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Dining Hall Survival

By Kieran O'Brien


It's one o'clock in the afternoon on your busiest day of the week. You've been in back-to- back classes and labs all day. The muffin you snagged from the dining hall at 7:30 am has been gone for hours and you've been propping yourself up on bad vending machine coffee and Pop-Tarts all day. You stumble back to the dining hall and fall into a plateful of chicken nuggets and fries topped with vat cheese. An hour later, feeling like death warmed over, you hit the vending machine for a caffeine and sugar shot to pull you through your crazy afternoon.


This is not a new situation. Hectic mornings lead to easy grabbable breakfasts. Two hours later, you're crashing and reaching for the nearest sugar sweetened and/or caffeinated boost to get you through till your next meal. All disparaging institutional food comments aside, your meal plan can be the key to conquering this gastronomic status quo.


How do you plan a day's worth of eating that leaves you satisfied and energetic? According to registered dietician and Director of Rutgers Healthy Dining Team Peggy Policastro, the first step in the dining hall is to survey what is available. Make your choices based on your nutritional needs. A great tool for determining your specific needs is located at http://www.mypyramid.gov/. According to the aforementioned website, the average college-aged woman requires between 2000 and 2400 calories based on level of activity. (See below for a breakdown of those calories) Policastro also noted that while students are more often making smarter choices, the assortment of food available leads to eating more types of food in greater quantities, portion distortion.

How does this translate to what goes in your mouth?

According to http://www.mypyramid.gov/, the nutritional breakdown for a 2000 calorie plan:

  • 6 ounces of Grains with at least half of those grains being whole grains.
    • 1 ounce = ½ cup of cooked cereal, rice, or pasta, 1 cup of cold cereal, or 1 slice of bread        
  • 2 ½ cups of Vegetables
    • 1-cup serving of Vegetables = 2 cups of Raw Leafy Greens or 1 cup of most vegetables raw or cooked.
  • 2 cups of Fruit
    • 1 serving = 1 cup diced fruit, ½ cup dried fruit, ½ large or 1 small apple, 1 cup 100% juice.
  • 3 cups of Milk or equivalent milk products
    • 1 serving = 1 cup milk, 1 cup yogurt, 2 slices hard cheese, 2 cups cottage cheese all choices are fat-free or low-fat.
  • 5 ½ ounces of Lean Protein     
    • Examples of lean protein: 1 egg = 1 ounce, 1 cup lentil soup = 2 ounce, 1 veggie burger = 2 ounce, 1 small half chicken breast = 3 ounce
  • Healthy Oils
    • 6 teaspoons though this is easily achieved in the foods eaten everyday


So what would a good breakfast be?

If you have time to sit down in the dining hall, two examples of good breakfasts are; a scrambled egg with salsa, a slice of whole-wheat toast, a piece of fruit and a glass of milk or coffee made with milk. Or 1 cup of whole grain cereal with milk and topped with fruit. Turkey or soy sausages are great additions for an added hit of protein.

Lunch or dinner challenged?

For a leisurely lunch or dinner, start with a broth based soup, 2 cups of salad, a serving of the protein of your choice and a grain.

Pasta and grains are often where portion distortion rears it's ugly head. 1 cup of pasta or rice is 1/3 of your serving for the day. Try to get at least half of your grain servings as whole grain. If your dining hall has diverse types of cuisine, be adventurous! Try couscous or quinoa.  Bulgur is a fun nutty addition to your salads.

When choosing your protein, look for lean roasted, baked or grilled meats. Lean beef, chicken or Turkey are all good choices. A 3-ounce serving of meat is the size of a deck of cards. Two great ways to add protein if you're not a big meat eater are beans and soy products. A ½ cup serving of black beans has about 110 calories 7 grams of protein and 7 grams of fiber. This translates to staying satisfied longer with a minimal caloric hit. My favorite soy products are veggie burgers. The nutritional information varies by brand but in general they are low in fat and high in protein.

Salads are a great way to get your servings of vegetables. Two cups of leafy greens are a great start. Your dining hall's salad bar should have a good assortment of precut vegetables. This is a GOLDMINE! A well appointed salad can get at least 2 servings of vegetables in.  The hot line may have a selection of steamed vegetables, if the dining hall is busy there will be a good turnover and you won't get saddled with old vegetables.

Not in the mood for a glass of milk? Cheese, yogurt and even ice cream all contribute to your daily milk requirement. You can put shredded cheese on your salad, Cheese on your burger or sandwich. A container of low fat light yogurt could be a sweet and healthy end to your meal. Then there is ice cream, in moderation (a half cup is a serving) ice cream can be part of a healthy day's eating and contribute to your milk serving.

Fruit is a great way to end your meal. A cup of cut up fruit would be a great match to the low fat light yogurt above. If you're in the mood for canned fruit, make sure it is canned in fruit juice or light syrup.

Eating on the Run

For breakfast on the go: grab a to-go cup fill it with a cup of whole grain cereal and snag a carton of milk and a spoon. A hard-boiled egg and a piece of fruit help to complete the meal. An alternative is 2 slices of whole wheat bread with an egg or low fat luncheon meat and cheese. No time for an egg sandwich? 1 tablespoon of peanut butter with sliced apple or banana will be a satisfying sandwich filling.

For a speedy lunch or dinner, my favorite meal is what I call the Porta-Salad. Grab pita bread; if they are precut grab 2 halves. Fill them with the same things you'd put in a salad; leafy greens, broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, luncheon meat and cheese and/or legumes, the sky is the limit. Instead of dressing, which can be messy and render your creation not so portable, hummus is delicious and contributes to your protein or mustard for a calorie free blast of flavor.

Snacks! Yes you can snag snacks on the run from the dining hall. I have 2 favorites!

The first choice is very simple. Grab a to-go cup and hit the salad bar! Take advantage of all those precut vegetables. If you are going to be in class for a while, ice in the bottom of the cup keeps the vegetables crisp. Grab a smaller cup for low-fat dressing or hummus. Having a dip that tastes fattening but isn't with a vegetable dipper is a smart defense against the snack machine.

Our next snack is higher in calorie, but keeps you satiated. It makes 2 servings and is great for a breakfast on the run! Take that to-go cup, add 1 cup whole grain cereal, a box of raisins and about an ounce, or 33, peanuts. If they don't have nuts in your dining hall you can snag a snack pack from the machine. Word to the wise, some packages have 2 servings or more. Read the labels!

While an assortment of healthy choices are on the rise, Director of Rutgers Healthy Dining Team Peggy Policastro said that chicken nuggets and fries reign as one of the best sellers. Ultimately, when making your food choices, don't label any food off-limits. You can have chicken nuggets and fries.  That just means balancing with healthier choices at other meals.