<p>Wow! More and more great ideas! Thank you thank you thank you! (and now I’ve GOT to get some work done here at work!)</p>
<p>If you live near a Trader Joe’s they have several microwaveable international soup/noodle type items that don’t require refrigeration. I imagine it would take more than one per meal to fill up a young man, but they really good. </p>
<p>Our D likes the Progresso Soup Clam Chowder, they make a couple of varieties. Send some microwave proof disposable bowls (ie not foam) to heat and eat the soup/stew/whatever.</p>
<p>dried Pasta can be easily boiled in water in a microwaven oven. Toss some Italian sausage in the water just before the pasta is done, add your favorite sauce and…WA-LA, you’ve got dinner in less than 10 minutes.</p>
<p>Also, if the college is located in a cold/snowy area, he can always keep perishables in a container outside until classes resume if refrigerator space is unavailable. That’s what I did in college when we had our days-long cold snaps in January and February. Nothing better than cold beer and soda from the window sill. Of course, the drinking age was 18 back then. LOL.</p>
<p>I still store stuff outside in the winter: I refer to it as putting things in the “walk-in”. My newspaper boy could keep track of our menus by checking the leftovers I’ve put outside to cool before I refrigerate them.</p>
<p>Buy individual juice bottle or boxes, rather than a big one that will take up lots of space. Agree with pilfering mayo/mustard/ketchup packets so as to save space. How bout those Jell-O fruti things?</p>
<p>Also, you could freeze individual sizes of his favorites – lasagne, stew, casseroles – that he could eventually thaw and eat. And agree with whoever said to stick the stuff in the snow, if that applies. I know of many a six-pack that was kept cold that way!</p>
<p>Healthy Choice, Hormel and Marie Callender’s all have shelf stable meals - just add water and microwave. My son bought them occasionally in college - not necessarily the most economical, but very convenient and with protein! Probably no worse than pizza, anyway.</p>
<p>There are single serving rice containers, sold 3 a pack in white, brown, long, yellow and spanish. You microwave and eat. They are great. It is a name brand but I cannot picture which one. It is Success or Uncle Ben’s or Minute Rice–I am thinking Minute Rice but not totally sure. There are in the grocery. He can heat a single serving of a chunky soup and pour over the single serving rice. I keep the rice in the house, it is delish.</p>
<p>Eggs in the microwave ARE GREAT and you can add cheese, ham, bacon. lunch meat. </p>
<p>And those new meals that do not require refrigeration are not bad. You microwave the pasta, drain and open and add the meat/sauce pack. There are pasta with tomato sauce ones, Beef with egg noodle ones, Asian chicken with rice or pasta ones. Lots of different brands. They are in an oblong plastic container near the soups or the pasta or near the cans of spaghetti-o’s.</p>
<p>If you buy 2 dozen cans of a hearty soup, such as Progresso, they will store in his closet. Each day, take one out and microwave it on Sensor Reheat. Try at home to find out which kinds he likes. Some are very filling, for example; lentil, chunky beef stew, chicken noodle.</p>
<p>Optional: he can toss in some cubes of cheddar cheese, to melt in the soup. Beforehand, buy a brick of cheese and cut up a supply, the size of dice, to put in the freezer in a ziploc bag for the month. Each day he can take out a few “dice” to add to the soup, melting all at once in the microwave.</p>
<p>PS, don’t forget the can opener!</p>
<p>At work I eat the Healthy Choice pasta meals all the time. You add waters and the top is a strainer. Then you pour in the meat sauce.</p>
<p>Got my son some of the cup-a-soups that you microwave and then drink the soup straight from the container. The more ‘ambitious’ ideas are great, but if it were my son he wouldn’t want to have much (if any) cleanup involved. He would live off granola bars, peanut butter crackers and pizza!</p>
<p>I live like this all year round because of my food allergies. One of my favorites is to make dinty moore canned beef stew (just stick it in a bowl in the microwave) and spread it on a hoagie bun. Hot beef stew sandwich.</p>
<p>Is he allowed to have an electric frying pan, electric wok or electric rice pot? Those useful kitchen gadgets are pretty safe and were mainstays for me in college, grad school & as a young professional. </p>
<p>They do NOT catch fire (or our entire state would be burned to a crisp, as nearly every household has at least one electric rice pot). The rice pots are about $10 or so at Fry’s or more if you want the fancier ones. They boil & steam things; some of the fancier ones also have a timer & heat adjustments so you can choose the temp, start & end time for your cooking.</p>
<p>Our family also loves Dinty Moore stew, especially over hot rice!</p>
<p>FYI if he’s going to do any egg dishes in the microwave, spray some PAM spray (or Trader Joe’s version in olive oil) on the dish prior. The eggs are TOUGH to get off very easily otherwise. I’m assuming he doesn’t have a dishwasher in the dorm :)</p>
<p>Does he like hot cereal? Instant oatmeal is really easy to make in the microwave. Do they still make Easy Mac? Not the most healthy but we like it!! They make those little fruit cocktail cups…don’t have to be refrigerated…and puddings too. Peanut butter, jelly and crackers.</p>
<p>This is a bit like camping, except with a microwave rather than a propane stove.</p>
<p>How about quesadilla? The packets of shredded cheese are pretty flat and shouldn’t take up much room in the fridge. Maybe a supply of paper products and plastic utensils. Maybe almond milk, which is great with cereal. Some varieties don’t need refrigeration.</p>
<p>Is he good with the microwave? Some people overheat things, and meats, bread and such come out very tough. The high heat boils the moisture right out of the food molecules (or something like that). He has to be patient and use low/medium power for many food items.</p>
<p>Is a store convenient? If he can go every two or three days, that will help alot, as many things can survive without refrigeration for a day or two.</p>
<p>i second the healthy choice pastas. I take them to work and cook them in our microwave all the time. They are fabulous. you add water to the noddles and cook them for 3.5 minutes - it even comes with a strainer to drain them. Then you cook the sauce for 30 seconds and mix it in and it tastes great!</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.healthychoice.com/products/fresh-mixers.html[/url]”>http://www.healthychoice.com/products/fresh-mixers.html</a></p>
<p>You could also pack a cooler with frozen food/ice. If he replenishes the ice on a regular basis that could easily last. When I stayed in hotels when my kids were toddlers, I found a packed cooler much larger and easier to stock than a hotel fridge.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for your excellent suggestions and recipes! We’ll be going to the store on our way to drop him off, and we’ll be picking up several of the foods suggested here. I’ll also pack up some homemade favorites for him. Luckily my son is a pretty good cook, and likes a variety of foods, so he will be okay from that perspective. It was just a little daunting to figure out 3 weeks of meals without anything but a microwave and a fridge.</p>
<p>I would think after a week of eating the microwave food and peanut butter he will crave real food. Send him off with a gift card to his favorite college restaurant. </p>
<p>Baked patatoes in the microwave punch holes in the potatoe with a fork…cook about 10 minutes or untill the potatoe feels soft enough.</p>
<p>Breakfast cereals and milk. They eat this for breakfast but mostly late night snacks.</p>
<p>Boil pasta in the microwave and add olive oil and cooked veggies. Sprinkle with cheese. </p>
<p>I can’t imagine they offer classes but do not have any food service places open…thats not nice.</p>
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<p>My feelings exactly!</p>
<p>I shared everyone’s suggestions with him, and he went off to the supermarket to get what he wanted. I must say, I’m pretty happy with what he chose. There will be friends on campus so they can share pizza or other food delivery. It will be interesting to see how he manages. Kids can be pretty inventive when they need to be.</p>