Sick of eating cereal and ramen for lunch and dinner? Want to spend less money eating out and finally start cooking for yourself? Put down that frozen pizza, because HC’s Health Editor, Sammie Levin, is here to share her daily eats so you can get ideas for healthy, satisfying meals that are easy enough for any time-strapped collegiette to make. After you read Collegiette Eats, your taste buds, wallet and waistline will thank you.
Breakfast
If you haven’t heard of overnight oats, then your mind is about to be blown. Overnight oats are all over pretty much every healthy food blog and Instagram account because they’re convenient, versatile and delicious. Basically, it’s oatmeal that you prepare the night before and then let soak overnight in the fridge so it’s ready to go in the morning. It has a cool, creamy texture, kind of like soggy cereal.
Most recipes call for soaking in the oats in milk with chia seeds, sometimes yogurt and various other fix-ins depending on the style and flavor. For breakfast yesterday morning, I followed Oh She Glows’ recipe for Chocolate Cake Batter Vegan Overnight Oats.
I mixed the following ingredients together in a bowl and let it sit overnight in the fridge:
- 1/3 cup regular oats
- 3/4 to 1 cup almond milk
- ¼ scoop chocolate protein powder
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 Tbsp chia seeds
In the morning, I layered the oats with banana slices and homemade strawberry chia seed jam. This was such a good breakfast. It was ready to be eaten right away (perfect for mornings when you oversleep and are rushing out the door, which is every morning if you’re me) and it was delicious—like dessert for breakfast! There are countless overnight oat recipes out there, so if you’re interested in trying out different ones, check out these other vegan ones on Oh She Glows and then surf the web for more.
Lunch
I wasn’t that hungry during my lunch break (the overnight oats were really filling!), but I figured I should have a little something to get me through the rest of my classes. I made a green smoothie that turned out to be surprisingly good for just a few ingredients.
I blended together:
- 1 cup frozen pineapple
- ½ bottle GT’s Kombucha (gingerade flavor)
- 1 big handful kale
- ¼ cup Chobani Greek yogurt (pineapple flavor)
And topped it with:
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
So good! You can find GT’s Kombucha at Whole Foods or other health food stores. The gingerade flavor is yummy; it has a bit of a fizzy tang to it. Like overnight oats, Kombucha tea is big in the food blog world, but not all of the health claims about it have been proven, so it may not be the magical elixir it’s made out to be.
Dinner
I got home late last night from group project meetings and was pretty tired by then, so I just made something easy for dinner that I could make quickly since my stomach was grumbling. I sautéed some kale and put it in a bowl with cherry tomatoes, one small avocado and two fried eggs. I also ate two slices of toasted Ezekiel bread with it on the side. Simple but good.