Finally! The weather is just starting to cool off, my favorite alma mater T-shirt is hanging front and center, and college football kicks off tomorrow. It’s almost more excitement than I can bear. I know I’m not alone, and I know I’m not the only one preparing a first game feast for my friends.

Whether you tailgate at home or from your couch, you can consume A LOT of calories in the four hours it takes to win a football game. I, for one, don’t want to be bloated when the big score comes in at the end, so I make a healthier spread. It’s far from rabbit food, but it’s also not the calorie bomb that most of my fellow fans are dishing up.

If I can promise you bold-flavored, sticky-fingered buffalo chicken, wicked dips, and killer desserts, can you promise to try at least one lighter tailgate party this season? I’m pretty sure everyone scores in that deal!

BBQ Pork Sliders

No one needs a half-pound pile of pulled pork, but a tiny slider or two can really fill you up. Our little pork sliders are smothered in a homemade barbecue sauce and a little coleslaw for a cool crunch.

Lighter Buffalo Chicken Dip

We guarantee everything about this recipe is the same as any you’ve tried before, except we’ve cut more than 200 calories out of it! A few simple swaps make this appetizer just as creamy, spicy, and in demand as its gut-busting counterpart.
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By Rachel Berman, RD, Director of Nutrition at CalorieCount.com

Whether you are a new graduate off your campus meal plan and living on your own for the first time, or just need tips on how to stock your kitchen without breaking the bank, below are tips and staples for eating healthy at home when it’s a setting for one.

Plan Your Menu

Meal planning reduces stress, saves money, and reduces food waste. A fun money saver is to pick a “theme” each week. For example, if you pick Mexican food for one week, versatile ingredients for various meals might include salsa, black beans, avocados, cheese, corn, and whole wheat tortillas. With these ingredients plus staples (see below) you could make plenty from black bean quesadillas to spicy egg scrambles and southwestern salads or wraps.

Minimize Mess and Save Time with One Pot Methods

Slow cookers are inexpensive, come in many sizes, and recipes that use them do not require a lot of effort or clean up.  Same idea goes with anything that stir-fries and just uses one skillet.
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The April showers are certainly bringing May flowers this year, and they’re also delivering a new class of graduates. Who expect to be showered with gifts.

Do you know what college grads really want? Jobs. Talk about a gift that keeps giving… a salary, health benefits, a desk to sit at for eight hours a day.

If you’ve got a class of 2012 graduation on your calendar in the coming weeks, you’ll want to arrive armed with a gift that says congratulations, welcome to the real world, and I cared enough to not by a cliche Dr. Seuss book. There are gifts that say all of these things. We know because we found them!

There’s something on here for every budget and will certainly help the graduate in your life transition from college to career with a healthy lifestyle as a priority.

by Shelby Kaho from Celiacs in the House

When I come home for the weekend, I try to cram in as much time with my friends as I can, but Saturday night and Sunday before I head back to school, I get down to business and cook for a solid few hours preparing gluten-free food to put in my dorm room mini-fridge freezer. The menu usually consists of fried rice with lots of veggies, grilled or baked chicken cut into small slices, sautéed asparagus, black beans, sweet and sour sauce to put on the chicken and/or steak, ravioli with sauce, steak cut into strips and sautéed, pizza, French toast, and chocolate chip cookies. I pack everything in quart sized freezer bags that I fill halfway, release the air and flatten the contents. This makes everything flat and stackable. It also makes it easier to break off single servings if the food is in a thin layer and cut up into small pieces.

I also stock up my fridge with corn tortillas for microwave quesadillas, shredded cheese (I put this on rice bowls, quesadillas, etc…), fruit cups, microwaveable sausages, lunch meat, fruit smoothies, and kefir. I also have several drawers full of the items that don’t need to be refrigerated. Some of my staples are microwaveable rice, gluten-free pretzels, chips, bread, fruit snacks, and beef jerky.

My strategy is to cover the basics like protein and carbohydrate so that I know I won’t go hungry and will always have what I need available to me. I also keep a collection of spices and sauces to make things less monotonous. My favorites to keep on hand are tamari, mayonnaise, hot sauce, ketchup, mustard, garlic powder and chipotle powder.

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By Wendy Gregory Kaho

Choosing a college can be tough when you have celiac disease and/or gluten sensitivity. If your child is required to live in the dorms, you need to know what to look for in the dining hall to determine if a school really can meet your gluten-free needs. Here are some tips from our experience sending two gluten-free teens off to small liberal arts colleges.

Despite the good reputations in the food service world of both dining services, we found a wide variation in knowledge and follow through in serving gluten-free meals in both colleges. Look for dining services with training programs within the corporation and look out for programs that are researched and implemented by the chef or manager on duty.

Beware if you have new a new chef or dining manager. They will be getting an entire program up and running at the start of the school year and special diet meals will fall thorough the cracks and off their radar.

Smaller colleges are not always safer. With a much smaller gluten-free population to feed, some schools may have little to no experience even serving gluten-free meals. Ask very pointed, specific questions of everyone when asking about gluten-free meals. Watch the servers, the students and the kitchen preparation to see if you can spot weak links and poor kitchen practices.

Get everything in writing and consider registering with the Students with Disabilities Office at your school. This will protect you and your investment once you do choose a school.

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