This past week I was so busy with work I realized how hard it is to eat dinner at Lowry if you have other obligations in the evening. The dance concert was this past week, and we had rehearsals and performances every single day. Call time for the crew was 5pm, which is when Lowry starts serving dinner. This meant that I would either have to be late to work so I could eat dinner or just skip dinner altogether and grab 4th meal if I had time later. I realized how hard it might be for students who work in the evening or at night to get dinner. They are able to go to Kitt for 4th meal, but it doesn’t have the variety of options that Lowry does.

Most of the days I ended up having microwavable Kraft or Velveeta mac & cheese cups before work. This isn’t the healthiest dinner, but it’s quick and portable so I could make it in my room and eat it on the way to work. These made me appreciate easy-to-cook meals that you can eat on-the-go, especially because I can’t eat in the costume shop at work.  

The only saving grace this week was the fact that my boss, Pla, said she had snacks for us when we told her how hungry we were. She brought out some Thai snacks and cookies for us. The cookies were flower-shaped and had jelly in the middle. They tasted so good and were a good tiny snack that we could eat quickly during intermission. She also promised us that we would have a potluck and she would make us some of her Thai dishes because there’s no good Thai food in Wooster and we want to try some. I’m so excited to share more about that in the coming week!

There are hundreds of popular fast food chains across the country, but which ones are actually worth it to go to?

I have very strong opinions on food and fast food to me is a very hit or miss option for dining (if you can even call it that). My personal favorite fast food restaurant is Culver’s, a more midwestern chain that makes the best fast food burgers in the country. And yes, I am including in-n-out. The double butter burger combo with onion rings and a shake is the best fast food order in the country. Chic-fil-a also has a good argument for the top spot, the deluxe chicken sandwich is elite and the fries are amazing, plus Chic-fil-a sauce is undefeated. My last example of a top-tier fast food restaurant is Jersey Mike’s. The best hot subs around, no questions asked. The chicken Philly has several different variations like chicken bacon ranch and buffalo chicken and all of them are incredible. It’s the perfect combination of juicy meat and delicious cheese. Mcdonald’s for me is on the other end of the spectrum. I am an avid hater of Mcdonald’s, they have good fries and good sprite but the good pretty much stops there. Their burgers are terrible, their nuggets are mid and their happy meals don’t even make me that happy anymore. Not to mention their ice cream machine is always magically “broken.” Subway is down there with Mcdonald’s, it’s a dollar store version of Jersey Mike’s. When you go to a subway you smell like you went to a subway for the next three weeks. Their bread is gross and they constantly have health problems that make headlines. 

Everyone loves the C-store. It is easy to access quick desk snacks or wholemeal replacements in some cases. But no one ever thinks about what is important to bring to the C-store. or how to bring things back from the C-store. Let’s make a scenario. You are in your room and you want to enjoy some pop and some soda while watching films for your class. So you head off to the C-store for a snack run and maybe get some other essentials while you are there. Maybe you got yourself pretty sweaty and decide to pick up some deodorant or you get some cups to drink your pop in or another box of garbage bags because you gotta throw everything away too. You don’t expect to carry all this stuff in your hand or god forbid this thin, brown, paper bag?

There is no way that would even the chips and pop with how much air is in the bag of chips and with how large the bottle of pop is. So what now? carry it in your arms? Absolutely not! If you whats going to protect it from the elements and it’ll only increase your likely hood of dropping everything! But don’t worry too much because the C-store is always prepared even when you are not. With all this product coming in they never have a shortage of old boxes you can carry back with you! Have multiple items in a spacious box you can carry as much as you can in!

However, there is still a better way of going about this. The average person is already generating a lot of waste by having chips and pop and throwing away the can, bottle, or wrapper it came in. Instead, be a little more thoughtful when going to the C-store. Ask yourself what you need and if the C-store has it or not. And then bring your own reusable bag or container to carry your groceries back from the C-store. That way you’re creating a little less waste and creating less work and stress for yourself getting back!

Starting with the Asiago Italian sub sandwich as my primary source of calories. The sandwich itself contains wheat bread, ham, asiago cheese, and pepperoni. In the nutrition facts, the sandwich contains 400 calories per serving. POPs also appear to offer a variety of different types of sub sandwiches. Furthermore, POP’s meal options also include Caesar salades if sandwiches are not what catches your eye.

For the side option, I decided on Vitamin water paired up with blueberry yogurt. While those were my options, POP’s meal plan also offers Powerade, Coca Cola, strawberry yogurt, Lay’s, Doritos, etc.

I also decided to add on to my meal option and grabbed Takis chips paired up with a Coke. I ended up regretting picking these snacks, but it served as a reminder not to pair these options together. Overall, POP’s meal plan ended up being a decent option that serves as a break from Lowry’s meal options. I do plan on trying the different options POPs offer in the future. Maybe even trying the Ceaser salads that they offer. I personally am not fond of salads, but this might end up changing my mind. I will never know till I try it out.