Education Guide 7.26.26 - Flipbook - Page 23
| Sunday, July 26, 2026 23
Dinner On Campus that
Goes Beyond Takeout
Baltimore native publishes cookbook for
cooking healthy while living in a dorm
By Gregory J. Alexander, Contributing Writer
A
s the mom of a daughter in her
freshman year of college, Jill Effron,
the founder of What’s in the Fridge?,
a successful Los Angeles-based personal chef and cooking instruction business,
knew that her daughter and friends would be
tempted to rely on pizza delivery and meal
delivery apps such as Uber Eats and Door
Dash for many of their meals. With the goal
of providing healthier, less expensive options,
Effron decided to create a cookbook that any
college student could use to create healthy
snacks, meals and drinks, despite the culinary
challenges of living in a dorm room or small
apartment. What’s in the Dorm Fridge? is an
easy-to-follow, colorful cookbook filled with
simple – but healthier – versions of dorm room
classics like instant ramen, oatmeal cups, pizza, nachos, and microwave popcorn, as well as
fancy coffee shop drinks.
From Baltimore to La La Land
Effron was raised in Baltimore and during
college at Ithaca (N.Y.) College, she had a summer internship with The Tonight Show in Los
Angeles. After graduation, she headed to L.A.
and had a successful career in television writing where she would host holiday gatherings
for friends and colleagues who, like her, were
East Coast transplants who couldn’t make it
back home to celebrate with family. Every December, she would make hundreds of sweet
treats for the casts and crews of the shows she
was working on.
After starting a family, she found that other parents kept commenting on the delicious,
healthy snacks she made for play dates, and
they encouraged her to start a personal chef
business.
“I’ve always been creative and artistic, and I
just think cooking is another way to be creative
and express yourself. Especially right now,
what we’re seeing in the food scene all over the
world is artistic plating, so as an artist, I found
cooking as a new way for me to create,” says
Effron. She credits her time in Ithaca, N.Y., in
college for broadening her culinary palate, especially vegetarian cuisine, made famous by
the Ithaca-based Moosewood restaurant.
“My husband and I decided when we
had kids that we were not going to do
the whole chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese thing; they were going
to eat real food. I had this thesis in my
head that I could convince my kids and
their friends to eat vegetables. Many parents
avoid cooking vegetables because they don’t
want to deal with food waste and tantrums at
the dinner table. I became the veggie whisperer amongst these kids by showing them how
a raw piece of broccoli could be sauteed into
something delicious,” she recalls.
You Can Cook in a Dorm Room?
Depending on which college you go to
or what type of dorm room you have – some
students are in traditional two-person rooms
where others live in a quad dorm room for
four students with communal living spaces
that may include a kitchenette – Effron says
that What’s in the Dorm Fridge? has recipes
for each situation.
“Most dorms have a kitchen in the lobby
area with a microwave and possibly a toaster
oven where you can cook most of these recipes. Take for example, pizza, which is so expensive to order. You can buy a few ingredients
for a fraction of the cost and create your own
version. Another easy one is peanut noodles.
With only a couple store-bought items you can
make a great snack or even have for dinner.”
Effron’s cookbook, which was designed
during the aftermath of her losing her home in
the Pacific Palisades fire, including the entirety of the contents of her kitchen, also includes
healthier versions of college staples such as
nachos and ramen noodles. “Those packaged
ramen noodles are packed full of sodium, but
I have a recipe for a healthier version in the
book.”
One of the unexpected surprises that arose
from publishing What’s in the Dorm Fridge?
is that the demographic went beyond college
kids. “I noticed that the demographic exploded
when my friend in New York was buying it for
her father, who’s in assisted living and doesn’t
have a kitchen anymore, just a microwave and
a fridge. It’s also great for anyone with a small
kitchen or who wants to create healthy dishes quickly or on a
tight budget.”
Buoyed
by
the success of her
first
cookbook,
Effron
recently
published What’s
in the Fridge?, a
new
cookbook
for busy people
to learn how to
use the ingredients they have on
hand in many different ways, therefore, saving themselves time, money and food waste.
She recognizes that many people have a fear
of failure in the kitchen, so she filled the book
with approachable, everyday recipes like bur-
rito bowls, easy roast chicken, pasta with fresh
tomato sauce, no-bake mixed berry cake, and
addictive spinach and artichoke dip.
“There are also recipes for meals that can
stretch several days so that you can take leftovers to work for lunch, such as turkey chili,
quiche or lasagna – meals that can be cut into
individual portions and frozen – or when you
have had a long day at work and don’t feel like
cooking dinner,” she says.
One of the primary goals for Effron with
her books is also to encourage people to make
cooking a social experience, especially college
kids. “Cooking is a great way to get to know
your roommate better and bring people together. Do a potluck on your dorm room floor
where everyone brings something different –
nachos, a Mediterranean platter or a grazing
board – and make it fun and easy.”
Both of Jill Effron’s cookbooks can be
ordered directly from the author by clicking on
the link on her two Instagram handles – @_
whatsinthefridge_ and @whatsinthedormfridge.
Otherwise, the books can be ordered by
emailing whatsinthedormfridge@gmail.com, or
online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart
and Etsy.
