Final exams. Holiday parties.  End-of-semester ragers. Shopping, shopping, and more shopping. That last chance to hook up with the dude from Middle Eastern History, or your eagerly awaited reunion with your hometown honey.  You get the picture: this time of year, there’s a lot on your plate. So if you’re looking for something to fill up your plate (literally), may I be the first to suggest: clementines! Not only are they portable, affordable, and in-season, they’re powerhouses of Vitamin C—quite necessary to combat your surely-tired immune system from supporting your hectic schedule.

Easy Meals:

1. They’re the poor-man’s Mandarin oranges. Peel apart the baby slices and toss in your salad (I like them with feta cheese, peppers, craisins, and walnuts, with a little oil and vinegar for kick).
2. Two clementines a day give you 120% of your daily Vitamin C. Feeling a little sniffly? Toss ‘em in your bag on your way to class to nibble on during your lecture. (You’ll be glad you didn’t skip!)
3. Peel apart the slices of three clementines and toss in a blender with some vanilla frozen yogurt and dash of cocoa powder for a light, refreshing smoothie Read More »

Nothing makes me happier than stir fry. For one, it’s sooo delicious. Two, it’s filling. Three? It’s ridiculously easy to make, and serves you for 2 dinners. Again, because I’m a weirdo and hate cooking meat in my tiny kitchen, this is listed without meat, but feel free to add chicken or beef if you so desire…

You need:

1 small can chunk pineapple

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 green bell pepper, sliced

½ red onion, sliced

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

½ cup carrots, sliced/chopped

1 cup broccoli florets

1 cup sugar snap peas/snow peas in pods

¼ cup almonds (can be omitted per allergies)

Teriyaki sauce

Soy sauce

Garlic powder

1 cup brown rice

(**1 large can chicken broth can be substituted for water if you want more flavorful rice) Read More »

So, apparently ‘fruit salad’ on the east coast is literally just a bunch of chopped up fresh fruit, cohabitating in one bowl, possible even in a watermelon carved into a bowl shape. Sounds good to me, I love fresh fruit. I just hate buying it because if I don’t eat it all, I hate the guilt that goes along with it (not to mention the smell of fruit that’s gone bad…).

So a slightly less-healthy version of the fruit salad follows, because a) its ingredients are all canned or pre-packaged (which means you do not have to rinse or chop a damn thing) and b) it’s not THAT bad for you, and is a great summery treat. And also, this is what I grew up with, and why I am always confused when fruit salad does not come with marshmallows…

So here goes:

1 small can mandarin orange slices, drained

1 small can of pineapple chunks, drained

1 can chunky fruit cocktail (I hate the word chunk too, please go with it), drained

1 small jar maraschino cherries, drained

1 cup sour cream (again, I use low fat/no fat but please go with your gut)

½ bag shredded coconut

¾ bag of mini-marshmallows Read More »