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 reading Collegiette Eats, your taste buds, wallet and waistline will thank you.
Breakfast
When I need to take breakfast on the go, but I still wake up craving my favorite combination of banana, almond butter, honey and cinnamon, I go the English muffin route instead of oatmeal. I toast the english muffin, spread one to two tablespoons of almond butter on each half, layer with banana slices, sprinkle cinnamon on, and drizzle with about a teapsoon of honey. This creation may not look particularly delicious in the picture, but a bite is worth a thousand words so don’t knock it ’til you try it. I think I may actually be addicted to this combo—I may or may not have withdrawal symptoms when I have something else for breakfast instead. At least the first step of recovery is admitting you have a problem?
Lunch
Made a quick salad for lunch: spinach, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, sliced turkey, quinoa, sunflower seeds and balsamic dressing. Protein and fiber-rich quinoa plus the turkey gives this salad staying power, and the sunflower seeds add a nice hint of salt and crunch texture.
Dinner
I love microwaveable meals as much as the next collegiette. But sometimes, I find that about an hour later, I’m hungry again. Sometimes it’s not even an hour later—I finish it and immediately think how I could have three more and still not be full. So, I like to use microwaveable meals as a base and then add some of my own ingredients for nights when I have a little time to do some cooking but not enough to make my own meal completely.
Amy’s is my favorite brand of frozen meals because they use natural, organic, high-quality ingredients so it tastes more like real food than some other brands. For dinner tonight, I had the Light & Lean Pasta and Veggies and then added edamame and mushrooms and kale (sautéed in olive oil and minced garlic). Without my add-ins, the meal is only 210 calories—that’s basically a snack. Edamame and kale are both rich in protein, so I added those to make sure I’d be more filled up.
My healthy choices ended with dinner, though. When I was stressing while studying later, I had two big cookies that were leftover in my kitchen from a potluck my friend had gone to. My bad. Usually I try to avoid stress eating by sipping tea while doing work or keeping healthy study snacks on hand, but once in a while you just have to choose the cookie over the carrots, am I right?