Healthy food ideas for a college kid...PLEASE HELP!!

My favorite healthy food for lunch is tortilla pizza If you have access to an oven it's super easy, and super yummy.

Ingredients:
• Tortillas (preferably whole-wheat, but flour might taste better)
• Tomato sauce
• Cheese
• Spices

Preheat the oven to 425, put your cookie sheet/baking pan in the oven as it pre-heats. Put your pizza together (using tortilla as the dough) either on your plate or on parchment paper. Transfer to the baking sheet when the oven is done preheating, and it should be ready in about 7 minutes. Fast, simple, yummy! Better for you than that frozen crap.

Mine are usually about 400 calories, but I load up on the cheese

What options do you have for cooking and food storage? - this affects what you can use from a practical standpoint. Cooking a bag of beans in a crock pot is enough for several days to a week and very cheap, but if you don't have refrigerator space, not going to work for you (can do the beans in a wrap, enchilada, taco shell or on a salad, amongst many other possibilities). Romaine lettuce keeps very well and is relatively cheap, but again, needs refrigeration. On the other hand, PB&J sandwiches are cheap, relatively healthy and the ingredients are generally "shelf stable". I make oatmeal using just hot water from the coffee machine at work, using old fashioned whole oats - but I like my oatmeal with a little "texture" - the single serve packets generally have WAY too much sugar.

some cheap food items: chicken breast, tuna in water, and greek yogurt.

chicken breast has a variety of ways to cook it - i like to bake it in an oven wrapped in tin foil

tuna i use with mustard isntead of mayo with relish and whatever other spices you want on there. if you want to make a sandwich then it can be a complete meal

greek yogurt, i usually buy the FAGE brand - either 2% or 0% but the lower you go the more tart it is. i usually mix GY with protein powder.

Hi! I'm a college student too so I'm in the same boat with ya! My issue has always been that I am always so busy at school and don't always have a ton of time to cook during the week, so I would end up grabbing something quick - and usually unhealthy. Anyways, here's what I came up with!

Breakfast
I'm big on smoothies because I'm allergic to eggs and cereal bores me. I usually do 1/2 cup plain kefir, 1/2 cup carrot juice, 1 banana, 1/2 cup strawberries, and 1/2 cup blueberries. I cannot rave enough about kefir- I was so scared to try it (it's cultured milk) but it tastes exactly like yogurt in a smoothie, it's easier to portion, and it has a much longer shelf life than yogurt. If you buy frozen fruit, you can probably spend around $8 on all the ingredients and they will last you at least a week!

Lunch
One thing that I started doing this year was making a big pot of homemade soup on Sunday nights and then put it into individual tupperware containers so that I could just grab one in the morning and bring it with me. Start with a table spoon of olive oil in a big pot and sautéing garlic, onions, celery, and some red pepper flakes. Once they are translucent, I would usually add some canned diced tomatoes and garbanzo beans. Then I'd finish it off with some vegetable broth and let it boil for 20ish minutes. You can add or subtract any veggies or meat that you want though! I'm sure it would be good with turkey or chicken. Don't remember how much this one cost, but you can make it cheaper by using whatever veggies are on sale or in season.

Dinner
Two favorites:
Eggplant pizzas: Slice up an eggplant and throw it in a frying pan until its just browned on either side. Then put a tablespoon of pizza sauce on each slice and sprinkle some mozzarella on top. Put it in a pan and put it under the broiler for a minute or two or until the cheese is melted.
This one sounds really weird but I swear its yummy! I would cook up a veggie burger (the spicy black bean ones are the best) and then top it with some plain greek yogurt, slice up a few cherry tomatoes and some green onions to put on top. Its super quick and filling! Both of these were pretty cheap to make!

I also make turkey burgers in advance with some ground turkey meat, worcestershire sauce, olive oil, pepper, garlic, and chopped onion, but you can add whatever herbs or spices you like! I mix all the ingredients together, then individually wrap the patties and freeze them. Whenever you want one, just take it out of the freezer, let it thaw in the fridge for the day, then toss it on the frying pan for dinner! I love putting them on top of salads with some sliced avocado if avos happen to be on sale that week

Not sure if you are asking for dorm-type things or if you have access to a stove/oven.

If you do have a stove/oven:
My quick/healthy lunch/dinner "go-to": quesadillas (either egg and cheese or chicken and cheese on whole wheat tortillas) with a side of steamed broccoli (or whatever veggies you like).

I cook a few chicken breasts at once and chop them for my "go-to" protein on salad, quesadillas, or whatever. You can grill them or just do it in a pan on the stove. Season with salt, pepper and cumin.

Quesadillas are fast. For egg and cheese, I just scramble the eggs in a pan and when done put them aside on a plate, wipe out the skillet with a little olive oil on a paper towel and then throw a whole wheat tortilla on the already hot pan, add the eggs and cheese on one side of the tortilla and sprinkle a little fresh chopped cilantro on top (cilantro is very cheap and usually abundant in stores throughout the year). Once cheese starts to melt, I fold the tortilla in half, wait a couple minutes, flip to crisp the other side and done. Top with your favorite salsa.

I also roast batches of veggies all at once to have on hand as sides or toppings on salads. Butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and beets are all great roasted. The squash can be done by just cutting in half lengthwise with cut side up on a cookie sheet with olive oil and salt/pepper over it. Beets are best done in a foil packet with olive oil (just wash and roast whole) and place on a pan to aviod making a mess on a pan or in the oven with the juices. Sweet potatoes can be peeled and cubed or made into strips like fries, toss with olive oil and salt and pepper and spread out on a cookie sheet. All keep for several days in the refrigerator.

Oh goodness! I am all about eating healthy on a budget.

Snacks: fruit/vegetable based including bananas, strawberries, baby carrots (absolute favorite), broccoli, peppers, canned pineapple (cheaper). I often pair these with a spread like peanut butter or hummus. I also like greek yogurt mixed with fruit. I think it's cheaper to get the big container of yogurt and portion it into tuberware in the morning. If you're home in the evening or the afternoon, baking sweet potato fries is also great. Sometimes I find nuts or trail mix and bring them to work/class.

Breakfast: I am interning now, and lately I have half a bagel with whipped cream cheese or peanut butter, and I have time, one fried egg on it. The bagels are cheap, cause it's 1.50 for a pack of 6 (from the refrigerator section) and I eat half of one a day. I also sometimes do cereal and soy milk (rare)

Lunch: I usually have leftovers, so grilled chicken and pasta with marinara, sometimes chili with baked corn tortilla chips. Since I'm interning away from home, my mom grills chicken at home and freezes it in individual bags and sends them up with me when I come. Likewise with soup and chili. Very rarely I bring a sandwich with turkey and toppings plus fruit.

Dinner: If I'm feeling low carb, it's usually sliced chicken, broccoli or carrots, and some sort of sauce, like hummus or spinach artichoke. If I want carbs I do pasta and I spice up jarred ragu with rosemary and garlic. Sometimes we make quesadillas at my apartment too, but I only have mine with corn tortillas. I buy a lot of vegetables, often whatever I can find on sale and I cook them as well.

Feel free to add me and/or look at my diary if you need more advice, or message me!

I am a student as well, so I know how hard it is to save money and eat healthy. Here's my picks:

Breakfast: Voskos low fat Greek yogurt (honey flavor) and berries (which are in season here. You could also do mango or pear for cheap). Add a mini bagel with whipped cream cheese if you need a little more. And eggs are always cheap.

Lunch: you can get good cheap cans of soup. The organic Wolfgang puck vegetable soup is good. Also, hummus and veggies for snacks. Or a few dark chocolate Hershey's kisses for something sweet.

Dinner: tilapia is the cheapest fish. Pan fry in a little olive oil and season with salmon rub or old bay. Also, a rotisserie chicken can make multiple meals for one person. You can save time by using it to make tacos, put it on bagged salad, etc. And if you run out of time to cook, I like a Wendy's plain baked potato topped with chili.

Good luck!

You can portion down anything you need to, ramen included. Speaking of, the ramen noodle blocks split on the fold pretty nicely and lend themselves well to being veggied up with some frozen stuff. Three minute noodles, beans... honestly, any of the college kid staples can be redeemed with some vegetables and/or fruit. I bring oatmeal to make in the school convenience store's water cups like crazy.

Frozen already grilled chicken pieces add to salad or frozen veggies.