College Crunch

Most dorm rooms today don’t allow for a nice stove or oven, and that contributes to the issue of students today making unhealthy food choices.

There are millions of things that students can do to make the most of their dorm room “kitchen”. I wanted to compile a list of tips that I learned as soon as I got sick of the food services in College.

Microwaves Can Cook Nearly Anything

So many people assume that you can’t cook things like pasta in the microwave, but that isn’t true. While it can be much more difficult it is very possible.

Making a great plate of vegetable nachos is very easy in a microwave, but sometimes overlooked.

Depending on what you like to make, you’ll most likely be able to find some way of creating it using only your microwave. It can’t always replace a pan on the stove, but there are very few things that the microwave can’t cook, and at around fifty dollars, there is no reason not to depend on it in your daily cooking schedule.

Water Alone Doesn’t Boil in a Microwave

Have you ever tried to boil water in a microwave? Well, by itself, it might not show signs of boiling, and as such, you could burn yourself. I have watched as water, put in a microwave for a long period of time, taken out, and having coffee added to it, basically erupted from the small mug that it was in.

Be very careful boiling water in a microwave, or add whatever you plan on putting in the water before you put it into the microwave. This will then create impurities, and allow you to see the water bubble and boil.

Keep it Simple

You don’t need to create the wildest meals with hundreds of ingredients, but instead just throwing a few things into a slow cooker and leaving it while you do some studying can create some great and filling meals.

Eat Fresh

If your dorm has a refrigerator, you should have a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. If you are on a budget, bananas, kiwi, and apples are fairly good staple fruits, with a decent amount of vitamins. I would also recommend asparagus, spinach and carrots for the vegetable lovers.

Smoke Detectors Suck

One of the most annoying things about cooking in your dorm is the smoke detectors which of course are right above the cooking area and are set to the most sensitive level.

I wouldn’t suggest attempting to disable them, or otherwise impede their performance, but if you have the opportunity, open a window or set up a fan to allow the occasional bit of smoke from toasting or slightly burning to complete without a wildly annoying alarm.