Student food shopping :)

tr3mor

TeamMCS wrote:

hehe @ person living on 50 quid.Thats impressive!!

You could live on !!!!!! all like this:
Ready meal pasta, 47 pence... £3.29
Milk: £1
Cereal: £1
Fruit: £2


either way you could live on barely anything... but you wouldn't want too, i doubt it would be very healthy. At that point its more buying food which will just fill you up.

we eat healthily though and don't spend much - we just cook well.

across

:rotfl: cmallaby i never saw emmerdale that is really funny i didnt know, i have actually always been quite good at cooking so i wasnt insulted!! it was good to get recipes that were nice and easy for one!! so anyone interested ignore the title it is a good idea and when i was a student quite a few people had this and other cooking for one books!! :rotfl:

cmallaby

Was actually Betty sorry Emily's off Corrie...

healthy options seem to be the cheaper at the minute. Weight watchers month!

He he

crana999

TeamMCS wrote:

hehe @ person living on 50 quid.Thats impressive!!

You could live on !!!!!! all like this:
Ready meal pasta, 47 pence... £3.29
Milk: £1
Cereal: £1
Fruit: £2


either way you could live on barely anything... but you wouldn't want too, i doubt it would be very healthy. At that point its more buying food which will just fill you up.

I don't spend much on food at all and I eat pretty healthily. You have to swap convenience for money and buy things according to the nutrition they give you, not how much you like them.

I think it is actually cheaper to eat healthily a lot of the time because processed stuff is so expensive. You just have to make the choice like, for example:

good-quality meat is quite expensive, but instead of getting poor-quality meat as a replacement, swap most of the meat for pulses (lentils, beans, chickpeas etc). You still get plenty of protein and you can still make bolognaise, curry, whatever you normally make with them.

Other points:

There is no need at all to buy pasta sauce, you can make it yourself in very little time just by simmering an economy tin of tomatoes (~13p) with a pinch of salt/sugar if you like and a little olive oil. You can add extra bits to it if you like.

It generally is a lot cheaper to buy oats and make porridge or muesli than it is to buy cereal.

Don't buy quick-cook rice, buy normal (or even better, buy brown). Plan ahead - you can cook it in advance and freeze it if you want. White rice should not take half an hour to cook - that will turn it to mush.

Ready meals - just don't buy them. make your own and freeze it or eat it for several meals running.

Edit:
I have just been doing my meal plan for the week because I'm going shopping. May give you some ideas.

Breakfast every day: cereal (homemade muesli or fruit & fibre I already have, with soya milk I already have)

Thurs:
Lunch: casserole of swede, carrot, parsnip, red lentils, with half-fat cheese (already made)
Dinner: Beans & Greens (made with tinned toms, onions, cannellini beans, spinach) with either brown rice or brown pasta

Fri:
L: Beans & Greens from thurs
vegetarian chilli made with tinned toms, kidney beans, spices, sweetcorn, served with brown rice and half-fat cheese (for me & my boyfriend)

Sat:
L: Eggs (boiled/poached) and toast
either chilli or pasta with sauce/veggies - depends what he feels like (or maybe he'll take me out )

Sun:
L: whatever is left over from saturday
tortellini (in freezer - treat from parents) with spinach (from beans & greens) and frozen peas (already have)

Mon:
L: Veg Soup (tinned, already have) and bread
as Sun dinner

Tues:
L & Wholemeal pasta with homemade pasta sauce & sweetcorn (already have ingredients)

Wed: eat up leftovers, probably take a sandwich for lunch (cheese & pickle or brie & cranberry with spinach, depending what bits and pieces I have in the fridge)

All I have to buy is:
Bread (also used for toast etc as snacks) - 45p
Spinach - about £1
Fruit (for puddings & snacks) - about £2 - economy apples plus satsumas from market
Milk (for drinks) - 32p

Stuff used I have in stock:
beans, tomatoes, eggs, sweetcorn, tortellini, peas, soup, pasta, rice, cheese

Stuff I will buy to replace stock:
pearl barley (about 70p), tinned toms (about 3 tins - 40p), anything I am getting low on that is on special offer. I think this is reasonably healthy/balanced. Almost every meal includes veg of some kind.

This week is more of a using-up week as I still have quite a few tins etc from when my parents took me shopping. Next week will involve more fresh stuff as my stocks get lower :-)

cmallaby

I absolutly admire your theory.

But a lot of people, particuarly young students have not much idea on cooking, so with what you have suggested what sort of stuff could you make?

crana999

cmallaby wrote:

I absolutly admire your theory.

But a lot of people, particuarly young students have not much idea on cooking, so with what you have suggested what sort of stuff could you make?

Who is this post aimed at?

TeamMCS

I agree, My cooking ability is next to none...


I can cook stuff if you give me a few hours but for a student/kid thats a long time. I'd rather just cook stuff which is easy.

Sad but true, I guess the option is there if I was willing to put that extra effort in. Thanks very much, it is really apprecieated. I infact have printed this thread for my second year! Thanks again

freebie_junkie

cmallaby wrote:

I absolutly admire your theory.

But a lot of people, particuarly young students have not much idea on cooking, so with what you have suggested what sort of stuff could you make?

im a young student and i can make owt you can mention (veggie and wheat free of course!)

crana999

TeamMCS wrote:

I agree, My cooking ability is next to none...
I can cook stuff if you give me a few hours but for a student/kid thats a long time. I'd rather just cook stuff which is easy.

Sad but true, I guess the option is there if I was willing to put that extra effort in. Thanks very much, it is really apprecieated. I infact have printed this thread for my second year! Thanks again

If you are a student you are an adult. It really should not take you that long to cook a lot of things. I suggest you get a basic cookbook (try Beyond Baked Beans / Beyond Baked Beans green, or the website https://www.beyondbakedbeans.com) and pick a recipe every week that teaches you a new technique or basic recipe, then make it on a Sunday or whenever you have a bit of extra time. After not long at all you will have a big repertoire.

Having said that most of the recipes I suggested are extremely easy and come down to throwing stuff in a pan.

Chili - put tins in pan (drain sweetcorn/beans first). add spices (some form of chilli, cumin/coriander if you have them), boil until not watery and sauce is thick

Casserole - chop veggies (i use a food processor), put in pan with stock cube and water to almost cover, boil until veg is tender

Beans & Greens - wash spinach & pinch off long stems, put in pan with drained tin of beans and tin of chopped tomates, cook as for chilli

Pasta sauce - I told you how to do that.

I decided to change my plan a little as I found a tin of veggie sausages under the bed. So we will have a few with the eggs on saturday, and I will use the rest to make sausage & lentil soup instead of tinned.

To make this: chop 2 carrots (half-moon shape) and 2 onions (chop quite small). Put in pan with stock cube, water almost to cover, and about 1/2 a mug of dried red lentils. when the veg/lentils are nearly tender, add the sausages sliced (note: if you use meat or some other veggie sausages, you may have to grill or fry them first), cook for a little longer until sausages are hot and sauce has cooked down. serve with grated cheese if liked.

freebie_junkie

it does take a fewe hours to mske a lot of stuff, pizza takes 3 including proving!