When the Spawns were first on their own, I bought each of them a short (3-month? 6-month? I don’t remember) subscription to Bokksu to keep them in touch with their Japanese roots. Maybe there’s something similar for these kids?
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Speaking of dorm room food prep - my younger sister was a dab hand at cooking papad with an iron. She would always have packs of Lijjat papad on hand for a quick snack.
Bhel - my kid hasn’t really been exposed to it. I think in Bengal this is called jhal muri. But he loves sprinkling MDH Chunky Chaat Masala on a lot of stuff, even on stuff like pasta. I know he’ll need a few boxes of that in any care package.
Upma is a big favourite. I like the instant upma packs you can get in India nowadays.
I don’t think these are widely available outside of Switzerland - vacuum packed rösti that just need finishing off in a frying pan. They are shelf stable and have a really long shelf life as long as the packaging stays sealed. And the serving size is perfect for teenage boys - around 500 grams per pack.
Cans of nice brands of tuna and crab are also something my son would just eat straight from the can.
This is a fun project. You have to upload some photos of your finished care packages!
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Oooh - you fancy! I’d like one of those please!
PSA for you: NO FISH IN A DORM ROOM!
For the sake of the roommate, and the floormates, and harmony, and not being labeled stinky kid, and all that.
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Ha! In my workplace, it is not at all unusual for colleagues to bring fish for their meal. It’s better if they just eat it cold (eg. tuna or smoked salmon in a sandwich or salad) but sometimes something containing fish will be heated up in the microwave which is quite an anti-social thing to do in a common staff room!
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I’m envisioning a can of tuna opened in a dorm room by a kid with too many thumbs, squirting tuna juice somewhere inadvertently, then throwing the can in the garbage which doesn’t get emptied for a while…
You with me? 
(Meanwhile, my nephew is vegetarian and I’m not even thinking down the path — he’s been well-exposed so it doesn’t bother him, but I have friends whose kids would probably apply for a transfer based on this 
)
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I guess the fact that there is just the one pot makes me wonder.
I’m going to guess no one was planning to cook?
My meal plan covered everything. The only cooking we did was mac & cheese and brownies
(Other than partaking of people’s latkes and other seasonal expressions)
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Maybe get her a canvas tote that can hold a pot or two and a small knife roll (and a wooden or silicone spoon)? I kept my kitchen equipment under my bed and brought it down to the dorm kitchen as needed).
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Our dorm kitchen was barely used. Mostly just to store things for campus groups who were having an event in the lounge
The one memorable exception was when one of the guys on first north decided to roast the pheasant he hunted that weekend. It did not go well and the fire department visited at 4am. The kitchen was closed the rest of the semester
His floor mates thanked him by picking up and carrying his vehicle off the parking lot the following weekend.
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Not specific to care packages, more about dorm cooking: there are a few appliances that seem to be highly recommended in a celiac travel group I belong to… these might work for travel kitchens in general.
Collapsible mini kettle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YRT7WJ9?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Electric hot pot: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4J89GSJ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Dash mini griddle and mini toaster
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Well, one Spawn is in Montana, where the Tastes of Home are a little tough to come by. The other one is in Berkeley and can walk to Tokyo Fish, Berkeley Bowl, or Whole Foods to get a fix, but I had to be fair!
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Money.
Everyone likes money.
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A bunch of the goodies I ordered arrived today.
The cutest thing is how excited my Mom — ie grandma of recipient(s) — got about the whole “project” as she saw the kids’ favorite snacks show up in send-able form
Now she’s editing “my” list (are you sure they’ll like X? What about Y? Let’s send a sample of Z then you can take more next time if they like it! 
)
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What do the kids have access to? Is it just a microwave and perhaps an electric kettle? Do they have a mini fridge?
You’ve listed what is top of my mind already. As you’ve provided a bowl or similar vessel to make their own ramen, I would say check out the nearest big Asian grocery store if you can. The variety of instant noodles is pretty amazing these days. I use similar options for the quick lunch to bring in to the office, and many Asian cultures have a lot of different “instant” foods to take to the office that would serve your purpose well. Just the variety of bowls and cups of noodles is amazing, which I find easier than make sure your noodles fit the shape of your heating vessel.
Korean food as an example have instant rice cakes, congee, and even the small bowls of rice. If they have access to a fridge, just the microwavable rice with a variety of pickled goods (kimchi, Japanese pickled cucumbers, etc) are really good. Korea and Japan also has refrigerated fish sausage that can just be eaten as is, or cut up and thrown into ramen/soup noodles.
The Chinese aisle also has different types and canned fish, and many of these are fine at room temperature or a quick microwave (if it helps, not all of these are smelly when microwaved). Example, fried dace with black beans. Again, these are great when paired with rice.
EDIT: Adding video about the tinned fried dace just for reference:
(The cooking parts of course would not apply)
Lastly - how about some furikake to sprinkle with rice? If they want something fun - send them dried nori (great snack too, or just cut the sheets and eat rice with it). They can use that and make their own rice balls with the furikake and rice.
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Agree…send stuff they can’t get where they’re at…or food from or like from home. Cookies and snacks are great but something that addresses homesickness or eating institutional food.
Dorm food was horrible, so bad I don’t remember much. I remember during a break I came home and was sleeping on the sofa when my mom said dinner was ready. Instead of the normal complaining, dragging my feet and asking what it was…apparently I got right up, sat down and ate everything in front of me. When I was almost done, my mom looked at me and asked if I was okay? I said yes, why do you ask? “Because you got right up, didn’t say a word and ate everything.” I simply said, the food was AWFUL, horrible. My mom smiled a crazy sublime grin.
That’s when I realized I better learn to cook. When I moved to an apartment, my mom started sending cookbooks and cookware…including a rice cooker I still have and use.
For cookware, perhaps send a small electric kettle for ramen, tea, etc. or toaster oven? That might be better for later, when the fun and newness wears out.
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In fact, the terrible food was a reason I moved out of the dorms second semester of my freshman year. I lucked into a household that got fresh bulk veggies from the food coop, learned to stir-fry and bake bread, and lost the freshman-5 I’d picked up. It’s ironic, the food isn’t good but freshies still put on weight (the serve-yourself ice cream probably helped).
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Getting ready to start putting together the first round of care packages!
I made Nutella balls today aka Ferrero rocher balls aka date and nut energy balls. But the package of dates available only made 22 small ones, which will maybe last 5 days at the rate of 4 popped in a series, so I have to do it all over again tomorrow, lol.
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Every once in a while Kramer really came through, didn’t he?
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