College Dorm Food

[deburn]

Most of the replies seem to have misunderstood the OPs question. He's not looking to cook gourmet meals and he doesn't sound entitled. Quite the opposite, in fact. It sounds like the dorm food is too expensive and/or not that healthy and he's looking for options that don't cost a lot of money and are reasonably healthy.

Here are a couple of my recommendations, that are healthy, require minimal or no cooking and don't cost a ton:

1. Couscous (the food so nice, they named it twice Easiest thing to cook, you just need boiling water. Add chopped veggies, like peppers, carrots etc, (canned) beans
2. Pick up boxes of washed ready to eat salad. I buy Olivia's, but there are other choices. Add chopped veggies, tuna etc. Make your own dressing (lots of healthy recipes online, or just mix EVOO and balsamic vinegar)
3. Bean salads are also easy, inexpensive and really healthy. Take 2-3 types of canned beans, rinse and mix with dressing, as above. Add chopped veggies. Eat on its own, or with above two choices
4. If you can swing a toaster oven, you can easily make baked chicken and fish. Very easy to make, very quick and won't smell up the room. Look up basic marinades online or just use soy sauce. For fish, I just use EVOO, sea salt and pepper.
-- if you don't have a toaster oven, you can just buy precooked chicken (I like Trader Joe's)
5. Sandwiches, but you probably need access to a fridge to store butter/mayo etc

HTH!

 

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[ShayaEXQT]

Stir fry.

www.jamieoliver.com has some really great recipes that can be prepared quickly and cheaply.

Pasta with tomato sauce.
Any pasta with sauce/pesto.
Mac 'n cheese or so.
Gnocchi, spinach and fried eggs.
Lentil stew.
Any stew.
And so on.

 

[ShayaEXQT]

Stir fry.

www.jamieoliver.com has some really great recipes that can be prepared quickly and cheaply.

Pasta with tomato sauce.
Any pasta with sauce/pesto.
Mac 'n cheese or so.
Gnocchi, spinach and fried eggs.
Lentil stew.
Any stew.
And so on.

 

[ShayaEXQT]

Stir fry.

www.jamieoliver.com has some really great recipes that can be prepared quickly and cheaply.

Pasta with tomato sauce.
Any pasta with sauce/pesto.
Mac 'n cheese or so.
Gnocchi, spinach and fried eggs.
Lentil stew.
Any stew.
And so on.

 

[pebblegrain]



Most of the replies seem to have misunderstood the OPs question. He's not looking to cook gourmet meals and he doesn't sound entitled. Quite the opposite, in fact. It sounds like the dorm food is too expensive and/or not that healthy and he's looking for options that don't cost a lot of money and are reasonably healthy. Here are a couple of my recommendations

the problem with "a couple of recommendations" is that you suddenly went from a decently-prepared dorm variety of 100+ dishes to a badly prepared repertoire of 4-5 mediocre dishes that take more time via grocery shopping, planning, prep, cooking, and cleanup. Never mind all the wasted food you typically get when cooking for 1 (meat, milk, bread, eggs, and veggies always seem to go bad before you finish it)

In the end there is no ideal college meal situation (healthy, convenient, cheap, and tasty), I'm just saying I would choose put "cheap" last on the list, and suck it up with dorm food without hesitation.

 

[Xericx]

I gave up after half a semester. Its easier to just buy cheap, healthy food if you have in the area. salads at chipotle, etc...for home, grilled chicken, burgers and quesedillas.

 

[deburn]



the problem with "a couple of recommendations" is that you suddenly went from a decently-prepared dorm variety of 100+ dishes to a badly prepared repertoire of 4-5 mediocre dishes that take more time via grocery shopping, planning, prep, cooking, and cleanup. Never mind all the wasted food you typically get when cooking for 1 (meat, milk, bread, eggs, and veggies always seem to go bad before you finish it)
In the end there is no ideal college meal situation (healthy, convenient, cheap, and tasty), I'm just saying I would choose put "cheap" last on the list, and suck it up with dorm food without hesitation.

No need to be a dick. Everyone's entitled to post their opinions and to disagree with other's opinions, but there's no need to make insulting comments

 

[impolyt_one]

first world problems - "he insulted my amateur cooking skillz on the INTERNET bro!"

 

[lenahan]

Well, I go to school in NYC. Can't cook for my life (and am never really in my dorm much to cook, anyway); I used up the school's very limited meal plan on what is horrible and overpriced food (it actually was voted among the worst college food in the country), so I buy a lot of vendor food, which is suprisingly good and healthy, and premade and packaged stuff, and hit the salad bar in the cafetaria a few lunches a week. With respect to previous posters, I apologize, but I highly doubt that you can blame us for the very high cost of higher education. The demand has gone up, as has the the costs for everything, and the purchasing power of the dollar has decreased. This is not our fault

"there were a ton of kids in my dorm who were going to school, expecting to pay for it with part time jobs; if they had cars, they were beaters, if they had TV's and stuff in their rooms they were buying the 13" CRTs and a little $50 fridge, etc. We didn't have air conditioning in our dorm rooms, had to share a gang shower, the whole building was disgusting and we expected that since we were basically paying like $250/month rent."

Further, we are not at fault for the change in technology (CRT anything is impossible to find, for instance), and considering the cost of tuition, I think it is fair to demand for your $60,000 for tuition and room and board that you get something comparable to that in value.