For a college student, I would consider myself a very healthy eater. My housemates always joke that my comfort food is kale. As a sophomore living in an on-campus townhouse, I chose to have a smaller meal plan so that I would be able to cook my own food, as the food in the Marist dining hall my freshmen year wasn’t always the most nutritious, and often lacked vegetable options. This year, Dining Services has increased their amount of available plant-based foods, which I love, but I still find myself cooking at home out of convenience.
Meal prepping is very important, especially on a college budget. This ensures that you do not buy things you don’t need, or buy too much produce that will spoil before you can eat it. I go shopping weekly or biweekly, and typically spend anywhere from $40-$70, depending on if I am just buying weekly groceries or if I am stocking up on ingredients. I do not eat red meat, and try to limit my meat intake as much as I can. Meats and seafood I enjoy include chicken, tuna, and the occasional shrimp or scallops.
When I can, I try to keep my eating schedule during the hours of 11am-6pm, which is considered intermittent fasting. I certainly do not recommend this for everyone. I find that if I drink a full 8oz of water right when I wake up, and continue to drink at least 25oz throughout the morning, I do not need to eat breakfast until around 11am anyways. Because of this, you may see “Brunch” instead of “Breakfast” below. I also try to keep my snacking and desserts to a minimum, as there is such thing as too much of a good thing, unfortunately. Here is an example of the foods I may eat in a given Mon-Fri week:
Monday
Brunch – 2 fried eggs, 1 cup of steamed kale (seasoned with salt and pepper), avocado toast (whole grain toast, with a thin layer of low-fat Philadelphia Cream cheese, half an avocado, and topped with 1tsp chia seeds)
Dinner – 1 4oz Chicken Breast (cooked in the oven, topped with salt, garlic powder, and paprika), 2 oz sliced portobello mushrooms (raw), 1 cup steamed kale (seasoned with S+P)
Tuesday
Breakfast – Fruit smoothie (~1 cup Wyman’s Frozen Triple Berry mix, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, 2tsp chia seeds, ~6oz unsweetened almond milk)
Lunch – Tuna Sandwich (1 can tuna mixed with 1tbsp Hellman’s Light Mayonnaise, 1 leaf romaine lettuce or a handful of spinach), 1 cup Plain Siggi’s yogurt topped with raw honey and chia seeds
Dinner – Sauteed Tofu, Alfafa sprouts, Romaine lettuce and spinach salad topped with avocado oil balsamic vinaigrette
Dessert – ¼ Ben and Jerry’s Vanilla Ice Cream Pint
Wednesday
Brunch – 2 eggs scrambled, 1 cup steamed kale
Dinner – 1 cup Bowtie Pasta topped with parmesan cheese and a homemade garlic sauce and ~10-15 shrimp and scallops, 1 cup steamed broccoli
Snacks – 2 handfuls of Cheez-Its
Thursday
Brunch – Avocado Toast, 2 eggs fried
Dinner – 3 pieces of Amici’s Pizza, 3 garlic knots
Friday
Breakfast – ½ cup steel-cut oatmeal topped with brown sugar, 1 honeycrisp apple
Lunch – Spinach salad topped with 1 tsp avocado oil balsamic vinaigrette, 1 4oz chicken breast or thigh
Dinner – Homemade Curry (Kumar red curry paste, coconut milk, 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, ½ head cauliflower, 1 mango), 1 cup steamed rice
Dessert – 1 piece of Mr. Mochi vanilla mochi ice cream
If I were to eat whatever I wanted on a given day without keeping healthy choices in mind, I would definitely eat lots of sushi (I eat sushi as much as I can since it is my favourite food so probably at least once every two weeks), pancakes (which I will often have every other weekend or so), Cheez-Its or Goldfish, and Annie’s White Cheddar Mac ‘N Cheese. I hope you are inspired and have more ideas about what to eat on a college budget!
XO Jackie