I have been a vegetarian for the past 3 years. I am now in college and my diet is awful. All I do is snack. My school offers a decent salad bar and I can get veggie burgurs, but all the things I use to eat at home I cannot have anymore (Grilled Veggies, tofu, soups that are made with veggie broth, etc). Any ideas for healthy foods/snacks that I can easily make/eat in my dorm?!!!
What does your dorm allow in the way of cooking? Can you have appliances in your room like a grill or a slow-cooker? Is there a communal kitchen in your dorm where you can cook, if it's not allowed in the rooms? How much fridge space do you have? In my daughter's dorm, they have a communal kitchen where they can cook meals, but they aren't supposed to in the rooms. When I was in college, we weren't supposed to cook in the rooms, either, but we frequently broke the rules and did, and our RA didn't report us. I ask because, if you can have appliances in your room, a multi-pot like the one Rival makes is a wonderful option for all kinds of cooking. You can slow-cook soups, fry tempura, cook beans, roast veggies, all kinds of things. You could do this in a communal kitchen, too, but you might not want to leave it sitting there all day slow cooking in a communal area. Also, there are a number of ready-made soups that are vegetarian and vegan that would be quick and easy for you to microwave, if you have one or access to one; Progresso makes a tomato rotini and a lentil soup that are vegetarian, for instance. A grill like a George Forman would allow you to grill veggies and pressed sandwiches and tofu. What are you allowed to have? Usually it's more about what you can use to cook with than anything else. If you don't have the appliances you need, maybe a family member could gift them to you? If they're not allowed in your dorm, maybe an understanding RA would allow you to bend the rules to accommodate your diet needs?
In addition to cc's question about your appliance access, I am curious what your grocery stores are like. Are you in a more metropolitan area, or a smaller one? I eat a *ton* of convenience foods since I am always working, but they are generally very healthy. But, part of that is my proximity to places like Trader Joes and Whole Foods. If you have any kind of health food store nearby, that will make it easier to give you suggestions. If you don't, we can still come up with a plan, it just might not be the same one. :)
apples, oranges, bananas, snap peas, broccoli, carrots, peaches, nectarines, avocados, grapes, whole-wheat pita and hummus, tangelos, persimmons, etc. etc. etc.
y'know, whole, natural foods aren't that difficult to come by. 
We are allowed a microwave and a fridge, but both room-mates have to share them. The microwave is ok, and the quick soups I have been eating a lot of. In this area, the grocery stores are not too good. I have had a hard time finding soups that are not made with chicken broth/stock. There is a whole foods at home, I could stock up the next time Im back...Apples, breakfast bars, and yogurt I have been eating a lot of, But I know it cannot be good for me to survive on that alone.
I think I will talk to my RA about being allowed the extra appliances, that could definitely work out.
Thanks for the advice!!!!
I hope your RA is willing to help you out. One thing I do for my daughter is send some pre-cooked food back with her in Tupperware when she visits, every week to two weeks, and she heats them up in the microwave. We've had a lot of luck with the progresso soups when her vegan friend comes to visit--there are several varieties even she can eat, and she's pretty restrictive in her choices. There are a number of things you can do with the microwave--microwaved veggies with a little lemon juice, herbs, or cheese are really easy, and if you eat eggs, those are easy to scramble in the microwave and are good with cheese, onions, spinach, etc. A million years ago when I was in school (back at the dawn of time *g*) our dorm allowed the old hotplate-style popcorn poppers, the round ones with the clear dome over them, and those worked well for frying grilled cheeses. I don't know if those are even still around or if your dorm would allow them, but they'd work for tofu, too, I imagine. Or, if they'd let you, you can do a lot with a sandwich-press type grill. Even if you can't add appliances due to dorm rules, you can microwave a lot of tasty things--Google around for microwave recipes and I'm sure you'll find quite a few vegetarian ones.
Good luck! I hope you make it through the school year with a comfortably full tummy. :)
I would talk to your foodservice provider. I assume you paid for a meal plan - you should be able to "enjoy" it, too! (As much as college food can be enjoyable I suppose). I went vegan at school and my school sucked at accomodating vegans... until I asked! They bought me soymilk and I could request to have one of them make me something if there wasn't anything around that I could eat. They also started labelling their food better (ie "vegan stir fry") because I would always ask what was & wasn't vegan.
Other than that, I made ramen with tofu cut up in it (not extra firm, try medium or silken for soups), ate hummus & veggies, ... a lot of chip-like things : P, uhhh... you could keep cheese & crackers around.
Having whole fruits around, too, is a good idea.
Good luck (and don't spend too much of your budget on food that you should be provided with anyway). If you have a meal plan, you should be eating at the caf - and your caf staff should be helping you out!
I have a bunch of food allergies on top of being a vegetarian; sometimes I would make food at home that would stick around for a little while and then freeze it or refrigerate it. And I definitely agree with mikelane; fruits and veggies are wonderful to have around. It is very hard though; I don't know what your RA will say because they told me I wasn't allowed to have anything that the caf was serving and they still said no extra appliances :/.
thanx everyone!! all your comments and suggestions have been a big help!!
check out harris teeter... they usually have a better selection than most, or whole foods if you have one. string cheese, fruit, veggies, hummus, pita chips, sandwiches, on the go drinks or smoothies...
Most schools allow george forman grills, and even if they don't, just hide it when your not using it I made tons of things on it last year in the dorms (sandwhiches, tofu, apple cobbler.) Also, crock pots or rice cookers. You'll get sick of the dorm food, but so will everyone else. You;ll have to try experimenting with stuff. One of my friends had a hotplate and could make basically everything.
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