After months of eating nothing but junk in the dining hall, I've started to meal prep. It's a great way to help me stick to what I'm planning on eating, no matter what time it is or how hungry I am. However, meal prep can be tricky when you're living in a 10' by 12' dorm room, with a "kitchen" made up of a mini fridge and a microwave. Here are some helpful tips to make packing meals easy as (dining hall) pie:
1. Steal from the dining hall
This one is pretty obvious, but since you don't have your own kitchen in your dorm, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Come on, you've swiped for it. Take things like fruit and cereal, which can sit in your room for a few days without going bad.
2. Tupperware is your new best friend
This makes it even simpler to stock up on foods from the dining hall that would otherwise go bad, like chicken or pasta. With a good set of Tupperware, food can stay fresh in your mini fridge for days.
3. Bring Ziploc baggies to the dining hall
It's pretty easy to be discrete about this if your college is strict about taking from the dining hall. Put whatever you plan on taking home on your plate, sit back down and ya know, just dump everything in plastic baggies. Salad bar veggies, nuts, cereal and granola all make for perfect snacks.
4. Mason jar salads will get you through
Mason jars are the perfect vehicles for portable salads. Fill 'em up with whatever your heart desires for a simple lunch. Not only are these babies totally Insta-worthy, but you can also change them up every day. This way you'll never get bored, because we all know meal prepping can get a lil' repetitive.
5. Check your calendar and plan accordingly
Maybe one night you have a really late meeting and need to pack dinner. Make sure you look at your schedule before you start prepping so you know exactly how much you need.
6. Get it all outta the way on Sunday night
There's a 1 percent chance you're actually going to find the time every day to pack up a meal or two. So, just do it all on Sunday night, because you procrastinate everything 'til then anyways, right?
Meal prep is a convenient way to eat without relying on the dining hall or spending tons of money. Now that you know all these hacks, you can meal prep like a pro.