Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Food
Campus cookin'
With a little creativity and a few simple appliances and recipes, your dorm diner is open 24 hours a day. Ironing board sandwich, anyone?
By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published August 16, 2006
It sounds like a recipe for disaster: Place one homesick college student in a dorm room. Wait a few weeks. Watch student get bored, and maybe a little pudgy, on all-you-can-eat campus meal plans. It's a scene played out year after year at college campuses across the country. "I've been eating a lot of turkey sandwiches and peanut butter and jelly," says 18-year-old Ashley Burnett of Tampa, who started classes at the University of Florida this summer. "My parents always joke that I don't even know how to turn the oven on." But the college culinary experience doesn't have to be all about cold sandwiches and extra pounds. In fact, the first years of independence are a chance for tomorrow's leaders to discover their inner chef or simply learn how to cook for themselves - even if they are limited to a few small appliances. Most colleges allow students to outfit their dorm rooms or their floor's communal kitchens with small refrigerators, toasters, microwaves, blenders, table-top grills and even slow cookers. Pair those electric wonders with growing selections of convenience foods at supermarkets, including cooked chicken strips, washed and cut vegetables, and tuna in a pouch, and it is possible to eat for a week without setting foot inside a campus dining hall. "A lot of students don't get taught at home how to cook, so they're on their own here and they have to experiment," says University of South Florida student Valerie McMellan, 20, a resident adviser for Magnolia Hall on the Tampa campus. "The precooked stuff gives them a good safety net." Raw chicken and meat can be intimidating. But bread, sliced cheese, precooked bacon strips and a schmear of butter quickly turn into a gooey, tasty grilled cheese sandwich under the heat of an iron. Yes, an old-school iron. With an iron - don't forget to use foil between food and heat - or a George Foreman grill, students can transform a tortilla, assorted cheeses, cooked chicken strips and canned mushrooms into a satisfying quesadilla. "You're in a dorm and you're limited, but there are things you can do," says Bil Mitchell, resident chef at the Publix Apron's Cooking School in Tampa's Citrus Park. By controlling what goes into their stomachs, students can avoid the Freshman 15, which sometimes creeps up to 20 or 25 pounds. And what better way to make friends than by becoming the dorm's self-appointed master chef? Host a grilled cheese party, and never be lonely again. But cooking skills don't always come easy, especially in a dorm. While McMellan knows some students who cook steak, fish and vegetables in their microwaves, others are more apt to set cookies on fire in the microwave. That's why RAs at USF give students cooking tip sheets, with safety being the emphasis, when they move in. Three summers ago, Mitchell started offering a class for college-bound students. (For more information about Apron's classes, go to www.publix.com/aprons or call (813) 926-4465.) His message, delivered to a dozen students during a class last month: "If you're going to study anything, study the food you're going to eat." Burnett was eager for Mitchell's crash course. "I see some students making real food in the microwave, and I'm like, 'I want to do that,' " Burnett, a Gaither High School graduate says. "Hopefully I'll find something where I'm like, okay, I can make this." Her friend Casey Smith, 18 and bound for Florida Gulf Coast University, came to Mitchell's class with a long, pitiful record of burning microwave Easy Mac. "Easy Mac!" she said. "Can you believe it?" An hour later, she was devouring a grilled cheese sandwich and a chicken quesadilla she made herself. Nothing burnt, just perfectly browned and melted. "This is easier than I thought," she said. Then she took another bite. "And they're actually good." Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at (813) 226-3403 or svansickler@sptimes.com Stocking up Most colleges allow all or some of the following equipment in dorm rooms. Check with your school before purchasing and plugging in. Appliances, cooking tools: * Microwave * Small refrigerator * Blender * Coffee pot * Can opener * Iron * Table-top grill, such as a George Foreman grill * Microwave-safe storage containers and dishes * Colander * Nonstick foil Ingredients that can make for quick meals: * Spaghetti sauce, canned * Canned oriental vegetables * Yogurt * Berries and bananas * Milk or soy milk * Shredded and sliced cheeses * Dehydrated soups and noodles * Pita bread, tortillas * Potatoes * Chicken and tuna, canned or in pouch, or cooked strips * Cooked bacon * Soy sauce, low sodium * Grated Parmesan cheese * Salsa * Sour cream * Spices salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash * Boil-in-bag rice * Canned black beans or black bean soup * * * Ironing Board Grilled Ham, Tomato, Bacon and Cheese Sandwich 2 slices Italian bread 2 slices cheese of your choice 2 ounces thin-sliced ham (or turkey) 1/2 ripe tomato, sliced thin 2 cooked bacon slices Mayonnaise or butter 2 large pieces nonstick aluminum foil Preheat iron to its hottest setting. Assemble sandwiches: Put one slice of cheese on each bread slice. Top one bread slice with ham, tomato and bacon. Put the two bread halves together. Spread outside of both slices with mayonnaise or butter. Place sandwich onto one piece of foil. Top with other foil piece. Grill each side of sandwich by pressing it with a hot iron. The sandwich is ready when cheese is melted and bread is golden brown on both sides. Remove from foil, cool slightly and eat. Source: Publix Apron's Cooking School Asia Meets Italy Pasta 1 package ramen noodles, seasoning packet discarded 1/4 cup of tomato sauce 1 to 2 cans of vegetables such as mushrooms or artichokes 1/2 of a 16-ounce package of cooked chicken strips or 1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken Few dashes Mrs. Dash, salt and pepper 1 cup spinach Grated cheese Place ramen noodles in microwave-safe bowl and cover with water. Cook on high 6 minutes, stirring once after 3 minutes. Drain cooked noodles. In a separate container, combine the sauce with vegetables and chicken, if desired. Add Mrs. Dash, salt and pepper. Microwave on high 1 minute. Mix noodles with sauce mixture and spinach, sprinkle with grated cheese, if desired, and serve. Serves 1 to 2. Source: Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler Fully Loaded Spud 1 baked potato 1/4 of a 16-ounce package precooked chicken breast strips, or one small can cooked chicken (optional) 1/2 can black beans, drained 1/4 cup salsa 3 tablespoon sour cream 1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash or other seasoning Salt, pepper to taste Use a fork to poke several holes in potato. Microwave on high 4 to 5 minutes, or until fork slips easily into potato. Split potato and set aside. Combine chicken, beans, salsa, sour cream and spices in microwave-safe small container. Microwave 1 to 2 minutes. Spoon the mixture into split potato and serve. Serves 1. Source: Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler Nuked Stir-Fry 1 package ramen noodles (chicken or Oriental flavor); reserve seasoning packet 1 can stir-fry Oriental vegetables Few dashes soy sauce (optional) 1/2 of a 16-ounce package precooked chicken strips, or 1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken (optional) In microwave-safe container, cover noodles with water. Microwave on high 6 minutes, stirring after 3 minutes. Drain noodles, but leave a small amount of water in container. Add flavor packet. Microwave vegetables (and chicken, if desired) on high for about 1 minute. Combine the noodles with vegetable mixture and serve. Makes 1 to 2 servings. Source: Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler Study Break Smoothie 1/4 cup regular milk or soy milk 1 8-ounce container yogurt, vanilla or coffee flavored 1 banana, sliced 1/4 cup brewed, chilled coffee Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. If smoothie is too thick, add another 1/4 cup milk. Makes 2 servings. Source: Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler
[Last modified August 16, 2006, 08:04:53]
Share your thoughts on this story
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor
