So as a Helaman Halls resident, I've grown accustomed to eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the Cannon Center. (For those of you who don't know, the Cannon Center is basically the BYU cafeteria). Overall, I love the Cannon Center! It's fairly good, especially for cafeteria food, and it has a lot of options available; however, eating there every single day can get a little old. Us freshmen thus have to turn our culinary creativity on to ensure that our meals don't become monotonous. Here are some great Cannon Center hacks that can help you keep your dining experience interesting:
1.) The Y App is a necessity for your freshmen year. With it, you can access the Cannon Center's menu every day of the week, and you can also see the nutritional facts of anything they serve. So if nothing looks appetizing, you can go get dinner somewhere else. Or you can plan your schedule around the chicken quesadilla day at the grill (they are soooo good!)
2.) The Cannon Center does build-your-own burgers and mini pizzas on the off-hours of the day (usually from around 2:30-4). Super good!
3.) You can ask for basically anything at the stations. Like sometimes, a station will have Chinese food for lunch, and I'll go up and ask for two scoops of rice and then make a killer burrito out of it. And other times, I'll go to grill and ask for a basket of sweet potato fries to pair with whatever else I'm eating. This is good for all you picky eaters out there.
4.) There is a microwave in the Cannon Center!!! It's in the Grainery, by the cereal. I've seen people heat up chocolate chip cookies and apple pie in it... Mmmmm.
5.) Panini Bar! In the Euro station, there's a panini maker you can make use of. Just go over to the salad bar, create your panini, then ask one of the workers at the Euro to press it for you. Deliciousness!
6.) For special occasions, you can do waffles and ice cream for Sunday dinners. We did this for my friend's birthday, and it was a ton of fun! Every Sunday, they have BYU Creamery ice cream, and they have waffle irons available at all hours of the day. It's a SUPER yummy, tasty treat!
7.) The SALAD BAR! Honestly, the salad bar is waaaaay too underrated. It's got all kinds of secrets people don't know about because they never eat salad. For example, the salad bar often has gummy worms and goldfish out for the yogurt and salad bar respectively, but I'll often just go get a bowl full of Goldfish. The salad bar also usually has pico de Gallo, guac, and chips. There's nothing stopping you from putting guacamole on your bacon burger or ranch on your pizza. I've also made super yummy spinach berry salads using the berries from the yogurt bar. And my day is made whenever the salad bar has mozzarella cheese out because I usually top off my tomato and basil soup or chicken and white bean chili with some fresh mozzarella. Definitely, definitely use the salad bar.
8.) The salad bar also has ice cream bars! It's in one of the little areas that usually holds plates and bowls, but instead of holding plates and bowls, it holds ice cream. A pleasant surprise!
9.) Also at Grainery, there's a bunch of random stuff that's fun to eat. There's crunchy and creamery peanut butter, jelly, and bread, so you can make a PB&J sandwich for lunch. There's also a pump for caramel and hot fudge. Think of the possibilities of that! Fudge covered chocolate chip cookies... caramel sauce on your cheesecake... homemade caramel apples... toasted peanut butter banana sandwiches... the possibilities are endless.
10.) Breakfast at the Cannon Center is honestly the best meal they serve. They have a made-to-order omelet bar that's super good! They also make these amazing blueberry scones... soooo good. My personal favorite thing to eat is oatmeal or cream of wheat with raspberries, blueberries, and granola mixed in. Maybe I'm biased because I love breakfast foods, but my advice is to never skip breakfast at the Cannon.
So there you have it! There's honestly sooooo many more hacks I've heard of; this is just a little flavor of what eating at the Cannon Center is like. Feel free to comment below with your own favorite Cannon Center Creations!
Gosh, now I'm starving from thinking about all this food. Thanks guys. I'm going to head to the Cannon Center for dinner:)
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
My MOA Cafe
So I'm about to get my hard-core fan girl on... brace yourself for this. *buckles on helmet* *cracks knuckles* *rolls shoulders* K, you ready now?
The MOA Cafe is legitimately the BEST FOOD ON CAMPUS! Oh. My. Gosh. I discovered it last week randomly. My friend Bresciana was going and invited me to come along, and I'm so glad that she did! The MOA is a high-end soup, salad, and sandwich place. Since my roots are planted in Southern California, I've always been a bit of a health nut, and this place is particularly satisfying because it feels *relatively* light, refreshing, and healthy. My absolute favorite menu item they have there is the very berry salad: raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, candied almonds, and a sweet vinaigrette are combined to make me very, very happy. I also LOVE the Fontina Cheese Panini, and I hear that the chilled raspberry soup is also a work of art.
Here's the Very Berry Salad and the Panini I was talking about:
The location is also absolutely, perfectly gorgeous! It's in the top floor of the BYU Museum of Art (which is also the awesomest place ever, but I will talk about that later). The cafe has floor-to-ceiling windows that look out on Y Mountain, and on a rainy day, when the fog rolls in from off the mountains, it gives you the sensation that you're floating in the air on the tops of trees. The eating area itself is very homey and cozy, the perfect place for a date.
The only downside is the place is a little pricey... it's about $10 for a soup and salad or sandwich and salad. But I think it's definitely worth it, especially if it's covered by the MEAL PLAN!!!
So yeah. More information about the MOA can be found here. Just please go at least once; you won't regret it!
The MOA Cafe is legitimately the BEST FOOD ON CAMPUS! Oh. My. Gosh. I discovered it last week randomly. My friend Bresciana was going and invited me to come along, and I'm so glad that she did! The MOA is a high-end soup, salad, and sandwich place. Since my roots are planted in Southern California, I've always been a bit of a health nut, and this place is particularly satisfying because it feels *relatively* light, refreshing, and healthy. My absolute favorite menu item they have there is the very berry salad: raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, candied almonds, and a sweet vinaigrette are combined to make me very, very happy. I also LOVE the Fontina Cheese Panini, and I hear that the chilled raspberry soup is also a work of art.
Here's the Very Berry Salad and the Panini I was talking about:
The only downside is the place is a little pricey... it's about $10 for a soup and salad or sandwich and salad. But I think it's definitely worth it, especially if it's covered by the MEAL PLAN!!!
So yeah. More information about the MOA can be found here. Just please go at least once; you won't regret it!
Monday, April 24, 2017
BYU Blue Line
So, I recently discovered this, amazing, glorious, life-changing place on BYU campus called the Blue Line. It's in the bottom floor of the Tanner Building (which, if you're directional-ly challenged, is at the top of freshmen hill). I am literally so disappointed that I didn't discover this place earlier! It's got sub-style sandwiches, like the Monte Christo and the Cubano. It's also got this little wanna-be Cafe Rio place, complete with burritos, Taco Tuesdays, quesadillas, and salads. There's even a little make-your-own hot dog stand and a small market area with dark chocolate peanut butter, chips, and fresh fruit for sale.
But the best part... drum roll please... is the PB&J sandwiches! OH BOY THEY'RE SO GOOD! You can put anything you want on them. They have white chocolate, dark chocolate, and natural peanut butter, and you can add on bananas, apples, cinnamon, chocolate chips, and whatever else you want. My current favorite creation is a toasted dark chocolate peanut butter, apple, banana, and cinnamon sandwich. Slay me, it's so good.
The location is also pretty great. For those of you living in Helaman, it's super close and a super convenient place to stop for lunch on your way home from classes. Plus, the Tanner Building itself is simply GORGEOUS! If you've ever been to the Kennedy Center in Boston, it's like that. It's got this airy, atrium feel to it, and I always feel like I'm gaining brain cells just rubbing shoulders with all the smart people who study there. It's also just really pretty; it's naturally well-light, open, and decorated with the national flags of hundreds of countries. Sooooo it's the perfect place to eat a toasted dark chocolate peanut butter banana sandwich.
If you want to find out more information or see their hours, click here. Seriously go there. Please. And then send me a selfie of whatever you order so I can get properly inspired for the next time I go.
But the best part... drum roll please... is the PB&J sandwiches! OH BOY THEY'RE SO GOOD! You can put anything you want on them. They have white chocolate, dark chocolate, and natural peanut butter, and you can add on bananas, apples, cinnamon, chocolate chips, and whatever else you want. My current favorite creation is a toasted dark chocolate peanut butter, apple, banana, and cinnamon sandwich. Slay me, it's so good.
The location is also pretty great. For those of you living in Helaman, it's super close and a super convenient place to stop for lunch on your way home from classes. Plus, the Tanner Building itself is simply GORGEOUS! If you've ever been to the Kennedy Center in Boston, it's like that. It's got this airy, atrium feel to it, and I always feel like I'm gaining brain cells just rubbing shoulders with all the smart people who study there. It's also just really pretty; it's naturally well-light, open, and decorated with the national flags of hundreds of countries. Sooooo it's the perfect place to eat a toasted dark chocolate peanut butter banana sandwich.
If you want to find out more information or see their hours, click here. Seriously go there. Please. And then send me a selfie of whatever you order so I can get properly inspired for the next time I go.
How to Survive Finals 101
So first off: disclaimer. I'm not sure if I even survived finals this semester... I think I might have disintegrated and then been put back together by equal parts Cheez-its, Chisholm (my roommate), and chocolate. So my advice might not be the best... but too bad, y'all are going to get it anyway.
My first piece of advice is that two weeks before the end of finals, force yourself to write down everything you have due until the end of semester. It's slightly painful to do... but it will *hopefully* prevent you from writing a 10 page paper in two days. (Not that I speak from experience or anything...). After writing out everything you have left to do, you can prioritize your assignments and papers. It will also allow you to see what finals you have for each class, when and where you have to take them, and what you should study. Trust me, you will breathe easier knowing that you have everything under control. Or, at the very minimum, you will reduce your stress asphyxiation to a moderate choking sensation. *insert thumbs up emoji here*
You also need to plan some time to relax during finals week. If not, you'll go certifiably crazy. My friends and I hiked the Y the Saturday or two before finals, and that proved to be a great stress relief.
The combination of nature, moderately deathly exercise, and crazy friends made for a wonderful couple hours. The week leading up to finals, I also had a girl's night with my friends, complete with Pride and Prejudice, BYU Creamery ice cream, and more Cheez-its. It was another wonderful stress relief in the middle of a crazy week. Whatever you like to do, do it. Go for a hike. Hike your way up freshmen hill to the Blue Line. Line up for a Divine Comedy show. Show off your musical talents in the basement of your hall. Whatever you love to do, do it.
Also, always remember what matters most, and put that first. Okay, okay, I know that's cliche, but it's TRUE (as most cliche sayings are). Take a trip to the temple (there's two within walking distance, y'all have no excuse), wipe the dust off your scriptures, wear down the fabric of your jeans while on your knees, and call your mom and tell you you love her. You'll feel greater peace and happiness in your life, and you will just feel like less of a disaster in general.
Finally, DON'T FORGET TO EAT!!! And *try* not to just completely destroy your regular eating habits. I made the mistake of doing this... I frequently skipped breakfast, skipped lunch, ate dinner at weird hours, and binged on *ahem* exorbitant amounts Cheez-Its.... Listen up people, these were poor life decisions!!! They made me feel hungry and cranky, and I always felt worse knowing that I had been eating so unhealthily. When I get a good, solid breakfast, a satisfying lunch, and a healthy dinner, I feel more grounded and life is just better.
There's tons of other advice I have, which shall be forthcoming... in time *insert evil laugh* I just want to say, good luck on finals, my dear freshmen, and know that you CAN do this! Remember one trashy test grade or one *or five cough* sloppily written papers don't define you. And neither do the number of BYU Creamery ice cream scoops you binge eat (although that'd be nice... I'd be worth a lot because I've eaten so many).
Go slay your finals, or as my friend Sami would say, go "Get 'em Janet!"
My first piece of advice is that two weeks before the end of finals, force yourself to write down everything you have due until the end of semester. It's slightly painful to do... but it will *hopefully* prevent you from writing a 10 page paper in two days. (Not that I speak from experience or anything...). After writing out everything you have left to do, you can prioritize your assignments and papers. It will also allow you to see what finals you have for each class, when and where you have to take them, and what you should study. Trust me, you will breathe easier knowing that you have everything under control. Or, at the very minimum, you will reduce your stress asphyxiation to a moderate choking sensation. *insert thumbs up emoji here*
You also need to plan some time to relax during finals week. If not, you'll go certifiably crazy. My friends and I hiked the Y the Saturday or two before finals, and that proved to be a great stress relief.
The combination of nature, moderately deathly exercise, and crazy friends made for a wonderful couple hours. The week leading up to finals, I also had a girl's night with my friends, complete with Pride and Prejudice, BYU Creamery ice cream, and more Cheez-its. It was another wonderful stress relief in the middle of a crazy week. Whatever you like to do, do it. Go for a hike. Hike your way up freshmen hill to the Blue Line. Line up for a Divine Comedy show. Show off your musical talents in the basement of your hall. Whatever you love to do, do it.
Also, always remember what matters most, and put that first. Okay, okay, I know that's cliche, but it's TRUE (as most cliche sayings are). Take a trip to the temple (there's two within walking distance, y'all have no excuse), wipe the dust off your scriptures, wear down the fabric of your jeans while on your knees, and call your mom and tell you you love her. You'll feel greater peace and happiness in your life, and you will just feel like less of a disaster in general.
Finally, DON'T FORGET TO EAT!!! And *try* not to just completely destroy your regular eating habits. I made the mistake of doing this... I frequently skipped breakfast, skipped lunch, ate dinner at weird hours, and binged on *ahem* exorbitant amounts Cheez-Its.... Listen up people, these were poor life decisions!!! They made me feel hungry and cranky, and I always felt worse knowing that I had been eating so unhealthily. When I get a good, solid breakfast, a satisfying lunch, and a healthy dinner, I feel more grounded and life is just better.
There's tons of other advice I have, which shall be forthcoming... in time *insert evil laugh* I just want to say, good luck on finals, my dear freshmen, and know that you CAN do this! Remember one trashy test grade or one *or five cough* sloppily written papers don't define you. And neither do the number of BYU Creamery ice cream scoops you binge eat (although that'd be nice... I'd be worth a lot because I've eaten so many).
Go slay your finals, or as my friend Sami would say, go "Get 'em Janet!"
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Pro Tip: Check the Weather
So last week, Utah was FINALLY starting to get some nice weather. The whole campus has just felt like spring; with finals nearing, engagements happening left and right, and popcorn popping on the apricots trees, it has just seemed like spring is finally arriving.
And then yesterday happened...
Being the typical Southern Californian, I pulled out my shorts, slippers, and t-shirts the minute I felt the Sun on my face. On Saturday, I was dressed in what I thought was appropriate spring gear; a three-quarter length shirt, gray shorts, cheap slippers, and a side braid. For most of the day, this was actually a smart outfit choice (I do occassionally make smart life decisions). The day was nice; not too warm, not too hot, just perfectly in between.
Later in the day, however, my friends and I were heading home after attending a poetry slam in the Wilk. We opened the Wilk's double doors to exit, only to be assaulted by a barrage of frigid rain. Although I had had the foresight to bring a jacket to the event, I had not had the foresight to bring a jacket with a HOOD. My friends were in the same boat. We took refuge in the JKB, hoping maybe the rain would abate. After about ten minutes, we again attempted our journey home, only to discover that it was now SNOWING. We had no choice but to brave the weather in slippers and shorts.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the snow! I just love it so, so much more when my feet are snuggled in fur tipped, double laced North Face boots and my face is covered in a beanie and a hood.
The funny part of this whole story is that my sister had texted me had told me that it was supposed to snow on the weekend. She dutifully checks the weather every day to see what my day will be like here in Utah. If only I had listened to her careful warning... or at least bothered to check the weather myself.
So Pro Tip: Always, always, ALWAYS check the weather. For all you know you could get snow in July or heat waves in December (or more likely: both on the same day!)
And then yesterday happened...
Being the typical Southern Californian, I pulled out my shorts, slippers, and t-shirts the minute I felt the Sun on my face. On Saturday, I was dressed in what I thought was appropriate spring gear; a three-quarter length shirt, gray shorts, cheap slippers, and a side braid. For most of the day, this was actually a smart outfit choice (I do occassionally make smart life decisions). The day was nice; not too warm, not too hot, just perfectly in between.
Later in the day, however, my friends and I were heading home after attending a poetry slam in the Wilk. We opened the Wilk's double doors to exit, only to be assaulted by a barrage of frigid rain. Although I had had the foresight to bring a jacket to the event, I had not had the foresight to bring a jacket with a HOOD. My friends were in the same boat. We took refuge in the JKB, hoping maybe the rain would abate. After about ten minutes, we again attempted our journey home, only to discover that it was now SNOWING. We had no choice but to brave the weather in slippers and shorts.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the snow! I just love it so, so much more when my feet are snuggled in fur tipped, double laced North Face boots and my face is covered in a beanie and a hood.
The funny part of this whole story is that my sister had texted me had told me that it was supposed to snow on the weekend. She dutifully checks the weather every day to see what my day will be like here in Utah. If only I had listened to her careful warning... or at least bothered to check the weather myself.
So Pro Tip: Always, always, ALWAYS check the weather. For all you know you could get snow in July or heat waves in December (or more likely: both on the same day!)
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