Staying on budget in college can be a big challenge, whether you mismanage your weekly meal plans and run out before Thursday or have trouble scraping together your change for an $8 tray of sushi in the JC.

On those desperate nights, students often turn to the epitome of all college food: Ramen noodles. The prepackaged meals are filling and flavorful and often retail for around 10 cents a package, a third of the price of a cup of water on campus.

But as your college career drags on and money stretches even tighter, the basic flavors of Ramen noodles can quickly turn bland and boring.

To solve those noodles woes, revolutionize the standard meal with a few extra ingredients for different flavors. I transformed my Oriental flavored noodle package into my version of a homemade peanut pad thai.

The add-ins I used this week cost only a few dollars each, and most can be saved and used again and again. The sriracha chili sauce added a spicy kick that the basic noodle packages don’t deliver. I’m not a big fan of spice, so I appreciated how the chunky peanut butter bit through the heat and provided some relief. The soy sauce added a hint of tang, but next time I’ll cut down on the amount of the prepackaged flavoring I use to keep the sodium levels a little lower. Finally, the scallions and red onion added a nice, fresh flavor and aroma to the meal and served as a beautiful garnish.