Sophomore psychology major Eric Russell likes Market Square just fine but he said the dining experience can get boring. Especially when trying to eat healthy, Russell said, his options seem slim.

“Sometimes I feel myself eating the same thing every day because of the lack of variety, especially the time between lunch and dinner,” he said.

The Dining Services Committee of the Student Government Association is launching a new program to help students like Russell find variety in Market Square.

Abbey Brokos, SGA Dining Services chair, said complaints like Russell’s are fairly common.

“One of our most common complaints is that there is always the same food, so we want to encourage people to mix dishes from multiple stations,” she said.

Those complaints gave way to Mix and Match, a program that will allow students to share recipes with each other and get some variety in their meals.

As of Monday, students can pick up recipe cards from the Market Square cashiers and fill them out with their favorite Market Square creation, as well as instructions on how to prepare it. After completing their cards, students may submit them to the cashiers.

Brokos, a sophomore political science major, said mixing dishes from different stations is already a common practice, but the program will recognize students who already mix dishes and help students who are sick of the same old things to try something new.

Russell said he already knows what he would submit.

“I would submit a Grilled Thai Wrap with Spicy Peanut Sauce,” he said. “You could get chicken and tortilla from the grill, vegetables from the salad bar, and potentially the sauce from Expeditions,” he said.

Marketing Manager for Dining Services Kelly Raw said the Dining Services Committee will pick a winning dish to be prepared and displayed on the menu boards in Market Square after a week of dishes and ideas submissions.

That won’t be the end of the program, though.

The rest of the recipes will be compiled into a book that students can add to whenever they want, Raw said. The committee will also pick a Mix and Match recipe of the week to display on the menu boards.

“That way when you come to Market Square and you don’t want a salad, you don’t want a sandwich, you want to get creative, you can look at what other people are doing,” she said.

If the program is successful this semester, Raw said, the committee will probably implement it again in the fall.

Raw said it’s easier to get creative in Market Square than to spend money at the grocery store. She said she hopes students will use that freedom to be creative with their dishes and make the most of what Market Square has to offer.

Russell said the new program will make getting a bite to eat in Market Square more interesting.

“I think that is a great idea for the BLUU to implement,” he said. “Students would definitely experience nutritious benefits from mixing a food that is low in protein with something that is high in protein.”

Brokos said the committee’s goal is to make the dining experience in Market Square the best it can be.

“TCU really does have one of the best dining (halls) in Texas,” Brokos said. “We’ve been to other places; we’ve looked.”