Choate students can always count on SAGE Dining Services to provide them with plenty of meal options to make for a good breakfast, lunch, or dinner. However, some days, students may want to venture beyond the grill. For such days, students have gotten creative and have begun making their own dining hall hacks.
Utilizing the panini press, Anna Bonnem ’21 has found that you can make a grilled cheese sandwich using plain white bread and American cheese. By melting some butter on the top slice of bread, it is almost comparable to a gourmet sandwich. If you want to get even fancier, try adding some bacon from the salad bar or slices of tomato. Charlotte Raine ’21 agreed that the panini grill is a good option and said, “If you use the sandwich wrap tortillas with cheese and put it in the panini press, you can make a quesadilla.”
If students aren’t feeling what the dining hall is offering for lunch or dinner, many students will turn to the rice from the international section. I’ve seen multiple people get a bowl of rice and put soy sauce on it. Some take it a step further and add some protein like chicken from the salad bar.
As for dessert, placing a brownie in a bowl and eating it with the vanilla soft serve ice cream, as Camille Grant ’21 explained, is always a popular hack. Sarina Kapoor ’21 reached a pinnacle of innovation last spring when she began eating her vanilla soft serve with Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. When SAGE has an ice cream day, another dessert hack is putting toppings such as oreos at the bottom of a cone, and then putting the ice cream on top. Personally, one of my favorite things to do is put vanilla soft-serve in between two cookies
On another note, students have also found different ways to clear their utensils and plates. Abby Lu ’22 said, “It’s easier to carry your plate and drink if you carry your utensils in your pockets.” Claire Yuan ’21 noted that it can be efficient to use the cereal bowls for pasta. And if you want a big ice cream sundae, use the cereal bowls!
It also seems as though students have truly been creative when making different drinks. A concoction Peter DiNatale ’21 enjoys is an apple juice and lemonade mix, while Grant prefers to mix apple juice and cranberry juice to make a “crabapple” juice. Some students also mix the blue or yellow powerade with pink lemonade, making for a beautiful and delicious masterpiece. Lucy McGrath ’21 explains that if you mix juice with soda water, you can make your own version of soda.
Students have also gotten especially innovative when it comes to getting their caffeine. Making your own iced coffee is very popular. Sometimes the coffee in the dining hall is awfully watery and not very good, but by simply adding ice cubes and making it iced coffee, it gets ten times better!
Students get very creative in the dining hall. With repeated meals and Meatless Monday, sometimes you have to use your resources and try something new. By being a little creative and trying different combinations of food available in the dining hall, you might just find your new favorite meal!
Choate students can always count on Sage Dining Service to provide them with plenty of meal options to make for a good breakfast, lunch, or dinner. However, some days students may want to venture beyond the grill, and for such days, students have gotten creative making their own dining hall hacks.
Utilizing the panini press, Anna Bonnem ’21 has found that you can make a grilled cheese sandwich using plain white bread and American cheese. By melting some butter on the top slice of bread, it is almost comparable to a gourmet sandwich. If you want to get even fancier, try adding some bacon from the salad bar or slices of tomato. Charlotte Raine ’21 agreed that the panini press is a good option and said, “If you use the sandwich wrap tortillas with cheese and put it in the panini press, you can make a quesadilla.”
If students aren’t feeling what the dining hall is offering for lunch or dinner, many students will turn to the rice from the international section. I’ve seen multiple people get a bowl of rice and put soy sauce on it. Some take it a step further and add some protein like chicken from the salad bar.
As for desserts, placing a brownie in a bowl and eating it with the vanilla soft-serve ice cream on top, as Camille Grant ’21 explained, is always a popular hack. Sarina Kapoor ’21 reached a pinnacle of innovation last spring when she began eating her vanilla soft-serve with Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal as a topping.
When Sage has an ice cream day, another dessert hack is putting toppings such as oreos at the bottom of a cone, and then putting the ice cream on top. Personally, one of my favorite things to do is put vanilla soft-serve in between two cookies. By being a little creative and trying different combinations of food available in the dining hall, you might just find your new favorite meal!
Students have also found different ways to clear their utensils and plates. Abby Lu ’22 said, “It’s easier to carry your plate and drink if you carry your utensils in your pockets.” Claire Yuan ’21 noted that it can be efficient to use the cereal bowls for pasta. And if you want a big ice cream sundae, use the cereal bowls!
It also seems as though students have truly been creative when making different drinks. A concoction Peter DiNatale ‘21 enjoys is an apple juice and lemonade mix, while Camille Grant ’21 prefers to mix apple juice and cranberry juice to make a D.I.Y. “crabapple” juice. Some students also mix the blue or yellow powerade with pink lemonade, making for a beautiful and delicious masterpiece.
Students have also gotten especially creative when it comes to getting their caffeine. Lucy McGrath ’21 explains that if you mix juice with soda water, you can make your own version of soda. Making your own iced coffee is also very popular. Sometimes the coffee in the dining hall is awfully watery and not very good, but by simply adding ice cubes and making it iced coffee, it gets ten times better!
Students have started to get very creative in the dining hall. With repeated meals and Meatless Monday, sometimes you have to use your resources and try something new. By simply looking around the dining hall and seeing what food is offered, you may try a combination or concoction that becomes your new go-to meal!
