Healthy Cooking in the College World: Snacking

No matter how healthy your meals are, your whole diet can go down the drain if you don't watch what you snack on. If you're anything like me, snacks are something I've never been able to get cut out completely, I've only been able to modify them. My eating preferences are to eat smaller meals and snack throughout the day, which can be really dangerous are carb heavy. So, here's how I go about it:

First, the best snacks are fruits and veggies. If I'm at home, I'll just eat raw fruits and veggies. Usually I eat ones I've chopped up, because that's a good way to not eat too many at once, since the work to do so keeps me from filling myself up completely. To make it more exciting, pair slightly sour fruits like oranges and strawberries with some cheddar cheese in small blocks. Eat veggies with some dressing. Eat apples with some peanut butter. Just make sure that the fruit and veggies are the main portion of the snack and the condiment or cheese is there as an accent only.

When on campus for work or classes, carry dried fruits and nuts with you everywhere. If you're worried about cost or have a hard time keeping yourself to small servings eat peanuts or sunflower seeds and raisins. Dried fruit and mixed nuts from a store that sells bulk are often reasonably priced when on sale. I like to wait for 4-5 dollars a pound on nuts and 2-3 dollars a pound on dried fruit. I've also found reasonably priced mixed fruit and mixed nuts at target from the store brand (archer farms).

Also carry around fruit that won't get damaged or brown like whole apples and oranges. Carry them in a plastic bag so you have a way to carry the peels or cores if you're not by a trash can. If you plan ahead, carrying raw veggies that are already chopped up is good. broccoli and cauliflower are both fine if not cold, and so are carrots and celery. Tomatoes, mushrooms, sweet peppers and cucumber are also delicious. Just carry them in a tupperware container if they might get squished

I also always carry gum with me on campus. If you know you are snacking just to snack its a great way to have some flavor in your mouth but not be really eating. Altoids also work really well, and come in a lot of flavors too :)

If you're at home and trying to snack but don't want to really eat anything, frozen fruit can be a really good way to go. bananas always work well, just freeze them already in slices. They don't freeze solid so are really easy to eat. Grapes also freeze well. You can freeze them in halves or wholes. The whole ones can be a little big to eat easily but the halves can freeze together more easily, so try and decide which way works best for you. Both of those fruits are often very reasonable prices.