Hello all!
I must say this every week but wow, another week of Summer down. They are dropping like flies! My days of relaxation and no schedules are quickly dwindling down but that’s okay; college presents a lot to look forward to!
Speaking of college, I have been thinking about how different things are going to be, food-wise, living in a dorm room. I am so used to having a fully stocked kitchen available to me 24/7. I can make whatever I want, whenever I want. Need the oven to bake some muffins? Done. Want to cook up a stir-fry on the stovetop? Easy. This is most definitely NOT going to be the case in a month from now. I will have a microwave and a mini fridge. And the university dining hall. And Chipotle. Mmmm, Chipotle. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all. But I’m going to need to come up with some solid food staples that will work with my new situation. Sure it will take some getting used to, but I know it will work out just fine and plus it’s only temporary.
College people: what are your staples for food?
Breakfast this morning~
1/2 cup oatbran, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup egg whites, splash of almond milk, cinnamon, ginger, maple extract. Topped with cashew protein frosting (1 tbsp cashew butter + 1 scoop sun warrior protein + almond milk) Strawb for decoration.
Adding the nut butter to the frosting takes it to a whole new level!
I’m still drinking shakes like nobody’s business. Gotta beat the heat!
I tried two new recipes from Blog Land that I really liked!
First up, there was some Tone It Up protein salad that I saw on Christina’s blog:
It was a fun way to change up my usual veggies! It is perfect for Summer, too because it is cold and light. I had mine with some wild rice and topped everything with gauc and fresh salsa post-picture.
Then for dessert, I made a personal protein cake:
YUM! This baby is BIG, aka Kristi Size. The wheat bran bulks it up nicely. This was awesome all by itself, but even more amazing after some toppings: Marantha organic peanut butter (my new favorite!) and blended silken tofu cream.
Currently, I am in a major state of DOMS. I lifted upper body yesterday and really tried to go heavy. Well, apparently it worked. Anyone available and willing to give me a massage? I will pay in the form of delicious food.
Today is just going to be a bit of cardio and I’m actually craving the dreadmill workout I made last week. Who am I turning into?! I’m sure it won’t last long, but might as well take advantage while it lasts!
Happy Monday to you all!
"Wonderful things are happening. The way will unfold step by step. Do not limit Me."
Kristi
Sweetly Fit 
It looks like you’re going to survive just fine in a college dorm room! 😉
And, yes, Chipotle would help a ton!!
Happy Monday!
Adding almond butter to protein frosting is good too! love it!
Hope you have a fab day love! Can’t believe soon you will be in college!!!
xoxo ❤
In college I lived off of cereal, yogurt, oatmeal and peanut butter. Bananas and apples were easy to keep. For lunch in the cafeteria I always made sure I had a huge a$$ salad to get in my daily vegetables. The salad bar was good, and the sandwich station was great, but I did not like pretty much anything else in the cafeteria. After my freshman year I swore I would never eat a sandwich again! It was so great when I moved off campus into an apartment and could cook again!
I was actually pretty lucky because I never had to live in dorms… My university was in my home town, so I just lived at home throughout most of it and didn’t have to change my habits too much. Sometimes I feel like I missed out on the whole college experience, though, so I guess each side has plusses and minuses. And I loooove mixing nut butters with protein powders – definitely makes for an amazing frosting type thing 😀
When I lived in the dorms, I lived off Luna and Lara bars, Annie Chun’s instant meals, hummus + veggies, and instant oats. It’s tough not having your own kitchen, but survivable!
I’m not looking foward to this next year at all! 😦 What will I do when I’ve had a bad day and seriously need to bake some cookies?
I hear ya! We’ll tough it out together. 🙂 When I go home for breaks, I will take advantage of my kitchen!!
I lived in a dorm for two years. I relied a lot on microwavable oatmeal, smoothies, bread and peanut butter, rice cakes and peanut butter, carrots, fruits, soups, and deli meat sandwiches. It seems intimidating but you can still do a lot in a dorm! Let me know if you have any questions- I’d be so happy to help!
Thanks, Allison! I think I just need to think “simple” and I’ll be fine. Plus, I don’t mind living off oatmeal, smoothies, and peanut butter…those are some of my favorite foods!
ok dorm rooms suck i am not gonna lie to you
i was lucky and in the second college i transferred to during my freshman year i was given a like communal kitchen where i would cook my meals
dining hall food sucked and i always got sick 😦
but even in the microwave for the first school i went to i did alot of oatmeal, cereal, and even eggs
i even had a little stove top electric thing i bought that i hid and used cause you technically were not allowed to have it but i ddidnt care what were they gonna do?!
Hi I just found your blog! But I just finished my freshmen year after living in the dorms and am going to live in a dorm like area (at least food wise) again next semester.
The food situation is a little difficult, but it’s so much fun! I just stocked up on healthy snacks (oatmeal, cereal, bars), so that I wouldn’t go crazy at the cafeteria. I don’t know what your school situation is, but I practically lived off the daily grilled turkey burgers and easy (mostly healthy breakfasts). You find a food routine that makes you comfortable pretty quickly 🙂
PS. Have you ever made microwave single serving brownies? They taste amazing.
Thanks for stopping by and for the advice as well! No I haven’t tried a single serve brownie…do you have a recipe?
A sweet potato shake?!? Why have I never thought of that before? That looks awesome 🙂
My main dorm room staples when I was living in a residence hall last year:
Quaker’s Life Soft Baked Bars (Banana Bread flavor!)
Progresso canned soup
Orville Popcorn (Natural)
Canned sardines
Canned Tuna
Kashi or Mom’s Best Naturals cereal
Uncle Ben’s rice
Coffee. LOTS, AND LOTS, OF COFFEE.
Hope that helped. 😉
P.S. I’m going to have to try that sweet potato protein shake. I’ve got about 3 potatoes just sitting pretty in my crisper!
nice list! thank you!!!
You are going to do wonderfully in college! My staples are: instant oatmeal, tons of different kinds of healthy and high protein granola/energy bars, plethera of cereal, fresh fruit, pretzels, and veggies if you have a fridge. Oh and popcorn… healthy munching food!
I was really worried about not having access to a kitchen when I was in the dorms. Lucky for me our dorm had a kitchen downstairs for all the floors to share if they wanted too. Times where I absolutely hated what the dining hall had I took advantage of the kitchen and cooked what I had stocked in the mini fridge.
I will have a kitchen in my dorm hall, too! I don’t think I will actually use it much, it is nice to know that it’s there if i need it.
I am going to be in the same dorm situation as you .. well except for chipotle LOL! Lucky!
youre gonna love college! my word of advice…..try to cook as much as possible, even in your dorm. There are ways. learn to improvise!! huge!
transitioning to dorm room living is definitely a challenge at first — but you learn to adapt! make the most out of the dining hall resources. Usually most schools have pretty legit salad bars, sandwiches, fruit, and cereal that you can bring back to your room. Some freshman dorms also have a kitchen for the students that you can use. Muffins for everyone 🙂 I’m sure you’ll make lots of friends that way 😉
Peanut butter saved me in college! Although, I did live in an apartment three years 😉
Email me if you want some tips for dorm meals!
Honestly, dorm food is very tricky- but I have survived so far! One tip- don’t hesitate to take as much fruit from the dining hall as you can manage. (I frequently put a few bananas in my backpack) You never you know a meal is horrible and you need a pick-me-up soon afterwards. I have also been known to take a slice of bread or two when they have what I want shhh 🙂
My staples: dining hall bananas, oatmeal, peanut butter, graham crackers
Oatmeal. Major staple when I was in boarding school!
I agree the summer is disappearing! I’m beginning to realize that I actually have more time during the semester then I do working full time so I’m actually starting to look forward to the semester! I live at home during school so I still have all the kitchen amenities!
That cashew protein frosting looks fab!
I’m SO jealous you are just starting out in college! I would do anything to get to relive it all again!!!! As an upcoming senior, I can tell you that the time SERIOUSLY flies by — so pretty please enjoy every single moment.
But, don’t make the same mistake as me (gaining the freshman-20!), and try as hard as you can to stay out of the dining halls. My freshman year I was a dining hall regular, and it showed! Luckily, moving into my sorority house the next year did wonders for my eating habits (hello, house chef!), and I was able to lose the weight quickly.
My advice to you, besides trying not to frequent the dining halls too much, would be to eat a good breakfast — I live off microwaveable oats with soy-milk and a banana (all easy to store in your dorm fridge), and to always carry snacks with you to eat in between classes — I usually tote around some sort of protein bars with fruit so I don’t gorge once I get back to the house.
Also, beware of late-night snacking when you’re up all hours of the night either studying or partying and get ready for the best four years of your life!! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by my blog!:) You don’t want to know the food staples I had in college…I was in nutrition denial those days (and it’s no wonder I gained at least 10 of the “freshmen 15”;). These days I would definitely keep some quick oats, nuts, and nut butter on hand for sure:).
Wow, that sweet potato smoothie sounds crazy awesome. Must. Try. ASAP.
This is something I am definitely gonna have to think about too…..my food will definitely not be able to be as gourmet as it is now LOL! I am gonna have to adapt a bit and come up with some easy staples that require little to no cooking.
cooking loving me hated dorm room dining 😦 but i managed by buying fresh fruits every week and keeping an extra drawer filled with oatmeal and different cereals etc. trust me you’ll find some creative ways to eat healthy haha
You learn to get creative with a microwave for sure. You can microwave cupcakes, brownies, cookies, dinner rolls and muffins. You can even microwave pizza dough. The worst part for me was not having a real sink to wash dishes in!
Hi Kristi,
I’ve been subscribed to your blog for a while, but I don’t think I’ve commented yet.
Let me tell you though that I love it! Your eats look divine.
I wrote on Aja’s blog about the topic of snacks/foods at college which I’ll paste here:
“At college I kept a big box of food under my bed (yes, living in a dorm will really screw up your sense where things should go.) In it I stored things like oatmeal, granola, larabars (perfect for college), kashi, luna, clif bars, trail mix, fig newtons, packaged soups, and almonds.You could also keep dried fruit, cereal, soy/almond milk in aseptic packaging (i.e. you can leave it out until you open it), crackers, etc.
I do recommend that you rent a mini fridge. [I know you are – kudos to you!] They are a life saver in college. You can store carrots and hummus in there, your milk and soup cartons once you’ve opened them, yogurts (greek!), fruit, etc.. My roommate packed out fridge FULL of pomegranate juice and OJ. One tip though? If you’re sharing your fridge with your roommate, don’t dominate it. It’ll just lead to conflict. I know from experience ;)”
Lexi
Hummus, carrots, sugar snap peas, and my Brita water pitcher were my college mini-fridge staples. The best advice I have for eating in college is to just be flexible and focus on portion control at times when you can’t eat exactly what you want!
I am experimenting some DOMS on my lower body. Time for some foam rolling.
oh you have some delicious food going on in that dorm room! i am so impressed, in college I lived off cereal from the box and the tiny fridge had some yogurt, cottage cheese and milk!But I did steal so much fruit and veggies from the dining hall 🙂
Hey, at least you’ll have a Chipotle! That would be good enough for me. 😉 Everyone has cleared up anything I would suggest. When I get to college, I’ll make sure to have a mini-fridge stocked with lots of apples, oranges, and other assortments of fruits and veg for snack attacks!
so glad you commented on my blog so i could come see yours!!!
the whole food thing was honestly my biggest adjustment to college at first. my first go-to dorm room staple was instant oatmeal. instant soups are great too! if you have access to a freezer, frozen veggies that you can steam in the bag are wonderful as well. 🙂 you’ll be fine!
I’m feeling DOMS too! A kickboxing class on Saturday and 5 hours of gym class yesterday and today….ugh. And 12 more days of 5 hours of gym per day. Yikes 😀 Yummy eats though!!
My brother just graduated high school and I KNOW college is going to be a huge problem for him in the healthy eating department 😉
Kudos to you for making it a priority, in college I definitely did NOT!
don’t worry about the dorm room diet. people gain weight in college because they don’t know how to eat & live healthfully. you’ve already got it down, girl! you’ll be fine!
So glad you loved the protein cake!! You’re right- they’re a perfect base for holding toppings. Peanut butter being the best as always 😉
When I moved off to college, I fortunately beat the rule that freshman had to live on campus. There wasn’t any room on campus for all the freshman at the time, so we were put in apartments off campus and had kitchens and what not. But, I do know that cereal, peanut butter, oatmeal (if you have a microwave), and sandwich stuff make for really simple and still healthy choices! Also, mini fridges are life savers 🙂