I need calorie dense portable food to take to school with me.
October 22, 2010 11:40 PM   Subscribe

High calorie, highly portable, nutritious, delicious snacks?

So I am at school for 8-12 hours a day and I try my hardest not to buy food at school to save money. So far this has been working except... I've lost 10 pounds since like September and I was fine the way I was before. Really I have been steadily losing weight I don't really need to lose for a year. I've been to multiple doctors, had multiple blood tests, everything has checked out fine.

So, to avoid losing any more weight (and maybe get my butt back) what can I bring to school to eat?

Thanks!
posted by tweedle to Food & Drink (22 answers total) 25 users marked this as a favorite
 
Response by poster: Oh, and to clarify, I am bringing stuff from home to eat but I guess it isn't enough...
posted by tweedle at 11:42 PM on October 22, 2010


Nuts. Cashews especially. Yummy and nutrient dense.
posted by sanka at 11:50 PM on October 22, 2010


Almonds? They are all of the things you specify.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 11:51 PM on October 22, 2010


Ditto the nuts. I'm a fan of walnuts and raw almonds, myself. Dried fruit, too. Cranberries are nice to mix in with nuts, but they have added sugar, which makes them less healthy.
posted by needs more cowbell at 11:54 PM on October 22, 2010


Sometimes I carry a jar of peanut butter around with me and dip carrots/crackers/fingers in when I get hungry.

Beef jerky.

Chocolate bars (okay, not the healthiest, but nice and portable and will bring back your butt.)
posted by lollusc at 11:56 PM on October 22, 2010


I recommend you get one of those small, insulated lunch bags like grade schoolers have. Then you'll have lots more options for things you can bring with you.

Personally I like cheese and hard boiled eggs. I'm broke, so I buy a block of cheese and slice it up myself. I'll do it all at once and portion it out in little baggies so that I just have to reach into the fridge and grab what I need. I'll do the same thing with deli meat and make my own Lunchables.

I also boil a dozen eggs at once and then store them back in their carton in the fridge. I always take a pencil and write on the ones that have been boiled though, just to avoid any confusion. Sometimes I get creative and draw faces. At the very least I'll write a little HB for hard boiled. That way I never take a raw egg for a snack or try to crack a hard one for baking.
posted by TooFewShoes at 11:58 PM on October 22, 2010 [1 favorite]


Instead of chewing gum, chew bacon.
posted by wackybrit at 12:26 AM on October 23, 2010 [4 favorites]


Walnuts & Peanut Butter Cups.
posted by at the crossroads at 12:42 AM on October 23, 2010


When I go hillwalking I take one of them UHT Chocolate milk things. They're about a litre in size and aimed at kids. Fit easily into a daysack and they're about 800 calories.
posted by Biru at 12:45 AM on October 23, 2010


There was an insanely awesome thread on AskMefi awhile back on the subject of trail mix. Behold and tremble.
posted by jquinby at 4:23 AM on October 23, 2010


Mini Babybel cheese.
posted by iviken at 4:43 AM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


Trailmix. Or, if you can stomach it, do what mountain climbers do:peanut butter and salami roll-ups. (not that hard, thin salami you see on sandwiches. Good, soft, delicious salami from a real old-school deli will still set you back less than vending machines.
posted by notsnot at 4:52 AM on October 23, 2010


Like TooFewShoes, I like hard boiled eggs too - and also boil enough for a week. Sometimes I add mayo, mush it up, and I have egg salad to eat with crackers/bread.

Cheese and cracker snack packs are great (I buy good vintage cheddar and boxes of crackers, and make my own packs).

Instead of eating chocolate, I pack nutella sandwiches.

Little tins of tuna are quick and easy and yummy. My partner loves it when I make a tuna salad mix at the start of the week (tuna, mayo, diced tomator & celery) and takes it in little tupperware to work.

Bananas are great. Beef jerky is great. Seaweed strips are great.

I have a friend who always has a small tin of chickpeas in her bag, and eats it with a plastic fork. It's surprisingly tasty.

Best of all, I love making mini-pies. I do it with a Breville pie maker, and it takes almost no time if you have the filling ready. I simply make extra bolognese sauce, or shepherds pie filling and freeze it for pies. Once pies are made, they make for a week of ultra portable, ultra hearty snacks.

I also struggle with trying to keep weight on, so I have a few "sandwich rules". For example, sandwiches must have avocado in them. Sandwich filling should try to include some mayo. If I'm having a nutella or peanut butter sandwich, I try to add sliced banana in it.
posted by shazzam! at 4:53 AM on October 23, 2010


Live near a Trader Joe's? They have all sorts of trail mixes and delicious-flavored nuts. Or you could buy raw nuts, toss them with olive oil and herbs, and roast them in the oven.
posted by Metroid Baby at 7:27 AM on October 23, 2010


Nut bars. Lots of nuts and seeds in them, honey and a nut butter to keep it all together. You can make a huge pan and cut them up into portable sizes. They also freeze really well so you can make a double batch and freeze half. Drop me a note if you want a recipe.
posted by sadtomato at 8:04 AM on October 23, 2010


To tell if an egg has been boiled, lie it on its side and spin it. Stop it gently, then take your finger off. A raw egg will start its rotation again, albeit weakly and wobbily, because the intertia of the yolk is enough to get the whole thing going again. Because the yolk can't move around inside a boiled egg, when you perform this trick on a boiled egg it won't start spinning again.

I also like to boil a dozen eggs at a pop. This is a very useful trick.
posted by Jilder at 9:24 AM on October 23, 2010 [2 favorites]


Avocados! Eat with a spoon for maximum mess-containment. Very portable.
posted by corey flood at 9:28 AM on October 23, 2010


Try a cheese, turkey, avocado sandwich with butter and mayo
Smash cashews, dates & coconut into bars/balls = yummy approximation of a Lara bar.
Try sandwiches made with cashew butter or peanut butter and chocolate.
Make your own version of pimento cheese spread (or any kind of rich cheese spread) to eat with dense, whole-grain crackers.
posted by cymru_j at 10:18 AM on October 23, 2010


From Ms. Vegetable:
Do you bake? I find that baked goods (think chocolate chip-PB-coconut muffins, banana bread, pumpkin cookies, etc) have LOTS of calories. Also, PB and nutella sandwiches are fantastic.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 11:25 AM on October 23, 2010


Homemade smoothie including something like full fat yogurt, cream, or nut butter. You can take this with you and drink some time during the morning, no need to chill.
posted by koahiatamadl at 2:26 PM on October 23, 2010


Fudge babies, in all their varied flavors. Despite the name, they're made of very healthy ingredients (nuts, dried fruit, and cocoa powder — no added sweeteners or oils). They're basically homemade Larabars.
posted by Lexica at 3:04 PM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


I don't about the suggestions of Nutella ... it's not particularly nutritious being mostly sugar.
posted by storybored at 9:10 PM on October 23, 2010


« Older What would you do with a BIG spreadsheet on a SLOW...   |   How do we get tickets for a year? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.