to be better absorbed.