Interested in mixing up your dining hall experience? Is our beloved Peirce just not doing it for you anymore? Having one dining hall can sometimes get a little boring, but lucky for you, we asked our members to share their favorite Peirce hacks for some inspiration. In no time, you’ll be sitting down during lunch and all your friends will be asking where you got the delicious food on your plate.  

Warm Cinnamon Apple and PB Snack

Catherine Gouchoe '19

Introducing your new favorite on-the-go treat! Grab the least mealy apple you can find and cut it up into thin slices. Sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon on the apples or even some sugar if you’re feeling adventurous. The spice is typically found either near the oatmeal station or the toasting station, depending on the time of day. Take some parchment paper and stick the apples in the panini press and wait for them to soften and the cinnamon to soak in. Next, find your favorite bread to toast (or rice cake for a Gluten Free option) and spread some peanut butter on it. Add on the apples and drizzle on some granola- look you’ve created a masterpiece! 

Catherine Gouchoe

Open-Faced Melted Cheese Sandwich

Marli Volpe '19

Sandwiches are always a great option when you don’t like the stations at Peirce, but sometimes it’s nice to mix things up! If you take a piece of toasted bread and then place your choice of cheese and a large piece of lettuce on top, then you can melt the cheese in the panini press by using the lettuce as a barrier to keep anything from sticking to the parchment paper! After the cheese has melted, remove the lettuce and add the rest of your sandwich fixings to have a nice open faced sammy! 

Brianna Maggard

Crunchy PB & J Oats

Bri Maggard '19

Peirce has 6 delicious and local jelly options, and they make a great sweetener in morning oatmeal! Not to mention, you can count on Peirce every morning to have both jelly and crunchy PB, so your breakfast oats never have to be boring.

Brianna Maggard

Open-Faced Bagel Sandwich

Bret Lowry '19

Give this a try if you’re looking to venture into your creative side. Start off with a toasted bagel, lather a layer of cream cheese on it, and then head on over to the sandwich bar. My favorite assortment begins with a piece of provolone cheese, followed by a couple pepperoni slices and topped with a juicy tomato slice. A dash of salt and pepper may bring some further delight to your flavor-seeking taste buds. Also, keeping this johnson open-faced means you can double your fun by experimenting with different flavor combinations on each half of the bagel.

Bret Lowry

Thai Peanut Sauce

Caitlin Kennedy '19

Looking for a new way to spice up your meal? This thai peanut sauce adds a sweet and spicy twist to any bowl of noodles, salad, wrap and so much more. Start off by finding a mug (or disposable cup) to use as a mixing bowl and grab a fork and spoon. Next, combine the following ingredients into the cup. (In this case, 1 spoonful = 1 teaspoon, and 3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon)

-2 teaspoons of creamy peanut butter

-1 tablespoon of soy sauce

- ½ teaspoon of sriracha

-½ teaspoon of honey

-a dash of garlic powder

-a dash of red pepper flakes

-a pinch of salt

-a pinch of sugar

-1 tablespoon of hot water (from the tea station)

Whisk these all together using your fork and enjoy!

You heard it from our members. Now which Peirce hack are you going to try out first?