If you're a college student, you probably know the struggle of finding food, whether you're low on meal plan money or off the meal plan altogether. However, a swipe into Rastall can go a long way if you know how to maximize your nine dollars. Here are several tips, tricks, and hacks collected from various Colorado College students.

1. Cookies in the panini press

sweet, cookie, cake, pastry, candy, butter, bread, chocolate, cream
Julia Gilman

The lunch panini is a classic, but a cookie sandwich in the panini press? Game changer. Simply take two cookies of your choice, add peanut butter or Nutella in between them, and put them in the panini press for a couple minutes. When they're done, add some ice cream on top.

2. Homemade mocha

milk, cream, coffee, sweet, chocolate, cappuccino, tea, espresso, dairy product
Taylor Fry

Fill up a coffee cup with your choice of ice cream, then pour coffee over the rest. If the hot chocolate machine is available, add a splash of that as well to further sweeten your drink.

3. Arnold Palmer

juice, sweet, cocktail, ice
Julia Gilman

Want iced tea and lemonade but can't decide between them? Fill up a glass with unsweetened black tea, then add lemonade to the rest. It's not your 99-cent can of Arnold Palmer at the store, but it's pretty damn close.

4. Syrup and tots

sweet, candy, cake, pastry
Kristen Yang

You may typically put ketchup on your tots and syrup on your pancakes, but syrup on your tots provides an entirely new experience. You can do this at midnight breakfast, or if you're lucky and they have tots for breakfast.

5. Pasta salad

pasta, broccoli, salad, vegetable, macaroni, spinach
Julia Gilman

Fill up a plate with fresh pasta, then go to the salad bar and add salad toppings to your pasta. All you need is a few tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and salad dressing and you have a homemade pasta salad.

6. Cake Blizzard

cream, milk, sweet, dairy product, chocolate
Taylor Fry

If you're at Rastall during dinner hours, for a creative dessert, add a piece of cake to a bowl of ice cream and stir the two together. You'll get a fantastic cake blizzard that combines your two favorite desserts.

7. Rastall Takeout Box

apple
Laura Santi

From a quick glance, this seems like an ordinary box. It has three compartments and you can purchase it for the small price of $4.99 at the cash register by Rastall's entrance. However, it holds a ridiculous amount of food. You can get at least two meals out of this box, maybe three if you're lucky.

8. Brunch

cream, berry, blueberry, sweet, pastry, chocolate, blueberry pie, whipped cream, pie, cake, dairy product
Julia Gilman

Instead of staying at brunch for only an hour, go to Rastall right at 10:30 am when brunch opens and get breakfast foods. Hang around for a little while, socialize, even bring some work to do, and then help yourself to lunch foods. Brunch closes at 1:30 pm but you'll be able to stay in Rastall for a while longer.

These are just some hacks to get you started, and with Rastall's variety of food options throughout the week, you can always find more creative combinations involving the global entrée or a holiday-themed special. Just remember, in an all-you-can-eat dining hall, your money can be worth more than you realize.