Are you fed up with the wait for Einstein’s bagels? Sick of eating pizza from the café for every meal because it’s the only decent thing in there? Have you overdosed on Chik Fil-…just kidding, that one’s not possible. But if you’re having a hard time getting creative with campus food or you’ve already gained ten pounds in the first ten minutes of your freshman year, than we’ve got a survival guide for you that just might help you to stop texting your mom what you want her to cook for Thanksgiving (“please have the mashed potatoes pick me up at the airport” –direct quote).
1. Think outside the box… or salad bar in this case.
Let’s face it, we might be handing over an arm, a leg, and some of our other family member’s limbs to go to school here, but our cafeteria is oftentimes lacking in the meal options. However, one great thing about the café is that even when the menu isn’t up to par, it still has the supplies for you to make something of your own. You just have to get creative! For example:
- Peanut Butter & Jelly: Yes it’s obvious that you can make peanut butter and jelly in the café, which is highly underrated in my opinion, but you can get a little crafty by making peanut butter and banana sandwiches too! Maybe even add other fun paraphernalia like apples and grapes… let your mind run wild.
- Breakfast Sandwiches: Sometimes, if you wake up on a very rare and lucky day, the café will have breakfast sandwiches. But because that only happens every leap year or so, try making your own by toasting a bagel and putting either a premade omelet on it or bacon eggs, toast with the same, or even make your own McGriddle with pancakes, eggs, sausage or bacon!
- Many people like to bring the fruit like apples and bananas back to their room for snacking, which is a great idea. You know what else you can do with that fruit though? Make your own pitcher of fruit water with apples, oranges, lemons, grapes or melon and keep it in your fridge! It works great as a study drink to keep you focused and hydrated.
- Two Foods, One Magic Lovechild- Waffles and Ice Cream: Need I say more?
2. Shop smart
When you do grocery shop, make sure you buy things that you can get the most worth out of- not just pizza rolls because they’re like delicious pizza tic-tacs. Those will be done in one sitting, trust me. The following are must-have accessories in your mini fridge:
- Bread: It can be used for a sandwich, toasted with butter, Nutella, hummus, or cream cheese, or you can even make grilled cheese (if you’re willing to get cheese on your iron).
- Milk: Milk can be used in your cereal, with cookies, in your coffee or tea, added to your easy mac to make it seem real, or HELLO, chocolate milk???
- Yogurt: Aside from its health benefits, yogurt is a very versatile dairy product for smoothies, with granola, used to make dips, and even on its own.
- Salsa: It’s the perfect in between classes snack or study snack and it’s healthy too! Or at least it can be…
- Your favorite dressing: When you’re losing motivation to eat healthy or order salads on campus, buy yourself your own bottle of tasty dressing to keep for when you want to jazz up your greens. Eating healthier will be so much more exciting when you know you’re actually going to like it.
3. Strap on an apron
If your building has a kitchen, which most do, I promise you will not regret using it. From baking Christmas cookies to making a sit down dinner for you and your roommates, a kitchen will allow you a much larger range of foods to be made!
4. Make a modern day easy-bake oven
Out of your microwave, of course. Even though most of us do have kitchens in our buildings, sometimes we don’t feel like trekking all the way downstairs in our pajamas to use it. In this case, go ahead and get use out of your microwave by researching some microwave-friendly recipes offline, such as mug cake or egg dishes. And don’t underestimate the abilities of your Keurig or magic bullet either. They will surprise you with the amount of foods that can be made from them (have you ever SEEN a magic bullet infomercial???).
5. Spartan $$$
If you’re having a long day and have no energy whatsoever to create some kind of magical meal out of whatever the café has to offer, then go ahead and spend your Spartan dollars. Everyone knows the best foods on campus are not meal exchanges, so it’s totally okay to spend your fake school money. Our best recommended Spartan expenses would have to be:
- A Rathskeller sandwich: the bread is unbeatable!
- Einstein’s yogurt parfaits, blackberry lemonade, new flatbreads, or strawberries and cream (the forbidden campus fruit!) are all sensational.
- Panache: For a measly eleven Spartan dollars, you can get a pretty decent meal (and as many dang helpings as you want). Just be sure to catch them when they’re open from 11-2 on weekdays.
- Dairy Queen smoothies: When it’s a blazing hot day that you’ve spent roasting at the pool, you’re going to definitely want a DQ smoothie to cool you down. Might I recommend the strawberry?
- New Gourmet Grocer Popsicles! These fancy popsicles have just begun to adorn the shelves of a tiny freezer in the Gourmet Grocer. Perfect for your long walk to class across campus!
6. Mix and Match
At the end of the week, we often find ourselves with extra meals. What to do with them, you ask? You can make one really awesome meal with two or more meals put together! For example, Chick-fil-A nuggets on top of a Fresh Creations salad, or plain pasta from Pandini’s with added salad bar topping from the café to make pasta salad.
7. Donate Donate DONATE!
If you’re really feeling generous and have no need for your extra meals, why not donate them to the homeless? On Sundays, People for People sits outside of the Gourmet Grocer, usually from 8-10, to collect anyone’s extra meals. They then deliver them to the homeless that week! Talk about a GREAT idea!