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we were McD characters one year (making a huge Grimace took forever.. but was awesome)
my friends did BLT (bacon, lettuce, tomato, two breads.. you need 5 people) a while ago and I think they won a prize.

cream (crab) korokke and potato korokke are two totally different things.

There are purists like me, who don't want ground meat in potato korokke (I'd say it's mainstream!) and there are people who enrich their korokke.
Japanese butchers' simple potato korokkes (and menchi-katsu) are the best! I bet you can get frozen pre-made korokke to fry or oven-bake from Asian markets, too (but as Cassaendra says, it's pretty easy to make, esp potato ones).

I love kakiage (mixed tempura) with shelled edamame.
I've made edamame & fake crab meat salad with ponzu and a bit of mayo- that was good, obviously better with real crab meat. shrimp may work too.
simply mix with white rice- pretty for bento.

I miss having access to fresh ones off the "branch" (literally) though, they are absolutely wonderful and only need salt. nothing else. It's pretty ironic that I can't have fresh edamame because I live where they grow tons of soybeans.

if you feel like munching... munch on something hard like nuts and dried fruit. chewing is good for your brain.

I'm fondly remembering "brain bread" (zuno pan) from college... now they even put DHA in the bread. They say vitamin B1 is good for your brain, but I simply fell for the retro-looking package with the cute old scholar. I'm disappointed they changed the package design!

Also, I recommend cooking already-cooked rice in some sort of healthy soup with eggs and vegetables (I do miso soup). It expands and looks like a lot, but you are only eating like 1/2 of a small bowl of rice that way. much better for you than ramen!

tea + freshly ground ginger + honey.
glüwein.

@lemonfair your Totoro looks like Totoro :-)
and this is coming from a Japanese girl!

just looked at your profile- your university should be a good place to find somebody who knows that stuff :-)

I'm so psyched to learn there is a person on campus (a different university) who goes wild mushroom hunting every year because he promised me some Maitake! in Missouri! can't believe it!

recent bento talks here make me miss "hot bento" shops! especially the ones you can pick and choose bento fillings to create your own bento... they are a lot of fun!

in both HS & college (Tokyo), noodle stations (ramen, udon and soba) were pretty good. but in HS I rarely had time to eat lunch at the cafeteria, so I'd buy chicken karaage and yukari onigiri combo if I didn't bring bento.
My favorite dish from the college cafeteria was Bang bang ji tofu.

got free smoked ribs from a butcher- when we bought a flank steak. any suggestions for side dishes?

classics:
umeboshi (keeps well for long because of the anti-bacterial properties of umeboshi)
okaka (bonito flakes, wetted with soy sauce)
negimiso (scallions+ miso+sesame)
kombu (sweet-and-salty kelp, cooked down for this purpose)
tarako/mentaiko (raw or grilled cod roe (or spicy cod roe)
salted salmon (or salmon flakes that comes in a jar)

popular in the past couple of decades:
tuna-mayo (it doesn't keep well, naturally, but my fav)
cheese okaka (okaka with a new twist)
beef (thinly sliced beef, cooked down with mirin and soy sauce)

also, you can mix in any type of furikake. my favorite is yukari (plum-vinegar infused red shiso, dried). it makes cute purple/pink onigiri.
You could finely mince your zhacai to mix in to rice, too.

and I recently discovered Indian mango pickles... it makes an amazing Japanese-Indian fusion onigiri.

I didn't grow up eating Spam but it's just fine to me. I don't have the same reaction as other mainland Americans.

On the other hand, I didn't grow up eating Provel and I can't stand it.