Student meals? Low-Calorie, Healthy, and most importantly CHEAP!

Hey! I was wondering if you guys wanted to share any of your Student recipes? You know, healthy, filling and cheap?

Any tips on how to stay healthy and well fed on under 6,000.00 a year?

It's hard not to fall into the pasta/Mr. Noodles/Kraft Dinner trap. In the winter, I live off of hearty homemade soups and in the summer off of salad, cheap fruit, and bulk chicken breasts.  (Among other things, of course!)

But right now I'm really into this:

Potatoes 'N Tomatoes

1 Meduim sized potato (161 cal)

1 cup Canned Tomatoes, no salt added. (50 cal)

Punch a couple of holes in the potato with a fork, and nuke it in the microwave for about five minutes.

Cut the potato up into 1inch cubes and mix it in a microwavable bowl with the tomatoes.

Microwave for 1-2 minutes longer, stir and enjoy!

211 calories, Grade A meal, fills me up like nothing else. A healthy hot delicious meal in 7 min! Reminds me of a chilli baked potato, without the calories.

I make this when I have very little time, and when I'm really hungry for something filling. It's good for fast lunches and is easy on the bank account for the student types, like me.

Oooo i have a good one, from my student days. i used to go out with a chef, and would make it for me. 1 tsp of Extra Virgin Olive oil
1/2 a punnet of cherry tomatos
penne wholemeal pasta
parsley or basil
salt
pepper
- cook your pasta.
- cut your cherry tomatos in half, sqeeze the innards out into a bowl and throw in the tomato shells too.
- add Oil, Salt and Pepper to the bowl.
- crush them all up together, add the basil/parsley.
- drain the pasta and pop it back in the hot pan on the hot plate.
- add the tomato mixture to the pan
- allow the mixture to reduce a little and soak into the pasta (as the hot plate heats up the tomato juice it thickens and makes the pasta tastier.
- eat.

During school, i have to get up early and i eat lunch late.

I could almost NEVER find something to fill me up for that long!

I remembered when I was little, I loved Clif Bars.

They have tons of protein and fiber, and only 250 calories per bar!

I eat them with a clementine, and I'm full till lunch!

They are also cheap. About $2 a bar, or 15 for $14 at Whole Foods!

Wow looking at all your posts makes me REALLY looking forward to universities.

somehow I imagined my life fulled with ramen noodles and pizza pops when I think of College/University......not very healthy

If you are living in a dorm you should get a "hot pot". It looks like a tea kettle but made of plastic or something similar. The heating element is inside so its not something that they can get you in trouble for. It's easy to make soups or boil water. You can even cook frozen vegetables, pasta or rice in it! Without it I never woudl have survived. Eating cafetteria food can be deadly! LoL! :D

If you have access to an oven/stove:

I like to buy prepackaged frozen fish fillets. They are only a couple of dollars and come with 2 fillets - that can easily be 2 meals! AND its only about 90 calories FOR THE WHOLE PACKAGE (thats 2 fish! 1 fish=45 cal). I like to eat it with a cup of rice and some mixed vegetables. 

The whole meal is 300 calories or less and makes a very filling and healthy lunch/dinner

I noticed that our local college students are buying the small George Foreman Grill.  If your residence hall allows it, a small refrigerator, a microwave and a little grill will enable you to cook a lot without the danger of a hot plate.  The real secret to success in dorm cooking is cleanliness!  Make sure you clean up everything really well after you cook and eat.

We had this tonight and it was good, made a lot, and I'm already looking forward to the leftovers. :-)

I also like this.

I like your potato and tomato thing too, but I add black beans and chilli peppers! Yummy.  Of course, if the splurge is on, melty cheese is a nice touch.

A really good one that's high in protein..

Can of Tuna (in brine)

half a fresh green chilli chopped fine (put a whole one in if it's not too hot)

1 lime squeezed

3 Ryvitas

this is a really good high protein snack that keeps your metabolism high, it's got chilli in it which higher's your metabolic rate and it's not too heavy to have before a run or a work out.