One thing you may not know about the St. John’s University campus in Rome is that we do not have a dining hall. However, we still have a meal plan. How does that work? Every other week, we receive “meal tickets”. Each ticket is worth €5, and we get €60 a week (€120 per distribution). We can use these meal tickets at participating local restaurants to get things like burgers, pizza, pasta, and more. Or, we can use them at participating grocery stores, which is where you really get your bang for your buck. Luckily for us, this campus comes with 3 full kitchens that us students are always in. So, for a quick meal prep since I will only be in town for a few days this week, I made 4 simple meals to get me through my busy days. Here’s everything I made!
For starters, every time I go to the store, I get a small bottle of milk. I have disposable bowls and spoons and a box of cereal in my room, so whenever I’m craving a small midnight snack or a quick breakfast before class, I always have cereal as an option. Other breakfast options I made this week were scrambled eggs, crispy bacon bits and parmesan-crusted home fries. There’s not many cheese options here, from what I’ve noticed, so mozzarella, milk, eggs and my go-to seasonings make a good, protein-filled serving for me. Another thing about Italy (and Europe, honestly) is they use pork so heavily, so finding bacon or pork meats for a breakfast protein is entirely too easy. I made myself a breakfast bowl that I eat throughout the week (since it’s a heavy portion) so that making a meal in the morning is one less thing to worry about and already handled.
But breakfast isn’t the only meal I eat. It’s honestly not even one I eat that often; what I really focus on is Lunch and Dinner. This week, I finally thawed my pre-bought chicken cutlets and prepared them to go into my creamy fettuccine bolognese. When in Rome, you have to make pasta. And I swear every student who cooks here is always making pasta of some sort. So, of course, I became part of that cliché. Each week, with some sautéed onions, tomato paste, meaty bolognese sauce and cheese blend, I make the most delicious and savory bowl of pasta. This meal is my favorite to make because it’s so easy to make in bulk to prepare multiple meals, but also because it is so quick to make. If you ever see me stocking up on groceries, these ingredients are always involved. Another meal I made was a lemon pepper grilled chicken bites with white rice, green beans and grilled zucchini. Since I’m feeling lazy this week, I bought microwavable rice that I lightly seasoned that served as the base of my bowl, which was topped by my chicken that was flavored in my favorite lemon pepper seasoning that I brought from the States. Lastly, I had to top off the meal with my favorite vegetables: green beans and zucchini. This was my first time making zucchini myself (despite eating so frequently here) but green beans are my forte. I haven’t tried this bowl yet, so fingers crossed it’s good but I’m sure it will be fine.
That was everything I prepared for this short week and I hope these simple meals can help you prepare for any stressful or busy weeks you may have, at home or abroad!