22
Jan 14

Yes I’m Really Vegetarian…

I switched to completely vegetarian eating a little over two years ago on a snap decision. No planning or contemplating, I just woke up one day and decided that was it. It’s not like it was a shocking change or anything, I hadn’t eaten red meat in almost a decade and really only ate meat out of laziness. At first I had my challenges being a college student and living on campus as a vegetarian, but it proved to be a really smooth and easy transition.

I’ve now lived on and off campus as a vegetarian, but I’ll talk about on campus solutions first as that was the most difficult.

Living in the dorms, students have a mini-fridge and a microwave in addition to access of the dining commons and eateries on campus. I lived in West Halls which traditionally has some of the best food on campus (you’ll here a lot about the West cookies and they definitely live up the hype!). There is the daily salad bar, pasta and pizza station, as well as sandwich station, all which have meat-free options. What was nice about West was that there was always some type of veggie burger or protein source that did not involve meat along with cooked vegetables and grains. My favorite is the “Mexican” food station with chips, beans, rice, plenty of veggies and taco toppings where I made lots of burrito bowls (aka a Chipotle I could afford).

IMG_9258

Waring Commons in West Halls

All of the dining commons will have vegetarian options on a daily basis, sometimes even tofu. If you’re in a hurry, there are grab-and-go places that will also have options, just slightly limited. Again in West, the convenience store called SiSu is geared towards organic and natural foods. They always had wraps and salads prepared that were discounted when using a campus meal plan. They also sold some of my favorite frozen dinners by the brand Amy’s, a natural frozen food company (try the pesto tortellini bowl!).

It was helpful to look up the menus at each dining hall (there are five) and see which one had the best meal option for the day. I could plan my schedule around which area of campus I wanted to eat at and fit it in with my classes and activities. The menus are available online here: http://menu.hfs.psu.edu/ For instance, today West is offering a Thai Edamame & Vegetable Stir-Fry. Sounds pretty good!

Look for a part-two about living off campus and my vegetarian cooking adventures as well as my favorite restaurants!

 


Skip to toolbar