University is a time for unleashing your creativity, and the kitchen is no exception. When your fridge is empty, but your stomach is grumbling, you may have to resort to unique methods of feeding yourself.

With a student’s budget and plenty of free time, it’s no wonder Queen’s students have invented some unconventional snack recipes. Here are a few of Queen’s best weird food combinations in honour of students returning to their Kingston homes and kitchens.

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The crisp (chip) sandwich

“I learned this unique food combination from relatives from Northern Ireland, although its true origin is unknown.

A few years ago, our family reunion turned heated when a couple of my family members introduced this “delicacy” known as the crisp sandwich. For this strange combination, you’ll need to butter two slices of white bread and cover them with your choice of potato chip to make a sandwich. You can go simple and salty with plain salted chips, or tangy with Doritos—the choice is yours.

Although I don’t eat crisp sandwiches often, when I do, they remind me of the time my family gets to spend together.

If I’m feeling like something a little sweeter, I swap chips and butter for bananas and mayonnaise. This combination hits all the right notes—it’s sweet, salty from the mayonnaise, and soft from the white bread. I can’t wait to introduce it at my next family reunion, as I’m sure it’ll start another heated—and fun—debate.”

—Erin Burns, ArtSci ’20

Rice pudding with breakfast sausages

“Rice pudding is boiling on the stove, breakfast sausages are sizzling in the frying pan, and the kitchen is beginning to smell just like my parents’ house. This was the state of my kitchen in my second year at Queen’s, when I tried to recreate a dish that always reminds me of home: rice pudding with sausages on top.

My world was shaken shortly afterward when my housemate informed me that this is not a dish that inspires nostalgia for anyone else on earth.

I’ve eaten it for as long as I can remember, and I’ve never thought it was a strange combination. The recipe simply calls for homemade rice pudding with sliced breakfast sausages on top. The taste is similar to eating something sweet, like pancakes or French toast, with sausage or bacon on the side.

The dish was featured in one of the picture books that my mom used to read me when I was little. I begged her to recreate the recipe and it soon became one of my favourites.

I’ve since tried to find the recipe online to prove to others that it’s a common dish, but to my shock, I couldn’t find anything. As crazy as it sounds, I think I might be the only person in the world (other than the characters in the book) to eat rice pudding and sausages together.”

—Amelia Rankine, ArtSci ’20

Apples and bananas

“When it comes to strange food combinations, I can’t take credit for any of mine—the ideas usually come from TV shows. Whatever the source, I’m never the culinary mastermind.

One of my all-time favourite food combinations comes from the hit Nickelodeon show Zoey 101. In the episode in question, Quinn, the show’s resident teenage genius, tries to genetically modify a banana-apple hybrid fruit.

In one scene, to prove her point about the combination tasting good, she takes a bite out of an apple, then, in the same mouthful, one out of a banana. After watching this episode, I just hadto try it.

I take my hat off to that girl, because it’s a delicious combination.”

—Brittany Giliforte, ArtSci ’20

Peanut butter and mustard on saltine crackers

“For years, I’ve been recommending the combination of peanut butter and mustard (preferably French’s yellow mustard) on saltine crackers to those daring enough to try it.

It was first recommended to me by a friend in elementary school and I was pretty skeptical at first. But as soon as I tried it, it was love at first bite. The crunch and saltiness of the cracker perfectly complement the sweetness of the peanut butter. The mustard completes the bite by adding a sharp tang.

Trust me on this one—don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”

—Geneviève Nolet, ArtSci ’20