Eating Habits at University + Meal Ideas
Hello, everyone. Lately, I’ve been feeling like I was running myself dry, trying to come up with weekly content I am proud of, so I have come up with a new schedule. I am now posting on alternate Fridays on YouTube and my blog. Blog posts on the first and third week of the month, with Youtube videos being the second and fourth week. I have decided to do this so I can put more time into the content I’m creating. So now that I’ve gotten all that info out of the way, on to the actual post.
One of my great friends, Beth, suggested I write about how college affected my eating habits, which is precisely what we will discuss today. First, I will talk about my University’s dining hall situation, how meal plans worked, and finally, an idea of the groceries I bought and some of my fave recipes (as links).
Meal Plan
Meal plans at my University were simple. All Freshmen were required to have a full-access meal plan (3 meals a day) because the Freshmen dorms did not have a kitchen. Sophomores had the option of a 180-block (2 meals), a 70-block (1 meal) plan, and a full-access plan. Juniors/seniors (who had access to a kitchen in their house/on-campus apartments) had any of the above options, but they also had the option of a flex plan. A flex plan was just money we’d put on our student ID cards that could be used for meals at the dining hall or coffee shop. Students also had the option of going up a meal plan (say, from 70-block to 180-block) but could not go down. There was also the option of no meal plan, which to me is kinda the same as a flex plan.
Dining Hall
The University I went to didn’t have the best food during my last few years there. The food was pretty decent my first two semesters, but when the cooking staff changed, the entre options slowly got worse. The sandwich bar, burrito bar, salad bar, and rotisserie area stayed pretty standard. The breakfast entreés were always pretty good, the oatmeal served was the bomb, and we had all-day cereal/waffle options. One year they even had smoothies which were my favorite. The coffee shop on campus also had options such as sandwiches, salads, burritos, etc. The only main issue I had was weekends; the dining hall only opened an hour for brunch and an hour for dinner, with the coffee shop being closed.
What I did
I struggled massively with my mental and physical health in college. I would always be super excited to move back on campus. Still, something would happen, and I would move back home mid-semester and commute for the remainder of the semester. That was one of the reasons why I chose my online program (I explain all of this in the “my college years” post). When I’d move on campus, I decided on a 70-block plan which would increase to a 180-block plan, and then when I’d move back home, I’d have many meals leftover that got just wasted. Eventually, I decided to do a flex plan so I could cook most of my food but still have the option of going to breakfast with my friends every morning and attending lunch/dinner if I felt like it. This ended up being the best choice for me financially and health-wise. For my birthday, a friend got me an instant pot that was used very often for my meals, quick and easy. I was still on campus when I chose to go plant-based, which influenced my instant pot meals and grocery list.
Grocery ListOn the weekend, I would look up good recipe ideas that would last me a week or more in the fridge and compile a grocery list related to those recipes. Near campus was a Win-Co (the cheap college student version of Costco). I liked that I could buy things in bulk for really cheap; it made the slightly pricey items more affordable. I also had a list of staple items that I always kept with me and would rebuy as needed
Nonfat Milk
Rice
Lentils
Chickpeas
Whole wheat bread
Powdered peanut butter
Jam (no high fructose corn syrup)
Bananas (to freeze)
Frozen strawberries
Frozen dragon fruit
Chia seeds
High-pulp orange juice
Navel oranges
Yellow Onions
Cream cheese
Eggs
Almond milk
Rice cakes
Apple sauce
Juice boxes
Annie’s gummies
Ingredients for whatever recipe I was making
Recipe ideas
I didn’t become plant-based until the fall of 2019, and even after that, every so often, I would buy chicken for a recipe that my friends and I loved. If I purchased poultry, I would cook it the day it was bought (usually on a Sunday when I’d go back on campus). Here are links to some of my favourite Instant-Pot recipes that are perfect for lunch or dinner.
Cream Cheese Chicken Chilli (now known as The 4 C’s) from Six Sisters’ Stuff
Veggie Rice Pilaf from Running on Real Food
Quinoa Burrito Bowls from Detoxinsta
Potato Carrot Medley (to go with the rice pilaf)
I hope you enjoyed this post on how college influenced my eating habits and that you’ll take some ideas from it. As always, don’t forget to give it a like, leave me a comment telling me what your favorite food is, and share this post with someone who you think might benefit from it. Sending you all the light and love in this world. See you next time!
