Eating Healthily in a Hostel/Travelling

ms_london

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Well, the time has come for me to leave the comfort of my flat & go back to living in a hostel (am leaving Sydney, having a trip to HK, and then moving to Melbourne) and I am really worried that my eating habits will go back to being unhealthy & expensive.. I am on a diet at the moment & eating reasonably well, definately 5 portions of fruit & veg a day, etc etc, so want to maintain this.

The thing with hostels is that either the facilities are rubbish, sometimes only hobs rather than hobs & ovens, limited cooking utensils, generally no freezer, or people will steal your food (sounds like heaven doesnt it!! :rolleyes: ).. plus you have to carry your food around with you when you move on from place to place.

I really need to sit down & meal plan for these circumstances, but wondered if you had any genius ideas of the type of meals I could eat, that didnt consist of things out of a tin....

I wonder if, for once, you will be well & truly stumped?

Perhaps its not something you can help with, but thought I would ask anyway.

Thanks a lot, will look forward to reading all of your fabulous ideas when I get into work tomorrow.

I can see myself living off ratatouille for the forseeable future!

xx

overlykeensaver

hmmm the issue of people stealing your food is horrid and one I had to deal with when I was travelling. A good way to beat it is to buy your food as and when you need it, ie each day - or maybe if you have time, buy food for lunch and then later buy food for your evening meal.

This is no time to stock up on bulk buy offers unless you have a lockable cupboard! I'd assume you wouldn't be able to cart food around with you when you are on the move.

I will have a think and see if I can come up with any more tips.

In supermarkets, I found the pre-packed fruit pieces (melon, mango etc) to be useful. I also found I could make a great meal from some good bread, fresh tomatoes, and some fruit.

spiddy100

Um, while we were travelling we would often eat like this:

Breakfast: porridge or toast, cup of tea, glass of OJ
Lunch: bought at supermarket while out and about: bread rolls, ham or cheese, tomatoes, piece of fruit, coffee
Dinner: tomato pasta, spaghetti bolognese, 'carbonara' with added veg, sausage and mash, stew and mash, grilled fish with veg, bean casserole, tuna pasta. Fruit for pudding.

It was easier with two of us obviously as we could cook larger meals and make use of, for example, a pack of cheap beef to make a stew where a single person would only use half of it. We definitely bought from day to day, other than staples such as rice and pasta which we kept in our car. We ate fewer vegetables than normal, as they were harder to prepare and cook, and more fruit. For vegetables, we'd often buy a single courgette or carrot, or two mushrooms, or whatever, and add them to whatever else we were making.

Tins are difficult to carry about but they often have a decent nutritional value. If you're in a grotty hostel kitchen, there's nothing easier than a tin of mixed beans, a tin of tomatoes, a chopped chilli, served over some instant couscous. Or quick pasta with a tin of tuna and a tin of sweetcorn.

Melbourne has a fantastic market which is worth checking out, and I'm sure you will be able to get hold of all kinds of inexpensive fresh stuff in HK.

PS We didn't really meal plan at all, we were more treating our food as fuel - making sure we got enough of it and that it was reasonably healthy, then treating ourselves to an inexpensive meal out every few days when we wanted something nicer, or cooking something special when we ended up in a really nice hostel (there are a couple in NZ which really stick in my memory for having *fantastic* kitchens, PM me if you want recommendations!)

nikibella

Hi Ms_london
all the above tips are good, plus you shall buy just one or two plastic plates bowls glass etc. to use as containers and for eating in and basic cutlery. Also an immersion water heater is useful for making coffee and tea and some soups in your room.
The first thing you shall do when you come in a new place is inspect the premises and your local food shops and markets to organize your meals according to your needs.
There are a lot of dishes that are healthy and don't need cooking, like yogurt with fruit, roasted chicken, salads with cottage cheese, ham and melon, mozzarella and tomatoes. You need just to watch the portions (just read the weight on the package and divide in more meals or share with a friend) in order not to eat too much of the good stuff. With the time you'll have fun in preparing meals this way.
Niki

johnjp

When I was travelling in Australia with my three children last summer one thing we frequently used was the `food for free` section, in the hostel kitchen. This is food left behind by departed travellers.
As well the hostels in Melbourne , Sydney and Brisbane Metro have very good inhouse cafes and are close to superb open markets. We also found Asian sushi bars which are much, much cheaper than England. We are all Vegetarian but had no problem getting excellent, reasonably priced, healthy takeaway foods. Australia is much more like the U.S. As food tends to be alot cheaper more people eat out and the variety is superb.
As for the kitchens, I had absolutely no problem cooking and often we were invited to share food cooked by other hostellers.

southernscouser

ms_london wrote: »

I can see myself living off ratatouille for the forseeable future!

Ratatouille? Is that like kangaroo meat or summin'? :rotfl:

**purpleprincess**

Fantastic!! I was wondering just this myself as I head off in 3 weeks!!!

Cheers for starting the thread Ms_London and for the tips OSers!

Oh yes, and for the the laugh SouthernScouser!!!

johnjp

BTW, if you`re not veggie, `roo meat is available in all states. But - in some states, like NSW, it can only be bought as pet food, but don`t worry, if you find a shop selling it just say `It`s not really for the dogs!` `Roo meat is excellent meat, lean ,nutritious and cheap. Make satay sticks, casseroles, pies and so on, although a well chosen steak is great.
Also look out for restaurants, pubs etc doing `smorgasbord` - as much as you can eat for $X, also alot of Asian takeaways do similar. Chinese do `dim sum`.
Look we Aussies like our grub and we don`t want to pay too much for it, but we do expect to get quality for it.
Don`t miss out on Fish `n Chips at Doyles in Watsons Bay, looking over Sydney Harbour. Got to be the best spot for it.