Dorm Room Cooking and Recipes

By Kathleen Crislip

Can't face the dining hall? If you're in college in Nice, you might love it - if you're in a Prague university, you might not. And sometimes, when cramming for a test, you just don't have time to leave your dorm room to eat. Make the best of it!

What you Need - the Basics

You need ways to keep food cold and make it hot and a few basic cooking utensils.

If you're traveling, you don't want to drag appliances with you, naturally. You can have them shipped to you or you can check the student bulletin board when you arrive - someone in your position will probably want to get rid of these things. Use the same bulletin board to get rid of them when you move on!

Makin' it Hot - Most universities frown (hard) on hot plates or electric coils. Sure, they're less expensive than a mini microwave - but less expensive than burning down your dorm and being expelled without refund (that's right - you may not pass go if you accidentally torch a building - they especially hate it if the building is 500 years old and on the historic register - Oxford students, take note).

So, okay - a microwave it is. Read some advice (ignore the part about the child safety lock unless you have a very problematic roommate) here - be sure to click on the review link. Then go buy.Oh, yeah - don't forget to put a piece of plastic wrap or a paper towel over food you're microwaving - keeps the splatters and cleaning time down. And, of course, never put anything contained in metal (like a pot pie) in a microwave or prepare for fireworks.
<- Buy a dorm room sized microwave.

Keepin' it Cool - mini refrigerators are the coolest (oh, please forgive your About Guide for that) accessory in dorm rooms. Not only can you keep fresh food in your room for midnight snacking or cooking as mentioned above, but you can cruise to the dining hall, grab a sandwich and keep it in the fridge for later munching. Look at some reviews and purchase (better yet, ask your parents to purchase all these things!)
<- Buy a dorm room sized mini refrigerator.

Utensils

Pretty simple.

Potholder

Simple cutlery - knife, fork, spoon, wooden spoon - and a whisk if you feel like making scrambled eggs or bearnaise sauce (which is, hopefully, available in the Nice cafeteria!)

Can opener

Plate and bowl (china or pottery is best, but easily broken - plastic can get pretty scummy)

All of these things can be easily picked up at garage sales, no matter what country you're in - or check the student bulletin board. Or check out backpacker style eating utensils.

Cookbooks

Microwave Cooking For One

101 Ways to Make Ramen Noodles Cookbook

A Man, a Can, a Microwave: 50 Tasty Meals You Can Nuke in No Time
(Man, schman - recipes are recipes!)

Don't get too hungry or too thirsty. Eat. Drink. Pass your tests and become incredibly successful. :-)