Create the Perfect College Finals Survival Kit

When my oldest girls were in college, I belonged to a county mom's group for that university. Every spring and fall they would offer a finals kit that we could purchase to be delivered to our students during finals week. This was always a fun time for the moms group to get together and assemble the kit with items one of the club members purchased in bulk. A creative container was always part of the finals kit, too.

While I loved the idea of a finals kit, I was never very crazy about the contents: candy and junk food. This made absolutely no sense to me. During a time when the students would be having more stress, less sleep, and erratic meals, we were going to provide more sugar and processed food to their already weakened immune systems?

My solution was to create a personalized finals kit

Dorm Room Cooking

My son is not in a dorm this year, but he is not in an apartment either.  He is in a room- a no kitchen, no closet, bathroom down the hall kind of room.  We had to get creative for his kitchen essentials- microwave, refrigerator, crock-pot, and toaster oven.  This post is for him as well as students in the dorm (or even an apartment) who need cooking ideas for the microwave that goes beyond popcorn and pre-packaged food.

BEST BROWNIE MIX

I've been making mixes to send with my college son when he returns to school next week.  He will be living by himself in a dorm-like room, which means he has no kitchen.  But, he also has no meal plan, so he will be cooking for himself- with a microwave, toaster oven, and maybe a  Slow Cooker.  I'm not too worried, though, because I know there is a lot of good cooking that can happen with those three small appliances.

So far, I have made granola, mint coffee mix (recipe coming soon), and a homemade brownie mix.  We love this brownie mix.  The brownies can be made in the microwave, too, which is a plus for dorm life.

BIG BATCH HOMEMADE GRANOLA

My mom made this granola for my sisters and brother when we were growing up.  I don't remember her ever putting apples in it.  We liked raisins in our granola.  We called it dry cereal and ate it with milk poured over it.

I like to make a batch of this for when we camp or vacation.  I have added some variations over the years that we like even better.