The daily life of a college student is racked with homework, studying, meetings, relationships and, if you live in an apartment, cleaning and chores to do every day. The last thing most students have time for is eating well or exercising. By the time you get finished with the day’s plans, it’s midnight, and you haven’t even eaten a whole meal yet.
In this column I’ll try to give you tips and solutions to healthy eating and exercise from a hurried student’s perspective. And because we all could benefit from a little more exercise, and a little less Taco Bell at 2 a.m., these tips and recipes will easily fit into a busy lifestyle that can also be a healthy one.
In my three years at State so far, I’ve experienced the ways in which a busy life can take a toll on our bodies every day. Not getting enough sleep, eating fast food and junk food late at night and passing up a jog around campus for the third nap of the day can hurt our bodies and minds, which we need for cramming in all those chemistry equations the night before a midterm.
My main goal is to give you easy food tips so even the busiest and least experienced cook can fashion a healthy meal for a bargain and make it last through multiple meals.
And that’s exactly what college students need, especially when what little money we have must be set aside for “dollar night” at Rick’s.
My first idea for cheap and healthy eating came when I was reading through the cookbook “Everyday Italian” by Food Network personality Giada DeLaurentiis.
She described using leftovers from last night’s supper as ingredients in an easy egg dish called a frittata, or a quiche without the crust.
Any ingredients would work, whether it’s chicken, steak, potatoes, vegetables or leftover pasta. I started experimenting with ingredients and found cheap ways to have just a few ingredients stretch for at least three meals, without having to cook anything new.
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, onions, garlic and extra-virgin olive oil, plus whatever vegetables you like and would eat often, are the staples of cheap and easy cooking for busy bodies. With these five ingredients, you can cook a nutritious meal with minimal effort. And these ingredients can easily be made with just a skillet and knife or a table-top grill.
First, season a chicken breast with salt and pepper, or your favorite seasonings, and coat lightly with extra-virgin olive oil. Place in a skillet over medium heat for about 10 minutes, turning over once, until the juices run clear.
Then remove the chicken and place about one-third of a cup of chopped onions and two cloves of chopped garlic in the skillet with a tablespoon or two of olive oil for about 10 minutes.
Then add the vegetables, cut into thick strips or chopped coarsely. Cook for another 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender and the onions are caramelized or turn slightly brown. Remove the vegetables from the skillet and serve with the chicken. After you’re finished, store the leftovers in a zip-top bag or plastic bowl with a lid in the refrigerator.
The next day for breakfast, take the leftovers from last night’s supper and make a frittata – see the recipe below. It’s an easy way to get a nutritious breakfast, and its compact shape means you can eat it on the go.
For the third meal, take any leftover frittata slices and sandwich them between two slices of whole wheat bread with two tablespoons of mayonnaise, or ranch dressing if mayonnaise isn’t your taste, and you’ve instantly got a flavorful and nutritious egg salad sandwich without having to mess up a bowl or chop boiled eggs.
This process can be repeated every night if you want, just vary the ingredients from day to day and you’ll find endless variations for a nutritious breakfast that will get you going in the morning and give you essential brain food for those long nights of studying.
It only takes a few minutes each meal to assemble the ingredients, and you’ll see that cooking healthy and fast can work for even the most chaotic college life.
College Culinary is a food and health column for MSU students. Send any food and health tips or suggestions to Ben Mims at [email protected].