As college students, we're most often faced with dilemmas involving food. Do I have any meal swipes left? Do I really want to eat in the dining hall again? Can I afford to eat somewhere off-campus? Sick of Ramen noodles? Well, look no further. Here are some easy recipes you can whip up from the comfort of your own dorm room.
1. Nachos
If you've got tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and salsa, you have everything you need to make a yummy plate of nachos. First, arrange your tortilla chips on your plate so they're all lying flat. Second, use a fork to drop salsa on top of your chips. Make sure you don't put on too much, or you'll end up with soggy nachos. Third, sprinkle shredded cheese over the chips and salsa. Fourth, pop your plate of nachos in the microwave for one minute and fifteen seconds on full power, or until your cheese is melted. Fifth: your nachos are ready! Enjoy! Feel free to add whatever you like to your nachos: sour cream, guacamole, etc.
2. Chips & Queso
Here's another easy Mexican-style recipe. All you need for this is tortilla chips, a 10 oz. can of Rotel, and an 8 oz. bag of Velveeta Shreds. You can get the giant loaf of Velveeta, but my mom swears by the Velveeta Shreds because they melt faster, they make less, and you don't have to spend a lot of time cutting up the Velveeta into chunks. Perfect for when you're cooking for one or two people!
First, dump the whole bag of shreds into a bowl. Next, pour a bit of rotel in and stir. Microwave for about thirty to forty-five seconds, stir, and add more Rotel. Repeat until you've emptied the whole can of Rotel. In total, you're going to end up microwaving your queso for about five minutes, or until all of the Velveeta is melted. After that, your queso should be ready. Break out the tortilla chips and chow down!
Note: no need to drain your can of Rotel before you add it to the Velveeta.
3. Mac n' Cheese
This is a great recipe for one-bowl macaroni & cheese that I stumbled across on a site called The Kitchn. It's super easy and super delicious! For this recipe, you'll need: 1/2 cup of elbow macaroni, 1/2 cup of water, 1/4 teaspoon salt (I normally leave out the salt, but to each his own), 1/4 cup of milk, and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. You can add all sorts of things to your macaroni, such as different spices, vegetables, bacon crumbles, etc. Find the full recipe here.
4. Baked Potatoes
I know that not everyone keeps potatoes on hand in their dorm; I'm probably in the minority on that one. But if you've got a potato lying around, rinse it off, fork it up, and put it in the microwave for about five minutes. Bam! Baked potato. Once you've done that, you can eat it like you would a regular old baked potato with some cheese and butter and whatever else you like on your baked potato, or you can put it in a bowl and mash it up with your fork for mashed potato awesomeness. For mashed potatoes, add a bit of milk, shredded cheese, stir, and enjoy! I might recommend microwaving them again to melt the shredded cheese.
