Food; Healthy, Simple Dorm Food

[Matthias]

With all these threads about lunch and dietary cleansing sprouting up, I figured I'd present the CoGmunity with a problem of mine.

I'm 5'8" and about 210-220 pounds (haven't weighed myself in a couple weeks). I have a naturally stocky build with plenty of bone mass and a decent amount of muscle mass, but I know I could definitely stand to lose at least another 30-40 pounds in fat, possibly more. I've been working on losing weight since I came to college last fall, and have in fact fallen from a horrible 240 pounds. I'm doing my best to fit regular exercise in around my hectic, constantly changing schedule, and am making reasonably better dietary decisions than my parents had the willpower to make.

One major problem stands in the way however- it's very VERY hard to prepare healthy meals in my current situation, and even harder to have a variety of them on hand. I live in a dorm that limits us to a microwave, a small fridge, and a crockpot (which I don't currently own but plan to buy), has no community kitchen, and not much space for storage. I also don't have a lot of money to spend, and tend not to have much time to prepare a meal.

So here's the challange, fellow Colonists. Find me your favorite low-price, minimal prep HEALTHY recipes that can be cooked in either a microwave or crockpot, and that doesn't take too many ingredients to prepare. Your help is much appreciated!

[pomeroy]

If you're 6'8"...is 220 really that bad?

[DoctorFinger]

Can you at least use an electric burner? Because w/o a burner you might be shit out of luck.

The best I can come up with: buy one of those plastic microwave steamer containers. Add to it a diced clove of garlic, a head of broccoli or cauliflower (cut into bite sized pieces) a pinch each of salt, pepper and red pepper. Add some water to the reservoir and cook until soft (5 minutes? 10? I don't do this in a microwave)

[Matthias]

If you're 6'8"...is 220 really that bad?

Ha I meant 5'8". Duly edited.

[Matthias]

Can you at least use an electric burner? Because w/o a burner you might be shit out of luck.

The best I can come up with: buy one of those plastic microwave steamer containers. Add to it a diced clove of garlic, a head of broccoli or cauliflower (cut into bite sized pieces) a pinch each of salt, pepper and red pepper. Add some water to the reservoir and cook until soft (5 minutes? 10? I don't do this in a microwave)

Nope, no burners or hot plates allowed- not even an induction stove. I'm allowed to use a water boiler, but from what I've seen those actually take longer than my microwave does to boil less water. Good idea with the steamer bag though, I've talked to my parents about that possibility.

[pomeroy]

Ha I meant 5'8". Duly edited.

Fair enough. I was thinking you were going for skeletal, which seemed like a weird way to get a Halloween costume. :D

[Matthias]

Fair enough. I was thinking you were going for skeletal, which seemed like a weird way to get a Halloween costume. :D

Yeah, must've just been a bit of wishful thinking... I really hate being shorter than all my friends; it sucks that my eyes are generally level with their mouths. I'm even 2 inches shorter than my best friend, which is the basically one of the only reasons why we're not dating (that and the weight), because she's also self-conscious about being so tall, and is therefore immediately attracted to tall guys and not-so-much at all to any guy shorter than her... ugh. Anyway, I can't do much about the height, but I can fix the weight (and who knows, if I shed this stuff within a year, I may still have some time to pick up some extra height...). I'm just really tired of having a belly.

[KingGorilla]

The dorms were actually a boon to my waistline, I ate so much less because the food was so nasty.

[Soulless Toast]

I recommend buying some Ziploc Zip N Steam Bags (http://www.ziploc.com/?p=b9). They have several recipes on their website, I like the Orange Balsamic Salmon. They're good for hot healthy "home cooked" meals from the microwave.

Also good staples to have- tortillas, cheese, lean luncheon meat, tuna fish, black beans, salsa, spinach, mushrooms. (This was practically my entire grocery list when I lived in a dorm.) You can make hot or cold sandwich wraps, salads, quesadillas, etc with many different combinations from those 8 items.

I am also a fan of ye olde George Foreman Grill. Are you allowed to have one of those?

[Matthias]

I recommend buying some Ziploc Zip N Steam Bags (http://www.ziploc.com/?p=b9). They have several recipes on their website, I like the Orange Balsamic Salmon. They're good for hot healthy "home cooked" meals from the microwave.

Also good staples to have- tortillas, cheese, lean luncheon meat, tuna fish, black beans, salsa, spinach, mushrooms. (This was practically my entire grocery list when I lived in a dorm.) You can make hot or cold sandwich wraps, salads, quesadillas, etc with many different combinations from those 8 items.

I am also a fan of ye olde George Foreman Grill. Are you allowed to have one of those?

Ooh I didn't know they had recipes on the website. I'll have to check those out. Thanks for the tip!

And yeah, I keep up on tortillas, cheese, lunch meat, tuna, flat bread, good wheat bread, skim milk, Simply Orange/Apple (they both surprisingly keep me from getting the heartburn I get with typical store-bought juice), spinach, yogurt, puddings (they taste like they should be horrible for you, but really aren't). I occasionally get Izze carbonated fruit juice for when i want soda. I do my best to keep fresh fruit in the fridge, but have a problem with buying more than I can eat before it goes bad. I keep sardines, and occasionally some low-fat Wheat Thins or Melba crackers. I don't usually have time to eat before class most days, so my dad and I cook some low-fat breakfast burritos (we use a lot of green chile and mushrooms as filler, as well as turkey bacon or low-fat sausage). I also like to keep baby carrots to munch, or celery to munch with peanut butter.

The salsa and black beans would be terrific additions to the collection! I hadn't even thought about keeping salsa around.

As a slight prod, does anyone have interesting crock pot recipes they could share? What about low-fat desserts?

[pomeroy]

As a slight prod, does anyone have interesting crock pot recipes they could share? What about low-fat desserts?

Anything I make in a crock pot is usually not healthy at all.

But you could make a roast! With potatoes and carrots and onions and mushrooms cooked with it. Delicious.

[Matthias]

Anything I make in a crock pot is usually not healthy at all.

But you could make a roast! With potatoes and carrots and onions and mushrooms cooked with it. Delicious.

That's basically the kind of stuff I was thinking. I was also looking at something like pulled beef, but I think that might cross the unhealthy line. I know there's some creative crock pot stuff though, so I'll leave that question open.

[Disgustipated]

Start exercising. I run 2+ miles a day, and that shit feels great. You'll feel pumped after every run, and you'll lose weight like crazy. Once you get up to 3-4 miles a day the fat will just melt off.

[sea7marie]

Hrm.... And the dorms don't have a communal kitchen that you can do some prepwork in? Dang!

You can do Stewed diced tomatoes with a bunch of fresh veggies cut up in it (Zucchini, Peas, greenbeans, broccoli, cauliflaur, etc)

Take it from me- it is DELICIOUS. Way better than you'd think
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Think healthy soups with the crockpot!!!

[wyeast]

Crock Pot?

Make posole. Yum. :D

[Lance Uppercut]

Crock pots are awesome, but cooking vegetables slowly like that for a long time just cooks away all the vitamins. If you like crock pot meals, you may want to have a side salad to go along with it.

[VerseD]

Nothing healthier than a bowl of rice, some steamed vegetables, and a little soy sauce. I had a rice cooker in my dorm, but you can use a crock pot just as easily.

[n3rdXcore]

With a crock pot, you can make so many different types of soup, and even delicious oatmeal. All quite healthy for you! The soup reason is why I want a crock pot.

[Gwinny]

Salads: The cheapest non-iceberg lettuce you can find, a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, and a bottle of red wine vinegar. Make your own salad dressing - 3 parts oil/fat to 1 part acid, and flavor with a bit of salt and pepper. A little dressing will go a long way, so the oil and vinegar should last for quite some time unless you like your salads to be swimming.

Get a microwave steamer, as DoctorFinger suggested, and use it to steam veggies.
Make a couple of thawed chicken breasts in the crock pot or microwave, enough for leftover use in wraps.

Storage is likely your main issue - I can't remember how I overcame the problem. Probably with the help of all those years of Tetris. I used to buy big bags of frozen veggies and puncture them to let the air out to save space.

[pomeroy]

I just had a mealplan in college. It wasn't very hard to eat healthy.

[Widgetcraft]

You're lucky to be aloud to use a crockpot; my dorm was microwave-only. Not that you couldn't sneak a toaster oven in there, but I was always afraid I would set off the rather sensitive fire alarms.

I usually just went to Chipotle and got a burrito, or to the local college hangout, and got a burger and cheese fries. Yeah, you can probably already tell that I'm not too concerned with health. One Chipotle burrito could last me all day though; literally, from one dinner, to the next dinner. Cheap too, $5.

[Matthias]

You're lucky to be aloud to use a crockpot; my dorm was microwave-only. Not that you couldn't sneak a toaster oven in there, but I was always afraid I would set off the rather sensitive fire alarms.

I usually just went to Chipotle and got a burrito, or to the local college hangout, and got a burger and cheese fries. Yeah, you can probably already tell that I'm not too concerned with health. One Chipotle burrito could last me all day though; literally, from one dinner, to the next dinner. Cheap too, $5.

Yeah they JUST started allowing crock pots this year; up until then it was microwave-only. And I would use a meal plan, but our Dining Services has gone to crap (all the good restaurants are closing, meal prices went up, and amount of food per meal has gone down) and you get like $4 worth of food for $6. It's a bother. I buy a la carte on a regular basis, but it's still a tad limited for health.

[Bad Buddha]

When I was younger and working to get buffed, my roommate and I picked up a rice cooker. Toss in some brown rice and a piece of fish or chicken and let 'er rip! Throw in some veggies too, if your so inclined; I like it with cabbage.

The meat gets steamed with the rice and imparts some taste to the rice so you don't have to add any salty or sugary sauces. Sprinkle in some paprika or shredded fresh ginger for a little color and zing.

[ADDGirl]

I totally have crock pot recipes and crock pot desert recipes that are lower calorie and healthy but can you give me some preferences and possibly and email address to send to because it will take up a lot of room here I'll work on typing them up for you this evening after I help my mom with the grocery shopping.

[ADDGirl]

Crock Pot Dessert option 1: Double Cranberry-Pear Crisp
Ingredients: 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar, 2 tablespoons cold water, 4 teaspoons cornstarch, 4 (about 1 1/2 lbs) firm-ripe pears peeled and sliced, 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries thawed, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, pinch salt, 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, 3/4 cup low-fat granola, 2 tablespoons dried cranberries, 1 tablespoon chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions:
1. Remove 1 tablespoon of the brown sugar and reserve for topping. Combine the water and cornstarch in a small bowl. Place the remaining brown sugar, cornstarch mixture, pears, fresh cranberries, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt in a 4-quart slow cooker; mix well. With the back of a spoon, gently press the pears so they form an even layer. Cover and cook until hot and bubbly, 2 1/2 hours on high or 5 hours on low.
2. transfer the fruit mixture to a serving dish; let cool 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, microwave butter and reserved brown sugar in a medium bowl on high until the butter melts, about 15 seconds. Stir the butter and brown sugar until blended; stir in the granola, dried cranberries, and pecans until the mixture is evenly coated. Sprinkle the topping over the warm fruit.
Serving size 1/2 cup of fruit, 1/4 cup of topping. Calories per serving 252.
This may or may not be more ingredients than you are looking for let me know.

[ADDGirl]

Crock Pot Dinner Option 1: Meatloaf
Ingredients: 1 1/2 lbs ground lean turkey, 1 onion chopped, 1 green bell pepper seeded and chopped, 1 egg white, 3/4cup ketchup, 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon yellow mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Directions:
1. Combine turkey, onion, bell pepper, egg white, 1/4 cup ketchup, bread crumbs, mustard salt, and pepper in a large bowl; mix well. Place in slow cooker, form loaf.
2. Spread the top of the meatloaf with the remaining 1/2 cup ketchup. Cover and cook until meatloaf reaches internal temperature of 165 degrees, 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. Transfer to cutting board and cut into 6 pieces.

Serving 1 slice. 209 Calories.

[court12b]

Court's lazy menu consists of the following

-Breakfast
Eggs cooked in the microwave.
fruit flavored Oatmeal with vanilla whey powder mixed in.
smoothie (frozen berries, milk and vanilla whey power)

-Lunch
Lunch meat, cheese
Quesadilla made in the microwave
Tuna salad (tuna, mayo, celery and I like to put jalepenos in there)

-Dinnner
Beef Stew
Chili