Help, student meals advice

[sdaniea]

Hi, i'm a student at university, I try to eat healthy but have difficulty because it seems like healthy food goes off so quickly, and I don't have the money to keep spending on food. Then again, I don't really know what kind of foods i should be eating and how to balance my diet. If you guys could recommend some healthy and easy meals/foods to cook or eat I would really appreciate it.

Thanks

[jjrudd]

Do you have a slow cooker? It's a great way to cook roasts or soups. Even if you are cooking for just one person you can freeze the leftovers.
Frozen vegetables are good because they are frozen when they are still fresh. i eat baby carrots. More expensive then a bag of whole carrots but I like them to snack on.
Yogurt is good too because they come in single serving cups. If you aren't too fussy there are usually brands on sale.

What do you like to eat? Most recipes can be tweaked for healthy alternatives.
Jenn

[sdaniea]

No I don't have a slow cooker, but was thinking about investing in one.. I'm not really that picky about food, its more i don't really know how to put it all into a simple meal since I don't really spend that much time cooking. I eat too much pasta and rice since they're easy to cook. Was thinking about maybe trying to eat more fish but even then I don't know how to cook fish or which fish would be easiest to cook.

Thanks a lot Jenn

[carolynnq]

Yes, slow cookers are great. Just throw some meat and vegetables in there with a little liquid in the morning and come to a yummy meal.

Some other ideas:

Buy a whole roasted chicken at your supermarket. Around here, they're $5-$7 for a chicken. That's at least 5 meals worth of meat (1/2 breast x 2, leg/thigh x 2, wings and back) depending on the size of the chicken and weather you eat the chicken meat alone as a protein or in pasta or a salad.

When my son was in college, he used a sandwich maker a lot (they're normally $15-20, but go on sale for $10). Two slices of whole wheat bread, a slice of cheese, some meat, and some spinach leaves or sliced peppers and you've got a hearty sandwich.

Pasta's not terrible. Buy whole wheat pasta. Keep some frozen veggies in your freezer to add to the pasta with some meat.

[squick645]

Frozen food will not spoil like fresh (obviously) and taste pretty good. Canned soups are also pretty healthy. I am also new to cooking fish...don't be afraid. You can find simple recipes online. My sons are able to buy a small meal plan at their university dining halls even though they live off campus...a little pricey, but it lets them have their main meal of the day with plenty of fresh fruits and veggies, yogurt, milk, home-style entrees, etc about once a day when they're on campus.