Part of my role as Human Performance Specialist here at USD is to provide nutritional education to our student-athletes. I break it down in 3 ways: 1) Education about what, when, and how to eat as an athlete, along with basic protein, carbohydrate, fat, and hydration information. 2) On-campus meal plan options and how to make the best decisions given the choices they have available to them. This includes daily emails with menus for what the best options are to eat on-campus that day. 3) Providing off-campus student-athletes with easy recipes, grocery lists, and other helpful tips to help them when they are balancing school, sports, social lives, and eating right. This is typically done through weekly emails and one-on-one conversations.
While I was thinking about how to further promote prepping meals for the off-campus crew and having healthy food options on hand, I decided I needed to know what these people had in their kitchen! So, I came up with the “Top 10 College Kitchen Must-Haves”.

1.  Plates, Bowls, Flatware: This doesn’t have to be fancy. Paper plates are good enough (although not the ‘greenest option), but for the college student in a rush, paper products are perfect. Or go to the local Wal-Mart and buy a cheap dining set and flatware.

2. Kitchen Shears: A sharp kitchen shears can be used for anything. It can sometimes be easier than a knife and cutting board especially when trimming meats.

3. Spatula: A versatile, heavy duty plastic spatula can be used for basically anything.

4. Spoon: A large, plastic spoon is also very versatile and standard kitchen necessity.

5. Cookie Sheet: Pick one with edges so that roasting meat and veggies can be done easily. Line with tin foil (see #6) for easy clean up.

6. Tin Foil: This is a life saver. The worst part about cooking is the clean up! I line everything that goes in the oven with tin foil. Then all you have to do is wipe off the pan and you’re good to go.

7. Medium Size Fry Pan: A good size that could be used for scrambled eggs or browning meat.

8. Medium Size Pot: Large enough to boil rice and noodles but you don’t need anything huge.

9. Pampered Chef Pot: This is seriously the best thing in my kitchen. I’m not trying to sell you on this one, it just really is the best. You can cook anything in here, from cake to casserole, and it can be used in the microwave (what?! Seriously!).

10. Reusable Containers: I would recommend splurging a little on these and getting glass Pyrex containers, but plastic ones are just as good. The key to eating healthy while having a busy schedule is learning how to be prepared. When you make a meal, make double or triple, then store the leftovers in meal-size portions in containers that can be re-heated. This makes lunch and dinner during the week super easy and convenient.