Hunkering down and having a bowl of soup is always a good alternative to dining hall food. Graphic from Pixabay.
Sometimes after a long week of classes, dining hall food just doesn’t cut it. What ever is a student living in a dorm to do? With a microwave and some simple tools that you probably already have, there is actually a lot that can be done.
Ramen is a staple food of the average college student; it is cheap, easy to make and relatively flavorful. It’s impossible to mess up a cup of ramen noodles, but it’s easy to make that cup of noodles even better. The simplest way to spruce up your ramen is by adding sriracha or your hot sauce of choice after it is done cooking for a spicy kick to your meal. Some other easy add-ins are spices and seasonings (such as furikake, a Japanese spice blend that is sure to kick ramen into the next gear) or you can add some chopped veggies into the cup noodles just before they finish in the microwave.
If ramen isn’t doing it for you but you’re still craving noodles, try a simple dorm room macaroni and cheese. It only takes a bowl (or even a mug), milk, water, macaroni noodles and some pre-grated cheese that will melt well (sharp cheddar works really well). Try this easy recipe from Kitchn.
If you find yourself craving something sweet in your room, there are so many mug desserts that have been popularized over the past few years. The issue is that making these recipes requires ingredients like eggs that are perishable or flour and sugar which you have to buy in larger quantities. A simple fix to this problem is to buy packaged mug brownie and mug cake mixes that don’t require any of the ingredients. These mixes often taste just as good as a homemade mug brownie and only require water and the mix.
My best advice to students who find themselves not leaving enough time to visit the dining hall before their morning classes is to keep cereal and milk in your room. If you have the fridge space for milk then it is simple enough to make cereal in the morning, but even if you don’t have a fridge stock up on shelf-stable milk, such as Silk almond milk (just make sure it is the non-refrigerated packages) or Fairlife YUP! milk. Both of these will keep at room temperature for seven to 10 days once opened.
If you’re looking for other dorm-room recipes there are so many options online. Just make sure to use your best judgment, because not all of the recipes you’ll find will taste good, or even work for that matter.