Pasta salads are a good one, tuna, chicken, prawn, cheese. Anything you fancy really. How about making your own soups. Healthy as you know what’s gone into them

Celery and lowfat cream cheese

Lowfat cream cheese rolled up in lunch meat

Apple slices and lowfat cheese

Plain, natural yogurt fruit OR granola OR Quaker oats and honey

Brown rice with milk and cinnamon

This is a great menu planning site, written by a Registered Dietitian with an eye for nutrition, budget, and using up leftovers. I love this site! Recipes and shoppping lists provided, too!

Parent’s Resource Center - Recipes

busy cooks&

Spanish Skillet Supper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cups hot water
1 package (4.4 ounces) Spanish rice and sauce mix
2 cups frozen Green Peas
1/2 teaspoon crushed pepper flakes (optional)
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
Add hot water and rice and sauce mix; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer uncovered, 5 minutes.
Stir in green peas; increase heat to medium-high. Cover and cook 5 minutes or until peas and rice are tender. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes.

Makes 4 servings

Chicken & Stuffing Skillet

1 tbsp. butter OR margarine
4 boneless chicken breast halves
1 box (6 oz.) One Step Chicken Flavored Stuffing Mix
1 can Campbell’s Cream soup (any flavor)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

HEAT butter in skillet. Add chicken and cook 12 to 15 min. or until done. Remove chicken.
PREPARE stuffing in skillet according to pkg. directions except let stand 2 min.
TOP with chicken. Mix soup and milk. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and heat through.

Makes 4 servings

Soups.

If you have a wide mouth Thermos you can add stews or casseroles

Prevention Magazine has great healthy recipes in slideshow format here:

Here are some of my favorites:

Kung pao flat belly chicken recipe:

low fat chocolate cake recipe:

Buy a bag of frozen chicken breast, they are cheaper than buying fresh, it’s about 6-8 bucks and you get about 6 in the bag. Buy frozen broccoli and peas. Always buy fresh carrots. Brown rice is cheap and is 100 percent whole grain. I like to cook it with some boulion granules for better flavor. Canned tuna is cheap, and if you put it on whole wheat bread, it’s filling and good for you. I like to put it on a whole grain pita. Buy whole wheat tortillas, a can of refried BLACK beans(the 99% fat free ones) and some salsa and cheese. Spread tortilla with beans, spoon some salsa and sprinkle with some grated cheddar cheese. Top with another tortilla, and grill in a frying pan till golden on each side and cheese is melted. I dip in sour cream or guacamole. These are sooo good and good for you as the beans are a complete protien and fiber in one little package. Hope this helps!

nabisco.com has some pretty good ideas for healthy snacks and my four preteens love them.

I hear college students on campus eat a lot of ramen noodles they are super cheap. Me, well I’d probably have that with a lot of butter bread. How about a large bottle of Ragu spaghetti sauce and about 3 boxes of noodles (and parmesan cheese). And a bottle of Kraft cheese and a couple of boxes of elbow noodles. You can always add hamburger and hamburger helper to either of those to make them last longer. Hunts makes a good sauce for sloppy joes and all you do is add the hamburger (remember to buy bread or buns). You can always eat a lot of snacks like bagels and cheese, cheezits, etc. How about crackers and put tunafish salad and egg salad on them. Just hard boil a bunch of eggs and mix them with mayo and a little paprika and put that on bread. You can always make a huge 12 ingredient salad and have it for two days. You can make potato salad in a huge bowl and have it for three days. You can open a couple of cans of Campbells stew. When in college you don’t need to make a three course meal like you would at home. Somebody could always bring home some donuts or donut holes for snacking. Pizza is expensive. Tacos are expensive. You can buy a couple of fryer chickens and have those for a meal with a side dish, then use what’s left for sandwiches. (buy the fryers where you either boil, broil or bake them yourself…if you boil them then you can use the broth for soup and add some potatoes. Potatoes go a long way as far as meals are concerned, they go with everything and even by themself if you’re hungry…either white or sweet potatoes. You can bake a yellow cake in a long pan and put some icing on it and eat for a day or two. Rice cakes are good too for snacking. Remember to supplement with vitamins, and look forward to eating back home with your family for the holidays and bring food back with you.

I had a good chuckle about the long winded recipes people who answered gave you….what they missed is that you’re ON A BUDGET. You couldn’t possibly afford any meals with a lot of ingredients if you’re on a budget. Probably too your schedules won’t be the same and instead of eating together you’ll just be grabbing food from the frig while you study.