This is another recipe from Andrea Lynn’s the I Love Trader Joe’s College Cookbook, which I still absolutely love. Ravioli is one of my favorite dishes, because it is comforting and warm. However, I’m not even going to pretend that this is a healthy recipe: several tablespoons of butter per serving, cheese stuffed inside delicious carbohydrates. That being said, this is a comforting, easy to make dish, so don’t discount it just because of the butter.

Not only that, this can be easily made while living in dorms or with limited cookware. All you need is a small soup pot (for the ravioli) and a small saucepan, plus a small strainer, and freezer space. I love frozen ravioli because you can take them out as you need them and they won’t go bad. (You will have to boil them a little longer than usual!)

Instead of ravioli from Trader Joe’s, I used a standard pre-made ravioli that you can purchase anywhere, usually in the fresh pasta or deli section of the grocery store. Prepackaged gnocchi would also be delicious with this.

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Yikes, that doesn’t look appetizing.

Let’s be honest: when I get home at the end of a long day of work and classes and studying, the last thing I want to do is whip up a fancy meal for myself. Sometimes, I just need something fast and simple. But after a few months of take-out and pizza and dining-hall food, I realized that I was sacrificing my waistline for the sake of convenience.

What’s a calorie-counting busy girl to do?

Embrace the frozen entrée. I know, I know. Frozen entrees make me think of my Mom and Weight Watchers and scary-looking meat products in soupy liquids. No thanks.

However, there are some delicious frozen meals out there if you know where to look. The best part? Every last calorie and carb and gram of fat and milligram of sodium is right on the box, so you know exactly what you’re getting. To top it all off, they provide us with something this entire country is severely lacking—portion control. You shouldn’t need a hamburger the size of your head just to feel satisfied—frozen meals are a great way to teach yourself what is considered normal (the measurement for a normal serving of protein is the size of your fist…not your head).

Since I’ve become somewhat of a connoisseur of the frozen meal, I thought I’d round up a few of my favorites, for your thawing pleasure: Read More »