Sorry, if that got your hopes up…..I didn’t accomplish a running PR.

I PRed (personal record) in the hugeness and weight of my salad last night.

This salad was no joke.  I don’t mess around with dinner.  It is kind of a big deal to me.  It’s not like I think about it as I am driving home from school or as I was teaching spin last night or anything….I am not that obsessed.  Okay, I am.

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Grilled Tilapia, spinach, broccoli, onion, tomatoes and a bunch of random frozen veggies that I cooked up.

Now compare it to the size of my phone.  Fiber overload.  I even went back for more broccoli.

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As much as I love junk food and candy nothing compares to the feeling after eating a ridiculous amount of nutrients in the form of veggies and fish.  I am high on vitamins right now.

As I was cooking my frozen veggies it took me back to the college years…….I went through bags of these every week.  I had no idea how to prepare fresh veggies so I did the easiest and cheapest thing and just bought them frozen.

Some random Halloween pictures from my college years:

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These pics prove that I have always enjoyed making random facial expressions for pictures.  I will never change this quality.

Some of my college staple foods included:

Potatoes. I ate so many baked potatoes with ketchup.  Yep, weird but it doesn’t get cheaper than that.

Cereal. Chex and Life were there for me through many late night study sessions.

Lean Cuisines. I don’t know what I was thinking…oh yeah, I had no idea how to cook.

Wheat thins with cottage cheese. Best combo, I need to do this again. Thanks for the reminder Janae.

Refrigerated cookie dough and whipped cream. They were there for me for many break-ups.

Pancakes. I had a roommate that we called mom because she always made us pancakes Sunday mornings.

7-11 Slurpees and hot cocoa.  If you went to college around here you would know that was the cool place to hang out.  Slurpee sugar buzz=Mormon’s party drink.

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What were your staple foods in college or when you were younger?

Do you think about what you are going to make for dinner during the day?

-Oh yeah……I love thinking about how I can turn all 9 ingredients in our kitchen into something delicious.

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88 comments

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I always think about what I'm going to eat for dinner during the day!!! In fact, I usually meal plan for a week (well, at least for the Husband) so I make up what I'm going to eat in my head all day!

In college, I basically lived off of baked taters with ketchup and lean cuisines too! Also, canned soup, salads, and Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal. Nothing better than that.

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The food I ate through college was downright scary. We were regulars at Applebee's – chicken finger basket, buffalo-style. Ten bucks for a dinner out = you get what you pay for ;)

I think about dinner during the day. It gets me through the afternoon slump!

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Hah! I'm always thinking ahead to my next meal (I shove food into my face allll day- so I don't have to "think" for too long! I just DO!)

When I was younger I ate SO much shiz. I should have weighed 300 pounds and had a massive coronary at age 16. I ate so many donuts- so many that I needed an intervention (I gave myself one a few years ago…) I drank pepsi like it was going out of style (haven't had a soda in over 10 years- I HATE it now!) and basically lived on that cheese stuffed pizza fron pizza hut (YUCK!) And the obvious- ramen by the case and kraft mac & cheese- made with extraextra butter. BLAH!

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I had a salad BEAST last night with my pizza! It was glorious, I had to eat it out of a punch bowl.

When I get to college I will be eating fresh fruits and veggies 24/7 and using my rice cooker and hot plate like it's nobody's business! I love to eat, but I can't eat too much packaged stuff unless it's something God-given like oreos and pb.

Slash I spend the entire day thinking about dinner! I love making up crazy combos in my head while I'm (studying) and then devouring it later:)

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I don't even want to think about the food I ate in high school and early college. Think: Pizza Rolls, Velveeta Shells and Cheese, McDonalds Happy Meals, Frozen Chicken Tenders, bowls of mexican cheese dip and a never ending supply of cookie dough. I'm not sure why I didn't weigh so much more than I did, but I'm glad I've changed my ways.

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I lived off baked potatoes and lean cuisines in college- easy and cheap! Oh and wheat thins with cream cheese…yum!

I try to plan dinner ahead, but when I get home, I h e usually changed my mind!

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Ha, ha…oh yeah, sometimes I start talking and thinking about dinner the night before! :) It drives my hubby crazy. I will ask him what he wants and he says "Kim, I have no idea what I will want for dinner 24 hours from now!!" LOL! I am a planner that way :) In college I think we lived off of pizza!

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Love the first pic! Sassy-ha!

Salad looks awesome. I love Tilapia. I probably eat entirely too much of it:)

When I was in college, it was the fat free craze. My roommate and I would go to Perkins to study and order a baked potato-no butter or sour cream and then a breadbowl with fat free Ranch. THEN, we would eat like a whole bag of licorice and because it was FF and think we were SO healthy! Too funny. I've wisened up over the years but I would take my college metabolism back-ha!

Morman party drink-ha! They had Gatorade slurpees at the Manitoba marathon last year! I had one even though I didn't run (hurt). I strongly felt my entry fee granted me the right to push in front of people who had just finished a marathon to get my Slurpee!!!

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This is so great….I had some ODD college staples…
Slices of white bread (I think because I never bought or normally ate it so I would steal pieces and just go to town at others apartments)
American Cheese
Pudding Cups/Snack Packs
I also did the cottage cheese/wheat thins combo…sometimes switching it up for veggie cream cheese for dipping too!
LOTS of Mac 'n Cheese
AND there was a Chinese Drive Thru that I would hit up for Chicken and Broccoli many times a week.

Your dinner last night looks exactly like the meals at that restaurant my husband and I go to for fresh fish…They serve all the fish on these huge salads. There specialty is actually encrusting fish in sweet potato shavings…
http://www.littlemoirsfoodshack.com/index.php?module=webpage&id=13

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I'm in college, so I know frozen veggies are cheap and good. There's bags you can get with a mix of veggies & a lemon herb sauce that you just stick in the microwave for 90 seconds and they're done and SO good. I have a meal plan, but in my room right now, I have oats, lots of PB, random stuff, and a huge bag of carrots to munch on.

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That salad looks delicious! I lived off pasta and mac and cheese and i don't even remember! I do remember living off oreos! So good! Yesterday I was looking forward to dinner all day because I had a roast in the crock pot with potatoes and carrots and onions! And today I have leftovers! can't wait for lunch!

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Canned soups, velveeta shells and cheese, spaghettios (because they're a good source of calcium – duh!).

I meal plan each week so I know exactly what we're having for dinner and usually don't have to think about it much :)

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Potatoes with ketchup? I shouldn't judge. I love mashed potatoes with mustard or italian salad dressing. Mmmm, now I want potatoes.

In university I lived for a month off of orange rice (instant rice made with orange juice – yay!) and frozen peas….plus the generosity of friends.

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Good luck with strength training, it will be great!! Those salads look yummy!! It is almost your birthday!! yay. I want to try a spin class soon. Lets get together.

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You and I have a similar veggie addiction. I make a stir fry with tons of veggies and put them over salad every night, along with a protein of some sort. I can't do broccoli (I can, but Chris prefers I don't…hmm)but any other veggie is fine. I also stir fry bags of spinach and add it in omelets or combine it with feta and bake it in pita pockets. Yum!

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I still eat baked potatoes and ketchup! And still get funny looks about 'em…

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You should try Triscuits with cottage cheese!

I ate a lot of Lean Cuisines in college too… blech. But my study snacks were cinnamon bears and Laffy Taffy. And I baked way too many cookies with my roommates! Such fun memories…

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Taco Bell. 24/7

at work (worked at a large retailer for food/clothes/etc..)…
Tuna on a bagel –sometimes with lettuce and tomato from the deli ladies. They were nice.

*****
Is that a cavegirl outfit?
*****

Gatorade slurpees sound good! Lemon lime tastes like a virgin margarita.

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oh yeah- maybe yogurt if I was feeling rich. :)

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I typically plan all my meals out on Sunday so I make sure I don't have to run to the grocery store during the week. I love scooping up cottage cheese with pop chips. I ate ALOT of McDonald's when I was in school cause I worked there and could get an employee discount.

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back in the day my staple was spaghetti. and instead of 7-11, we went to Harts – close enough, right?

these days i'll plan out my meals for the upcoming week on the weekend so i can grocery shop for all the ingredients that i'll need. i copy this one show on food network (i think the host's name is robin) and make a few dishes on sunday that will last me throughout the week. it saves time, money and when i get home from working out there's always something to eat.

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In college I ate a lot of canned pinto beans and I grew my own bean sprouts in my dorm! Yes, I was your "weird roommate"…But it was a really cheap way to eat and I was broke.

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Oh I made some awful food in college. Basically when I was in the dorms it was only stuff I could microwave so that doesn't give many options and when I ate at restaurants… well I went to the school in the south so I didn't pick the healthiest options!!!

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I lived off ramen noodles and turkey sandwiches in college.

I am constantly thinking about what to have for dinner, I even go so far as plan out dinners for a week at a time, then still think about it most of the day wondering, could I make something better, am I really in the mood for that? And on and on.

PS – I tagged you over in a post on my blog.

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Dinner is probably my faaavorite meal, and I love to plan out a goodun'!
That salad looks absolutely fabulous, and now I want fish! =D

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in college i always had the cafeteria or my sorority cook so meals weren't that bad… it was just the 1/2 apps @ applebees or late night nachos that weren't so great for me. ya know?

and i totally think about my dinners all day long! :)

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beans and rice… seriously like that Zataran's mix stuff. Gross. Also Wheat thins (which my roommate stole always!), Balance Bars (PB/Chocolate flavored – my parents would bring me boxes from Sams), chocolate chip bagels…
By the way that salad looks amazing… YUM.

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Cute pics! So smiley. :)

I love a BIG salad with a million ingredients. Yours looks amazing.

Oh, in college…well, freshman year, I ate a lot of chicken – fried, grilled, etc, PIZZA, ice cream and chocolate chips cookies. OH! And I love the Little Debbie's nutty bars. It's amazing how things change. I started to really get into nutrition my sophomore year and all that changed.

I think about what I'm going to make for dinner sometime in the afternoon…depending on what I had for breakfast & lunch.

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I love baked potatoes with ketchup! They're also good with mustard. Staples for me included (and still include) gala apples, bread, peanut butter, frozen and canned veggies (especially green beans. I can, and do, just open a can and eat it straight from there.), cereal, yogurt, cottage cheese, and flax seed.

I wish I thought ahead about what to have for dinner. But I'm not that cool.

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I lived off of yogurt and granola in college!

I pretty much think about food all day. Like every meal gives me something to look forward to if I'm bored, tired, etc.

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When I was in college my Mom finally said to me: Honey, your ENTIRE diet is cheese.

She was right! All I ate was grilled cheese, mac n cheese, quesadillas
I have come a long way since then… Thank goodness!!

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I def think about breakfast when im in bed at night.

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I meal plan for the week so I'm always thinking about dinner!! I ate a lot of salad and chocolate malt-o-meal and pizza in college. :)

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I think about food pretty much all the time. After I finish one meal, I'm always thinking about the next. I believe I have a 400 lb. woman living inside me. And she's hungry!

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Mormon Party Drink. Holy crap–so true! I've always called Mountain Dew the Mormon Beer, but never added slurpees to the list. This will be remedied immediately!

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my roommate and i would eat chips and salsa and wheat thins with cheese. and that was pretty much it. we never did the classic ramen. gross.

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Girrrrl I go to bed thinking about coffee and overnight oats!

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Nom nom nom…that salad looks delish. But sad news…the size doesn't surprise me as that's how I roll. Go big or go home ;)

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I ate crackers and cheese about 47 times a day in college… I thought groceries were the biggest waste of money then. I'm glad that's changed now, but I wish it hadn't taken so long!

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Oh my, in college I lived off of cottage cheese, the big thing of roman lettuce from Costco, apples, chicken breast and luna bars!

I never really thought much of what I was making for dinner, now I really try and plan out all my meals for the week, it makes it easier time wise and money wise!!

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In college: Kraft Mac and Cheese. I still like it. and plain white rice..that is cheap.!

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oh and I NEVER think about food…ever…since I eat the same thing every day I try my best not to think about it otherwize it gets depressing

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I survived on Lean Pockets and Wheat Thins & salsa in college. And beer. Lots of beer.

It's a wonder i didn't weigh 500 pounds…

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In college, I basically just ate tons of peanut butter and cheese. Annnnnnd I think about what I am making ALL day too! I hope it makes me better prepared for dinner, but then I am just thinking about food all day. haha

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I plan my meals 1 week in advanced. I hate going to the store, so I buy everything once a week.

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oh gosh…in college i ate like 2 boxes of cinnamon life a WEEK. i also lived on beans and rice from the cafeteria. yum.

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I ate so many lean cuisines in college, I can't even look at a box now without my stomach turning. Ugh. They were helpful for that time though.

I also LIVED on oatmeal, like 3 times a day! MorningStar veggie burgers were my other staple. I can't look at those anymore either!

Those college pictures are so cute! I love going back and looking at mine but sometimes I just have to shake my head at how ridiculous I was.

I can't wait for you to get out to southern CA this summer. I promise I will be fast enough to run with you! okay? That is my goal! Writing it down right now!

"Must run comfortably at 7:20 pace for several miles!" Okay got it. I'm on it!

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That's so funny that you are friends with Paulina and Nicole! They are the sweetest funniest girls…and how we never met in high school – way weird….oh wait maybe it's cause I hated high school! LOL –

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Noodles and frozen pizza were big for me (and still kinda are since I'm still a student). Wheat thins with cottage cheese just sound amazing though!

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the only staple that has stayed with me through college is cereal – can't live without it! unlike you, I developed my love for vegetables post-college, when I realized beer was not a food group.

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I used to live off pasta with tomato sauce. Now I look forward to the times when I try something new :)

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Go I freakin love your salads! You are givig me knews was to keep enjoying mine!! Love it!! Have you ever tried making your own pico??

College staple: pretzels an PB a definite for late night studying snacking.

Three cheers for random facial expressions!!

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We will definitely plan to meet in Boston!

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that salad looks amazing! can you come make it for me! I'm woefully unprepared for lunch today. I got busy and didn't have time to replenish my salad, carrot, broccoli and other good food supplies. Hopefully I can find something delicious to eat around town!

In college i used to eat at College Town Bagels (CTB) almost every day. They had all these fresh ingredients and would make sandwiches and soups to order. It was to die for. I still miss it. My favorite was a chicken breast, avocado, tomato, onion, sprout, banana pepper, lettuce in a wrap with chipotle aioli. I miss Ithaca.

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Haha…Slurpees!! I LOVE slurpees!! I drank one every day for three months while recovering from my stroke. haha… that for sure didnt speed up the healing but they made me feel so much better!
Also spent many nights hanging out at 7-11 in provo. Good times!
You cant understand how much more fun that was than drinking alcohol unless your from Utah!
Salad looks amazing, I love salads filled with that much veggies!
Love the pics!!

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I think about what meal is next while I'm still eating the one in front of me! I love food :) I think I lived off sushi and frozen yogurt in college….that is, after freshman year when I would literally eat everything in site (helloooo freshman 20?? haha) I still eat cereal nonstop and always have!

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and by site I mean *sight*, duh.

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Slurpees! Oh my gosh, they are huge in Manitoba! The city I'm from is the slurpee capital of Canada, in fact. There are bumper stickers that prove this. I had slurpees practically every day of my life growing up.
Cereal and salad are two of my favorite anytime foods. :)

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What were your staple foods in college or when you were younger?
—being on the college meal plan was not optional where I went to school, so I ate whatever they had. The summer months were soooooo humid, though, it killed my appetite, and I would eat nothing but cheese sandwiches and lemonade for weeks at a time.

Do you think about what you are going to make for dinner during the day?
—Sometimes. Usually I'm trying to figure out if I can make dinner without having to stop at the store, but also keep it healthy.

That salad looks AMAZING.

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You were a good girl for eating bags of veggies in college. I ate Pop Tarts.

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College is when my love for broccoli began. Don't get me wrong, I've been a vegophile all my life, but when I started cooking for myself, a 16oz bag of frozen broc + chicken nuggets was a 6 night per week meal!

I think we may have something in common…please see my blog header.

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Thank goodness someone else eats potatoes and ketchup!! Every one always gives me the death stare when I order it at restaurants. Classy, I know.

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I ALWAYS think about dinner duing the day! im trying to do less so because I have figured out that when I dont think too hard.. i come out with the best meals!

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College food staple: spaghettio's with meatballs. Yeah, I said it… don't judge. :)

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College food staple: frozen veggies, frozen yogurt, yogurt, wheat thins, cheeze-its, fruit. That's all I ate LOL!! i would come home and go grocery shopping in my parents fridge ;)

I ALWAYS think about my next meal. I would have just ate breakfast and I am thinking whats for lunch and dinner. Every morning I ask fiance what should we eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner and he always looks at me and says "Babe, lets get through breakfast first!" I like to be ahead of the game, I like to think of it as planning not obsessing ;)

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I rarely DON'T think about food! Especially dinner…I love cooking! :D

Cookie dough ruled my life as a kid. To be honest, it still does, so no change there! :P

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Grilled cheese dipped in ketchup.

These days I'm really into hot grapenuts with brown sugar and milk.

Lovely salad.

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I totally love your pictures!! I remember running into you the huge halloween party when you were dressed as an army girl. How random is that?? Your salad looks so divine…and YES, i'm always thinking about what i'm going to make and eat. All day…ummmmmm I love food. enough said.

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yum yum yuum!

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I used to eat Ramen noodles all the time!

I always think about what I'm going to make for dinner and wonder if my sons are going to make the "yucky" face…

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Well I'm still IN college ;)
There's this low fat vegetarian ramen that I like to have on occasion (it's not TOTALLY unhealthy I swear) but i usually load up on huge salads from our salad bar. Or Amy's breakfast burritos, which they sell frozen at my school. Or these instant soup things that are vegan and low sodium and such.

So packaged food, but usually semi-healthy?
I also do a LOT of oats. nomnomnom.
But I'm sooo missing having a kitchen and have been known to plan dinners I want to make when I get back home in months. And I legitimately couldn't sleep last night because I was thinking of types of cookies. Like, actually.

I swear I'm cool…

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For college eats, I would usually have to work at Starbucks at 4 am before driving an hour to classes, so smoothies made at S-bux were a necessity. On campus, I usually had a BRC – no cheese with lots of salsa and cilantro (I use to do the $1 off receipts and keep getting BRs for .35, haha)

I think about dinner all the time. Sometimes I think about the whole week's dinner menu on the Sunday before to save stress. Then during the day I think about what I need to do or what side dish I will serve with it.

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Thinking about what I'm going to make for dinner is the ONLY thing that gets me through the day.

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I swear all I ate was cheese in college! :) horrible diet. Your salad looks delicious!!! Oh, so tonight, I am going to start from the beginning with the Bachelor. Just me and my MacBook Air in bed with the Bachelor (well the show anyway) and some snacks after a spin class.

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We had tilapia last night, too!

I lived on bagels and ice cream. That was pretty much it.

I do think about what I'll be having for dinner now! I love looking forward to a yummy dinner and try to have one planned for every night. I'm thinking about it know and wishing it were 7:30 so I could be getting it ready at. this. moment.

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That salad looks divine! I don't think it's too big. It's a lot of spinach and that never lasts long in my stomach.
Sometimes I really hate thinking about what's for dinner. Mostly because I hate grocery shopping and coming up with new ideas that everyone will like. I have one picky eater and she's hard to please.
I thought I commented on your last post but it's not there. I hope you got it anyway.

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This is so horrible to admit, but I worked at Cracker Barrell to pay my own way through college and graduated in 3.5 years so I was busy, busy! I skipped many meals and just ate corn bread and/or biscuits from Cracker Barrel. Oh that's just horrible…and I wonder how/why I gained 15+ pounds!! Wait, no I don't! :)

Oh gosh – YES! I plan my meals days in advance! I try to make a weekly menu. That way I can dream about each one. We love to eat in this house! Thankfully it's a little more healthy now than biscuits and corn bread! :)

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College food = how much can I possible by with $20 to last me the week? Lots of cereal, cup o'noodles, instant oatmeal, pop tarts and cheese balls. Super healthy stuff.

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cottage cheese with ANY kind of chips is delicious! mmmmmmmmmmmm

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My staple….peanut butter mixed with jam. Remember that?
Also… (pretend like Dwight from the office is speaking).
I think about dinner starting on Sunday and don't stop til I'm done eating it.

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That salad looks amazing!!! I ate disgracefully in college, all processed crap. I look upon those as very dark nutritional years!

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I have an URGENT question: how do you pronounce your name? I always imagined it as "Juh-Nay". But I realized I could be way off…

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Popcorn got me through many late study sessions.

I'm already trying to decide dinner for tomorrow. Any suggestions?

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Speaking of "Thanks for the reminder Janae", I need to go take my vitamins.

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That salad looks amazing!! My college staple food was coffee. =)

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i always think about what i want for dinner, especially through my post-work gym sessions. it often takes my mind off the burning legs in spin or heavy breathing on the treadmill.

ate tons of cereal, bagged salad, chicken breasts, turkey or ham sandwiches. oh, lots of ben and jerry's, and lots of pizza, french fries, chinese, and cookies. former being later in college, latter being in the beginning…hence my 20+ lbs weight gain fresh/soph year.

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