The breakfast of champions

Imagine for a second that it’s Friday night and you and your guildies are having a World of Warcraft-fest. Yes you’re working on the latest raid, half the bosses are down and you’re on a roll, you’ve also got the munchies. Outside it’s already dark and rain is pouring so hitting the 7-11 is out and there’s precious little in the house. What are you going to do?

Raiding, last time I checked, requires at least one hand so a roast dinner is out. Pizza or takeaway is a great idea but expensive and not everyone is lucky enough to have dial and deliver. But, there are plenty of options for raiding fuel which doesn’t involve Mountain Dew and M&Ms.

As the nights draw in the and temperature begins its inevitable drop, the last thing you want to do before a raid is run to the store or supermarket. Like any raid, it’s all in the preparation. If you want feasts and buffs in-game, you do it before you go into the dungeon and the same applies in the real world.

Snacks fuel our raiding.

Snacks are your first port of call: a bowl of chocolate chips or crisps, a sandwich would work. Too much sugar is bad and will also make you hyper and no one really likes gnawing on veggies, even if they are tasty. My personal recommendation would be breadsticks wrapped in parma ham or batons of cheese with some lovely balsamic vinegar.

But what if you need something more substantial? This is where chopsticks come in. Years of uni and time in Japan has taught me that if you need to eat and [insert chosen activity here] then chopsticks are the way to go. If you eat loads of things like ramen, bowls of Japanese rice or stir fries while your working you’ll know they’re perfect dishes for eating while you surf. For an eating implement, you can do pretty much everything with chopsticks from buttering bread to flaking fish. Heck, you can even eat cake with them. Hmm … cake …

The last thing you're going to want is a last-minute trip for munchies mid-dungeon.

The best thing to do is have a cupboard full of things you can whip up in minutes pre-raid. Things you can throw together with little time and effort. But, at the same time, good food is going to improve your raiding ability, especially late at nights. Yes I know it sounds glib but it works.

So what are the best things to pick up the next time you hit the store? Well it depends on your preferences: fruit, nuts, chocolate, even pizza. You can make a fresh pizza or bake a chocolate cake in thirty minutes and we mean from scratch, not from one of those boxes. Pizzas are also really easy, you just need yeast, strong flour and water for the base, then tomato puree, cheese and whatever you enjoy for the toppings.

The lesson here is basically, be imaginative. The next time you’re wandering those aisles, don’t go for the usual suspects, the Nachos, the chips and the chocolate. Cook up a storm and make sure you have some essentials in your cupboards, fridge and freezer. You’ll be thankful the next time it’s a cold and wet raid night.