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!