Fun and Healthy Snacks

Almost everyone is guilty of the occasional snacking indulgence. Whether it means coming home and raiding the kitchen for the cookies, crackers and chips or not being able to say no to that tempting smell of Carl’s Jr. in the MU, snacking is often times an unhealthy habit that is unavoidable for most college students.




To improve snacking habits, Huffington post has made a list of 30 DIY Ideas 100 Calories or Less. These healthy snack ideas, including deviled eggs and chocolate dipped bananas, are easy to make and will definitely make it so the next meal of the day doesn’t seem like the last supper. Most of the snack ideas provided are affordable and can be made ahead of time or in a couple of minutes, providing snackers with relief from hunger pains.

For college students who are on campus a lot or who rely on dining plans, there are also healthy options for eating healthy snacks at the dining halls and cafes throughout campus. Dining halls throughout campus are offering more vegetarian options and providing more options for students with specific diets. Kelly Engineering’s e-cafe offers sandwiches, salads and seasonal daily selections of soup. All can be made on whole wheat or nine grain bread and sides of whole fruit are available.

Another dining area on campus, Arnold Bistro, which was recently remodeled, includes not only a physical changes, but also included an enhanced menu while also continuing to offer healthful items, like whole wheat pasta and turkey burgers. The daily special menus are available online and provide students with options like vegan corn and tofu casserole to Moroccan grilled salmon. Having healthy options on campus is vital to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. With the newest improvements at UHDS, students are sure to find healthy options that meet the needs of their specific diet.

Becoming aware of what is available on campus or what you can make with only a couple minutes can make snacking not only healthier, but also more fun! Next time you feel a snack attack coming on, try one of these ideas from Real Simple while improving your lifestyle!

To learn more about specific places on campus and what to order there, here is a link to a story I wrote in The Daily Barometer on this topic!

Barley: the new rice?

Generally, when people think of grains, they think of bread, pasta and rice. Or the images that fill the bottom part of the food pyramid. It’s time to change those traditional ideas because barley, quinoa and millet are starting to pop up on magazine pages and dinner tables everywhere, a refreshing flavor that offers endless possibilities.

Although barley may not be anything new, it has been recently pushed due to its health factor and variety of recipes that can be made with this unlikely grain. Not only can barley be made as a side dish to go along with a roasted chicken, but it is also a dominant ingredient in vegetarian meals. In a recent article from the Detroit News, eight grains are featured and various recipes that can be made with them are listed following the article.

So, what is barley? And how do you cook it? According to World’s Healthiest Foods Website, barley is “a wonderfully versatile cereal grain with a rich nutlike flavor and an appealing chewy, pasta-like consistency. Its appearance resembles wheat berries, although it is slightly lighter in color.” Cooking barley may take slightly longer than rice, but the wait is well worth it. eHow will teach you the best way to cook barley, a simple process that takes only 40 minutes. Like the article mentions, I recommend cooking it with vegetable or chicken broth to heighten the flavor.

Inspired to make barley for dinner now? Here are a couple easy barley recipes: rice and barley salad and Mediterranean barley vegetable stew(pictured below).



Next time you go to the grocery store and grab for Rice-A-Roni or a box of Barilla noodles, you may want to consider that less expensive bag of barley just a couple feet down the isle.

Farmer's Markets: A must for any chef

Food and cooking sections are a large part of almost every major newspaper, covering topics like recipes, food trends, restaurant reviews and new ways to eat healthy without breaking the bank. One way to do the last thing I mentioned is by shopping locally at farmer's markets. Not only is the food fresh and of the highest quality, but buying locally is also supporting local farmers and is generally less expensive than the average grocery store. An unlikely time of the year, winter, is proving to be successful for local farmers, showing that consumers want fresh and organic produce all year long.

One North Carolina news station posted a story showing how winter markets offer a variety of fresh ingredients. For Corvallis residents who are looking to buy their produce fresh, there is the Corvallis Indoor Winter Farmer’s Market on Saturdays until March 27, which offers customers fresh and local ingredients, like delicata squash, which was birthed at OSU and also featured in The Oregonian’s Food Day 100 Thing’s List for 2011. Delicata squash is so easy to cook that, guaranteed, it will become your new favorite vegetable to sauté alongside a weeknight dinner. With just a little butter and brown sugar, the flavor is enhanced and is a tasty side dish that will have guests wondering where this delicious vegetable came from. Only you will know that it cost $1.14 at your local farmer’s market.

Delicata Squash, a fun ingredient to pick up the farmer's market

If you are looking for updates on the produce available at the Corvallis Indoor Farmer’s Market, you can follow them on Facebook for posts on what is available from the garden as well as what baked goods will be there to taunt you with its delicious aroma.

Media outlets from all over the country are starting to notice the trend in fresh ingredients from local farmers and just because it is winter, it doesn’t mean that home chefs are staying home rather than braving a few rain drops or snow to get the ingredients that will make the difference in home cooked meals.