Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

Chocolate chip cookie + cheesecake = chocolate chip cheesecake bars! Why choose one when you can have both?! Bonus: these cheesecake bars are ready in about half the time as regular cheesecake.

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11 Unique Food and Drink Gadgets You’ll Absolutely Need in Your College Dorm

Whether you’re moving back in or this is your first time around, moving into a dorm is no joke. You’ve got your car packed from top to bottom with everything ready to move into a teeny-tiny little box for the year. While bedding, school supplies, and clothes are all important, you can’t forget about food! Sure, you probably have some sort of meal plan set up for on-campus dining, but college is crazy. Sometimes you don’t even have time to leave your room to eat, so it’s really important to keep some gadgets and appliances in your dorm. (You may have to whip something up to inhale on your way to class or sustain yourself during an all-nighter.) Here are 11 must-haves for food and drink prep in your dorm.

Matcha Maker  

David’s Tea

I get that coffee in college is an absolute must, so you probably have a Keurig or some kind of coffee maker on your shopping list. I drank a TON of coffee, so I kept K-cups under my bed like ammo in a military bunker. But halfway through college, I found that matcha is actually a really healthy substitute for coffee (and another source of natural energy!), so I wish I had known about  this David’s Tea matcha maker. It’s cute, affordable, and more compact than a coffee maker (Hey, anything to save space, right?).

Margarita Machine

Amazon

This is NOT to condone underage drinking or drinking in dorms that do not allow alcohol, but I was lucky enough to live in a “wet” suite my senior year of college (meaning all of my roommates were over 21 and the building allowed alcohol). We invested in one of these margarita machines for special occasions like surviving midterms, getting our caps and gowns, or going a full week without a mental breakdown in the library.

Cereal Containers

Amazon

I used to live on cereal in college; I ate it every day for breakfast just to save time and swipes on my meal plan. You may not think cereal will be as much of a lifesaver as it is, but trust me, I ate it so much in college that I’ve been out of school for over a year and STILL can’t bring myself to eat it anymore. As a college student, you’re all about not having to spend a single cent on anything, so you should invest in these plastic cereal containers. If you put cereal—or any dry food, really—into these containers instead of just keeping them in the box, it lasts much longer before going stale. The longer your food lasts, the less you have to spend on replacing it!

Quesadilla Maker

Amazon

One of the most frequent questions you’ll ask yourself in college is, “Wait, do I even have time to eat?” It’s sad, but it’s the truth. You’ll need appliances that will help you prepare food in no time so that you don’t starve if you’re running late to class or an internship or wherever you need to be. This quesadilla maker is cheap and perfect for a quick and easy lunch! And there’s really no shame in being the person who runs around campus frantically shoving a quesadilla in your face. We’ve all been there.

Ramen Cooker

Amazon

If I could go back in time and change one single thing in this world, I’d give my incoming freshman self 18 of these ramen noodle cookers. Not only are they adorable, but they cook ramen —the official food of the college student—quickly with room for any ingredients you may want to add in!

Adjustable Shelving Unit

Remember how I described a dorm as a teeny-tiny little box? There was exactly zero exaggeration in that statement. A dorm room really is a box, and you’re going to need to get smart and creative with how you use the little space you have. Luckily, this shelving unit is perfect for all your food and drink needs. You can put a mini fridge underneath, snacks on the middle shelves, and a microwave on top. Voila! All your food is in one place and you used the minimal amount of space.

Bottle Opener

Amazon

This bottle opener is the single coolest thing in the world. So, you’ll host a few parties, have a few drinks, and with this bottle opener, you won’t have to worry about finding bottle caps all over your floor for weeks after your party. The cap falls right into a case attached to the bottle opener!

Microwavable Cookware

Amazon

When you move into your dorm, get acquainted with your microwave. It’ll be your very best friend for four years. I’m not kidding; 90 percent of my meals were microwavable. If you cook for yourself or have leftovers, you want to make sure you don’t burn the dorm to the ground, so get yourself this reusable and microwavable cookware. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

Water Bottle with Fruit Infuser

Amazon

I don’t know if people are still drinking fruit-infused water, but I am, so this is important. A reusable water bottle is definitely a smart thing to have in your dorm; why keep buying water bottles when you can run tap water through a filter for free? And with this water bottle, you can add lemons, berries, or whatever your heart desires to your H2O.

3-in-1 Breakfast Station

Amazon

This breakfast station is the ultimate space saver. It’s a coffee maker, griddle, and toaster oven all in one! Seriously, someone introduce me to whoever came up with this. I need to shake their hand.

Plastic Dinnerware

Amazon

College is all about practicality. You really can’t afford to be breaking plates and glasses left and right and having to replace them. So invest in some sturdy plastic dinnerware. Speaking from experience, it’s so much easier to clean, and they come in a lot of cute colors and designs.

Related Video: How to Make Bacon in Your Dorm Room

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Thanks to Technology and a Few Simple Steps, You Can Finally Make Great Coffee While Camping

Sure, you can go camping without coffee, but only if you don’t mind waking up in the “okay” outdoors. If you’re looking for a fully great experience becoming one with nature and sleeping under the stars, you’re going to want to consider how to make a cup of get-up-and-go that will help you sustain through a good hard hike, a day of fishing, or even the very valid work of spending all day laying in a hammock reading a book. Believe it or not, while coffee might seem super fussy to make at home, there are a few life hacks and several easy, delicious, and backpack-friendly ways to bring your favorite brew along for the adventure.

Water

One thing that’s easy to overlook in camping prep is to account for extra water to make coffee, and then finding a way to heat it. If you’re toting bottles on your trek, you’ll want to add at least 20 ounces per person per day for a reasonable caffeine ration, which would allow you to brew, say, 16-ounce servings—a perfectly respectable day-starter. For heating, if you’re not bringing a kettle that can sit on top of a campfire or portable burner, you can look into a portable heating element (available at some better-stocked camp stores) or plan to make cold-brew coffee, which can also be heated up in a pinch.

Coffee

Whatever brand and whatever origin you prefer, you’ll want to consider your needs when it comes to packing the actual coffee. Depending on the load you plan to carry, remember that you’ll need to consider a grinder if you’re lugging along whole beans. A small hand grinder with conical burrs, like a Porlex, is portable, sleek, and just as effective as an electric countertop version, without being too much of a pain. (Bonus: They are a bit of a workout, which you can count as a warm-up for the day’s hike.) If you really want great coffee but don’t want to bother with a grinder, you have our permission to throw conventional wisdom aside and pre-grind your beans, on just a few conditions: One, you’ll want to grind the coffee as close to the time you set out as possible, you’ll want to package it into airtight and waterproof containers, and you’ll want to promise yourself that this is the only circumstance under which you’ll pre-grind your coffee. (We’re kind of joking on that last one. Kind of.) If you have room among your gear to store small spice-style jars with sealed tops, it could be really handy to pre-measure out your coffee doses, to eliminate the need for a scale. (You can do the same with water in individual bottles, or by measuring out portions of water into a large jug and making a mark to indicate roughly how much 16 or 32 ounces is in the vessel.)

Cold Brew

Chowhound

Venturing into the brewing method options, cold brew is hands down the easiest, least fussy, and lowest maintenance way to make coffee outdoors. You don’t need any special equipment (you can brew in a large Mason jar, and you can use a regular cheese cloth as a filter or you can purchase this handy kit.), you don’t have to heat the water, and all it takes is five minutes of prep around lunch or dinner time in order to have coffee ready to drink by morning. You can also brew this stuff up ahead of time: Cold brew will keep for up to 36 hours before it starts to get bitter and cloudy.

To make cold brew coffee in a tent or around a camp, loosely satchel up some coarse-ground coffee in a cheesecloth and let it soak in a jar or jug of cold or room-temperature water for anything between 12–24 hours. Remove the filter and discard the coffee, and dilute the concentrate you’ve made to taste, starting with a 2:1 ratio of coffee to water and adjusting for your preference. While it’s better to drink cold brew, well, cold, you can also heat it up in a pinch on a chilly morning. Just be careful not to boil the liquid or you’ll end up with a cup so gross you’ll wish you’d fed yourself to a bear.

AeroPress

One of the most popular travel accessories is the slim, practically unbreakable, fast-brewing device known as an AeroPress, a brewing method invented by a guy who also invented a type of Frisbee-like flying disk, so he knows a thing or two about being outside. The tool is compact and plastic, and can be used in a few different ways, The instructions that come on the package will guide you to making a kind of concentrate, almost a faux-spresso; other techniques will result in a single brew of 8–10 ounces, which is perfect for a solo trip.

All you’ll need in addition to the AeroPress itself are specific AeroPress filters, hot water, and something to pour your finished coffee into: This last part is important because of the “Press” part of the brewer’s name, which is literal. Glass and cheap plastic, as well as collapsable gear, will not do the trick and will break your heart.  

Pour-Over

Amazon

We know, we know—this sounds like we’re potentially venturing into “glamping” territory, but don’t worry, we’re still keeping it real while we try to keep it caffeinated on the trail. Lots of backpacking-gear companies make collapsible pour-over cones, and when they are folded flat they take up almost no room at all. Pack one of these puppies, a stack of filters, and a mug to brew the coffee into, and you’re well on your way to mountain-coffee heaven. Just be sure you have the ability to heat water and be conscious of your grind: These coffees will be less forgiving of your decision to pre-grind. Nonetheless, even bad coffee tastes pretty great when mixed with fresh air, sunshine, and a solid couple days off in the outside, right? Now gear up, get out there, and get brewing!

Related Video: How Fresh Is Your Coffee?

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