Hey there, listeners, future callers and cooking enthusiasts.

Welcome to DinnerSOS, the show where we help you save dinner or whatever you're cooking.

I'm Chris Morocco, food director of Bon Appetit and Epicurious.

Our caller this week, Karen, is originally from Atlanta.

But for the next couple of years, she'll be living in Houston,

where she's getting her MFA in poetry.

Of course, graduate school comes with some new challenges,

classes, exams, teaching undergraduates,

and in Karen's case, a dormitory kitchen with its own

set of problems. The fire alarm is super sensitive in the building, and multiple people have set

off the fire alarm just by stir-frying on the electric stove. Yeah. And the hood doesn't really

work. This is why I'm like trying to avoid using the electric stove.

Sure, yeah.

Because I don't want to like set off a fire alarm.

See, cooking for herself was a big part of Karen's plan to stay on a budget this year.

And back in Atlanta, Karen cooked all the time.

I had a walk.

So I would like do a lot of stir fries, sort of like homey Chinese dishes,

like mako tofu, without the meat, obviously.

And then like stir-fried cauliflower, I love tomatoes and eggs.

That's my favorite dish ever, like comfort food. But the dorm kitchen situation

has made cooking for herself, especially for lunch, a challenge. It's been like two months,

...