Student cooking

SUESMITH_2

i always cook my pasta in the microwave - just make sre you have a big bowl to put it in and boil the water in the kettle first

Chris25

these toaster pockets can be useful - you can pop in slices of pizza as well as toasties - from Lakeland, Poundland & 99p shops



slow cookers are really good but try it out a few times before leaving it - my last one got so hot, i wouldn't leave it on if i was out all day. I have another one that's great though.

Fire_Fox

vetstudent wrote: »

Tesco is my only supermarket option here really, there is a Lidl but its quite a walk.

Honestly take the walk even if you don't do so weekly, or consider getting/ borrowing a push bike. You should be doing at least 10,000 steps every day anyway for health and physical activity can help with your studies! :j Tesco have hiked their prices big time in recent weeks, you might well find it's cheaper to walk to Lidl and get the bus home (student discount) than shop at Tesco.

Also check out the prices of taxis (share with another student if possible) or home delivery from supermarkets (from £2) that are not easy access because often the delivery doesn't come from the nearest store but from a larger store in the next town. I live alone with no car and find it easier and cheaper to do a fortnightly or monthly big shop (taxi or home delivery) including lots of weighty longlife items, then just pick up lighter weight fresh stuff or specific bargains on foot in between.

vetstudent

Thanks for all your lovely replies I will take a trip to Lidl next time

I made soup today Should be enough to last a few days It is suprisingly nice to say I had no clue what I was doing!

The problem with me is I can cook, but only know how to make sweet things and puddings! I ate a lot of cake last term!

kboss2010

I lived off hardly anything as an undergraduate in self-catered halls. My best tip would be to buy some small individual portion-sized microwaveable tubs (pound shops are good for this).

Then buy some store cupboard basics and they'll last you for ages. Oh, and a wok is your best friend because they heat up quickly even on a rubbish baby belling hob. Get a non-stick one from a Chinese supermarket if you can and guard it with your life (I kept mine in my room to stop people from scraping it with metal utensils)

My recipes:
Sweet chilli stir fry
2 carrots
1 onion
1 budget pineapple tin
Handful of broccoli
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
Few dried chilli flakes (optional)
Rice (1 cup dry per serving made with 2x the amount of water in the microwave)

Pasta with bacon, peas and cream - simple but delicious
1/2 packet of bacon (3 rashers)
2 cups peas
Tub of cream
Salt and pepper
Pasta

Chorizo pasta
1/2 chorizo (cheap from Lidl and they keep for ages in the fridge!)
1 cup peas
1 tin of value tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato pur!e
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon oil (optional)
Pasta

Carrot and honey soup
1 bag value carrots (1 kg)
1 large onion
2 tablespoons value honey
2 veg stock cubes
1 1/2 cups value rice
Hot water

Once cooked use a potato masher to mush the carrots and rice to a thick soup.

You can make anything into a stir fry. It's quick, cheap and healthy. Use noodles, rice or pasta, any and all veg, and all you need is soy sauce (large bottle), sweet chilli sauce (large bottle), sesame oil, cheap sunflower/veg oil (use sparingly, a tablespoon in a wok is more than enough), Chinese 5 spice, dried ginger, dried chilli flakes, paprika and mixed herbs.

Supermarkets are really expensive for these store cupboard ingredients. If you can find a local Asian supermarket/mini shop be that Chinese or Indian as they sell large bags of seasonings for the Same price as the small supermarket jars. Same goes for sweet chilli and soy sauce. A 750ml bottle should set you back no more than £2-2.50.

Clowance

I don't think the op has a hob. Certainly the hall my dd is looking at for next year only has a pantry with a fridge (NO freezer compartment); a microwave, sink and kettle. Bearing in mind this is shared between LOADS of students (its a catered hall but all this means is that there is a 50% discount on buying food) so no proper facilities are supplied.
Self catering halls with kitchens are £1000 more expensive per year and she is on a tight budget.
No electrical items are permitted in rooms and are confiscated if found, so no minifridge or kettle. Apparently the max watts of any appliance is 500w or it trips the circuit for everyone.

I imagine a further big problem is people stealing your milk and dairy as you can't keep it in your room.

Anybody have any ideas?

flea72

Clowance wrote: »

I don't think the op has a hob. Certainly the hall my dd is looking at for next year only has a pantry with a fridge (NO freezer compartment); a microwave, sink and kettle. Bearing in mind this is shared between LOADS of students (its a catered hall but all this means is that there is a 50% discount on buying food) so no proper facilities are supplied.
Self catering halls with kitchens are £1000 more expensive per year and she is on a tight budget.
No electrical items are permitted in rooms and are confiscated if found, so no minifridge or kettle. Apparently the max watts of any appliance is 500w or it trips the circuit for everyone.

I imagine a further big problem is people stealing your milk and dairy as you can't keep it in your room.

Anybody have any ideas?

All catered halls ive visited, the food is included in your rent. You dont buy it on top, that seems really odd, and kinda negates the catered part, if you have the option to forego eating on campus and instead cook for yourself

Also Why would anyone bother with self-catered if the room costs £1k more. Most people would go catered and then live off potnoodles, microwave meals or takeaways if facilities were limited. Although if theres a socket in the kitchen for a kettle or microwave id be tempted to unplug it and use a countertop electric hob to make spag bol, shepherds pie, etc

What uni is this, as it seems quite archaic.

Fire_Fox

Clowance wrote: »

I don't think the op has a hob. Certainly the hall my dd is looking at for next year only has a pantry with a fridge (NO freezer compartment); a microwave, sink and kettle. Bearing in mind this is shared between LOADS of students (its a catered hall but all this means is that there is a 50% discount on buying food) so no proper facilities are supplied.
Self catering halls with kitchens are £1000 more expensive per year and she is on a tight budget.
No electrical items are permitted in rooms and are confiscated if found, so no minifridge or kettle. Apparently the max watts of any appliance is 500w or it trips the circuit for everyone.

I imagine a further big problem is people stealing your milk and dairy as you can't keep it in your room.

Anybody have any ideas?

Don't mean to be facecious even tho it sounds it but maybe don't live in halls but consider a shared house or student flat? I think things like access to public transport/ ability to walk to classes (no need to run a car = save thousands), access to food storage and cooking facilities (save money on food and perhaps healthcare) is worth considering in the overall costs.

What is the exact wording on the rules about electrical appliances, surely they are allowed hairdryers, straighteners or media gadgets? A mini slow cooker is just 120W according to Amazon which is less than many stick blenders!

Last time I read a Student Income and Expenditure Survey (a couple of years back!) the average student was spending £1K a year on food presumably over just nine months, which anyone who uses MSE/ Old Style knows there are enormous savings to be made there. Although I am sure your DD is more sensible and is being guided by you I still think those surveys are worth reading to get an idea of the financial pitfalls. It really opened my eyes.

Things have obviously changed with the increased fees, but back then I calculated the average student could cut out all luxury and non essential spending, work a few hours a week for minimum wage and leave university with no debt at all. The reality was that most were not living within their means, had they had the same income from a full time job instead of grant and part time wage most would not have dreamed of getting huge loans to spend thousands on CDs, media packages, clothing, takeaways, nights out, running a car and so on.

Milk - is it necessary to have on a daily basis? Powdered milk or the one portion pots for tea, switch to tea with lemon/ green tea/ black coffee/ plain water, breakfast cereals are expensive and heavily processed anyway. In winter or at night students used to hang their milk out of the window in a carrier bag. Some dye their milk with blue or green food colouring or lace the odd batch with chocolate laxatives to discourage theft!

Cheese - doesn't all go 'off' out of the refrigerator as fast as you think as long as you keep your room at a sensible temperature, it goes mouldy (can be cut off) rather than bacteria as milk does (risky, chuck). Camembert and brie actually ripen and improve in a cool, non refrigerated place, 'dry' cheeses like pecorino and grana padano are quite inhospitable environments for microbes and not as expensive as they seem since they are high calcium so a serving is only 20g.

Little triangles are fine out of the fridge for a day or two, the manufacturers admit this. I would imagine the one serving waxed cheese like Babybel would be similar, although clearly neither are the cheapest option. Again cheese can be hung out of the window in winter or at night if you are not east facing/ up early enough! Or just put it into a soft cool bag when still at the supermarket and leave it there, don't even let it warm up on the journey home.

Other dairy - canned evaporated milk (NOT condensed which is sweetened) which is absolutely delicious on fruit salad IMO, canned rice pudding, the Value stuff is tasty and not excessively sugary, UHT milk.

Alternatives for supplying calcium include canned oily fish (mackerel and pilchards are cheapest) with the crumbly bones mashed in and certain nuts and seeds (eg. sesame and chia, to a lesser extent almonds). The fish also supplies omega-3s, plus bioavailable vitamin D both of which most Westerners don't get enough of in our diets and both of which are important in brain chemistry, concentration, learning etc. HTH.

Edwardia

When I was at uni some blocks were in deep shade even in summer as so close to others and ppl could keep milk etc on the wide windowsills. Did look funny though.

Clowance

Thanks for the suggestions. The uni dd is hoping to go to is Royal Holloway in Surrey, she wants especially to stay in the victorian Founders Building as it looks amazing but it has all the above daft rules.
http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u567/Clowance161/rhul_zpsaf23e0b7.jpg

You are also not allowed to use any equipment in the pantry other than what they supply.
And yes you have to pay extra on top of rent when you eat - I agree, its mad. The SC blocks are more modern and tend to be ensuite which is why they are more expensive.

She wants to live on campus first year to meet people but will definitely move off second year.