Eating well recipes while working full-time and grad school-ing

February 22, 2019 1:48 PM

Yesterday I had a conversation with a number of my grad school colleagues where we are all really struggling with getting enough to eat/eating healthy-ish. Many of my classmates work full-time and then have classes in the evenings. We do not have access to a refrigerator or microwave.

I try to be vegetarian as much as possible, so I've avoided the classic chicken breast, brown rice, veggies meal prep. I do own a rice cooker and often make a big batch of rice with some type of veggie curry that I portion out for the week. This is getting a little bit old.

Looking for any breakfast/snack/lunch/dinner recipe suggestions that are budget-friendly (going through 10 avocados a week ain't happening for me) and that taste pretty good after sitting in a backpack for 8+ hours without re-heating and that are also hearty. I love a leafy green salad, but they typically don't keep me full long enough unless there's a topping like eggs or chicken.

Things that I'm thinking about already:

- pre-making breakfast burritos
- salad rolls with tofu
- sheet pan meals (any vegetarian ideas?)
- onigiri sandwiches
- cold noodle salads with tofu

Any specific recipes or meal tips highly appreciated!

posted by forkisbetter to Food & Drink (14 answers total)

The no fridge/microwave restriction is trickier than the vegetarian one IMO.

Grain salads? Quinoa, couscous, wheat berries (tends to be cheap if you can find it!) all make good, hearty salads.

I like chickpea salad sandwiches but I dunno if it would taste good after 8 hours.

There is /r/meatlessmealprep for more ideas.
posted by quaking fajita at 1:56 PM on February 22, 2019 [2 favorites]

I really like wraps for this kind of lunch dilemma, they are super portable, and easy to make cheap and healthy. I've written about how I make them in this previously -- you might find that whole Ask helpful.
posted by OrangeDisk at 1:56 PM on February 22, 2019

Best answer: Frittata/crustless quiche is classic for this because you can load it with veggies and it tasts good at room temperature. It also keeps pretty well in the fridge so you can make a big one and slice it up for the week. I’ve had no trouble keeping it at room temp until lunch but I’m pretty lax on that kind of thing. Spinach and feta is classic but I also like Mexican flavors with peppers tomatoes and corn, mushroom and goat cheese etc
posted by genmonster at 2:35 PM on February 22, 2019 [3 favorites]

Cooked chickpeas are delicious roasted in the oven and would work well with a sheet pan meal. Baked tofu in the sauce of your choosing?

I use tofurkey sausages a lot for quick veg protein + calories, although they're not very cheap

I like cold quesadillas, can cook some leafy greens in there to make it kinda healthy. Also easy to eat on the go.
posted by momus_window at 3:00 PM on February 22, 2019

If you have a work station of any kind, you can purchase a single serving crock pot to have a way to keep wet foods warm.

When I have been in similar situations in the past, I relied primarily on trail mix, nut butter sandwiches, string cheese, etc. Think of it as camping/hiking meals rather than "I need a sit down dinner style meal" and you might have an easier time making it work.
posted by crunchy potato at 3:41 PM on February 22, 2019

When I’ve been super burned out in grad school, I used to roast veg (broccoli, Brussels sprout) and potatoes. I’d take it to my office desk, along with a chunk of hard cheese (Trader Joe’s, pretty cheap). I’d then grate a crapload of cheese over the veg, like a literal cheese mountain. This would be good cold or at room temp.
posted by inevitability at 4:02 PM on February 22, 2019

Have you tried adding beans to green salads? That’s one of my favorite things. I also roast chickpeas to put on top. That would make those more filling for you without adding meat.
posted by FencingGal at 5:50 PM on February 22, 2019

Best answer: Can you find room in your budget for a thermos jar/thermal bento? That would open up some options. They do a good job, especially if you pre-heat the canister with boiling water before discarding it and adding your food.

It also sounds like you're aware of Japanese style lunches. Those are generally eaten at room temperature... Vegetables, meats, rice and all. And usually everything really tastes fine at room temperature. It just takes a little getting used to. Pack in a thermal bag with a cool pack, and it's fine. Check out pages like JustOneCookbook for ideas.

For Breakfast :
-Overnight Oats are great. They're easy, filling, healthy and very customizable. (Chia seeds are totally optional, and if yogurt is pricey, you can just use more milk/milk substitute instead. Yogurt just make sit creamy)
- Baked Potatoes wrapped in foil/a dishcloth/put in a thermal bag should stay nice and warm, but even a room temperature baked potato is pretty good. If Eggs are ok to eat, I like to make an Idaho Sunrise, baking an egg into the potato.
- Hardboiled eggs. If they're boring, marinate them in soy sauce or tea for a few hours.
-Polenta & whatever you want with polenta.

Snacks :
- Olives or Pickles
- Cheese /Fruit / Nuts
- Nut Butter & Crackers
- Chips and a Veggie Packed Salsa

Lunch/Dinner with Thermos:
- Soup! Soup is your friend, soup is filling. Especially with some bread or goldfish crackers or something.
- Pasta! Love this Pasta & Chickpeas recipe.
-Casseroles! Very hearty. Scalloped Tomatoes are great.
- Risotto!

Lunch/Dinner without Thermos:
- Pasta salads with lots of vegetables (like Israeli Couscous Salad pasta salad - but faaaancy) are still good cold
- Quesadillas - cheese or with lots of veggies
posted by Caravantea at 5:58 PM on February 22, 2019

Could you toss an ice pack into your lunch bag to keep things cool for a few hours? My default lunch when I'm all out of energy and ideas is cheese, crackers, veggies and some sort of dip. And do involving mayo is out, but hummus, sweet chili sauce, peanut sauce and the like would probably all be fine.
posted by peppermind at 6:46 PM on February 22, 2019

split pea soup!
red lentil soup!
N bean soup!

You can either carry it in a thermos to keep it hot, or just eat it lukewarm. I'm fine with either.

For extra calories, drizzle generously with olive or sesame oil.

For extra calories and fiber, add a slice or two of bread. This is a no-brainer if you have a stand mixer, but know that no-knead dough can be easily shaped into a sandwich loaf. Just dust the exterior generously with flour until you can handle it. For extra, extra calories, make the bread with 17% sunflower seeds and 15% oil (relative to weight of flour).

Also, sometimes my lunch is just a couple apples generously smeared with peanut butter.
posted by meaty shoe puppet at 9:42 PM on February 22, 2019

Greek pasta salad: cook 8oz macaroni or shell pasta, then mix with 2 cans of chickpeas, 1 can of petite diced tomatoes, 2-3 diced red bell peppers, 1 diced zucchini and a bunch of finely chopped kale. Toss with a jar of Greek vinaigrette and some Parmesan (if you want). Probably best to keep with an ice pack if you’re going 8 hours but is great cold or room temp, lots of veggies and some protein.
posted by notheotherone at 10:48 PM on February 22, 2019 [2 favorites]

Can of beans+ salad dressing. If unopened, the beans are indefinitely shelf stable, and some salad dressings are too. You can add a can of corn too. If you're going to put it together at home instead, throw in some vegetables, and frozen corn to keep it cooler for longer.

PB&J is your friend. And bean burritos; tortilla, canned refried beans, salsa, cheese.

Veggies dipped in hummus.

Hard boiled eggs.

Fruit. Eaten fresh whole, or frozen (frozen berries are affordable, unlike fresh); potentially mixed with yogurt or cottage cheese.
posted by metasarah at 7:24 AM on February 23, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I make tahini - maple syrup oatmeal cookies and find they make a good breakfast and snack and are super fast to make.

When I was in grad school I did a lot of cottage cheese + microwaved frozen raspberries, bean salad (like a canned three bean mix plus feta and some chopped veggies), apples, cliff bars, almonds, single serving chocolate milks that don't need to be refrigerated (costco), quinoa salads with premade shredded veggies, cherry tomatoes, and feta thrown in, hummus and pita.

A sheet pan meal I like is gnocchi, chopped veggies (onion, pepper, broccoli), grated parmesan or asiago.

Cold soba noodle salad with tahini/sesame dressing and broccoli could work well for lunches and dinners.

Can you refrigerate your food at work before going to your night classes? If no I'd get an insulated lunch box and some ice packs.
posted by lafemma at 1:24 PM on February 23, 2019

Grain salad!!! My Ph.D. semester from hell lunch was

Couscous, cook IN the Tupperware by pouring booking water on top, fluff after ten min.
Feta crumbles
Shave carrot curls directly into Tupperware
Canned chickpeas
Cinnamon and cumin, salt and pepper. Squeeze of lemon and olive oil.

Alternatively for when you have a minute:

Spelt cooked in cooker
Marinated and grilled seitan
Goat cheese
Sun-dried tomatoes and some oil
Handfuls of baby kale

Or seriously just get those 2 dollar TJs bags of salad mix / coleslaw / with dressing and toppings and eat them out of the bag. One semester I also made and carried around a tub of granola all day when I was out of the house for breakfast, lunch, and dinner yet could not afford to buy any of those meals :O I thought it was healthy but my classmates thought I was nuts so... YMMV.
posted by athirstforsalt at 4:52 AM on February 25, 2019