This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at BU chapter.

As the semester goes on, it’s normal to become sick of the everyday options in the dining hall. If you feel the same way (and maybe even miss doing a bit of food preparation yourself), read on. I’ve tried all of these combos out myself and there’s a certain thrill to making them, even though usually I’m not that into cooking.

1. Chocolate Fondue

Squirt some of the chocolate sauce near the ice cream machines into a bowl. You can dip in a banana, or you can even cut one up and make banana-chocolate sandwiches if you don’t mind doing a little extra work. Alternatively, you can make caramel “fondue” with apple slices.

2. Chicken Salad Bagel Sandwich

Toast a bagel and ask for chicken salad on it by the sandwich station. Top with cheese and a tomato slice for a true gourmet bagel sandwich (My friend is from NYC and this is pretty much all she eats at the dining hall).

3. Funfetti Chocolate Chip Waffles

Pretty simplistic: just add chocolate chips and rainbow sprinkles from the ice cream toppings section to your waffle batter and cook as normal. You can also make M&M waffles, or chocolate sprinkle waffles, or pretty much anything they happen to have. Trust me, just dumping the chocolate chips on top after you make your waffle doesn’t have the same effect.

4. Nachos

Microwave shredded cheese from the salad bar in a bowl for twenty seconds. Add some chips (unfortunately you might have to use the potato chips if you’re in the West dining hall) and if they’re serving meat with salsa on it you can ask for the salsa alone, but some chopped up tomatoes will do in a pinch.

5. Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwich

Squirt some soft serve onto a cookie (not too much since the cookies are pretty small!) and top with another cookie. Use your preferred ice cream topping to decorate the edges. Tip: for a heavier topping like M&Ms or chocolate chips, it’s better to gently place them on the ice cream instead of just rolling the edges, but if you’re using sprinkles it’ll probably be okay.

Hope you found something new here! I encourage you to come up with even more dining hall hacks since they’re always fun to try out even if they don’t end up perfectly.

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BU Dining Hall Hacks to Switch Up Your Routine