College Dorm Eating Tips??

I'm a college student with only microwave access to cook food! All the prepared food on campus is basically unhealthy (unless I eat a salad for every meal). I've been eating a lot of Lean Cusines and breakfast bars but its getting boring! Any ideas?? Hopefully this can help out some other college students too =)

You can make porridge in the microwave! You can also make brown rice (takes a long time, but it's possible). You can cook meat, but it may not be at it's best. Try shrimp, which cooks very quickly You can toss it in some salad dressing afterwards for some flavour. I steam all my veggies in the microwave. Eggs scramble beautifully in the oven, too!

Can you get periodic access to a kitchen? If so, try cooking up big batches of something, portioning it up & freezing it for later reheating.

wow that sucks..im also in college and im so thankful that i have access to a kitchen! that said...lean cuisines are good, veggies in the microwave, canned beans (yum!), oatmeal (for breakfast) is microwaveable...

also does your college cafe allow you to take things up to your room with you? because i know that here, theres a place where you can buy sandwiches, drinks, fruits etc with your meal plan and its really a life saviour when i dont have time to cook...

I make EVERYTHING in the microwave!  Everything that needs cooking at least!

For breakfast I make oatmeal in there, but since oatmeal always overflows I boil the water in the microwave then pour it over the oats in a separate bowl. 

For dinner I microwave frozen veggies in a bowl, then add oats to the bowl too.  Then I boil water and pour it over the oats and veggies and let it sit for a while so it can soak up all the water.  For meat, I either use a frozen fish fillet (Gorton's fish fillets are AWESOME!) or a frozen chicken breast.  If you defrost it, then take it out and cut it into pieces, put a little water on the plate, then microwave it, it doesn't take long to cook at all!

Other than those, I love to make a snack with vanilla yogurt and pumpkin.  Just mix em together in a bowl and put it in the microwave for a minute, then add some cinnamon and it's really good!

Another thing, you can make little pizza type things with a tortilla, tomato sauce, low fat cheese and turkey pepperoni.  It works really well in the microwave.

AND finally (I'll stop after this but if you want more ideas I might be able to help you out haha) popcorn is an AWESOME snack.  Just put 1/4 cup in a paper lunch sack and pop it in the microwave for a bit, and it's only 120 cals!

Hope I helped!

Oh one more I meant to add -- Egg whites can be done in the microwave too if you keep an eye on em!  I wouldn't suggest putting them in and walking away though because after a bit they start popping and can make a mess!

I think I have to stir it every 20 secs or so, once it gets white around the edges!  Just mix it so the clear stuff is by the edges and start up the microwave again, and keep doing that til they're done!

And as far as I know, anything canned can be microwaved.  Not in the can though =P

I have tons of things I do, but as I type this, I'm eating a toasted english muffin with PB and some bread with jam.  Mmmm....

For tonight, I made a simple salad in the dining hall...  I'm going to zap a gardenburger int he microwave, cut it up, and ta-da, amazing salad.

Um, ok, I'm really supposed to be doing homework (for the last 2 hours...), but maybe I'll suggest more later.  I basically hate all the dining hall food, sooo yeah.

(As far as the oatmeal goes-- I make mine in the microwave...  2 minutes on high, then mix in whatever I'm mixing in.... then 30seconds - 1 minute (depending on how much water is left in there) WATCHING CAREFULLY, to stop it when it starts to bubble over. Mmmmmmmm I love oatmeal WAY too much.  I have it twice a day lots of times.  oops!)

you should totally look into Amy's. They're a brand that makes organic frozen foods and soup. nutritious and delicious ;)

I agree with the Amy's suggestion. Moosewood (the cookbook people) also have frozen food now. Stock up on fruit and veggies. Be careful with all prepared foods though, they are LOADED with sodium and chemicals... With modern tech, you also have those good precooked Uncle Ben's brown rice packs and the steam in package veggies.

Since you have a fridge I suggest Hoods low fat cottage cheese, packed with protein (14g per 1/2 cup), really low in fat and the best tasting cottage cheese IMHO. I put it on a baked potato (microwaved) with some salsa. Yum.

I had a buddy when I was in college 8 million years ago that would make fried rice or grilled cheese on one of those electric plug in griddles, then he sold them at profit. That could spice things up a bit.

Stay FAR away from Ramen, pure evil.

If you have room for a George Forman grill in your dorm that's what I would do. You can cook a chicken breast or turkey burger in 6 minutes and it's easy cleanup.

Last year I lived in the dorms and while George Foreman grills and such were not allowed, I went behind authority's back and bought myself a toaster oven! That thing saved my life second semester... I bought pieces of fish & meat from the grocery store & just cooked them in that awesome contraption and man was my food good!! Not only did I do that, but I also bought a 2nd refrigerator and converted the first one into a freezer, so I could stock up on a lot of frozen vegetables & meat...

When I was unable to eat in my room, I would eat in the dining hall - but I would ask questions up the WAZOO as to what & how ALL the foods were prepared: Of course I did this in a VERY NICE fashion which lead to me making friends with ALL of the chefs: WHICH led to them making me specialized dinners & lunches!!! It was bliss, like having personal chefs!! I miss those days, but now that I am off campus and live in an apartment with a kitchen, it is SO MUCH MORE convenient! I love cooking: oh and did I mention WILD OATS/WHOLE FOODS is RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO MY APARTMENT?! :)  

If rice cookers are allowed then I recommend getting one. They work just like an pan/pot on the stove and they're not just for rice. I have a small 6-cup rice cooker with a removable pan and I've used it to make fresh food a couple of times. It's a really neat device.

invest in a crock pot.

Ahh, I'm in the same predicament.

 SOUP. Soup is my best friend. It's pretty high in sodium, but low in calories and relatively good for you. 

Along with everyone else, I eat a lot of oatmeal. 

You can also find a lot of single-serve microwavable vegetable bowls and packets.

 As for non-microwaved foods, I'm a huge fan of turkey on wheat bread. When I want something sweet, I go for a piece of toasted wheat bread with peanut butter and honey. (It sounds a bit weird, but trust me, it's AMAZING.)