If you, as a college student, have experienced the canon event of eating at the same dining hall everyday week after week, you know that it can get boring. The food can be bland and get very repetitive very quickly. Especially if you’re like most of us, a creature of habit and get the same three things every week and only change the sides.
It can not only be fun to mix things up, but also prevent the distaste for certain foods you might experience after a couple of weeks of repetition. So here are some hacks that can spice up your typical dining hall meals.
One of the easiest things you can do is bring some of your favorite sauces and seasonings to the dining hall. This can add back some of your favorite flavors that your dining hall might not have. As nice as ketchup can be, some of your favorite, more niche sauces that the dining hall doesn’t carry can really transform your meal. It can also bring back a little bit of a feeling of home because you can use a sauce or seasoning that you love in your home-cooked meals.
If you’re a pasta fan, you can mix up your typical pasta bar by hacking your toppings. If you mix together alfredo sauce and marinara, you will get a delicious creamy marinara. Don’t be afraid of the topping; creamy marinara and noodles can only take you so far. Veggies like peppers and mushrooms taste great on pasta, and if you want a little extra protein, you can add chicken.
If veggies or protein aren’t offered at the protein station, it is very likely that they are offered somewhere else at a different station. For example, you can take some chicken tenders, cut them up, and put them on your pasta. This hack can go for anything, not only pasta; mix the stations together, and it can change the meal.
If you get bored with your standard-issue salad, try and make a burrito bowl. If you have a form of rice, beans and a salad bar, you’re set. Use the rice as the base, then add beans on top and that is the perfect base for your burrito bowl. Then you can add whatever toppings you want from the salad bar, and then you have a whole new meal that is different from a salad.
You can mix together more than just the food stations you’re eating at. College is the time to try new things in every aspect of life, including your food combinations. I’m the type of person who can put peanut butter on anything and be happy. Find what your peanut butter is. To do this, you have to try a lot of different things and honestly just put random things together and see what happens.
Now, if you’re bored with the dining hall altogether and don’t even want to set foot in there for a week, there are some great dorm-friendly recipes. Delish.com has a lot in its article about dorm-friendly recipes that I highly recommend you try. Remember, you don’t just have to eat to survive; you can enjoy your meals too, and these hacks can help you make that happen.