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Sick of eating cereal and ramen for lunch and dinner? Want to spend less money eating out and finally start cooking for yourself? Put down that frozen pizza, because HC’s Health Editor, Sammie Levin, is here to share her daily eats so you can get ideas for healthy, satisfying meals that are easy enough for any time-strapped collegiette to make. After you read Collegiette Eats, your taste buds, wallet and waistline will thank you.

Since I don’t have the chance to show everything I eat on here, for this post I thought I would feature my favorite eats from February that I have not been able to share with you yet. It’s been a month of some great meals, but here’s the crème de la crème. 

Best of Breakfast: Ezekiel French Toast With Carmelized Banana

After having challah French toast at breakfast with friends mid-February, I decided to experiment with cooking up some healthy, homemade French toast. I made it using cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread, banana and almond butter. It’s only about 300 calories, and thanks to the mix of fiber and protein, it’ll satisfy your appetite and your sweet tooth at the same time! 

Ingredients

  • 2 slices cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread
  • 1/4 cup almond milk
  • 1/4 cup egg whites 
  • 1 tablespoon almond butter
  • 1/2 a banana, sliced 
  • Cinnamon 

Directions

  1. Mix together almond milk, egg whites and a few sprinkles of cinnamon in a shallow dish.
  2. Brush both sides of bread with liquid mixture (or you can briefly soak in dish).
  3. Spray pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Cook bread in pan until golden brown (about two minutes), and then flip.
  4. While bread is toasting, put banana slices in pan too. Flip each slice once golden brown (about 30 seconds to one minute).
  5. Microwave almond butter for 30 seconds, until melted.
  6. Put French toast on plate, top with bananas and melted almond butter. Sprinkle additional cinnamon on top if desired.

Best of Lunch: Falafel Pita

My favorite lunch I had this month was a delicious falafel pita with a side of new dill pickles from Amer’s, a cafe on campus (and incidentally, the same place I originally had challah French toast). The pita was filled with a few pieces of falafel, tabbouleh, hummus and tahini. It can be hard to find falafel, but this one was great. So great that I couldn’t help but take a bite before snapping a pic. The falafel were perfectly crispy with just the right amount of spice and kick, cooled down by the creamy hummus and tahini. The tabbouleh was also awesome; it tasted so fresh. The pickles were also spot on because I love new dills. They’re extra crunchy and make for a nice side when you’re in the mood for something a little salty. 

Best of Dinner: Gourmet Breakfast for Dinner

My favorite dinner by far was actually a meal I made in a cooking competition during an orientation weekend for my summer internship. It was tons of fun to make, and it turned out delicious – my team won! We got split up into two teams and were given three main ingredients to work with: kale, sweet potato and pork. My team decided to go with a “breakfast for dinner” theme. We made a kale frittata, sweet potato home fries and pork medallions. I worked on the kale dish, so that is the only one I know how to make, so I’ll share the secret of that one.

We ended up not having enough eggs to make it into a real frittata, but it still turned out really tasty (and we called it a “friNOTa”). In one pan, we sautéed kale in olive oil until wilted. In another pan, we sautéed chopped onions in olive oil, minced garlic and chopped shallots. And in yet another pan, we cooked chopped bacon until it was crispy. We then mixed the kale, onion mixture and bacon together in a bowl with feta cheese. In a separate bowl, we mixed together a few eggs with a little bit of milk. Then, we poured the kale mixture into a baking dish, dumped the egg mixture on top of it and baked it at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. If we had more eggs and more time to bake the dish, it would’ve turned out more like the frittata we inteded it to be, but I actually liked the final product. Even though the eggs didn’t really solidify, it gave the kale a creamier consistency, and the combination of feta and bacon was beyond mouthwatering.

As for the other parts of our meal, the sweet potato home fries were great (seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg). I don’t usually eat pork, and it’s certainly not the healthiest protein out there, but I regret to admit I liked it a lot. It was topped with a maple syrup glaze to keep with the breakfast theme. From the preparation up until the final bite, this was a very special and memorable feast, so it takes the cake for February dinners. 

What were your favorite meals in February? Share in the comments below! 

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Sammie is a student at the University of Michigan where she is pursuing a BBA. A foodie since birth, she enjoys cooking, eating, smelling, looking at, photographing, reading about, and playing with any and all types of food. Her idolization of culinary delights is complemented by her active spirit- she enjoys running, swimming, barre classes, and even spontaneous bursts of interpretative dance if the mood strikes her. She has completed two triathlons and a half-marathon and plans to tackle more races in the future. She also dreams of traveling the globe, saving the world, and marrying James and/or Dave Franco.