No money? No Time? No problem: Easy meals for off-campus living
By Maggie Peña | August 25, 2021Residence hall life is easy. Well, in terms of food, at least.
Residence hall life is easy. Well, in terms of food, at least.
I don’t eat red meat or pork. Actually, up until I started at Miami, I was completely vegetarian. Personally, I do it for health and environmental reasons.
Of course, not all coffee shops are created equal. As a senior who has spent huge sums of money on coffee during my time at Miami, I feel I’m qualified to rank all the shops in Oxford to help others decide where to get their caffeine fix.
While most people are still wrapped in sheets and blankets tucked into their beds on Saturday mornings, some early birds are already on their way to Oxford’s Farmers Market. By 8 a.m., most local vendors have loaded their trucks and vans and are hoping for a sunny day.
Marja Berry, an Oxford resident, has been helping around 80 Miami University students with food insecurities right out of her garage for the past month through her program called Army of Kindness.
I’m from California. I like avocado toast and anything dairy free, and I watch my added sugars. My boyfriend is from Connecticut, so burgers, mozzarella sticks, breakfast sandwiches and blue Gatorade are all up his alley. We have a hard time eating food together.
After finishing the assigned reading for my literary capstone, instead of just writing a discussion post or a paper, I roll up my sleeves and head to the kitchen. While I don’t consider myself a foodie, I am obsessed with eating and how we eat because it all means something more than just consuming.
Being from Chicago, I find myself in many discussions with people at Miami that involve the words “Chicago pizza” and “New York style is better.” Everyone always wants to argue, and I can’t just back down — Chicago pizza takes so much heat and someone has to defend it. Yet on a recent trip to New York, I figured I ought to give their pizza another chance, to try once and for all to end an argument I previously believed had a clear winner.
One booze-based gift I got last Christmas stood out from the rest: a heavy glass cocktail mixer and a small paper booklet of drink recipes. As far as my roommates and I can figure out, the shaker and book are both from around the year 1960, so they’re basically artifacts from a lost age, I guess. And being the enterprising archeologists that we are, we sought to make use of these antique treasures.
Armstrong has six different a la carte dining options, and I’ve eaten at all of them many times. Though I do like all of the options, some are undoubtedly better than others. So, without further ado, here is my personal ranking of all the eateries Armstrong has to offer.
In the back of my cookbook, there’s an extended index of suggested menus for different occasions: New Year’s Eve dinner, hangover brunch, spring picnic, etc. One of them was called the “Impressing-Your-Boss Dinner.” As a soon-to-be-graduated senior who has never made a full, three-course adult meal and will hopefully have a boss to impress soon, I decided to try it out.
Whether it’s burgers or birthday cakes, the Oxford Dairy Queen is sure to provide all Oxford residents with yet another option for their late night snack, post-exam reward or just an average day’s treat.
Miami University’s Associated Student Government (ASG) launched an initiative earlier this month to reduce food waste in campus dining halls by asking students to “pick their portion.” Dining halls across campus now display stickers on the glass in front of food stations prompting students to be specific about the amount of food they wish to receive. Options include double, full and half-portions, as well as “just a taste.”
One dreary J-term afternoon, I stumbled upon a TikTok that made me want to return to Oxford as soon as possible. It was advertising the Butler County Donut Trail, and I immediately knew I had to do it.
Week in and week out, this dish was a staple of my diet for four fall swim seasons. Yet once I graduated high school and swim meets became a memory (aside from a short stint on Miami’s club swim team), I completely forgot about pasta salad.
Affectionately called “chocolate chippers” by my little cousins, my mom’s cookies have been a staple in my diet for as long as I can remember. They’re perfect – puffy, impeccably textured and absolutely loaded with chocolate chips.
I used a CrockPot for the first time in my life last week, and my life has changed forever.
I know what you’re thinking: Hot chocolate and cheese? Together? That sounds like the most disgusting concoction known to mankind. Let me explain.
What’s a household to do on another long quarantined day when TV, video games and Uno just aren’t cutting it anymore? Well, if you happen to be my two roommates and me, and you happen to have just gone shopping and have a full kitchen, and you happen to be starved for novelty, then you just might play a DIY, homemade version of the Food Network’s hit show “Chopped.”
Although my mom moved from New Orleans to Ohio in college and started our family, we still celebrate Mardi Gras every year. A big part of our tradition is sharing King Cakes — a giant cinnamon roll iced in the Mardi Gras colors of green, purple and gold — with our families and friends.