Hello!

I am going shopping this weekend to stock my dorm with healthy snacks and meals. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for food I can buy that is easy to pack to class or take to work? It doesn't necessarily have to be packaged. I am okay with packing up a small tupperware filled with goodies. But my fridge is tiny and the freezer is even smaller. So I have to think about what I buy and if I have room for it.

I'd also love some suggestions for breads. I wanna buy some peanut butter and deli meat to make sandwiches. Anyone wanna share their healthy bread option? (I am not a fan of HFCS so I try and stay away from anything that is super processed, aka WAY too many things I can't pronounce in the ingredients list )

AND (sorry I have so many questions XD) what kinda healthy sauces or spreads to substitute mayo do you put on your sandwiches?

Thanks ladies and gents! <3

For snacks, I like fruit, sliced veggies with hummus (usually baby carrots and grape tomatoes), wasa with rf cheese - I buy this from TJ, popcorn, pureed frozen banana w/1/2T natural peanut butter, etc.

ETA plain greek yogurt is great and can be spruced up with agave or honey (both of which do not need refrigeration).

A great sprouted grain bread is ezekiel which is sometimes found in the organic freezer section. It comes in regular loaf, tortilla, pita, english muffin, and more varieties.

I love natural peanut butter, sriracha, dijon or whole grain mustard, hummus, Neufchatel, goat cheese, and a variety of other spreads on my sandwiches. Yum!

Good for you for making these changes! When I lived in the dorm, I was lucky enough to have a suite that had a full kitchen with oven and large fridge, so I applaud your efforts to work with your small fridge and lack of food prep space. Here are some ideas:

Celery sticks -- cut these up ahead of time for a quick snack. Add peanut butter for extra protein. If you put the celery sticks in a zipper bag, you can stack quite a few on top of each other.

Bell peppers -- cut up red or green peppers into strips and store them in single serving sizes so you can grab and go without having to measure. I eat mine with a little bit of hummus for extra flavor.

Apples -- cut into slices and put into zippered bags.

Baby carrots -- no need to peel or slice.

Low-fat string cheese -- look for part-skim mozzarella or another low-fat cheese. If you have to, you can separate the package into single sticks and then stick each piece wherever you have room in the fridge.

Almonds and walnuts -- easy to store, doesn't take up a lot of space.

Cucumber slices

As far as bread, I am not eating much of it these days, but I would look for something that is whole-grain. Look at the bread to see if it has visible grains on it -- some brands even add dry oatmeal to their breads.

I use honey mustard instead of mayo -- 10 calories per serving instead of more than 100. You can also make an avocado spread by mashing an avocado and adding desired seasonings, but that might be a bit much to do in a college dorm room. Some garlic or roasted red pepper hummus might make a good spread as well.

Thanks for the great ideas you two! I will definitely be grabbing some of them!!

I found individual serving cups of hummus at Costco and I LOVE them- they're great to throw in my purse with a baggie of veggies. I don't know if you have a costco membership, but maybe you could split a box of something like that with someone else. I especially like it with sugar snap peas. You can also get the teeny tupperware containers at the dollar store and portion it out yourself.

On the bread, look for anything with added fiber. I buy Nature's Own Double Fiber wheat- it's 50 cal/slice and pretty good and filling. Also, maybe try a wheat pita bread. Versatile. Be careful on the PB- it's easy to end up with a LOT of calories of peanut butter (I love it, though, and I eat a pb&j about three times a week- just make sure to measure out 1 Tbsp of PB).

I use all kinds of sauces and stuff, but I do also use mayo- the reduced fat is only 35 cal/tbsp and sometimes it's just worth it.There's this super creamy Grey Poupon mustard that just came out- it's in a squeeze bottle- delicious, more like dijonnaise than mustard, and it says it has 0 cal/tsp- though anything under 5 cal/serving can be listed as 0 cal, so I still take it easy on that stuff, but it's wonderful. Also, laughing cow light cheeses make a great sandwich spread. I also really like kalamata olive paste (though you have to watch the sodium).

I usually buy a 3 lb bag of apples when I go to the store. You don't have to refrigerate them and they last a long time, plus it's easy to just grab one and stick it in your purse on the way out the door.

Granola bars are good to have on hand, though you might have trouble finding some without HFCS. I second string cheese, definitely. Also beef jerky is great. Pretzels (esp. with the aforementioned mustard).

great post my favs are

low fat cottage cheese, indigivual packs (100cal)
Greek yogurt (OIKES brand) low fat vanilla- 90 cal each high protein
boiled eggs
celery , carrot sticks
cucumber slices
pistachio nuts or sunflower seeds
baby bell light cheese 50 cal each or low fat sargento string cheese
I get the 100cal packs of guacamole (Wholly guacamole brand)
PB2- can be orderd online its 45 cal per 2 tblspoon peanut butter
EAS low carb shakes- 110cal each 17g protein
sliced lunch meat from the deli- i get boarshead turkey oven roasted
Hummus- they have indivigual ones at my grocery store about 170cal per container eat 1/2
crystall ight sometimes im not hungry i really just need a drink differen than water low in calories

Get some apples and bananas (they come in their own wrapping... )

I like hummus as a spread on bread. It's beans, so it has some protein in it as well!

Get a bag of trail mix and put single serving sizes into small snack ziplock bags. If you live close to a Trader Joes, I think they have single serving size baggies, but you usually get a better deal if you portion it out yourself.

Oh, and when I lived in the dorms, I always had a stash of instant oatmeal packets. You should read the labels on those (some of them have way too many ingredients!) but if you can find some normal ones, they make great "almost-midnight-and-I'm-hungry" meals that don't break the calorie bank

Great ideas.