There is a whole cookbook for kids in that situation.

Sorry that I do not recall the title, but I am sure you can find it in Amazon or Google.

Honestly, I think you should visit him and have him take you to the dining hall for you to decide. I do not believe that a major university’s food is so bad that it makes everyone sick. That sounds to me like a rumor created by a teenager. Go visit and see for yourself. You’re paying the bill after all. I bet your son will change his tune when you say you’re coming to see for yourself.

Anonymous wrote:This thread is wild to me. My parents had no idea what I ate while I was at college, or where I ate.

OP here. I know, right? when I went to college my parents just paid the bill and I ate at the dining hall, until I moved into a dorm that had a kitchen and then I had meal plan 7 meals per week but took care of my own breakfasts and lunches.

But the dining hall at my college had pretty good food.

My son, on the other hand, says the dining hall food is really bad, and he's spending money to find other options. He's asked to move down to 10 meals per week and have me give him the difference so he can buy groceries. Unlimited versus 10 meals per weel is a big difference - about $1000.

And then, he asked my advice for some healthier meal options he could shop for and prepare for, because here at home he has a toaster oven and a stove, but in his dorm room he doesn't. He thought maybe as his mom, someone who had a lot of experience cooking and planning meals, I might have some suggestions for him.

I know it's crazy that a young adult ask a parent for their advice! And crazier to ask on dcum for ideas from people who may have had a similar experience.. but there it is. I've been on this forum quite a while and have adked for and given advice on all sorts of topics.

Anonymous wrote:He's able to eat breakfast in the dorm.

He has 10 meal swipes per week for lunch and dinner. He can use a swipe at a few places: Chick Fil A, Panera, Wing Stop, Panda Express, and a salad and smoothie fast food place. But, the swipe is worth $10. If the smoothie is $6, you lose the extra $4. If the cost of the meal is over $10, you have to use a second swipe to cover it, you can't just add on to it. So - the swipes are a little tricky to use. Also the lines at the fast food places.

You can use a swipe at breakfast at the dining hall, but if you are just getting cereal it seems a waste of a swipe.

He says the food at the dining hall is just really ... bad. It's not something to call the health department about. It's just fried, oily, crappy food. They do not have options for frying up your own eggs as far as I am aware.

That's so stupid! They should just get $100/week to spend. Or $10 for every swipe their dining plan includes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please do not encourage him to keep an illegal toaster oven. Dorm fires are a real risk and it’s really not fair to the rest of the inhabitants of that building.

+1

And they’ll be found out pretty quickly when there are cooking and burning smells coming from the dorm room.

My kid had one last year, and their room was next door/connected to the RA's (double double with a bathroom in between. There were never any issues, because my kid knows how to cook and use a toaster oven safely.

75% of their friends also had a toaster oven and managed to use it safely.

Anonymous wrote:Do not get a toaster oven or an induction burner. They are not allowed for a reason. College kids can do dumb stuff and they don't need a fire hazard around. (Fun story - one of my suitemates managed to burn easy mac badly enough in their microwave that the smoke alarms went off and they evacuated the dorm. And microwaves are allowed!)

Your kid should eat in the dining hall, certainly he can figure something out. Salad bar, sandwiches, find some sides that are acceptable, etc. It's also a social experience, which he'll miss out on if he's holed up in his room eating canned soup.

Plenty of college kids are intelligent enough to use a toaster over without burning down the dorm. But if you cannot cook macncheese without burning it, then yes, perhaps you shouldn't be one of those students.

Anonymous wrote:If the food is really that bad to the point of causing multiple people to feel ill, shouldn’t you be reporting to the college and the health department? That is not normal.

Colleges dont care. It's been like that for decades at many schools.

This thread is wild to me. My parents had no idea what I ate while I was at college, or where I ate.

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.

Absolutely this, he cannot use his dorm room as a kitchen. That’s gross and unfair to his roommate.

Anonymous wrote:Freshman DS has to be on some kind of meal plan; however, the dining hall food is apparently very bad.
He's unable to find much that is appealing. He has a fridge and microwave in his dorm, and we have moved his meal plan down to the lowest allowed, which is 10 meals per week. He can use the 10 meals at the dining hall or as "swipes" at a few fast food restaurants in the area.

He is asking me for ideas for healthy-ish meals he can prepare for himself that just require fridge/microwave. He's not allowed to have a toaster, or a toaster oven or do real cooking in his dorm room. The dorm has a kind of kitchen, but it only has a microwave. No access to a stove or oven, basically, and he's not going to do elaborate cooking.

He's got a decent grocery store a 5 minute walk away. The only dining hall (again, food is bad!) is a 13 min walk away from his form.

So looking for easy meal ideas for one, that can be prepped from shelf stable ingredients or fridge/microwave to supplement what he can stomach from the dining hall or fast food restaurants allowed on his swipes. Just until he can move into an apartment with a kitchen - he can cook the basics.

It is always astounding what a bunch of prissy fusspots everyone seems to have. Dorm food is not appealing? Shocking. So what? Get over it. Eat or don't.

What a horrid generation of crybabies we're rearing. And please do come back with your litany of excuses. I'm sure they're all valid

Anonymous wrote:I would not help. He can manage with a meal plan and should up it.

This!

Cut the cord op

Catering assistant as partTime job. My son is a sophomore . He’s allowed to take home any or all of the leftovers. He eats fancier than anyone i know 2-3 times a week and gets paid for it. Come on , Mom. Put on your thinking cap!

get creative with sandwiches. cold cuts + prepackaged salads + dressings

Anonymous wrote:

Your kid should eat in the dining hall, certainly he can figure something out. Salad bar, sandwiches, find some sides that are acceptable, etc. It's also a social experience, which he'll miss out on if he's holed up in his room eating canned soup.

Well, that's certainly what I remember from my own college experience freshman year, but apparently few of the kids at Temple are on full meal plan because the food is known to be crappy. So they socialize at restaurants or grab a bit from the numerous food trucks instead. Which my son will do I guess, but looking for a few cheaper options.

He's able to eat breakfast in the dorm.

He has 10 meal swipes per week for lunch and dinner. He can use a swipe at a few places: Chick Fil A, Panera, Wing Stop, Panda Express, and a salad and smoothie fast food place. But, the swipe is worth $10. If the smoothie is $6, you lose the extra $4. If the cost of the meal is over $10, you have to use a second swipe to cover it, you can't just add on to it. So - the swipes are a little tricky to use. Also the lines at the fast food places.

You can use a swipe at breakfast at the dining hall, but if you are just getting cereal it seems a waste of a swipe.

He says the food at the dining hall is just really ... bad. It's not something to call the health department about. It's just fried, oily, crappy food. They do not have options for frying up your own eggs as far as I am aware.