Part of this complete breakfast

Swiping into a dining hall for breakfast costs me $6.82. Eating breakfast at home costs me about 90¢, depending on how good a deal I get on my cereal and whether there’s a banana in it or not.

But eating at home is way less fun. If you’ve ever paid attention to a cereal advertisement, you know that after the obligatory shots of smiling children and slow-motion milk splashing about, a picture of the bowl of cereal is shown next to what seems like a cornucopia of other foods, and the narrator of the commercial indicates that all of it together comprises a “complete breakfast.”

These “complete breakfasts” are the stuff of utopia, and I eat them with a frequency of between once a month and never in my off-campus domicile. These days, I simply have neither the time nor the resources to go all-out on breakfast. If you're a first-year or a particularly dining hall-friendly upperclassman and indulge in a premium meal plan, you certainly should be.

The dining hall options give the prospective complete-breakfaster a wealth of options. Cereal is just the beginning; this week I’ve compiled a few morning-starters you might not have thought of. They work best on the dining halls’ brunch days, when options are a bit more plentiful. Plus, you know we are sick of the brunch selection by November.

Not Your Typical Yogurt:

1. Put a scoop or two of Greek yogurt in one of the dining hall’s larger bowls (you’ll need room for mix-ins).
2. Add about half the amount of yogurt in peanut butter and some oats/granola. Mix well (the more viscous the peanut butter, the easier this part is).
3. Slice a banana into the bowl.
4. Drizzle some honey over everything and enjoy.

The Trifecta Breakfast Sandwich:

1. Select your grain of preference (an English muffin or whole wheat bread do nicely here) and lightly toast it.
2. Put a hash brown or two (whatever you have room for) on one slice.
3. Add a fried egg on top of the hash brown.
4. Follow up the egg with some bacon.
5. Add one of the following condiments: hot sauce, barbecue sauce, ketchup or, best of all, sriracha and mayo. Without a condiment, the sandwich will be a bit dry.
6. Close the sandwich; commence your feast.

The Biggest Bagel

1. Be very, very hungry.
2. Toast a bagel. For this recipe, you’ll want a salty bagel -- none of that cinnamon raisin stuff.
3. Put a fairly thick layer of cream cheese on one half.
4. Choose a protein. Bacon and turkey make for a killer combo, and any of the deli meats make for solid standalone choices.
5. Add a slice of cheddar cheese.
6. Close the sandwich and place it on a panini press for just long enough to melt the cheese.
7. If there’s any out, put some roasted red peppers or the sautéed onion and pepper mix on top of the cheese.
8. Add some lettuce for crunch.
9. Close the sandwich and smash it with your palm to make it ingestible.

I understand it’s easy to get sick of dining hall breakfasts. But when you do, just redirect your attention to the variety of ingredients they leave at your disposal. A normal day in the dining hall yields seven distinct breakfast subgroups. Choose three, and that leaves you with 35 different options.

Otherwise, if you ever want to try one of these complete breakfasts, but don’t have the confidence/don’t want to make it yourself/would like to be waited on, I’ll happily make you one in exchange for being swiped in.