Just because we’re not on campus doesn’t mean you have to forget your favorite dorm room recipes. I sat down with recipe extraordinaire Alisia Garcia Yanishevsky to hear about some of her top creations. Alisia’s recipes are all perfect for a busy lifestyle. The trick is to get your ingredients from the dining hall and make it later in your dorm room. These recipes all require a blender, but a hand blender — like this one from Home Depot for $15 — is a cost-effective alternative. In a pinch, if you don’t have a blender, you can even “stir it really fast with a whisk.” Read on to learn from the master chef herself.
- Alisia’s easy cappuccino
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Alisia first instructs coffee enthusiasts to get their coffee and milk of choice from the dining hall to minimize costs. First, place the cup of milk in the microwave for one minute. Then, blend or whisk the milk until it’s frothy. Once completed, simply pour the milk over your coffee for an instant cappuccino. Add your preferred sugar, and it’s all set to enjoy.
- Yogurt smoothie
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Again, Alisia recommends sourcing your ingredients from the dining hall. Get a bowl of your favorite fruit and yogurt from the dining hall. Also, make sure to grab some milk. Another insider hack to acquire milk is to go to any campus cafe and fill up a cup with the milk they have on the side. Alisia emphasizes that bananas are the easiest fruit to get, but prime finds such as blueberries can be found in topping bars. Dump two scoops of the yogurt into a large cup. Mix in other flavors like honey or peanut butter. Then, add your fruit. As a pro tip, Alisia recommends freezing fruit ahead of time so that you don’t need to use ice. But, if your fruit isn’t frozen, add a few ice cubes. Next, pour over enough milk to cover the mixture before blending it all together. If you have easy access to ice cream or frozen yogurt, you can use the same recipe to make a milkshake.
- Budgeted breakfast sandwich
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You’ll need to buy eggs for this recipe, but eggs are a great staple to just have around the dorm anyways. From the dining hall, you’ll need two slices of bread, a slice of cheese, and a slice of turkey or ham. These can all be found at a sandwich station.
Begin by scrambling your eggs. Alisia typically uses two, but you can change the number depending on how hungry you are. Heat a small frying pan on medium to low heat. Although you may want to grease the pan, you can still make the recipe successfully without grease if you don’t have anything to use.
While the egg is still runny, lay the two pieces of bread next to each other, facing upwards. When the egg is no longer runny, flip everything so the bread is at facing the skillet and the egg is upwards. Season the egg with whatever you have on hand. Next, add your cheese and whatever meat on top. Fold your creation into a sandwich and enjoy.
If your pan is too small to fit both slices of bread next to each other, just add the second slice on top at the end.
For more of Alisia’s ideas — including hacks to maximize savings at Chipotle — and to see these recipes in action, check out her YouTube channel and this video.