Dorm room recipies

seventwenty

I figured this would be a great discussion topic. God knows how the dorm cafeteria food is prepped.


Cooking items: If you can have them get a water boiler, hot plate, mini fridge, microwave, crockpot, Foreman grill and toaster oven. These items will open up the food possibilities. You ought to be able to get all of them under $250, esp if you can find a durable used product here and there.

With that said, here are some things I made back in my dorm days:

Toaster oven personal pizzas, pasta, toaster oven baked chicken, foreman grill steak, foreman grill burgers, hot plate home fries, etc. My apologies for not having the healthiest of choices, but if you can make a personal sized option of the foods you already eat, you shouldn't need to turn to microwave dinners and ramen.

What I made today:

Healthy spicy chicken tenders:

1 chicken breast (From the frozen chicken bag at Trader Joes. Around $7 for 10 breasts. Breasts are around 100cal)
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs (About $3 for a 6 cup bag at the local Asian market. These bread crumbs, at 50cal for .25 cup are way healthier than italian seasoned "regular" breadcrumbs)
1-2 tbsp or so of homemade italian dressing (this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/italian-dressing-mix/detail.aspx. Says about 8 cal... Let's be real, it's closer to 50-70cal a tbsp)
Various spices for panko breadcrumb seasoning (I like thyme, paprika, oregano and crushed pepper in mine)

Preheat the oven or toaster oven to 425ºF. Make sure your toaster oven is on "bake." Cut the breast into nuggets (about 6-8) or strips (about 3), and dip (or brush, if you want to use less dressing) the pieces into the dressing. Brush off any excess dressing. Combine/mix the panko crumbs and spices to taste, and roll the wet chicken pieces into the panko chips. Placed the breaded chicken into the toaster oven or oven for 10-12 min, turning the chicken at the 5-6 min mark. Total calories (trying to take into account the fact you will have excess panko crumbs and hopefully excess dressing: probably around 250cal.

melelana

I love this recipe! Perfect!

If I may add a suggestion to your list: A RICE COOKER! Especially if you can get a hold of one of those nice ones with a steaming rack on the top!

A super easy lunch: In your rice cooker, combine one cup rice with one cup veggie broth and one cup water, a teaspoon of pepper and just a bit of low sodium soy sauce. In the steaming rack, whatever veggies you can find, and if you can get a hold of it: sliced ginger root (It gives everything this great aromatic flavor.) Lemon juice can work just as well. If you like it a little spicy, grab a packet of red pepper flakes next time you're at a pizza place and add them to your veggies! Press the "on" button, and in less than an hour, you have steamed veggies and rice! Omnomnomnom!

VeganGal84

I don't live in a dorm room, but I do love to make meals that are very easy, quick, and involve only a microwave.

I got a book called "PETA's Vegan College Cookbook" and it has inspired me so much in the ways of creating simple meals. It is all vegan, but a lot of the meals in it call for the fake meat, so if you aren't vegetarian or vegan, you could still "cook" from this book.

AShawneeF

We aren't allowed to have any of those items because they might burn down the school's pretty new dorm rooms. BUT all of the dorms have a kitchen that's open most of the time granted students keep it clean.
I found out that with just a saucepan, a knife, and frying pan you can do so much, from noodles to (my favorite) veggie stir fry.
It's hard to do, with a border-empty bank account, but just picking up a few things when you can makes all the difference.

here's my dorm-room stirfry

carrots, chopped
bell peppers, your favorite colors and sliced
broccoli, chopped
Tomato, chunked
Spinach leaves
teriaky or soy sauce(low sodium)

put a little water in the pan, pour all your ingredients in there and add sauce to taste until all veggies are cooked (carrots will take longest, so make them in smaller pieces to prevent the other veggies from being overcooked)

you'll feel great eating it and its a relaxing dish to prepare and cook.

kennacoconut

part of my diet has involved being vegetarian and vegan when possible. On strongwomanshow.com,. a blog by a woman who went to the same high school and college as myself, I found out how to rost veggies. From that, I made veggie lasagna and sometimes I just eat a whole rosted zucchini, topped with cajun seasoning.

Here is the blog for her roasted veggies recipes:

http://www.strongwomanshow.com/Blog/Entries/2010/3/1_Roasted_Veggies.html

I am in college, but I have my own place with an oven and everything. But this is too easy, just chop up a vegetable and sprinkle some seasoning on it... the roast it at 450 degrees for 20 minutes or so!

Check out her blog (everyone) because she has advice for working out, eating right, loving yourself, and more!!

I <33 Mama Lou Strongwoman

slkehl

I got by with a mini fridge and a water heater, which is great for all the "just add water" soups, instant coffees, and whatnot