Student Batch Cooking Question

mountainofdebt

Junior's off to Uni in September (15 weeks and counting!) so he's being enrolled on Uni survival courses !

Plan on taking shopping to show him moneysaving tricks but also teaching to cook (which OH finds funny considering I'm a useless cook!)

Anyway I'm thinking of meals that would be suitable that he can make up and if necessary freeze the excess for future use (assuming here that initially at least he'd be cooking for one) and have come up with the usual suspects chilli & curry.

One of the meals I thought of was cottage pie but how would you do this - once you'd put the mash potato on top, would then cook it and then once cooled freeze it - but how do you then rewarm it or would you put the mash on top, freeze it after letting it cool and then cook it in the oven (as you would do normally) when you wanted to eat it ?

(did I mention I was a rubbish cook?)

Is there any other meals that can be cooked up and then batches of it frozen?

unclebryn_2

Mine mainly survived on pasta + any sort of sauce you can think of, based on a tin of toms + tuna, mince, etc, noodles plus any sauce, or maybe just soy with veg, boil in the bag rice with all sorts of curry. Most student areas have asian shops or small Ts.

DS never a cook became incredibly inventive (although did admit to pasta and curry or rice and bolog simply because he didn't have the relevant bits bought)
I think if you bring 'em up enjoying fruit and veg (which all mine lov and use as staples) they'll survive. Just show them how to cook their staple favs.
I think back to my uni days in early '80s, and probably should have had scurvey:o Give them the basic knowledge, eg what to do with eggs, cheese, etc and they will be fine. The first house he moved into after halls, the girls all had recipe books - still unopened when they moved out . . .

got-it-spend-it

Will he be in halls? If so I doubt he will the freezer space to batch cook. It might be more useful to teach a repertoire of quick and cheap dishes such a pasta and pesto, various stir-fries, etc.

hermum

There are loads of sites for tips & ideas for students, here's one that looks quite good.
http://www.studentcook.co.uk/
A good basic store cupboard is a good idea, with the basics, so that a quick meal can be thrown together.

villagelife

My DS1 has survived for 2 years - pasta with pesto features large in his diet. He also gas other pasta variations - a carton of passatta with onion/bacon/whatever is around is also popular.

He occasionally roasts chicken thigh/drumstick or sausage with roasted spuds, carrots, onions and parsnips or what veg he has.

He does cook bolog sauce and sausage casserole and pasta!

7891368

I have never had the freezer space to batch cook, maybe an etra portion but not much else.

Jacket potatoes with a variety of fillings, pasta, pizza, chilli, fajitas, stir fry and things which are quick and easy are most popular.

ukclare

I agree with the posters above - neither of my 2 son's had anything like enough freezer space for usual shopping, let alone for batch cooking. I would not worry too much though. I get calls at all hours of the day and night asking how to make xxx dish. My non-cooking son seems to make bread several times a week and a mean veggie soup out of all sorts of leftovers and reduced veg, neither of which I taught him at home!

Students seem to have a way of surviving and Junior will be fine!

mountainofdebt

Thanks for words of advice.....this off to Uni lark is completely new to me and I'm panicking slightly.

When I mentioned batched cooking what I meant was more making a pot of something (say chilli) and then freezing what he doesn't eat in portion sizes. (If he gets into his 1st choice, there are 2 large fridge freezers between 8 of them so he should at least get a drawer)

ciderwithrosie_2

My son went off to Uni knowing only how to cook pasta and rice and open a tin of meatballs. Three years on, he's not starved or contracted any nasty illnesses.

When he was in halls, several of them used to get together and cook a roast dinner most sundays. There will always be someone with a bit of knowledge and if not, he will make some interesting dishes while he's there. My son was telling me he'd made risotto for his girlfriend's parents the other week so he's clearly learnt something.

Son was in a flat shared between 6 in the first year and they had 2 fridges and 2 freezers, so one freezer drawer each basically.

sonastin

Teach him how to make his own pizzas - there's a whole thread on here somewhere dedicated to how to do it. I use my breadmaker to make the dough but I know its easy enough by hand - just don't actually know how, hence suggesting you check the other thread!

As well as the usual suspects of pasta, jacket spuds, beans-on-toast etc, I ate a whole ton of pizza as a student - both takeaway and frozen-from-sm-to-heat-at-home. It is only now, in my 30s that I've realised that the £5+ takeaway, ~£2 frozen can be made for <£1 if I do it myself. And takes about the same amount of time and kitchen tools. Reckon I wouldn't have had any student debt if I knew that at the time! That and the fact that you can make oven chips with real potato - I used to think that you had to deep fry potatoes to make chips and oven chips had to be bought!

Would've saved me all my freezer space too, as that's pretty much all that was in it!

CAT££

Having been a student myself (graduated 11 years ago - where has the time gone), I did not know one male who would batch cook. Howev er, good luck and it's nice to know that you are trying to help him. In halls of residence there is normally 6-8 persons per dorm. Therefore, there is never any freezer space to batch cook, i'm afraid. Cottage pie, chilli, spag bol, lasagne, curry, stews etc are cook batch cooking staples. I usually buy a 1lb meat to make 5 portions (bulking out with veg, lentils etc). I then divide into portions. Any left overs go into plastic containers (free with takaways or you can buy at least 5 for a £1 in £ shops or homebargains etc). Once frozen, simply remove from freezer when required, defrost and microwave for around 4 minutes with lid on or covered with clingfilm.

Pound Shops, Home Bargains, B&M Bargains, Aldi & Lidl are a haven for Students. Look out for big bags of pasta, rice, tinned tomatoes, tuna for under a £1. I lived on pasta. If your son is not a natural cook, the chances are he'll be living on microwave meals or packets of Pasta n Sauce.

There are several cookbooks on Amazon for beginners, etc Cooking on a budget, Cooking for beginners, Student Cooking etc, which are all very good.

Good Luck