Hi, I am nearly 22 years old, and in college right now. Since it's summer my meal plan is done, so I now have to buy a complete set of meals.

I am trying to save as much money as possible, and in addition, I am not the most passionate about food. I mean, I like a good meal, but on a daily basis I would prefer to eat something which is boring, filling and easy to prepare.


So, I'm trying to figure out a simple meal schedule that I can repeat on a near daily basis, and eat out or buy something special when I get sick of the routine (which is relatively rare).


I just bought a Centrum multi-vitamin to help fill the nutritional gaps.

Foods I am (or considered) buying are:

Oatmeal for breakfast.
Tuna, lettuce, and bread.
Spaghetti, noodles, beans, rice.
Drink a lot of skim milk, some pizza.
Have also been getting carrots + bananas occasionally.


One of my main questions is... how important are fruits and vegetables really, if I do take multi-vitamins? I know naturally getting nutrients is preferable, but is it really that important? Are there some specific vegetables which would be very good to add? What else should I add to the above diet, are there any nutritional gaps?

Thanks a bunch

hi levgre, welcome! the multi can only fill some gap, but the multi simply cannot provide all nutrients you obtain from eating a balanced diet. fruit and veggies in particular not only provides vitamins and minerals, but also many other phytochemicals (antioxidants) and fiber you otherwise cannot obtain from a multi. if you are to add some easy-to-prepare items in your current plan, i would suggest adding various colorful fruit (no need to cook ) and some dark green vegetables such as broccoli and spinach. instead of lettuce, you can perhaps buy bagged baby spinach that you can throw in your sandwich.

you only mention tuna, do you eat meat as well?

I've been looking for one single thing I could buy/prepare that has pretty much all the everything I need in it. Something simple that I would eat every day 2-3 times/day. I have pretty much struck out on that and have resolved to starvation + coffee!

You mean to tell me that coffee is not the perfect food?!?!?!

Hello Levgre,
Annie offers some great suggestions for affordable, nutritional campus living and might I suggest taking a quick glance at a most recent HealthCastle news release(July 19th):

5 Quick and Healthy Foods to Keep in your Dorm

Happy eating and good luck with your studies,

Tracey