Updated College Grocery List + What I Eat

I love sharing my meals, snacks, and other healthy ideas on my Instagram Stories, and I love that you, too, enjoy reading about my running updates and what I eat. I think it's so helpful as a college student to find inspiration from what others are doing so we can all stay healthy together and find creative meals that are simple and affordable for a college grocery budget. Both this year and last year I've lived in an apartment, which means I go to the grocery store 1-2 times a week and have to fend for myself when it comes to making meals and picking out my food. I've pretty much nailed it down to what I like to eat and what I can cook, so read on for a rundown of what my meals look like and how I plan for them!

You can check out my grocery list post from last year here. I decided to update it a little and make it more specific and current, because I am actually eating pretty different things than I did last year. I also wanted to make a note of my favorite Trader Joe's purchases because some of them are seriously my go-to's that I wouldn't want to go a week without!

Here's a quick rundown of what my meals look like so you can see how the groceries get used throughout the week:

BREAKFAST

I love breakfast! It's my favorite meal of the day. I usually have greek yogurt and my morning cup of coffee with almond milk. Right now I am loving Trader Joe's pumpkin waffles, so I will have one of those topped with greek yogurt, pumpkin pie spice, and honey. So good!

SNACKS

I love pickles and I eat them all the time. For example, if I'm starving before dinner and have to wait a bit for something to cook, I'll usually opt for pickles because they have next to no calories and they're just so satisfying!

On Tuesday and Thursday mornings I bring granola bars with me because I don't have a break from 9-12:30 and I know I would be starving if I didn't fit a snack somewhere in there. I love Nature Valley's Dark Chocolate Cherry and the Chocolate Pretzel Nut because they're both lower in calories than most granola bars, and they aren't the highest in sugar while still being really delicious.

LUNCH

My lunches are pretty standard. Avocado toast with an egg, or turkey and dijon mustard on romaine hearts for a healthy lettuce wrap. I love snacking on fruits like grapes, watermelon, or berries at lunch, and I almost always finish off my lunch with some popcorn, sweet potato chips (my favorite!), or a square of chocolate. Right now I love the Trader Joe's raspberry chocolate batons, because they are basically a long chocolate bar that you can easily break off into pieces for a tiny chocolate-craving satisfier! If I'm really hungry (most days, lol) I will also have some hummus and zucchini sticks or cucumber slices!

DINNER

Dinner varies... right now I am loving smoothies for dinner, refried black beans with Trader Joe's green goddess dressing, the Trader Joe's chili lime chicken burgers with roasted sweet potato on the side, etc. My dinners last year were a little more balanced/real meals, but this year I've kind of just been making smaller meals and eating a few of them (haha) and it's easy!

What do you eat at college? I would love some inspiration!

xoxo