Food that can be eaten cold for a C19 student. Ideas please

[Mydogisagentleman]

As it says, our DD has tested positive for COVID 19 after a visit to A+E.
She is still at university and all I can do is arrange a food delivery.
Apart from tuna ready meals, can anyone think of anything else.
She has a very restricted range of food that she will eat, pretty much fish, chicken and white bread. Unfortunately she can’t visit her kitchen at the moment.

Does she have a kettle and microwave in her room ?
Get those ready cooked chicken breasts, they can be eaten cold or heated up.
Will she eat the microwave rices and anything like a Pot Noodle /pot rice ?

So can she not even refrigerate the food you send?

Does she have a fridge in her room or does everything have to be able to be stored in a cupboard ?
Can she have hot food delivered ?

Why don’t you ask her for a list?

Could you order her a kettle for her room and then maybe some pot noodles? You can get it all next day delivery on Amazon.
A mini fridge like this would be good as well www.amazon.co.uk/gp/slredirect/picassoRedirect.html/ref=pa_sp_phone_search_atf_aps_sr_pg1_1?widgetName=sp_phone_search_atf&adId=A04494923DBB480XZIELK&qualifier=1624170490&id=3601262298162813&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&ie=UTF8&url=%2FCENXINY-Fridges-Portable-Powered-Cosmetics%2Fdp%2FB08V8FTM83%2Fref%3Dmp_s_a_1_2_sspa%3Fdchild%3D1%26keywords%3Dmini%2Bfridge%2B15l%26qid%3D1624170490%26sprefix%3Dmini%2Bfr%26sr%3D8-2-spons%26psc%3D1

Assuming she has a kettle and a fridge.
Soup noodles, that are like pot noodles, just add boiling water. Then chicken or crab meat and veggies.
Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall did a program with pot noodle suggestions that were fresh.
Salads, baguette rolls that can have her own Choice of meat and salad.
The odd meal delivery from a local restaurant.

Thanks for the replies.
She doesn’t have any sort of kit in her room, they aren’t allowed.
She can’t refrigerate anything although I think one of her friends would help her out with that.
She doesn’t want to put any of the remaining students at risk since most have gone home, she has mentioned using the kitchen but wiping everything down with antibacterial wipes.

Has she checked what arrangements the university has in place to support isolating students? I know they have been variable to say the least, but it seems odd to have literally no access to hot water or a fridge.

Assuming no fridge or microwave but yes to kettle. Send a travel kettle from Amazon if not.

Cream crackers with lemon curd, Nutella etc Bread for sandwiches, same theme.
Noodles is a soup mug with boiling water then leave the lid on - Maggi noodles are ace
Pot rice snacks can be lovely as are the pot Mac N Cheese
UHT milk for Tea and coffee each day, cereal etc. Don't use after it has been out for more than 2hrs.
Lots of bottled water, stay hydrated. Lemon and honey for a sore throat and 2 packs of paracetamol should be allowed in an online shop. Some throat sweets.
Tina or pots of rice pudding and custard
Tina or pots of fruit slices, peach, pineapple etc as well as fresh fruit like apples bananas and oranges.
Jar of hot dogs, eat within 24hrs
Complan drinks - if she is feeling unwell but can't get energy up then this can be mixed with the UHT milk to give her nutrients and calories. Nesquik if she's feeling ok and would enjoy a milkshake.

Offer to send her a takeaway via Deliveroo etc some evenings. Hope she's feeling ok in herself.

I think it's fine for her to use the kitchen. Ds had covid in his first month at university last year and they agreed set times when his flatmates would keep out of the kitchen so he could cook. He opened the windows and wiped the surfaces down after. None of them caught it. Being confined to 1 room for that length of time is inhumane IMHO. Even prisoners are allowed out for exercise!

Surely they could let her have a kettle and mini fridge just for a couple weeks in these circumstances?!

Does she have an en-suite ?

I know of students who were allowed to use the kitchen when no one else was in it. They can’t expect her to not cook anything or have a cup of tea/coffee in all that time.

She needs to inform the staff at the halls who should be able to help provide her with meals.

Please try and reduce your consumption of tuna.

This fish is over harvested and numbers are dropping. Some species are on the severely depleted

www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/may/02/overfishing-42bn-tuna-industry-risk-collapse

What about sending her a toastie maker?

I've just checked the support offered to students at my uni. Once they let support services know they are isolating they are delivered two hot meals per day plus a cold packed breakfast. There must be a similar set up at your DDs uni @Mydogisagentleman

@purpleleotard so..... 10 days isolation, no refrigeration, no means of cooking, limited diet. What about some constructive suggestions to solve the problem now you've removed one of the key things she could eat?

Most tinned food can be eaten cold, probably not that appetising for some but tuna, sweetcorn and mayo on bread would work.

Get her a kettle so she can have a hot drink, argue it out with the uni if they find out.

Once she has a kettle she can make pasta in a bowl - add the boiling water to a bowl of pasta (leave room for it to expand) and wait 10 mins. Add a jar of pesto.

If there is someone else in her flat / halls would they heat a microwave meal and deliver it to your dd? It could be left outside the door.

Does she eat meat? The 'Spanish selection' of hams don't need to be refrigerated, nor does most cheese.

I think I'd be sending

Fruit (fresh and tinned)
condiments to make things taste better, salad dressing, mayo,
Tinned meat and preserved meat.
Jars of olives and pickled onions depending on what she will eat.
Selection of cheeses
Bread (but not too much, in this heat it will go off)

I'd also look at camping supplies, you can get self heating canned food and army 'survival' rations that self heat. Amazon link below.

A coolbox and a couple of bags of ice would be really useful.

www.amazon.co.uk/Self-Heating-Field-Ration-Ready/dp/B00CALBAOM/ref=pd_day0fbt_img_2/262-6607412-9922030?psc=1&pf_rd_p=ef3d5090-b98e-4b26-af93-4d8b0839347b&_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_wg=0GmTE&pf_rd_r=VBG3Q72CX1JRQC2335T4&pd_rd_i=B00CALBAOM&pd_rd_w=nwQSo&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&refRID=VBG3Q72CX1JRQC2335T4&pd_rd_r=0d1bc344-c730-4866-8d71-80a897f741aa

Thanks for all the suggestions - bar the tuna lecture. I have been trying to phone her, but she isn’t answering.
I will advise her to contact student services ASAP. She has issues around texture, doesn’t eat vegetables or fruit or drink hot drinks or milk.
She does have an en-suite shower room so at least she can stay clean.
Ironically she was booked in for her first vaccination today.

Genuine question but why can't she arrange her own food delivery? I know she's isolating, but she will have access to the internet?

So she just needs to get a supermarket or uber delivery or whatever. Or you say she has friends who can help, so she can give them a list to go to the shop for her, she can pay them by money transfer and she can give them a list of the sort of things she can eat?

Definitely needs to talk to student services. They may have procedures in place, able to move her to a room with facilities, send her food packs, something else.

Or if they can't move her, if anyone nearby has access to a freezer, can they keep her supplied with a coolbag and freezer blocks so she can keep things like chicken chilled for a day or two while she eats it?

With a limited diet then I would be very worried about her getting enough calories a d nutrients, so I'd double down on the complan or other shakes that are Pre made that you could send. Complan can be mixed with water as well, it's just less calories than if you do it with milk. Pre made slim fast etc at least is balanced and fortified, if she can tolerate these. Try rice cakes and crisp breads as well that can have toppings on like jam and other preserves. You can also get small cans of tuna based toppings like tuna/lemon etc and I think they do coronation chicken type versions of it too.

@BarbaraofSeville maybe the OP just wants to help care for her DC who is far from home and in a strange and vulnerable situation? What a strange question, IMO. It’s objectively quite hard for anyone feed themselves without any kitchen equipment for the full isolation period and this DC is most likely quite young still.

What textures does she manage with out of interest? My DS has a thing with texture of food and we struggle with that.

Jelly pots is another one of she'll eat jelly.

@BarbaraofSeville - I think she is still shell shocked to be honest.
She went to the hospital because she had hurt her shoulders wakeboarding and couldn’t put her arms above wait height. Hospital have diagnosed some sort of ligament damage. I was not impressed with her actions.
I’ve had a look at the student support page (probably should have done that first) and it seems they offer more than I imagined.
Although she has been working for the past 6 weeks or so, it’s minimum wage and she has just £134 left in her bank account. Of course I will transfer some to her.
Thanks for all the suggestions