<p>DS told me that he likes to cook whole wheat noodles in his Rival Hot Pot and sprinkle on a little Italian dressing. A healthier alternative to sodium-laden raman noodles. </p>
<p>Does anyone else have any healthy, dorm-friendly ideas? Microwaves or anything with a heating coil not allowed.</p>
<p>Cup of noodles, just add water. Its more healthy than raman. When you get tired of noodles, maybe stuffing ? It just need hot water too.</p>
<p>Pacific Natural Foods makes pouches of ready-to-serve rice and soups that can be made by using his hot pot.</p>
<p>Stone-ground wheat thins, Cracker Barrel cheese, and apples. This requires a fridge & a decent paring knife.</p>
<p>Very good suggestion ariesathena. Instant little sandwiches!</p>
<p>If the dorm has a kitchen you might want to send him with some very basic cooking stuff. A knife, a frying pan, a spatula. My son made a lot of grilled sandwiches in the dorm. Also eggs. But he has a grocery store not too far away and a decent sized refrigerator.</p>
<p>This is a great thread. I don’t quite understand dorm living, DS is about to
leave and was just going to send him off with Cliff bars. Is the dorm room food eaten as a supplement to the meal plan or in lieu? Can’t you take food out of dining rooms for a snack to eat a later time? Do students tend to miss many meals and then eat in their dorms? Oh, these mandatory meal plans are so expensive…</p>
<p>S does not eat breakfast as he does not get up early enough to do so. Most students stay way late, and dinner is way early, so by 11pm, they’re ready to raid the fridge or do a pizza run.</p>
<p>A favorite snack of mine that requires a fridge, a grocery store, and utensils: tomato and mayonnaise sandwiches. These are actually pretty healthy–whole wheat bread + light mayo + tomatoes. Depends if your child likes tomatoes and mayo 
Snacks that are less involved:
Bagels, English muffins, waffles or rice cakes can be topped with peanut butter, jelly, melted cheese or cream cheese for a hand-held snack to munch on your way to class. Add slices of banana or tomato for extra vitamins.
Grab a piece of fruit every time you leave the dining hall and carry it with you for a quick snack on the go.</p>
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<p>Depends on the school. Not every school has mandatory meal plans.</p>
<p>I would suggest…</p>
<p>Lunchmeat and cheese on a preferred flavor of bread or bagel.
Peanut butter and jelly, as long as the peanuts won’t kill hallmates.
Rices and soups.
Dishes with fresh fruit (I am fond of a half-cantaloupe with the seeds removed and the cavity filled with strawberries).
Hamburger Helper.
Homemade tacos.
Homemade smoothies.
Scrambled eggs.</p>
<p>Some of these depend on having a kitchen with equipment. Some don’t.</p>
<p>Second spring, sometimes the dining halls don’t open until later in the morning on weekends, and, sometimes they close too early, depending on your son’s schedule, access to food might not always happen exactly when he wants it. Some also have policies that you’re not allowed to take food out, but, pretty much I think everyone can get away with a few pieces of fruit, bagels, etc. on the way out.</p>
<p>Pack him some things he can make easily, keeping in mind if he doesn’t have a suite with a sink in his room, he’ll have to take his dishes to the bathroom to wash them. So maybe some paper plates, plastic utensils, etc.</p>
<p>This info is so helpful! Son won’t have much access to cooking facilities so looks like I’ll be sending care packages of snack food Trader Joe. They have terrific, nuts, trail mix, whole grain pretzels, almond butter and the like. For students that have kitchens, they have tasty, healthy items that just need to be microwaved or heated up. Look out for this chain, it’s a gem.</p>
<p>Never underestimate the power of instant oatmeal or breakfast cereal with milk and fresh fruit.</p>
<p>Annie’s! This stuff is amazing. The microwave stuff is surprisingly good, but nothing beats the Peace Pasta (<a href=“http://www.annies.com)%5B/url%5D”>http://www.annies.com)</a>.</p>
<p>I second that suggestion for items from Trader Joe’s - my DS loves wasabi peas, dried apple rings, trail mix, granola bars and beef jerky.</p>
<p>These are all great suggestions but what about those kids that cereal, granola bars and fruit just aren’t gonna cut it? This girl loves to eat! I’ll have access to a kitchen but hot-pots aren’t an option.</p>
<p>Macroni & Cheese. But the added milk and fake cheese gives me gas. I have ramen, picante/cajun style with packet of pizza redpeppers, noodles almost every weekday along with 4 cups of coffee to dilute the poisons. Low carbs, fats.</p>
<p>Does she have a microwave?</p>
<p>Costco has some good organic oriental meals. Curries, pad tai, etc. Each comes with everything you need including the food, microwave container and utensils. All are prepared in less than two minutes. No chemical ingredients you can’t pronounce and no MSG.</p>
<p>FYI, my son would eat cereal for every meal if we let him.</p>
<p>Frye’s has automatic rice pots that double as steamers for $10-$20. It has a cord & automatically shuts itself off when it’s done, can boil water, make rice, steam veggies (or wahtever you want to eat). We bought one for son with a 5 pound bag of rice (he’s very fond of rice).</p>
<p>Trail mix is another good snack to have on hand.</p>
<p>Peanut butter (and/or other spreads) & a bread your student loves can be filling and pretty nutritous. If she has a fridge, there are many things that can be kept in it as well.</p>
<p>There are really good microwaveable pasta dishes. The name is escaping me but they’re really good (the three cheese macaroni is excellent). The same line also has desserts, microwaveable fudge cakes and the like, that are fantastic! They’re $1.59 and I eat them all the time.</p>
<p>If you have access to a stove, a really fun thing to do with your friends is go to the grocery store and get some ready-made pizza crusts and fixings, then make your own pizzas! It’s a really good social experience, way better than pizza you order in, and it’s also cheaper.</p>
<p>Sometimes it’s nice to get a change from the dining hall food, even if it is just something microwaveable.</p>
<p>I also bought this thing at christmas tree shops that cooks pasta in the microwave, and it works really well! So sometimes we make pasta dinners in the room too.</p>
<p>When my children were at college a few years ago, the George Forman grill was found in every dorm room. Favorites included grilled pannini sandwiches, hamburgers and teriyaki chicken. These were just midnight snacks.</p>