The Most Important Meal of the Day

Living away from home at college has redefined how I think about many things in my life, and food is one of them. Living without my parent’s home cooked meals has given me a new appreciation for a well-cooked meal. The school week here at Wheaton can be hectic, leaving little time to devote to preparing and enjoying a meal. Instead, I find myself eating convenient, easy to cook foods that take little time to prepare and consume. Other times I skip meals all together. It can be easy to forget that food can be more than just something that gets you through your busy day, it is something that can be enjoyed. When you eat the same thing in the dining hall everyday it can be easy to forget this. Realizations such as these help me justify one of my favorite food habits that I’ve developed here at Wheaton: weekly trips to breakfast. Every weekend myself and friends will usually get off campus for a breakfast out at a nearby restaurant. Over time this tradition has become more than just a way to recharge on a weekend morning after a late night, now I look forward to these weekend trips to savor a filling meal, as well as a time to hear what my friends have been up to lately. The abundance of local breakfast restaurants ensure a variety of choices every weekend, and provide an excuse to spend time off campus. Above all else, these trips serve to remind me of the importance of sitting down to enjoying a filling meal with friends.

Post-game Treats

Your team just beat one of your biggest rivals with 97 seconds left in the game, but what are you most excited about? The post-game cookout that your parents have prepared is the only thing on your mind. Pasta with meatballs, chicken and turkey wraps, salads galore and not to mention the dessert spread that is haunting you down the end of the table are all sources for motivation to get through a game.

The greatest part about being a student -athlete at Wheaton is the support of my parents. The countless road trips to home and away games as my number one fans, whether we win or lose, are endless. But, if I am being honest, what I am most grateful for is the effort they put in to bring me a piece of a home-cooked meal after I have just played a hot and tiring field hockey game. There is nothing better than the taste of "real food" to refuel, and the best part is that you know it's made from the heart (or take-out from your favorite local restaurant). One of the hardest things about being away at school is missing the food that is so easily accessible in your private kitchen. Knowing that after your Saturday game, there will be a little goodie bag from your mom or your teammate's dad's famous macaroni and cheese may be all you need to get through another week eating at Chase and Emerson. The comfort of these foods at the cookouts reminds you of home, which is not somewhere you can visit often while you're in season, as your weekdays and weekend schedules are filled with practices, games and catching up on homework.

In this environment, food is used a way to connect my teammates and me with our families and friends in a laid back environment. The time is spent discussing laughing, classes and workload, professors, our social lives and how things are back in our hometowns. Food brings loved ones back together temporarily as we spend the majority of our weeks apart from one another.

Breaking the Flavor of Chase

Returning to Wheaton College in the fall and spring are always exciting times. Seeing old friends, starting ones classes, and just being campus is generally a enjoyable experience. One experience however, tends to drift away from the enjoyable and that is the food. Now Chase and Emerson do their best but sometimes it just doesn't work out. Being here for three years I have noticed the taste of the food blend into a one word description, Chase. I have noticed that no matter what I get it all tastes the same. I have become a believer in hot sauce as it gives a little more flavor to the chicken and eggs offered. Through all of this, and in my last year here I have decided to do a little experimenting and see if I can break the flavor of chase. I started with my regular selection of Chicken Teriyaki in the stir fry line. I found that taking a look at the sandwich line as well as the salad bar can give one extra ingredients that can make a stir fry. They seem to always have spinach and every now and again they will have snow peas. I started creating and had some great results. For example of you don't like the steamed broccoli they put in the stir fry line I would recommend taking some from the salad bar. When cooked it adds a crunch which is better in stir fry. Ive also seen people add eggs to their dishes as well as cut up chicken patties which are also grand ideas. Adding all of these new things are not only making it taste better but also adding more nutritional value to the dish. I challenge you all to generate your own Chase stir fry creations!

Food for Fuel

Where do we go when we get those midnight studying munchies?

             Every college student has been there: its ten o’clock and you’re sitting in the library, starving and in need of caffeine, with hours of more work to complete. And on such a small campus as ours, the late night options are very few. There is always the Loft, but finding affordable and healthful options there is likely impossible. There’s also the café in Balfour, but as many of us night owls have come to realize, they close rather early. So we drag ourselves across campus to Chase, the wondrous world of food until midnight. The very first perk: the coffee is free and always available. And although the options aren’t overwhelming (to say the very least), and the pizza does begin to look delicious at that hour, Chase gives us the option to attempt to eat healthy. When I need something quick, to fill and energize me, my go-to option is the classic bagel with cream cheese. But there is also always a salad option, sandwich supplies, and the grill for those that don’t have the ongoing love affair with bagels that I seem to have. Perhaps Chase isn’t the late night cafeteria of our dreams, but it does provide us with decent late night options that both my stomach and my grades are thankful for often.

Bulgogi: 3 ways

As i'm sure many people know, when Chase and Emerson aren't hitting the spot, all you want is food that makes you feel full without feeling disgusting. My mom has a friend/colleague who is from Korea and happens to be an amazing cook. She and her family came to our house for a potluck last year and brought a traditional Korean BBQ dish called Bulgogi. Upon my first tasting of beef bulgogi I was hooked and there was no turning back!

Bulgogi is marinated beef made with beef tenderloin, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, onion, black pepper, sesame oil, soy sauce, and her secret ingredient (still to this day I have no idea what it is).

Before her departure to return to Korea she told me she would make me some bulgogi to cook at school. Thankfully, I live in Peace House this year so cooking is much easier for me. Once I had my two bags of marinated bulgogi, I decided that bulgogi on its own is good enough but since I had the chance, why not experiment with it right? 

The first adaptation was a Bulgogi and Avocado Bowl: 

I started by cooking the meat just as it was in a pan. While it was cooking, I cut up slices of avocado and seasoned it with sea salt, cracked pepper, and lemon juice. After the meat was done I simply put the two together. 

  The second was a Bulgogi and Cheese Crescent Roll: 

Sometimes when I cook I like to use whatever is convenient. That being said my housemate had these Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and decided to use them (with permission, of course).  I used the crescent rolls, cooked bulgogi, and some cheddar cheese from Chase, rolled them up and baked them.

Clearly they were really good because I had to try one before I took the picture! 

Also my roommate enjoyed my creation as well! 

Last but not least, I had a leftover avocado, cheese, and bulgogi so I made a stuffed avocado with bulgogi and cheese: 

Needless to say when Chase and Emerson are not enough get creative! 

What do college kids eat when they are sick?

With most kids growing up with our parents doing the grocery shopping and preparing the meals for the family, students aren't used to the work of preparing the meal before they eat it.  It is more instant gratification: quick and easy, like Thea said in her blog post.  So then, send that student off to college with a dining hall and, usually, depending on the meal plan, food is prepared for them there as well. So when that student gets sick, and doesn't have the energy to get out of bed to walk to the dining hall, they go for quick and easy.  For example, I will go to the store and stalk up on easily made foods for when I am studying hard or sick:  easy mac, ramen, and "just add hot water" meals are most popular as well as pre-wrapped items.  May not be the most healthy option, but it's convenient.

Comfort Food -- Dominican Style

Living away at college, it's really easy to feel homesick and miss your mother's home cooking. Living in Peace and World Consciousness House, I have the privilege of having a full kitchen with simple household essentials such as a stove, fridge, microwave, blender, Keurig, and other miscellaneous items to make or alter food with. When the dining hall food doesn't cut it, I call my mom and ask for some homemade recipes that I grew up with such as chicken picota, buffalo chicken dip, corn beef, homemade tomato sauce etc. In knowing that I will prepare foods like this, I always keep the fridge and freezer packed with ingredients from Target, Hannafords, and Roche Brothers which are all local grocery markets around Wheaton.

The other night in coming home, my housemate prepared dinner for herself and there was some leftovers that she said I could eat. It smelled a spicy and flavorful aroma which hit me right when I walked in the door. Her response to me was that she was homesick and wanted to unwind and relax in making one of her favorite dishes from home. It was interesting because this is a prime example of how food production, preparation, and consumption greatly impact culture. My housemate is Dominican so her comfort food consisted of brown rice, beans, and a hot, curried chicken that had numerous flavors and spices that were evident in the first bite. When I think of my mother's "comfort food", I think of homemade pizza, cheeseburgers, or her homemade pasta and sauce. Culture shapes the food we enjoy as well as what we chose to eat in our daily diet. Coming from an Irish and German background, I was never exposed to a meal like this growing up because it not something my mother grew up eating so I didn't grow up eating it. However, being exposed to people from different cultures help widen our knowledge and understanding of other cultures and how they chose to prepare and eat their homemade "comfort foods".

Weirdly enough, I had never eaten anything of this sort and my housemate was taken aback by my lack of Dominican "flavor" in my life. I must say, however, I will not be hesitant to eat this dish again!

Finding Healthy Options

I assume I am not the only one on campus who looks for healthy and nutritional options for consumption at the dining halls. As an active being, I look for healthy ways to replenish the calories I have burned working out at the gym as well as just walking around campus. How can one find “healthy” food options on campus?”

Healthy options sometimes are difficult to find on campus, but they are easier to find than one might think. In my experience, the healthier options can be found in the afternoon, when more vegetables are put out and less of the carbohydrates. While finding health-conscious food may be tough, one must also try to make do with what’s available. A healthy plate of greens and protein won’t just show up on your table unless of course, you are at a restaurant. The dining hall will always have salad, stir fry at most times, and soup, and “making do” sometimes means combining the offerings. This is a good way of showing tolerance to refrain from junk food and pizza and other foods that are easier to find, but less healthy.

One day at Emerson Hall, as I often do, I made a salad and added whatever greens were available.  Then I ordered stir-fry, which is generally either chicken or another protein and seasoning. On that day it was chicken. I either get a starch like rice or pasta with it, or I get the chicken by itself and add it to the salad. This is a great way to get a lot of the food groups in one meal. Soup is also a great and filling meal, whether it is a stew or broth. Either way, it is a very wholesome meal and can be a great source of energy. I had chicken and rice Florentine soup on this particular day. It is also a great alternative to a lot of other greasy filling foods like French fries or burgers.

In this case, as the photograph of the meal I put together shows, the dining hall had yams and Turkey Panini, which are pretty healthy too. Yams are great starches good for added protein and carbs.

Though it can be difficult to make sense of the foods around you, it can be pretty simply to put together a nourishing and healthy meal with a portion of the fast carbohydrates that actually tastes good too. This is a better alternative to chugging down a green shake for nutrients in my opinion.

Easy Mac and its Benefits

My roommate and I eat a lot of Kraft’s mac n cheese and ramen. Yes, we have the dining hall only a couple buildings down, but we still often prefer this cheap, easy, food. Is it convenience? Is it the laziness of not wanting to walk to the dining hall? Probably both. Or maybe it’s a comforting break from the monotone meals we receive at Chase and Emerson, especially for me, as a vegetarian. 

As a sophomore, I find myself buying a lot more of my own food, going to the dining halls less frequently. Mac n cheese is a favorite for me because A. it’s a comfort food, and B. it is a quick meal that requires minimum effort to prepare, and is often more satisfying than rice and vegetables from Emerson. This rings especially true when it’s late at night and I’m feeling stressed, trying to finish my assignments. In moments like those, mac n cheese is often the perfect late-night “snack”; it’s comforting and homey. Though I do buy more food for my dorm now, it’s usually always foods like mac n cheese, ramen, or hot pockets. These are the foods I go for when I don’t feel like dining hall food and because cooking for myself takes too much effort and time. I try and balance out those unhealthy meals by eating healthy in the dining halls, but sometimes you just need to fill that craving. 

It's easy to see why these quick, easy, cheap (and delicious) meals are a staple among college students, because once you get used to those kinds of meals/snacks, it's hard to break away from them. 

Food and Comfort in Memories

The past few days have been challenging for my family. Sunday morning my Grandma passed away at 90 years old. The week before was a long road, and being an emotional roller coaster, was exhausting for many in my family. So, what does this have to do with food? It hit me Sunday evening, and after a day of reacting to my Grandmother's passing, when someone brought up the question "what do we want to do for dinner?", that food is most certainly connected to our feelings of comfort and celebrating memory. How exactly did I realize this? Well, it was clear that my family was not eager to cook up a meal, yet at the same time, it did not seem like anyone wanted to sit in a restaurant. A few minutes in to the pondering silence, my Mom declared that she had an idea. I had one as well, and as soon as I looked at my Mother I knew we had an idea in common. "We should go and get clam cakes and chowder and eat at the beach" she said. Exactly. Exactly what I was thinking. Everyone was in agreement and off we went. But why? Why was this the common idea? Because this was the meal that reminded all of us of my Grandma. My Grandpa and Grandma built a beach cottage before they had my mom and her siblings, and the little blue cottage remains in our family today. The beach has been a place of love and peace for our family for as long as I can remember, and I've always thought of that as a gift from my grandparents. When our family gathers at the beach cottage in the summer, clam cakes and chowder is a meal we often share. Even in the winters, when we took my Grandma out to eat, it would be to a place where she could get clam cakes and chowder. That meal is a memory we have of her. So, on a day we felt distant from her and felt her absence, it was not surprising that the food we ate was a way to fill that hole. As I ate the clam cakes and chowder at the water's edge, it was as if the food was bringing back a rush of memories with my Grandma. 

As my family continued to eat, an amazing sunset took form over the water. It was as if the heavens opened up to show all of its radiant light. In that moment and in that place, with the assistance of my meal, I felt my Grandmother and knew she was ok and knew my family would be ok. Is it possible for food to assist in both constructing and recalling memories? I think yes. Not only that, but food can produce an internal comfort that we may not be able to create without it. It may just be a clam cake and just a bowl of soup to one, but to another it can mean family ties and an experience that remains, from someone no longer in reach.

Alfredo

There are a few things that are great about living off campus, and there are a few things that are required of you to live on your own. One of those things is to go shopping and buy your own food. I took Chase and Emerson for granted looking back on it now. Being able to walk into a dining hall, regardless of how good the people here think the food is, there are still many options and meals that are just waiting for you to eat. I personally think Wheaton does a pretty decent job with the dining halls here and provide more then enough for a student to be completely satisfied. I mean looking back now, the picture below could have been made in about 5 to 10 minutes by a dining hall employee while I was sitting down shooting the breeze with friends waiting to eat.

That's just something that crosses my mind a lot as I am in Hannafords, or Roche Bros, planning and trying to figure out what I want to be eating for the next two weeks. Living off campus and having to provide myself with things in order to survive has been a nice learning curve for me and its something that we will all have to do some day….the real world is coming fast!

Now…this right here is a picture of my dinner last night. Probably one of my top three favorite dishes to make if not my number one favorite. This is a fettuccine alfredo with some frozen vegetables I mixed in for the hell of it. Something that always happens a day or two after you have been shopping is the realization that you forgot a key food for the house. In this case, half way through cooking, I realized I forgot to get chicken breasts at the store. This type of meal still tastes great even with just vegetables but chicken is something that absolutely needs to be in there. Big mistake, but overall, it is a great meal if someone has never tried it.


FYI- Anyone that is living off campus, Hannafords in Easton, the town over from Norton, has unbelievable deals. For example boxes of pasta for 89 cents…lasts you a long time if you stock up. Definitely worth the 5 to 10 minute drive.

-Jordan

Tea Snack and Tea

trail-mix sticky-rice balls

This picture shows how non-chewable green tea leaves were incorporated into sticky-rice balls before entering me and my friend’s mouths. I made these at the beginning of the semester before gradually detaching my nostalgic appetite for the taste of home. Technically, I was going for a sweet rice-based dish called “sweet rice” (a luxury festival dish with sticky-rice, nuts, dried fruit, and lard), but given the materials available--trail mix from Roche Brothers’, steamed rice from Chase, and green tea leaves left the night before--they turned out as these poorly-ground rice blobs with only a spoon and a bowl as tools. Butter, honey, and more cranberries were added to the “pink” ones, more tea leaves and less sugar to the “green” ones. The pink ones turned out more preferable to my Caribbean friend though she wished for an even stronger taste, but I was glad I went in the right direction for her preference after our snack-exchange.

“八宝饭”/eight-treasure sweet rice 

Growing up with rare occasions of snack-tasting while regular meals are delicious and enough for daily nutritional intake, members from my family and my generation or above, under subtle influence of older generation and rural relatives’ traditional virtues of thriftiness, have abstained from eating snacks (which came to my late understanding as an effective medium for communicating with peers, or lack thereof). If I happen to have excessive snacks, or “supplementary food”, unfortunately motivated by curiosity, I would therefore substitute a meal just to keep cultivating the habit of acting asceticism in life (even when it means tolerating the refreshing bitterness and earthy taste of tea leaves) letting go of desires which could turn into gluttony and other traits undesirable for keeping the traditional lifestyle treasured as a nice balancing model opposed to the disrupted urban lifestyle.

金骏眉 red tea

The reason I bring up snacks first is that tea is not so prevalent in a modern urban Western context and not considered "food" or side drink to a meal, but any vegetarian dim sum can brighten up tea drinking experience meditative enough to make people drowsy. I have mixed feelings about the simplified tea set I brought from home which are convenient enough to brew tea soup for me and a couple of friends, but too humble for me to replicate the desired atmosphere and to restore the state of mind making tea at home (my decent range of tea selections still sit there quietly). The water, tools, furniture, and space here are not really helpful in facilitating an elegant tea brewing process for someone unskilled as I am. However, I still attempted to make tea several times earlier just to familiarize my skill in a different setting before inviting some friends over for what one gladly named a “tea party”. 

      

                 铁观音 green tea                                                        tea-pets (miniature tea pots)  

I would prefer an atmosphere and space more similar to that at home or at family friends’ apartment discreetly set up for making Chinese tea. Different from various popular brands of portable instant tea-bags more suitable for a modern “tea party” idea (no intention to go into any details but tea-bags can be made of crushed low-quality, rotten, or reused tea leaves, flowers, and other herb scraps), Chinese tea is more about tranquility, patience, tolerance, and courtesy instilled in the utensil washing (cleansing of tools, pots, and pets with boiled water), tea washing (immediate washing off of dirt and smell on the tea leaves), tea brewing and filtering (conducted in separate containers), and lastly pouring and inviting with careful use of tea-towel. Unfortunately our interest in having a “tea party” was gone as none of us have found a time fit for such a slow-motion time-consuming exotic process!