What foods to use in dorm room microwave

[Chris in VA]

Ideas for ds' new dorm-sized microwave?
My parents got him a medium-sized, 700watt jobbie. I'd like to pack him up some things he can make in it, besides popcorn. He has a very small dorm refrig with a teeny freezer--any ideas besides soup and ramen noodles? Treat things? Anything else?

[NayfiesMama]

Annie's (or Kraft's) instant Mac and Cheese. :-) There are some really good instant mash potatoes that I buy in small packages at Safeways.... (They are in a blue box)

[asta]

Uncle Ben's has these rice packets that are SO easy. All you do is rip off the top and heat for 90 seconds. You don't even add water. They come in vegetable, chicken, beef, and wild rice. DS mixes a packet with a can of chicken or tuna for lunch. Total cost is under $2.


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[In The Great White North]

You can microwave most anything that doesn't need to be browned:

scrambled eggs (and therefore omelettes)
any and all soups
vegies (in a bowl of water - some take a while)
frozen dinners
hot dogs
pre-cooked, frozen meats (hamburgers, chicken fingers, etc)
etc

Not too good:
bread, pizza, cookies, etc from scratch
chicken, steak, hamburgers, etc that are not precooked

[Mary in GA]

oat meal
grits
hot chocolate/hot tea

We've not tried them yet, but I've seen advertised microwaveable pasta dinners that aren't refridgerated.

[LBS]

I remember how badly my room-mate and I grew experiments (uh, leftovers) in our dorm fridge. In Scouting, we discovered a new world of completely ready to eat foods, for beginning backpackers (the weekenders don't mind carrying heavier weight, short hike, and are not okay with gorping it, or using more advanced food techniques for backpacking) like the Idahoan brand of mashed potatoes, come in small packages, and huge number of flavors, just need some water and have lots of flavor! (may the same as previous poster mentioned from Safeway) we see these at Wal-Mart and Food Lion. Also, meat comes in "pop-top" cans, 5 oz. single servings of chicken, tuna and salmon. More expensive packaging for meat: foil packages. My kids don't do Ramen so often, now, they are cooking up the Zataran's packages, red beans and rice, black beans and rice,etc. Add canned chicken for complete meal type thing. Another poster mentioned the pre-cooked rices, and some of those have sausage and other meats in them already....microwave and eat out of the package. Go to a big, fancy grocery store for ideas, then for later care packages, go to Food Lion/Wal-mart.

Lipton's noodle packages, Pasta Roni and some others may require a little milk and butter. Some kind of tub spread is prob more likely to find in a college kid's fridge, but powdered milk with the fat in the spread will sub for milk, and not give it a weird taste. If you want to get fancy: ind coffee creamers in plain Half&Half (2-4 of these to make 1/3 cup milk with water.)

I hope some of this helps,
LBS

PS Since it is not likely that the microwave will get cleaned with regularity, supply kid with larger bowls, so there is no boilover. Better: large paper bowls that need no washing! For glass or plastic bowl: wipe with diaper wipe immediately after using, then rinse in sink (washing dishes in bathroom sinks is a mess.)

[Kareni]

Trader Joe's has some microwaveable meals that do not require refrigeration -- they have some that are Indian and others that are Italian.

Regards,
Kareni

[K-FL]

Search your grocery on the "Ravioli" aisle. Ours has lots of shelf-stable, microwaveable meals. It may take more than one to fill a teen boy, but it's a start!

[NayfiesMama]

I forgot. I love instant oatmeal... some of the "Mom's Best" are my favorite..... Less sugar and such. The Apples & Cinnamon flavor is really good.