Newbie Nutritionista Hearts Frozen Food

Hello hello! Welcome to Christine’s portion of the College Lifestyles blog. My ramblings will consist of my personal writings about food, exercise, nutrition, stress, microwaving, and eating disorders. Note: this is not a “foodie” blog…this is a nutritionista blog! I will write about things that honestly interest me, so whether these topics make me extremely nerdy or extremely cool is entirely up to you! A good thing to know is that I am from Texas, so I will use “y’all” quite frequently (no stereotypes, please!).

After I graduated high school, I made it my personal goal to cook a good meal for myself every night (I was a freshman, what did you expect?). The women of the Food Network, like Paula Deen and Rachael Ray, were so inspiring to watch. They cook an entire meal from scratch for a family in such a short time. It looks like an art form, how they know exactly which ingredients to place in a bowl and how to cut everything just right.

REALITY CHECK: we are several (if not many!) years away from cooking for a family every night. That said, I encourage you to embrace these years of living alone (or with roommates) and branch out a little. Try a new vegetable every week. Not sure what a casava is? Buy one at the store, look it up online, and get moving! You might find your newest food obsession by being a little risky at the grocery store (scandalous, really!).

Now, Rachael may do it all in thirty minutes, but does she take into account the clean up time or the time it takes to figure out a recipe at the first go? With that said (or rather, written!), cooking does not have to be long and tedious. Rachael does not have formal cooking experience and you do not necessarily need it either! You do not have to spend hours on your feet in front of a stove grasping for the tastes and smells of cooking perfection. Not to say that I do not applaud those who make such attempts, but there are plenty of good ways to get a meal with a healthy dose of nutrients and minimal preparation time,without giving up and throwing your cute pink apron in the trashcan.

So, what’s my answer to getting healthy food where you have little time to prep fresh produce? FROZEN FOOD. Yes, I said it. You may cringe, but there are more nutrients in frozen food than in canned food. The canning process obliterates many heat sensitive nutrients, like Vitamin C. Go ahead, look at a can of corn, tell me how many nutrients you see! Frozen vegetables are flash frozen, which seals in more nutrients than canned foods. Using frozen food in your meals is a great way to get off season fruits and veggies too.

Personally, I like combining frozen food with fresh food. For example, I will defrost/cook some baby frozen shrimp and put it in a fresh green salad. Alternatively, I will take a Lean Cuisine meal, add a cup of (gently) microwaved spinach, and mix it all up. Another example is taking a frozen burger (like Morningstar farm’s black bean burgers or griller’s recipe crumbles) and add it to a pita pocket, put a little shredded cheese, half a tomato and half a pepper in there, and you are good to go! You can also take meat (lean beef, chicken, shrimp, etc) and marinate it for an hour before class. Come back, cook it, freeze it, and enjoy it throughout the week!

For more information on freezing food (especially meat), check out the USDA’s website on frozen foods.

Christine is a Nutrition Science student at Baylor University. She loves black beans, the elliptical machine, and a little kick of caffeine.