As a Co-Ro resident, I know what it is like to be bored with dining hall food. Two years of McElroy food is two years too many if you don’t know how to change up what you eat and how to manipulate what the dining hall has to offer. So, next time you walk into Mac (or even Lower) and look around at the dismal options presented to you, try one of these five combinations that will make your meal a little tastier.
Disclaimer: Some of these ideas may make you feel like you need to go to the Plex afterwards, but they are SO worth it.
- Chocolate Chip Waffles
Think way back to the days of slumber parties when you would wake up the next morning, and your mom would be slaving over the hot stove whipping up a batch of chocolate chip pancakes for you and your lucky guests. That was always one of my favorite parts! When I found out last year that the dining halls had waffle makers, I immediately wanted to try out a chocolate chip waffle! You can buy chocolate chips from the grocery store, or you get them at the froyo station the night before at Mac or Lower. If you want to get even more fancy, try out an M&M waffle or even a Heath Bar waffle. Pile on the whip cream, strawberries, or bananas, and you have a breakfast to die for!
- Root Beer Float
Ah, another childhood classic that I always miss when I’m away from home! You can make this with vanilla froyo, but whenever the “Temptations” station has some sort of sundae as the option, I prefer to get the ice cream in a soda cup and fill it with root beer. Make sure to let the foam die down a little bit, and then, add more soda. This way, your ratio of soda to ice cream won’t be off.
- Pita Pocket
This is a great alternative to the never-ending cycle of grilled chicken or salmon that you have for lunch and dinner. A little known secret is that there is pita bread in the bakery section. With that pita, the possibilities are endless. You can make a chicken pita pocket with cut-up grilled chicken, hot veggies (the caramelized onions and peppers are amazing with this), whatever is new at the salad bar, and the dressing of your choice. Greek dressing goes well with this, but it would also be so simple to make a Caesar pita pocket. If you are vegetarian, just substitute the chicken with some hummus, and you are good to go!
- Dinner Roll Dipping Sauce
Saying that I love bread is an understatement. I can single-handedly destroy a basket of fresh bread from an Italian restaurant, and I love having balsamic vinegar and olive oil dipping sauce for it. I know that BC’s dinner rolls are not that great, but if you just need some carbs in your life (like me), a yummy dip makes them so much better. What you need is one of the plastic salad bar dressing containers. Fill it with as much olive oil and balsamic vinegar/vinaigrette as you want. You can leave it plain like this, or add some Parmesan cheese from the condiment bar, some red peppers if you are feeling spicy, or black pepper and salt for a little more added flavor.
- Peanut Butter Froyo
I have to give credit where credit is due. My roommate discovered this idea, and I have to say that it changed my life. All you have to do is create whatever delicious froyo concoction that you can come up with (though I recommend not doing this with strawberry or tart), leave some extra room in the dish, grab one of those individual peanut butter containers, and mix the peanut butter into your froyo. Voilà! You have a delicious dessert!
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