By: Emily Davies (Residence Advisor-Hmsm)
Are your meal dollars running out? Tired of snacking on microwave popcorn and cereal? Well, here are some ideas for quick and easy recipes that YOU can make in your very own dorm room.
Oatmeal Bags – I’m serious when I say this, oatmeal saves you $$$ big time! You may think it’s easiest to just buy the instant stuff. But in reality, it’s more expensive in the long run and it’s filled with mystery ingredients (artificial sweeteners, colours, and preservatives). It’s so quick and easy – all you need to do is boil some water when you wake up in the morning, pour it into your oats and BAM, breakfast in seconds and you haven’t even gotten dressed yet. No more skipping the most important meal of the day. This will fill you up and get your brain running for those early 8 am classes.
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup of any type of oat (quick-cooking oats, instant rolled oats, old-fashioned regular oats)
- 1-2 tsp dry sweetener (stevia, brown sugar, cane sugar, coconut sugar)
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon (I add 4 tsp of cinnamon, because cinnamon is amazing – natural metabolism booster and lowers your blood sugar)
Optional (but highly recommended):
- Dried fruits (cranberries, raisins, mangoes, prunes, dates)
- Nuts (pieces of walnuts, pecans, almonds)
- Seeds (chia, pumpkin, sesame)
Steps:
- Put all ingredients into a small Ziploc bag and shake (make around 5+ at a time, so you have breakfast at hand for those early mornings).
- Boil water (or heat milk of choice for extra protein) and add about ¼ cup to oat mixture and mix.
- Let sit for 2 minutes and enjoy! J
No-Bake Energy “Cookie-Dough” Bites –This is a great snack to keep in your mini fridge or freezer. This is an adaption from the oatmeal recipes above, but this one is good for pre-workouts, post-workouts, or even to just hold you over till dinnertime. And the best part is that it tastes an awful lot like cookie dough!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup oatmeal
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter (or any nut butter)
- 1/3 cup honey (or maple syrup, agave nectar)
- 1/2 cup ground flaxseed (or chia seeds)
- 1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips (or toffee, carob, white/milk chocolate chips)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (if not on hand, add an extra teaspoon of maple syrup/honey)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Pinch of salt (small packages in the dinning hall are great)
Steps:
1. Mix everything above in a medium size bowl (if you only have a regular size bowl, cut the recipe in half) until fully incorporated.
2. Let chill in the your fridge for half an hour.
3. Once chilled, roll into balls.
4. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate or put in a freezer bag and freeze. Makes 12-16 balls depending on size.
Ants on a Stick:With celery pieces, smooth on 1 tsp of peanut butter, and add raisins on top.
Freezer Banana Peanut Butter Bites:
Steps:
1. Cut ½ inch pieces of banana
2. Smooth 1 tsp peanut butter on 1 slice, and place another piece of banana on peanut butter side (“sandwich form”).
3. Repeat this process for the remaining banana pieces. Put into a freezer bag and freeze.
Apple “Yummies”:
– For a snack later in the day: Slice small markings in an apple, sprinkle cinnamon onto a plate, and roll apple in cinnamon. Place in a bag or wrap in paper towel. Enjoy within 4 hours.
– For a snack on hand: Cut up an apple into slices, melt 1/3 cup of peanut butter. Sprinkle peanut butter onto apple pieces.
o Option: sprinkle on chocolate chips, raisins, cinnamon, or sugar.
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