Note: “Eau Claire eats” is an on-going opinion column where Spectator writers explore the intersections between food and the community.

Many college students struggle to find affordable food options while at school. While living in the dorms, a student doesn’t have many opportunities to buy ingredients, much less be able to cook. 

Over the weekend, I went searching on Pinterest for some easy recipes to make in a dorm room. After some mild distractions including home decor and wedding dresses, I found two fun and easy recipes.

The first one I came across was microwavable potato chips, it sounds weird, I know. But these were really fun to make and only took about five minutes. These can also save you money in the long run, since you wouldn’t have to keep buying bags of chips. 

Gallery • 9 Photos

Photo by Grace Olson

These are the ingredients you will need for the microwavable potato chips.

You will need:

• One bag of bite size potatoes 
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Parchment paper 

These ingredients cost $8 total from Target, but taking some ingredients from Hilltop Café is always an option. 

Start by cutting the potatoes into thin slices. I only used one potato, which didn’t make too many chips. One potato per person would be a good measurement to use. 

After cutting the potatoes, put some parchment paper on a microwavable safe plate. Then, spread olive oil on the parchment paper. Lay the potatoes on the paper and make sure they don’t touch or they will stick together. Lastly, sprinkle some salt on top and put them in the m

icrowave for about three minutes. 

Repeat these steps until you have as many potato chips you want and enjoy. 

I had my roommate, Morgan McDonald, a second-year CSD student, try them and she was a big fan.

“These slap,” McDonald said.

I also had my friend, Sabrina Ftouhi, a second-year English student, try them. She gave a pretty solid review too. 

“Wow these are actually really good,” Ftouhi said. 

The second recipe I found was french toast in a cup. This was also really quick to make and could be a great way to mix it up from breakfast at the caf. 

You will need:

• One tablespoon of butter
• One-fourth cup of milk 
• One egg, beaten
• Cinnamon sugar
• One-fourth teaspoon of vanilla extract 
• Two slices of bread, cut into cubes

Once again, many of these ingredients are found in Hilltop Café, or from Target. Everything would cost around $11.

Start by melting the butter in a big cup (I used a 20-ounce mug) and tilt the mug so the butter is spread all around the sides. Then, with a fork, beat the egg and mix it with the milk, cinnamon sugar and vanilla extract all in the cup. 

Once the ingredients are combined, you can press the cubed bread into the cup, just make sure everything is coated. Lastly, put it in the microwave for about 90 seconds and voila:  french toast in a cup!

This didn’t get high reviews, unfortunately, because there wasn’t enough cinnamon. I recommend using about one-half of a teaspoon. Overall, don’t expect the french toast your mom makes, but it was pretty good considering it was cooked in a microwave. 

Both of these took less than 10 minutes to make and cost less than $15. They were also pretty fun to do and might help you get some variety in your diet. 

Olson can be reached at [email protected].