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UESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Planning meals saves time, money for students
HANNAH SUNDERMEYER
entertain@kansan.com
For students who live offcampus and are in class for hours at a time, it is tempting to spend hard earned savings at The Underground or other food locations. However, overpriced and minimally nutritious food can make eating regularly on campus hazardous for both the waistline and wallet.
BlueHealthAdvantage com averaged a $7 meal price and multiplied it by 20, the approximate number of working days in a month, calculating that eating out once per day costs $140 per month and nearly $1,700 per year. BlueHealth estimated that's enough money to buy two round trip plane tickets to Europe or lease a brand new economy car.
Weekly meal planning and preparation may intimidate some, but it can be made simple and will save you a large amount of cash. There are many affordable, healthy and easy ways to prepare meals perfect for those on-the-go.
When planning meals,
always go straight to protein. It
will keep a growling stomach
from interrupting lectures and provide energy. Grilled chicken or low fat turkey burgers are never a wrong choice. Pair this with brown rice and fresh or steamed veggies for a portable low calorie meal. All of these items will stay fresh for several days, allowing refrigerator storage and ability to cook in multiples.
"It's so much easier and less stressful to come home and pop a meal in the microwave."
JENNY PARKER sophomore from Wichita
"I pretty much just go to the grocery store once a week and buy a lot of fruits and veggies and meat," said Paige Miller, a sophomore from Leawood. "I usually just make myself buy healthy stuff when I'm at the store, so I know I'll be forced to eat it."
Once a routine is established, staple items are chosen and locations for cheaper prices or bulk produce are discovered, a bank account will notice the change. By only purchasing
necessary groceries for one week, the chance of food going to waste lessens, and purchase value increases. Keep an eye out for coupons and attempt to budget the weekly meals' cost
Jenny Parker, a sophomore from Wichita, has made healthy, budget-friendly eating a part of her everyday life. Spending an average of $40 a week, Parker maintains a healthy lifestyle on a student's budget.
"All in all, the whole prep and cooking time probably takes me two hours, but then I have all my meals for the week," said Parker. "It's so much easier and less stressful to come home and pop a meal in the microwave, than standing at my fridge and choosing something that's faster rather than healthy."
Parker's favorite dinner is half of a chicken breast baked with Turmeric and veggies. She cuts up zucchini, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and squash, adds lemon juice and pepper, then bakes it all. Afterwards, Parker puts the veggies and chicken in a Tupperware container and refrigerate them.
Edited by Krista Montgomery
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MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
TELEVISION
Greyston Holt, left, as Clayton Danvers and Laura Vandervoorst as Elena Michaels in the Syfy Channel "Bitten" airing Monday nights.
Syfy Channel actress 'Bitten' by acting bug at early age
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
PASADENA, Calif. _ Ever since she was a little girl, actress Laura Vandervoornt has chased perfection. While she wishes she could escape it, she understands that it's shaped her life.
It led her to triumph in martial arts, earning a second-degree black belt, and it propelled her into the acting field.
It turned out that both skills earned her to starring role in the Syfy's edgy version of the werewolf legend, "Bitten," airing Monday nights.
"I'm the hardest on myself," she nods, seated in a wing chair in the foyer of a hotel
here. "No one's as hard on me as I am. And I get nervous or stressed out or anxiety before a scene or before stunts. This time I just told myself to suck it up and go to work. Once you get through it and you realize not only did you get through it, but the producers and the writers and directors are all thrilled, that's a great feeling."
feeling.
Vandervoort thinks she knows why she can't stop stressing. She suffered from meningitis when she was just a month old and almost didn't make it.
"I fought so hard as a baby I thought there must be a reason for that and I should really try to make something
of the life that I've been given
that I wasn't supposed to
have," she says.
She studied karate from ages 6 to 20. She also aced her grades and coaxed her parents into letting her try acting after she saw "My Girl" on TV. "It was the first movie that affected me and I was crying as a kid. And I never experienced that watching a program on TV. I think that's the moment I asked my parents if I could try acting because the young girl in the movie was making me feel that way, and I thought, 'I want to do that. I want to make people feel that.' So they let me."
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