Making Dinner in the Dorm Kitchen

While we’re at home we take for granted the fact we have a kitchen readily available. We come and go as we please and make food when we want it. That however isn’t the case in our home away from home. Eating on a college campus is an entirely different experience from eating at home and while that seems like an obvious conclusion once you find yourself in the situation you forget about the obviousness of it.

Eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner on campus can be pretty decent at first. Likely the options presented are things you wouldn’t have on a regular basis at home so it’s like being a kid in the candy shop initially. Eventually the truth will set in: these options are the only options available. The variety is in fact a lie and you start to miss the food of home much more than before.

It becomes more than just admitting the food is okay and you’ve had better. It becomes “this is the only thing I can eat for the rest of the year and I’m sick of it.” And worst of all you’re generally sick of the food a month in to the year. So the prospect of having to deal with this for the rest of the year makes you kind of desperate to eat something else.

At this point you realize your options are eat campus food, order take out if you can, or go off campus to get something else and depending on where your school is located your options can be incredibly limited. My friends and I fall under the group of people faced with the lack of options on and off campus.

Weekend trips to the supermarket are a must now. These days we go shopping and then bring back groceries to make a decent meal. We reserve a kitchen and work on creating something we haven’t had in a while. Regardless of whether it takes us ten minutes or an hour to make the end result is still something that satisfies us in a way the dining hall food can’t.

Not only is the food repetitive but it’s also somehow just incredibly bad for the body. There’s a reason that the Freshmen 15 exists. It isn’t just a myth, it’s the truth, and it’s rather terrifying to think about. You end up gaining weight you weren’t planning on even if you’re eating the healthier options. At home you might even eat meals that seem unhealthier and yet you’ll still weigh less. It just doesn't make sense.

The next time you find yourself at home with a kitchen and the ability to eat whatever you like cherish it because things change once you're on campus again. Once you're back on campus it's the same repetitive options and there isn't much you can do to change it. Unless of course you're willing to try and make dinner in the dorm kitchen. A worthy endeavor I promise you but not always an easy one.