Meals for the College Student

Many college students have to feed themselves with only limited funds, difficult conditions, and little experience.  How many George Foreman Grills go to school with Johnny Freshman, only to make the return trip home with the parents when they check into the dorm and discover that nearly all cooking appliances are forbidden?

American students often live in college dormitories, where there may be one snack room per floor.  It's generally assumed that students will participate in a "Meal Plan" which is paid by the semester, and can be expensive as well as starchy; after all, the student is paying not just for food but also for preparation.  Therefore, many students buy the minimum meal plan and then attempt to manage as many meals as possible in their rooms.

Food preparation in a dormitory room is not easy, because schools severely limit what appliances can be brought in (and the internet is rife with tricky and time-honored work-arounds - which we won't get into here.)

Texas A&M Corps of Cadets housing has published this online.  It's more thorough and concise than the usual but rules are typical:

...prohibited appliances and equipment include, but are not limited to, the following:

    •    Air-conditioners

    •    Halogen Torchiere Lamps

    •    Camping Stoves

    •    Hot Oil Popcorn Poppers

    •    Ceiling Fans

    •    Hot Plates

    •    Crock Pots

    •    Oven Broilers

    •    Electric Skillets

    •    Rice Cookers

    •    Gas Power Tools

    •    Steamers

    •    Griddles

    •    Space Heaters

    •    Grills (George Foreman type, electrical, charcoal or propane)

    •    Toasters

    •    Toaster Ovens

    •    Electric Power Tools (with the exception of storage for use outside the halls)

    •    Sandwich Makers

    •    Smoke/Fog Machines

APPROVED COOKING APPLIANCES

Approved cooking appliances will have closed coil elements and are limited to: Coffee pots; Hot pots; Hot air popcorn poppers; Blenders; and microwaves up to a stated FCC rating of not more than 700 watts.

Thus, the students are limited to cooking in hot pots and small microwave ovens. (Popcorn poppers aren't very flexible.) Actually it's worse, because in TAMU cadet housing a maximum of 2 appliances is allowed, so assuming that one will be a small refrigerator, the only other possibility is a microwave oven.  One might make an arrangement with the room next door to share appliances, perhaps.

If there is a hot pot, it's good for two things that I have discovered: boiling water and making hard-boiled eggs.  That second thing is not to be scoffed at because it's something you can't do in a microwave oven, and hard-boiled eggs are great take-along food.  You can boil water in a microwave oven.

If the student is fortunate to have access to a decent snack kitchen on his floor, then the constraints will be time, storage, and mess -- not enough time and storage, and no tolerance for mess.  A student with an apartment (and, presumably, roommates) is constrained by storage and his own finances.

As we consider ways to manage the best possible diet for the student at the least possible expense and difficulty, we will need to focus primarily on microwave cooking.

[This is the first in a planned series on students and meals.]

Update: we have moved this topic to its own blog, Dorm Food Survival, or Dining in the Dorm.