13 Innovative Ways To Cook In A Dorm Room

All across the country, students have finally left home after a long summer break and are settling in to college life — which means meeting new people, learning new study habits, and (unfortunately) eating at the dining hall.

For the 13 Innovative Ways to Cook in a Dorm Room Slideshow, click here.

At the dining hall, it's easy to heap massive portions on your plate, and a nice green salad and grilled chicken isn't half as appealing as endless pizza and cookies. If you're looking to avoid the much-dreaded "freshman 15" (or the ol' college 40), then cooking for yourself is an absolute must.

However, many colleges require that you live in a dorm room for at least your first year of school. Most dorms won't allow hot plates or open flames, and you're certainly not going to have a stove in your tiny double-occupancy dorm. So, how are you supposed to cook for yourself? The answer, my friends, lies in bringing along a few key kitchen gadgets and getting creative with them.

Not only can that coffee pot brew endless cups of coffee, it can also boil eggs and meats for you. And that iron that your mom insisted you bring along to get your suit ready for job interview can actually be used to make delicious, healthy toasted sandwiches. Don't believe us? Click here to find out 13 innovative ways to cook in a dorm room.