I have always had a deep and strong love for one thing in this world: Food.
Christmas was always one of my favorite times of the year. Why? Because I was allowed to bake as many cookies as possible without weirding people out! I loved baking so much that one of the first things I bought for my dorm was a baking set, which included a mixer, several baking trays, a mixing bowl and a few other baking must-haves.
Luckily, all residential buildings at Dartmouth have kitchens that are open for everyone to use. Since my Sophomore Summer, I have been living my sorority house and our kitchen in here is amazing! We have so many pots, pans, utensils and spices for everyone to use that I have decided to cook all my meals for myself and not eat college dining anymore – I could not be happier with that decision. I enjoy baking and cooking so much, it calms me and I simply feel better when I know what exactly I am putting into my body. (Even though that is sometimes an entire tub of Halo Top Ice Cream in one sitting – don’t judge me. We have all been there!)
Dartmouth College still requires everyone to be on a meal plan though, so I have acquired a few tips and tricks on how to use the meal swipes and DBA to get food that I can then cook for myself! I usually buy most of my groceries at the Co-Op, but with the following tips, it is easy to also get the most out of your meal plan.
1. Get frozen fruit at Collis
I love making myself some protein pancakes with blueberries in the morning. I recently found out that you can actually ask for frozen blueberries at the Collis Smoothie bar! You just hand them a soup cup and they fill it up as much as you want with your desired frozen fruit and you can then pay based on weight.
2. Get eggs at Collis
It should not be a secret, that you can get made-to-order eggs every morning. Did you know that you can actually also ask for whole eggs and you can get a box of a dozen eggs and pay with DBA? (Little disclaimer: I prefer organic eggs and sadly, these are not organic eggs…)
3. Get Greek Yogurt at Collis
Greek Yogurt is such a versatile food – from mixing it with oats to Greek Yogurt Pancakes to a delicious parfait. Sometimes Collis even has big tubs of Greek Yogurt, which is so much better than the small cups, because it wastes less plastic!
4. Get fruit at any location
I know, I know. The selection of fruit on campus is quite limited, but you can still get bananas for some good old banana bread at Collis or apples for an apple pie at KAF.
5. Get almond butter and almond milk at Foco
I have gone into Foco with a To-Go box and just filled it up to the top with almond butter. At home, I then transferred the butter into small containers and keep it in my fridge. Almond butter is expensive so this is a great way to save some cash! I have also filled up a reusable water bottle with almond milk from Foco (instead of getting their to go cup, because that would create more waste and I am all about eliminating plastic).
6. Get chopped up veggies at Collis Salad Bar
There is only a limited selection of vegetables, but I still highly recommend getting veggies such as spinach, kale or green peppers at Collis.
7. Get apple sauce at Collis
Did you know applesauce cookies exist? They are actually quite good, so you should get yourself some apple sauce at Collis and try it out!
8. Buy ice cream at the snack bars
Dartmouth recently increased its selection of ice creams at the Snack bars and they now offer Talenti, Ben & Jerrys and Halo Top. Since these are my favorite ice cream brands, I could not be more excited about that!
These were my best tips on how to use DBA to cook for yourself. If you can think of any other tips, please email me! I always need a way to spend some more DBA!