15 Oct College Food & Dorm Snack Ideas

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For many college freshmen, moving from home to a life on campus is a major life transition – where stress and dorm food options often lead to weight gain. Some people can’t handle the soft serve ice cream. The freedom is just too much. Despite limited kitchen resources or a lack of culinary knowledge, students can still prepare healthy meals for themselves with the help of a microwave and a few healthy grocery store items.

Here with more on this is nutritionist, Deborah Enos.

We’re trying to avoid the freshmen 15 and there’s only so much you can fit into a mini-fridge. I love Trader Joe’s for veggies. This is a new product I just found. It’s called Power of the Greens. A salad is nice, but here’s the key. You have to power boost it. Greens are great, but you need to add more fiber. These are three different fiber sources that I found at Trader Joe’s.

Organic Broccoli slaw is fantastic, easy to keep in the fridge and looks like you worked really hard. It looks nice even for dinner parties outside the dorm. Shredded carrots are also really great. And something really popular at our house is a chopped veggie mix. This mix has 8 different chopped veggies including Jicama, Broccoli, Radish and Red Cabbage. A quarter to half a cup on top of a salad power boosts the fiber content 5 or 6 grams!

You don’t have to feel guilty about it because they do a better chopping job than I do. Now we have free time to watch the Seahawks!

I’m a big fan of Edamame. It’s a huge fiber hit and a great protein hit. What I like about this size is it’s two servings. You can stick this in your backpack or eat it in the car. Add a little chili powder or you could add a little sea salt. Either is a fantastic way to go!

Last night I was at Costco and I was reaching into the dairy cooler to buy hard boiled eggs that have already been peeled. They’re fantastic when you need to get more protein . Add a little salt and pepper if you need it. Slice it on top of your salad or put it in your backpack. It has a great amount of protein and it should keep you full and get your brain energized for about 2 to 3 hours for most people. Wilcox organic is cage free and local. We love local!

When you need the big protein hit, another Trader Joe’s option is pulled chicken breast in smoky BBQ sauce. It’s delicious, but it does have a little bit of sugar because it has BBQ sauce. Microwave it, put it in a pita, put it in a tortilla, put it on top of a salad, or even eat it with a fork right out of the container!

Other alternative protein sources: I love garbanzo beans, chicken breast or tuna.

No college life is complete without some vitamins. This is your insurance if you’re not eating all these veggies. One of my favorite powered multivitamin is oxylent. I’ve had them on the show before. The orange is my favorite. It tastes like Tang without the sugar! So this is sweetened with Stevia and it has a little effervescence. What I like about it is it has lots of minerals. Most people are really low on minerals. Unless you’re eating 7-8 vegetables and fruits a day, you’re going to be a little mineral deficient. It’s got good Zinc and Zinc really boosts your immune system. Living in the dorms, it’s a necessity!

A few questions: College students have issues with not eating good foods which we’ve solved here. But also going to parties, snacking a lot on crackers or whatever it is they’re eating or maybe drinking. And also stress eating. So what do you suggest?

So what I would say is make sure you stay hydrated. I also like to make sure you’re taking your vitamins at least once a day. And start your day with a really solid protein like a hard boiled egg. If you don’t have a good solid protein in the morning, studies have shown that your stress will probably be higher throughout the day.

Let’s face it, carbs are easy. You’re going through the line in the cafeteria and that scone looks great. The muffin is easy to eat with your backpack on. So it’s really easy to grab carbs, I find it harder to grab good protein sources. So make sure you have the easy protein boosts I mentioned on hand.

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