Expect the Exceptional

When you’re as active on the Hill as I am, it’s hard not to get hungry between meals. To combat hunger, I always keep plenty of snack on hand. In the past, I’ve devoted an entire plastic under-the-bed tub to snacks and food I can eat in my dorm room. This year, I’m living in a college-owned house, and my room happens to be equipped with two cabinets perfect for food storage.

By living in a campus house, I have a kitchen this year, but I haven’t always had kitchen access in my past years on the Hill. Traditional and suite-style residence halls on campus don’t have communal kitchens, but each dorm room in these types of halls do come equipped with a spacious mini-fridge and a microwave, allowing students who like to occasionally eat in to stock up on food and get creative when they’re cooking.

Even though I have a kitchen now, there’s still plenty of dorm-friendly snacks that I enjoy — no kitchen required!

Apples with Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chips

I’m totally down with eating apples plain, but I was practically raised on apples with peanut butter and chocolate chips. When eaten in moderation, they’re not too bad of a way to get in a serving of fruit, a bit of a protein fix, and a chocolate fix. McDaniel students are allowed to take one piece of fruit out of Glar every time they eat there, and a piece of fruit is also included with every Pub meal exchange, so apples aren’t hard to come by on campus.

They’re relatively simple in execution. Simply slice your able, being careful not to cut yourself, and add peanut butter and chocolate chips to your liking! Voila!

Get creative! Other yummy fruit and sweet stuff combinations include strawberries dipped in Hershey’s chocolate spread and bananas sliced and dipped in caramel.

All Sorts of Other Fruits and Veggies

If you have a lot of space in your fridge, stock up on fruits and vegetables to your heart’s content — plain apples, peaches, oranges, grapes, strawberries, and carrots are all easily stored in a dorm room. If you are tight on fridge space though, bananas and clementines are delicious and they don’t need to be kept chilled. Also, dried and freeze dried fruits are another way to enjoy fruit in your dorm. I love freeze-dried strawberries, and I recently learned that I can get them at Walgreens, which is walking distance from campus.

Granola Bars

I highlight granola bars specifically because not only are they delightful dorm snacks but also because they are among the most convenient on-the-go snacks (and sometimes breakfasts!) a college student can have. A lot of professors on campus permit students to eat in class, provided that the food isn’t terribly messy and its packaging isn’t too noisy–and granola bars fit that bill perfectly. And because there’s a zillion different types and brands of granola bars out there, you’ll never get bored with them!

While we’re on the subject of granola–here’s another dorm friendly meal or treat: granola and yogurt–yum!

The List Goes On…

I’ve mentioned a lot of relatively healthy foods in this post. But I’m a sucker for junk food too, and my food cabinets are proof of that. I always have pretzels on hand to satisfy late-night hunger pangs, and as far as salty snacks go, I’m also a fan of Old Bay peanuts, Annie’s Homegrown Snack Mix bunny crackers, and Saltines. I keep Nutrigrain bars and mini muffin packs on hand for mornings I’m running late, and other sweet treats I like to keep around include Girl Scout cookies and Milanos.

Where to Buy

You have lots of options for getting your hands on dorm food — your job is to figure out which options best suit your needs, your budget, and your level of mobility (some, but not all, first year students have cars on campus, and many students who don’t have cars their first year continue not to have them).

I already mentioned that taking fruit from Glar, and Pub is permissible in certain circumstances. Another easily accessible place to get fruit and other snacks is in the Green & Go, McDaniel’s convenience store.

Food Lion and Safeway are the grocery stores closest to campus. Students walk to Safeway, and if that’s something you’re going to do, I recommend going with a friend, since there’s always safety in numbers.

McDaniel’s shuttle bus, affectionately known around the Hill as The Pickle can also take you to places that sell food, like Target. If you really don’t feel like leaving campus to buy groceries, Amazon and other online retailers can be great places to buy pre-packaged goods. And if your parents are ever in town, it’s never a bad idea to ask them to take you grocery shopping.