Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Following the Diet in a College Dormitory, or Other Limited Setting?

If you are trying to follow the diet in a limited setting where you absolutely cannot cook, you don't have the money to eat out, and the only devices available are a microwave and refrigerator, you have probably found it to be a little difficult. Here are some ideas to help you.

Breakfast: You will have to give yourself about 15 minutes for breakfast in the morning, but if you do, you'll have several options available to you. Most or all of these you can find at any grocery store.
There are several cereals you may eat including: shredded wheat, corn flakes, rice krispies, Kashi 7 Whole Grain Honey Puffs, Organic Pumpkin Flax Plus Granola, and others. Just take a look around and read ingredient lists. If you don't find it in the original version, try the organic version or another brand to see if it is any better. Some are, some aren't.
You may also have plain instant oatmeal (instant oats) and flavor them with brown sugar and maple syrup, or cinnamon and sugar, or whatever you like. It's about as easy as making the already flavored packet, but tastes better and doesn't contain MSG.
And then there's the bagel and cream cheese, but let's try saving the cream cheese for dinner options. You can always put jelly on your bagel.
Fruit is always an excellent breakfast option, especially along with one of the other items mentioned above.

Lunch/dinner:
Tuna salad is easy to make with some mayonnaise, cut up apples, a little dry mustard, maybe a dash of garlic powder to spice if you wish. You can even add some vegetables.
Sunflower seed butter (you will have to purchase this at a health food store) and jelly sandwich.
Hormel minimally processed all-natural deli meats with lettuce, mayonnaise, tomato, whatever else you wish on bread.
Canned green beans or other vegetables microwaved with salt and butter, as long as they are just the vegetable without seasoning and are on the approved list.
Sunshine Burgers Original flavor (you will probably have to purchase this at a health food store)
Bell and Evans grilled Chicken Breasts (health food store)
Cucina Antica marinara, arabiata, puttanesca sauces to go over noodles from the dining hall. (health food store)
Some frozen french fries don't have other added ingredients. Check labels. Make sure they are microwaveable.
Imagine Organic Creamy Tomato or Creamy Butternut Squash soup. Add milk or water, and whatever toppings you wish. These do contain onion, but it is cooked in so it may not bother you as much. Use your discretion on this.
Steamfresh frozen vegetables in a bag, although it is never a good idea to microwave plastic, may be helpful to you in a desperate situation such as this.
Plain (unflavored) chips or crackers.

Dried fruit, seeds and cut up vegetables make excellent snacks.
Be sure to stay away from frozen dinners, even organic ones. Many of them still contain MSG aliases or other ingredients we should avoid (several in one meal).

Creamy sauce to pour over your chicken or noodles:
Combine 1 cup COLD chicken stock (not broth) and 2 tablespoons flour in a bowl. Stir with a fork until well blended and there are no lumps. Add 4 oz cream cheese (there are measuring lines on the package) and 1 teaspoon garlic salt to the bowl. Microwave on high until cream cheese is melted and sauce is hot. This doesn't take too many ingredients and will flavor your meat or noodles in a way you can't have anywhere else. You may also use just garlic salt on your chicken or burgers to season.

Have fun experimenting with different options and good luck!

5 comments:

  1. Heidi- I love the cookbook! Thanks so much for all the hard work you put into it. It is a great help to me as I follow the 1-2-3 program. I had question for you about mayo. Is there a store brand that you know of that is allowable or do you make your own? All the store bought ones I see contain lemon juice and/or onion powder.
    Thanks again!

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  2. Hello Breyn,

    Yes, the mayo is tricky. My advice is to go with a brand that contains one or the other instead of both if you can, and if you have to choose, choose the one that contains lemon juice, not onion powder. Making your own mayonnaise is fine if you want to and you have the time, in fact it's great, but many people don't have the time to do that. I hope that helps. I'm glad to meet another 1-2-3 follower, and thank you for your cookbook purchase along with your kind comment!

    Heidi

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  3. I know this is an old entry, but I am new to the migraine diet and browsing through your posts. I've read most of Buchholdz's book now. What things should I look out for in cereal? I'm assuming Honey Nut Cheerios are bad because of the "natural almond flavor". What about Honey Bunches of Oats: The ingredients of the cereal are corn, whole grain wheat, sugar, whole grain rolled oats, brown sugar, vegetable oil (canola or sunflower oil), rice flour, wheat flour, malted barley flour, salt, rice, corn syrup, whey (from milk), honey, malted corn and barley syrup, caramel color, artificial flavor, and annato extract (color). Is the malted barley flour or syrup a problem? Or the artificial flavor? Those are my favorite cereals.

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  4. Hi Karli,

    Artifical flavor is usually not a problem, where as natural flavor is. There are definitely worse things to eat on the market than Honey Bunches of Oats, but I would avoid it until you have your headaches under control. After you feel better, you might try eating it occasionally if it is your favorite. The malted barley flour, whey, and malted corn and barley syrup should probably be avoided. Try avoiding anything "malted". Although it tastes good, it usually means the product has been altered in some way and is therefore an MSG alias. Even some all-purpse flours contain malted barley flour, so be careful when cooking. Try an organic unbleached flour if it is available in your area. Don't worry too much about this though. In other words, don't be so strict that you don't allow yourself anything when eating out because you're worried about white flour. Just do what you can at home to avoid it. I hope that helps.

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