I’m learning the art of balance when it comes to food in graduate school.

I started graduate school almost a year before writing these words, and when I finished off my gap year between undergrad and graduate school, I had no idea what to expect. I was planning to work the entirety of my time throughout grad school because there was no way I would be able to afford surviving otherwise, and I refused to take out loans for my graduate school education. Which meant that I’ve now gone through the entirety of grad school working full-time while also being a full-time student. Don’t be like me if you can afford to do so.

Anyways, this really forced me to become crafty with the kinds of foods I was eating. I wanted to continue being healthy during my time back in school, as I know it’s so easy to fall into the trap of eating convenience and fast foods instead of preparing food the night before. Buying coffee can also get really expensive when you’re out, especially if your campus inflates the prices like mine does.

Here are some of the easy food items that have gotten me through graduate school.

Salads with a wide variety of toppings.

I am such a salad girl, and I am firm believer that it’s hard to get sick of it when you end up switching up the salad game every single day. My go-to salad is one with strawberries, feta, and spinach, but there are so many other combinations that have been keeping me well-fed throughout the day. Typically, you need some kind of protein if you want to stay full, so sometimes I pack an avocado I slice while at school, or make a baked za’atar tofu while I’m getting ready in the morning. Other toppings can be sunflower seeds I buy at the grocery store, or wonton strips.

The art of a good salad is about being creative and knowing the flavor profiles. My go-to dressing is the balsamic vinaigrette from Costco, the Kirkland brand, and sometimes I mix it with lemon juice, olive oil, and a little bit of hummus when I want to be fancy. Other times I switch out the spinach for kale, but I never really use romaine lettuce in my salads—not a fan of how unclean they can be.

On a similar note: rice bowls are a lifesaver.

We almost always have day old rice in the fridge because we’re Iranians who eat a ton of Asian food. It’s invetiable that rice is going to be served with almost every single meal. When I don’t feel like eating a salad, I make a bit of a DIY rice bowl and switch it up depending on what leftovers we have in the fridge. For example, when we buy the rotisserie chickens at Costco, we almost always have meat scraps. I shred it and then make a fajita mix out of it, put some beans in the container with corn, and then add whatever veggies we have on hand in the fridge. That might be a Latinx themed one, but if we have falafel I make a Middle Eastern one, or if I have a ton of banchan I make a bibimbap. The world truly is your oyster and you can make it vegetarian or even vegan depending on your tastes.

I’m powered through tea, Cafe Bustelo, and Copper Cow.

I try not to drink too much coffee because of how I’m aware of the amount of sugar loaded into it. I tend to buy Cafe Bustelo bricks these days and make it with my French press, but when I know I have a long night ahead of me and that I’m going to be tired the next morning, I make a cup of coffee in advance, put it into a to-go container, and drink it the next morning as an iced coffee. I pre-sweeten it too with creamer and honey, so I’m fully prepared to run out the door each morning with my fix. I also bought the Copper Cow Vietnamese coffee the one time it was at my local Costco, and I drink that when I need a boost at night to get all of my work done.

I work right next to a Dunkin on campus, which is so tempting to buy a drink at when I’m dehydrated. I make chilled iced fruit teas on the days where I feel like I can predict this happening, and my current favorite is the Jeju Hallabong tea they sell at H Mart for about $5. I make that into a Korean-style ade with carbonated water, and it’s so delicious and refreshing to sip on throughout the morning when I clock into working.

Sometimes I snack throughout the day on nuts, fruit, and apple sauce.

There are plenty of days where I just don’t feel like doing anything at all in terms of preparation, or others where I don’t have an appetite when I wake up. On these kinds of days I simply just pack nuts, easy fruits like apples and baby oranges, and those apple sauce packets you suck on when I know I just want to snack throughout the day. I tend to buy all of these when at Costco, simply because they have some organic nut packets in a variety I like and are perfect for my days at school. There are days where I just don’t feel like eating a lot, and these are the perfect solution for me. I typically eat a tofu breakfast in the morning to get some protein and veggies in though.

But sometimes I cave in and get fast food.

Some days you’re just too tired and go to bed right after getting home from school. I get you. Every so often I cave and buy some fast food on school, even though I know it’s expensive and overpriced, while also being terrible for me, and while I curse myself out for it, I don’t really blame people. We can’t do it all sometimes, and you need to know your limits. Not everyone has time to make a salad and whatnot, and I feel you so hard.

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