Meatless Monday isn’t just for vegetarians and vegans. It’s for anyone trying to start off their week with a healthy alternative.

According to Eatright.org, people who eat a vegetarian diet tend to have lower levels of obesity, a lower risk of getting heart disease and have lower blood pressure.

“People don’t have to commit to eating a vegetarian diet they can just try it out for one day a week or even for just one meal,” said Sociology major and junior Carmen Ceja.

Whether you are trying to have a meatless breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack, here are some simple recipes students living in a apartment or at the dorms who may not have access to a kitchen can recreate:

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Ingredients:

Quaker Oats

Coconut Sugar (any kind you like)

Soy milk or water

Optional toppings: Blueberries, Bananas, Oranges, Strawberries or peanut butter.

Directions:

1. If you have access to a kitchen, then fill a pot with water or milk and let it boil.

2. Then add in the oatmeal and sugar stir and let that cook for about five minutes.

3. Serve in a bowl and add any toppings you like.

4. If you only have access to a microwave, in a mug or bowl fill it half way with oatmeal and almost to the top with milk or water.

5. Cook it for two to four minutes.

6. After stir in the sugar and add any toppings you like.

If oatmeal for breakfast isn’t for you, check out some more recipes at Peta.org.

Lunch

Garden sandwich

Ingredients:

Lettuce

Tomatoes

Carrot

Cucumbers

Hummus

Avocado

Direction:

1. Cut all the vegetables.

2. Toast the bread for that extra crunch.

3. Add hummus to both sides of the bread then start layering the sandwich with all the toppings.

If students don’t have time to cook a meal there’s meatless options on campus like Burger King, Pollo Loco, Subway, Matador Mercado and many more.

Dinner

“Now a days there’s tofu meats imitating every possible animal meat you could think of,” said Susana Martinez English sophomore.

Spaghetti with (meatless) meatballs

Ingredients:

Whole wheat pasta

Basilicio tomato and basil sauce

Salt

Gardein meatless ground beef

Directions:

1. Boil water for three to five minutes.

2. Then add the pasta to the water and cook for six to nine minutes.

3. In a pan add a bit of olive oil and add half the pasta sauce stir until it’s boiling.

4. Then add the meatless meat and mix it with the sauce.

5. Finally add the whole wheat pasta mix everything together and it’s ready to serve.

“Any meal can be turned into a meatless meal. It’s easier than people think but sometimes people need recipes to get an idea of what to cook or how to replaced an item with something else,” said Liberal Arts major Cynthia Cortez Liberal Arts.

Snacks

Raw energy balls by Laura Miller

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
10 medjool dates, soaked for 15 minutes
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ t sea salt

optional: chia seeds, hemp seeds, cocoa powder, cacao nib

Process:
1. In a food processor, grind the coconut into a fine meal.
2. Add in the rest of the ingredients, and process again until a sticky dough is formed.
3. Scoop the batter by heaping tablespoons onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Coat each ball between your hands, and then coat them in hia seeds, hemp seeds, cocoa powder, or cacao nib.
4. Store the balls in the fridge or freezer

Find tons of more snack recipes on her blog Laura Miller.

Craving something sweet? Check out some recipes at Chefchloe.

“I don’t call myself a vegetarian but I’ve been doing meatless Monday’s now for three years,” said Theater major Victoria Marin. “Sometimes I do a meatless breakfast or sometimes dinner.”