Now that Thanksgiving is over, the leftovers are running out, and we are returning to our normal routines of school, work, and (if you are like me) a very small budget for food, it is time for the college student’s guide to eating healthy.
This guide will be giving cheap and easy recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on a normal weekday.
Breakfast: Greens omelet with turkey bacon.This breakfast will only require about twenty minutes of your morning (I know this sounds like a lot for a school day but trust me, it is worth a good meal). I do everything by eye – I never use a measuring cup because I am just not that technical. Again, this is not a chef’s guide to great culinary meals, it is a college student’s guide to eating well with pocket change.
Ingredients:
- Cage-Free Dozen Eggs: Trader Joe’s, $2.49
Organic Baby Kale: Trader Joe’s, $1.99
Yellow Onion: Trader Joe’s, $0.69
Grape Tomatoes (Sold by the pint): Trader Joe’s, $0.99
Crumbled Goat Cheese: Trader Joe’s, $2.49
Turkey Bacon: Trader Joe’s, 8 oz for $2.99 or Costco, 1 pack of 4 12 oz for $10.11
Directions:
Start frying two or three slices of turkey bacon, however much you prefer.
For one person, only two eggs are required for this. Crack the eggs into a bowl, stir them until yellow. Pour into a pan with medium heat.
Use half a handful of kale and half a handful of arugula and sprinkle onto entire surface of eggs.
You will only use about two small slices of a yellow onion. Chop the two slices into little squares and scatter onto entire surface of eggs. Meanwhile, flip your turkey bacon to the other side if it is nice and crispy.
Use half a handful of grape tomatoes and chop as small as preferred. Scatter onto entire surface of eggs.
Stir the eggs up to avoid the bottom getting burned.
Finally, pour the crumbled goat cheese on the entire omelet. At this time, your turkey bacon should be ready.
Voila ! A $10 breakfast (with extra ingredients for five more breakfasts) in twenty minutes.
Lunch: Turkey pesto wrap with miso soup. If you have classes or work, this lunch will require you to prepare it the night before and pack it. It tastes good cold, but you can microwave it the next day to eat it warm! The soup will require hot water.
Ingredients:
- Colombus Low Sodium Turkey Breast: Trader Joe’s, 8 oz for $4.79
Spinach Wrap: Costco, 10 for $3.60
Basil Leaves: Trader Joe’s, 2.5 oz for $2.99
Baby Spinach: Trader Joe’s, 6 oz for $2.49
Grape Tomatoes (Sold by the pint): Trader Joe’s, $0.99
Provolone Cheese: Trader Joe’s, $ 4.79
Miso Soup: Trader Joe’s, $ 3.29
Directions:
This meal will only take you about 10 minutes to prepare. Depending on how much you eat, one or two wraps will suffice for this meal.
Take the spinach wrap and warm it in a pan until soft, then take lay it on a plate.
Take 4-6 slices of the turkey breast and lay it on the spinach wrap.
Take one slice of provolone cheese and lay it on the turkey.
Grab a small handful of the baby spinach and scatter over the wrap.
Use about three basil leaves and using your fingers, shred into small pieces over surface of wrap.
Chop about six grape tomatoes in half and spread onto surface of wrap.
Extra: A little bit of sriracha gives the wrap a good, spicy flavor.
Then, heat up water using a microwave or tea pot. When hot, pour miso base into water and stir.
And huzzah!
Dinner: Rosemary baked chicken with apple couscous and roasted veggies. This will take the longest out of all the recipes, about forty minutes. It is crazy easy to make, even though the name sounds like it is a meal from Top Chef.
Ingredients:
- Organic Free Range Chicken Drumsticks: Trader Joe’s, $1.99 per pound
Israeli Couscous: Trader Joe’s, 16 oz for $1.99
Organic Green Apple: Trader Joe’s, $0.79 each
Asparagus: Trader Joe’s, 12 oz for $3.29
Organic Baby Kale: Trader Joe’s, $1.99
White Button Mushrooms: Trader Joe’s, 8 oz for $1.99
Rosemary: Trader Joe’s, .75 oz for $1.79
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and get out two pyrex pans or any type of baking pans will do.
For one person, two drumsticks will do.
Start preparing chicken with olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary.
Pour olive oil onto baking pan for a second or two and place chicken onto pan.
Salt and pepper all sides of chicken, and do the same with rosemary. Until the chicken is nice and covered.
Pour olive oil onto next pan for the vegetables.
Grab six or seven pieces of asparagus and a half a handful of baby kale.
The only vegetables that need to be cut are the mushrooms. Use about 4 mushrooms and cut into thin slices.
Scatter vegetables onto the pan and make sure they are as spread out as possible.
I like to use garlic salt for the vegetables, but regular salt will also do. Salt and pepper your vegetables as much as preferred and then scatter rosemary over them.
Pour olive oil over top surface of vegetables so that the top is nice and wet.
By this time, the oven should be ready. Place chicken in but NOT vegetables and set the timer on the oven for 15 minutes.
In a 2 quart saucepan, saute 1⅓ cups of couscous with 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat until the couscous is lightly browned (about 5 minutes). Slowly add about 1¾ of boiling water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and cover. Let the couscous simmer until the liquid is absorbed.
Chop one green apple into small bite-sized pieces and once the couscous has absorbed all the liquid, stir apples with couscous until lightly brown.
Once brown, put salt, pepper, and rosemary into couscous. Then turn stove off.
At this time the timer should be done or almost done, put vegetables in oven. Then flip the chickens to their other sides.
Reset timer to 15 minutes.
When the timer is done, both the chicken and vegetables should be done. But always check the chicken before you take it out. Use a knife to cut one of them until you hit bone and make sure the chicken is NOT pink or bloody. Like my mother says, if it is white it is done.
Whoever said you cannot get good food for cheap needs a new definition of good food.
