This is more of set of instructions than a recipe as it is not from scratch:

There are many brands of microwavable macaroni and cheese, available at every corner grocery store or supermarket. A microwave is not, however, needed to cook these mac'n'cheese products. 
Today we will show you how to cook mac'n'cheese (the kind that comes with the dry, separated, noodles and cheese) using the hot water from your electric kettle. We will also class it up with the addition of peas, cooked with (you guessed it) boiling water from your kettle. Add some freshly ground pepper and you have a fantastic dinner from your dorm room!

    
Instructions:

1. Put the peas in the thermos and cover with boiling water (try to fill the thermos as close to an inch from the top)

2. Cover with lid and let sit for 4 minutes.

3. Pour the peas into the colander (or just tip the thermos, draining the water while avoiding spilling the peas) and let sit. Add pat of butter if you want.

4. Add plain noodles, from the package, to thermos. Pour boiling water over the noodles untill it reaches a level at least 2 inches above macaroni. Cover with lid.

5. Stir with a spoon after 1 min to prevent noodles from sticking together and replace the lid. Swirl thermos occasionally for remaining 3 mins. (boiling water can spurt out of the closed thermos when it is sloshed around so be careful)

6. Pour out as much water as possible from top of noodles (it is OK if some water remains) and leave noodles in thermos.

7. Add the dried cheese and stir into noodles. More warm water from the kettle may be added to reach desired consistency. 

8. Stir peas into mac'n'cheese.

Add fresh pepper and munch away!

Most people have a few staple food items in their dorm rooms, like chocolate bars, peanut butter, and chocolate-hazelnut spread. We are no different. It seems only natural that our kettle double boiler should be used to create a delicious treat that combines all three flavors.
This masterpiece is modeled after a standard peanut butter cup, but the added Nutella brings in a different type of nuttiness and sweetness to the classic combination. 
This particular set of ingredients is a good mix, but if you aren't a nut person or if you want to get creative, the same method of layering chocolate can be used with any filling (ie. raspberry preserves, or roasted almonds.)
Feel free to adjust the type of chocolate, as well. We used very dark chocolate, because we are purists, but a nice hazelnut chocolate bar would go wonderfully with a Nutella filling...
Enjoy!

Ingredients(makes 4 PeaNutella cups):

• About 2 Cups of Melted Chocolate
• Filling of choice, we used (4 spoons) peanut butter (f)
• Nutella (4 dollops)
• Aluminum Foil for the cups

Instructions:

1. Push squares of foil into the cap of the peanut butter to form the cups
2. Melt half of the chocolate and pour it, in even amounts, into the foil cups. Shake each cup to even out the chocolate layer

3. Place the chocolate cups in your mini-fridge/freezer until the chocolate is hard

4. Spread a spoonful of peanut butter over the chocolate and then add a layer of Nutella. Make sure to leave the edges of the chocolate uncovered.

5. Melt the second half of your chocolate and pour it over.


6. Put all of the cups in the fridge again until cooled and then enjoy!




When made with dark chocolate, these can be a little overwhelming. This can be a wonderful thing for people who like strong, nearly dehydrating desserts. For the more standard sweet-tooth, however, we suggest using milk chocolate instead or replacing the filling, maybe with mint frosting or a fruit preserve!

What better way to bring in the holidays than with homemade peppermint bark? 
For those of you who don't know, peppermint bark is a treat made out of 3 types of layered chocolate (milk, white, and dark) and topped with crushed up candy canes.
The candy is very popular this time of year, and we thought it would be fantastic to find a way to create our own, dorm friendly, version. 
As an added bonus, peppermint bark is a great recipe to demonstrate the effectiveness of our double boiler method. 
So here goes...

Directions:
 1. Fold a sheet of aluminum foil into an open rectangular box (the base should be as long as the original chocolate bars, and just a bit wider)

 2. Break up the milk chocolate and place it in your double boiler

 3. Stir the chocolate as it melts, keeping it over the kettle until there are no more chunks

 4. Pour into aluminum foil and spread evenly over base

 5. Put in mini-fridge (freezer recommended) for 5 minutes while you melt next layer of chocolate

 6. Add layer of white and return it to the fridge 

 7. Layer on the melted dark chocolate and then sprinkle the crushed peppermint over

 8. Let bark cool for 10 minutes in the fridge before eating

 9. Cut into chunks and share with your friends! 

This is the beginning of something great.
Two Julias from James 4th floor at Amherst College are going to share their recipes with the world.
Awesomeness to ensue!