Meal ideas - dorm living, no kitchen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is his problem to solve. He decided that every single thing on offer in the dining hall was inedible? I mean, THAT’S the place to go to put together meals — salad bar + grilled chicken + rice = stir fry; pasta + peanut butter/soy sauce/brown sugar = sesame noodles; just about anything can be made into a taco or put in or on a salad.

Cooking in his room is going to piss off his roommates/hall mates, because of the smells and cleanup, which he won’t do promptly or completely.

This is a time to learn flexibility and creativity, rather than noping out and expecting Chef Mom to swoop in with a bunch of pre-packaged solutions. Are you sure he’s not saying this because he hasn’t found people to eat with? Or some other issue that he’s instead blaming on the food?

For anyone with a junior or a senior, this is why eating in the dining hall is so important. Impress on your kids that this will be home for 4 years, and it’s important they enjoy the nonacademic parts of the experience.

I 100% agree with this, and was about to post something similar.

[Anonymous]

I found today’s menu online for Temple. It looks typical.

https://temple.campusdish.com/LocationsAndMenus/EspositoDiningCenter

[Anonymous]

Get a toaster oven, and hide it in the closet when not in use. Be around whenever you use it and unplug after use.

THat's what majority of college kids do. Then you can "cook" a lot more

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is his problem to solve. He decided that every single thing on offer in the dining hall was inedible? I mean, THAT’S the place to go to put together meals — salad bar + grilled chicken + rice = stir fry; pasta + peanut butter/soy sauce/brown sugar = sesame noodles; just about anything can be made into a taco or put in or on a salad.

Sadly, this is true. It is Temple University and their dining hall food is quite bad.

Agree that many schools the food really is "that bad". My kid's at a different school, and the photos I've seen multiple times of "uncooked chicken" from a variety of parents shows the food can really be dangerous.

Get a toaster oven and your kid can easily survive in the dorm. By pregrilled chicken and salad and put it together. You can make rice in microwave, and quesadillas in the toaster (with the chicken). See if they can find a dorm that has a kitchen nearby, and cook something once per week (taco meat) and use it for next 3-4 days to make meals.

[Anonymous]

Why are you making him suffer. Doordash will make him happy.

[Anonymous]

I once had this set-up. What I ended up doing:

-Peanut butter. For sandwiches, to eat with fruit, to eat off a spoon.

-Oatmeal. Those cold overnight oatmeal cups you don't even need to heat the water.

-Hardboiled eggs. You can make them yourself or buy them pre-made.

-Canned proteins. Tuna, sardines, chicken, salmon, all kinds of beans, etc. Eat it on bread, mayo optional, it's a good sandwich.

-Scoop up all the produce you can at the dining hall. If it's really bad, oranges, apples, bananas last a long time, buy seasonal produce, etc.

-Frozen vegetables (if he has access to a freezer) are good for fiber and mix well into things like ramen and pasta, minute rice, etc.

-You can easily make ramen in a microwave, or really any noodle (look for whole wheat since it's more filling). There are special reusable bowls to microwave pasta, you might as well buy one. Can buy a lot of jarred sauces.

-You can also eat a lot of microwave meals but they are expensive and tend to have a ton of salt. You can microwave pizzas, they come out okay.

-Vegetarian nachos are very easy, you get refried beans, cheese, chips, plus avocados. You can also make microwave refried bean burritos that you make by spreading refried beans on a tortilla, sprinkle with cheese, microwave 30 seconds then roll up and eat with yogurt and salsa and avocado.

-Hummus is another good source of protein, you can eat a ton of vegetables and hummus in a pita wrap. You can also make a packet of couscous with beand for extra protein, couscous only needs boiling water which you can do in microwave.

-BLTS: buy shelf-stable bacon, lettuce, tomato, bread.

So the meals basically become:
-peanut butter sandwich and an apple
-pasta or noodles with canned protein and/or frozen vegetables
-hard boiled egg with oatmeal
-bags of salad with canned fish or hardboiled eggs or canned beans
-vegetarian nachos and burritos
-BLT
-couscous with beans and hummus and vegetables
-Cheese and crackers and smoked meats and grapes, charcuterie platter
-and if you eat lunch meat, you can eat a lot of sandwiches.

Good luck! It was a pretty miserable time, food-wise and in retrospect it wasn't worth the money I saved. I did lose a lot of weight.

[Anonymous]

I would send him hot sauce or other seasoning to add flavor to the dining hall food. I wouldn't encourage him to make meals in his dorm room.

[Anonymous]

I am PP with the long list and just saw that it's temple. Temple is in kind of a grocery store desert which makes it harder. Can you buy him a granny grocery cart? That will make it easier to get things home.

Acme just started a 5% off discount for students, and there is an Aldi right down Broad Street along with a Giant (it's a different strain of Giant than the DMV Giants, so he will have to get his own discount account). There is a Trader Joe's near Jefferson Station that will have a lot of prepared microwaveable meals, if that's in budget.

[Anonymous]

Of course you can make healthy food in the microwave. But unless he has a sink in his room I'd caution that it can be messy and unsanitary. You also need to ensure the fridge is cold enough to real foods (and not a drink fridge).

You can make rice with a variety of sauces and veggies. Microwave rice and add cheese/beans/guac/salsa/any veggies you like. Or add chili crisp and avocado and cucumber and peanut butter if you want protein. Or add hummus and some veggies and vinaigrette.

If your kid is veggie heavy they can go to the store and do the prep (wash, chop, put in tuppware) in a communal kitchen, and keep the prepared veggies in his fridge. Then it's just assembly.

Of course they can also do microwaved oatmeal with toppings (fruit, pb, whatever), or soups, or microwaved dinners that are "healthier" like Amys or whatever. Veggie burgers microwave well: add cheese, toppings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Salads. Nothing that can be made in a microwave is healthy. Why is it up to you to solve?

He is asking me for suggestions and to help him make a plan for foods he can make on his own without access to a kitchen.

Well, pretty much none of the other suggestions sound better, or healthier, than cafeteria food. PBJ. Canned food. Also, if he’s choosing this can’t he be resourceful? Tell him to ask it on IG.

This. But if he really must do something, how about a one burner plugin induction thing. With a pot. No fire risk and he can properly boil things to make rice or beans.

Nothing is allowed except fridge and microwave. If he could have a toaster oven, even in the dorm lounge kitchen, it would open up a few more options. Not sure how strict the penalties are for having appliances in the bedroom are though... I'm sure students do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I found today’s menu online for Temple. It looks typical.

https://temple.campusdish.com/LocationsAndMenus/EspositoDiningCenter

Yeah, I agree on paper the food looks like typical dining hall fare. But what I am hearing from my son, his roommates, and also parents of other students, is that Temple's dining hall food has really gone downhill in the past couple years. They outsourced completely to Aramark which now runs the dining hall. It's not good quality food. Even the salad bar stinks, usually. The students say their stomachs routinely hurt after eating there.

I'm not going to argue with them. My kid eats a wide variety of food without complaining so I am taking him at his word. I never had this problem at my older child's school- yeah, it was dining hall food, but it was fresh and tasty, generally speaking, and they could find plenty to eat. Without being told "Just use your swipes at Panera" because everyone knew the dining hall food was atrocious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am PP with the long list and just saw that it's temple. Temple is in kind of a grocery store desert which makes it harder. Can you buy him a granny grocery cart? That will make it easier to get things home.

Acme just started a 5% off discount for students, and there is an Aldi right down Broad Street along with a Giant (it's a different strain of Giant than the DMV Giants, so he will have to get his own discount account). There is a Trader Joe's near Jefferson Station that will have a lot of prepared microwaveable meals, if that's in budget.

There's a big grocery store just a 5 min walk. It seems overpriced, like Whole Foods prices, but it does have everything he could want in terms of basic groceries.

I think the best solution is to get a small toaster oven and just keep it under wraps. That allows for some easy breakfast and lunch options to save money cooking at home; and find some decent restaurant nearby for better protein options for dinner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I once had this set-up. What I ended up doing:

-Peanut butter. For sandwiches, to eat with fruit, to eat off a spoon.

-Oatmeal. Those cold overnight oatmeal cups you don't even need to heat the water.

-Hardboiled eggs. You can make them yourself or buy them pre-made.

-Canned proteins. Tuna, sardines, chicken, salmon, all kinds of beans, etc. Eat it on bread, mayo optional, it's a good sandwich.

-Scoop up all the produce you can at the dining hall. If it's really bad, oranges, apples, bananas last a long time, buy seasonal produce, etc.

-Frozen vegetables (if he has access to a freezer) are good for fiber and mix well into things like ramen and pasta, minute rice, etc.

-You can easily make ramen in a microwave, or really any noodle (look for whole wheat since it's more filling). There are special reusable bowls to microwave pasta, you might as well buy one. Can buy a lot of jarred sauces.

-You can also eat a lot of microwave meals but they are expensive and tend to have a ton of salt. You can microwave pizzas, they come out okay.

-Vegetarian nachos are very easy, you get refried beans, cheese, chips, plus avocados. You can also make microwave refried bean burritos that you make by spreading refried beans on a tortilla, sprinkle with cheese, microwave 30 seconds then roll up and eat with yogurt and salsa and avocado.

-Hummus is another good source of protein, you can eat a ton of vegetables and hummus in a pita wrap. You can also make a packet of couscous with beand for extra protein, couscous only needs boiling water which you can do in microwave.

-BLTS: buy shelf-stable bacon, lettuce, tomato, bread.

So the meals basically become:
-peanut butter sandwich and an apple
-pasta or noodles with canned protein and/or frozen vegetables
-hard boiled egg with oatmeal
-bags of salad with canned fish or hardboiled eggs or canned beans
-vegetarian nachos and burritos
-BLT
-couscous with beans and hummus and vegetables
-Cheese and crackers and smoked meats and grapes, charcuterie platter
-and if you eat lunch meat, you can eat a lot of sandwiches.

Good luck! It was a pretty miserable time, food-wise and in retrospect it wasn't worth the money I saved. I did lose a lot of weight.

Thanks for doing this write up! Appreciate it!

[Anonymous]

How about an electric sauté pan that he can use in the kitchen area where the microwave is located. My dd is a vegan and dorm food service never had enough options so she would cook her food in the small kitchen and then take it back to her room. Made it easy to do all kinds of meals.

[Anonymous]

Could do Kevin’s meals in that electric sauté pan