Yummy food you can make in your dorm. Illustration by Lauren Smith | Special Issues Editor

Dorm cooking: 

Spicy peanut ramen

• Cook ramen noodles and drain the water. Mix peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, if you have it, and sriracha. Top with sesame seeds and/or green onions if you have them.

Mug cake

• Add a splash of milk, a chocolate bar, and a spoonful of cooking oil to one Paws and Go mug cake mix. After mixing, add a broken-up chocolate bar in the middle and microwave until it’s solid.

“Fancy” microwave mac and cheese

• Buy some of the cheese from Paws and Go. Add it to your microwavable mac and cheese when you add the cheese powder, along with a bit of butter if you have it. 

Copycat Hillman grilled cheese sandwich 

• Spread a thin layer of cream cheese on some bread, and cook on low heat in a pan with a little bit of butter. Add a layer of cheddar cheese and a second slice of bread. You can use other kinds of cheese if you want; I like both cheddar and gruyere. Flip when your sandwich reaches your desired toastiness. Hillman’s secret sauce eludes me but the closest I can get is mayo and sriracha.

Chocolate-covered berries (discount TruFru) 

• Grab some berries from Paws and Go and a chocolate bar. Melt the chocolate bar. Dip the berries in chocolate, and put them in a fridge or freezer until hardened.

Lazy gnocchi 

• Gather your ingredients: premade gnocchi, parmesan, butter, garlic powder, and milk or cream. Cook the gnocchi. Put all the other ingredients into a bowl. Spoon the gnocchi directly from the boiling water into a bowl with the other ingredients. Let it sit for a hot second, then mix. The gnocchi mixture will make its own sauce and just like that, it’s magic.

Paws and Go avocado toast

• Assemble bread (toasted in an oven or in a toaster), avocado, and your choice of toppings, which may vary, but salt, pepper, and balsamic are good. You can also add sliced tomatoes and a fried or poached egg from the Paws and Go mini egg cartons.

Homemade chocolate croissant

• I suggest breaking up a chocolate bar and rolling it in the premade crescent rolls from Paws before baking.

Spicy tuna rice

• In a bowl, mix together one package of tuna — the Trader Joe’s purple can of white albacore tuna is the best in my opinion, but the wild skipjack tuna packs are slightly more convenient — with roughly a quarter cup of Kewpie mayo (I usually eyeball this). Add a spoonful of soy sauce and a spoonful of sriracha and mix. You can add more or less to taste. Then, make some rice — if you don’t have a rice cooker or access to a stove, there are instant rice packs that you can chuck in the microwave that are genuinely good. You can just eat the spicy tuna mix with plain rice, but I like to get seaweed packs and make little hand rolls. They’re super delish.

Pesto Pasta à la Avi:

• Take a pound of your favorite shaped pasta and dump it in a pot of water that is at a rolling boil. Periodically, basically every two to three minutes, take out a noodle and test it until the pasta is a perfect al dente. Once al dente status has been achieved, strain the pasta and proceed to dump an entire container of Pesto Genovese from Trader Joe’s. Then mix the pesto and the pasta and slowly add in some parmesan cheese until you feel satisfied. Once the cheese is melted, add the pasta to a bowl (maybe with some basil for garnish) and enjoy!