Eating Healthy on a College Budget

As college students, we know a lot about time management, hard work, and budgeting. Well, trying to budget that is. With our daily schedules being jam-packed with classes, homework, Greek life and everything in between, we want to at least squeeze in a healthy meal or two.  

Healthy lifestyles make us feel better about ourselves personally and physiologically. A few proven benefits of eating healthy are an energy boost, an improvement in mood, a stronger immune system and overall health. Eating well doesn't have to be more expensive and time consuming. Here are 5 quick and relatively cheap meal ideas you can try to improve your eating habits.

1. NutriBullet smoothies. Over the summer, I purchased a NutriBullet and I can say that it was worth every penny. Not only can it make a quick breakfast or snack, but also the smoothie actually tastes wonderful without adding any preservatives or sugar. I would suggest filling the NutriBullet cup up halfway with spinach (yes, you can actually put spinach in it and you will not even taste it), and then adding your favorite fruits, greek yogurt, and nutritional supplements, such as flax seed. If you don't like your smoothie being a green color, add blueberries to change the color. A ripe banana is really good at hiding the taste of things that you put in solely for the nutritional benefit.

2.Ground-Turkey Tacos. An easy and equally tasty meal option is a turkey taco. It is the same as making regular tacos except you use ground turkey, a healthy alternative to ground beef. Fill your tacos with low-fat cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce. Enjoy the Mexican goodness. 

3. Soups. You can find many recipes for soups that are relatively cheap and healthy online. You want to find a soup that is not cream-based and, if possible, has a protein such as beans or chicken to keep you full. One nice thing about making soups is that you can make a lot and then keep the leftovers to easily reheat and have another delicious meal.  

4. Sautéed chicken, broccoli and brown rice. Chicken is easy to cook and goes well with anything. I suggest making this meal with brown rice because it is also easy to make and cheap. Broccoli is delicious and it's a good source to get your vegetables for the meal.    

5. Carb-controlled pasta with Marinara. Pasta has to be a favorite meal for college students because it is an easy-to-make, versatile dish. I really enjoy making the Dreamfields Healthy Carb Living pasta because it has 5 grams of Fiber and 7 grams of protein per serving, and tastes just like regular pasta. Serve with marinara and enjoy!