Eating healthy while you’re living in the dorms can be tough. When you can get ice cream in the caf until midnight, it’s hard to say no to tasty sweets. But then that “what have I done to myself” feeling sets in, and you decide to start making healthy decisions. My job in this post is to share a few ways to make healthy snack choices while you’re living in your dorm. I lived in the Snyder-Phillips residence hall for two years, and I follow a gluten-free diet, which isn’t exactly “caf friendly.” I had to figure out how to make snacks that were easy to prepare, filling, delicious and inexpensive. Here’s what I came up with.

• Chocolate strawberry overnight oats
• Almond butter toast
• Krazy salt popcorn

For these recipes, you’ll have to head to your favorite grocery store. I went to Meijer with a $20 bill and determination. In total, all of the items below cost me $11.27.

• Instant Oatmeal
• Cocoa powder
• Dark chocolate
• Frozen strawberries
• Almond butter
• Plain popcorn
• Promise Butter
• Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt

There are also ingredients that you can take from the caf closest to you! They include:

• Choice of milk
• Choice of bread
• Honey

Some other tools you’ll need are:

• A toaster
• A fridge
• A microwave
• A jar/container
• Silverware

     

Chocolate Strawberry Overnight Oats

Combine oatmeal and milk in your choice of container. Layer in cut strawberries, cocoa powder, and dark chocolate pieces. Secure the lid and place in a fridge overnight. In the morning, remove the container from the fridge, stir, and enjoy!

Almond Butter Toast

Place your choice of toast in a toaster. When it’s toasted to your liking, spread almond butter on top. If you feel like it, add strawberries or other fruit.

Krazy Salt Popcorn

Put a bag of plain popcorn in a microwave and press the button that says “popcorn”. Once the bag is done popping, add one or two teaspoons of melted promise butter and a generous helping of Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt. Shake up and dig in!

Maggie Morgan is a junior majoring in professional writing with a concentration in creative writing. Her hobbies include: spending all of her money on concert tickets, trying to convince Green Day to let her be their friend, geeking out about music history and dreaming of writing for Rolling Stone. You can follow her on instagram at @swaggie_.maggie.