Eating in College: Dorms

Eating healthy in college is hard for most students for many reasons. Living in a dorm room, compared to living in apartment, has its own challenge. You may have access to a kitchen or not, but still, making food can be hard.

Source

I am making this post based on my own experience in dorm rooms last year. I didn’t subscribe to the meal plan.

• There was a kitchen but I didn’t use it since I didn’t have cooking tools… and no place to store them!
• I had access to a microwave and toaster in the kitchen.
• I was aloud to small appliances but none that posed a fire risk – like microwave, countertop oven, slow cooker & toaster.

What I invested in:

• Compact Refrigerator: an essential
• An electric kettle
• A single serving blender
• A french press
• A teapot
• A set of silverware
• A small cutting board
• Knife to cut veggies, peeler, can opener
• A cup, a couple dishes, 1 salad bowl

I kept baskets under my bed to store most of these!

Also, I bought a compact refrigerator with a small freezer, which was useful for breakfast (see below).

Note: I wasn’t vegetarian at that time.
This is for the 5 day of school period. Most of my weekend, I was at my boyfriend’s house.

1. Breakfast

My favorite breakfast option was: smoothies! This is why I bought the single serving blender (for which you don’t need space). They are easy, quick and full of nutrients! I was making it when waking up to drink it slowly while getting ready for school. My usual contained:

• 200 ml soy milk
• 1 banana
• Protein powder
• Frozen fruits (to fill the blender)

Other options:

• Oatmeal. I used unflavored microwavable oatmeal and added toppings.
• Fruit & nut butter (An apple with peanut butter is delicious!) or cheese
• Whole grain toast & nut butter and/or sugar free jam
• Overnight Oats
• Yogurt Parfait

Lunch:
Lunch is the meal I most often bought. I loved this lunch:

• Big soup & crackers from the cafeteria.
• Cheese & veggies (often celery or baby carrots) that I was bringing with me.

Options for when I was making my lunch (cheese & veggies still there):

• Hummus in mini whole wheat pita
• Tuna salad sandwich
• PB & Jelly sandwich, for lazy days

Dinner:
I often ate the same dinner 3-4 times a week. Having a different soup for lunch every day made it okay. Salads are the easiest way to go when you’re not cooking and I’ve found that they don’t have to be boring! Here is my favorite:

• Baby spinach
• 1 orange, cut in big pieces
• 1/4 to 1/2 avocado
• Smoked salmon
• Dressing: equal parts olive oil, orange juice, white wine vinegar

Making a salad is easy: lots of leafy greens, add veggies + fresh/dried fruit, nuts, cheese… For protein, beans, chickpeas, canned & smoked fish are good non-cooking options.
I was eating out 1-2 times/week.

Snacks

• Fruits, veggies
• Nuts
• Cheese sticks
• Granola bars
• Trail mix
• Fruit salad (make a big bowl at the beginning of the week!)
• Smoothie (without protein powder)
• Toast & nut butter
• Popcorn

Beverages
No need to buy that cup of coffee in the morning! With an electric kettle and a french press, you can make your own + tea and herbal tea!

Breakfast
Mint, Chocolate & Strawberry Green Smoothie
Blueberry and Flax Vegan Overnight Oats
Fig and Walnut Vegan Overnight Oats
In a Jiffy Pumpkin Pie Yogurt 
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Vegan Overnight Oats, Oh She Glows
2 Minute Microwave Peach Crisp, Live Laugh Eat
Mocha Protein Smoothie, Sweet Tooth Sweet Life

Lunch/Dinner
Open-Faced Pear Sandwiches
Tomato Wrap, Vegan Delicious
Sweet Potato and Baked Beans, Healthy Tipping Point
Feta Chickpea Tomato Salad, Live Laugh Eat
Cucumber, Orange and Raisin Salad, The Front Burner

Snacks
Coconut & Raisin Peanut Butter Ball
Chickpeas & Peanut Butter, Oh She Glows