Student Shopping & Eating...Quick

knithryn

Don't forget homemade veg soup to use up root veg at the end of the week and provide a good sustaining Saturday lunch, likewise pitta pizzas to use up small pieces of tomato, onion etc. These small bits can make a meal out of almost nothing.

kunekune

I was relatively well off as a student - full grant first time round, and then jobs/husband second time round, and working full time third time round. However, I think the idea of unappetising food is a good one. As a first-timer, my staple meal was brown rice, bacon and tinned tomatoes, cooked together until ... not quite cooked. OH still remembers that first meal I cooked him, over 30 years ago, in a student hall kitchen. Later, I discovered lentils (they make a terrible mess of your rucksack when moving flat, though) and, by the third year, real cooking and yer actual dinner party with ... soup, lasagne and then (honest, I'm not making it up), sprouts in cream with cinnamon and sugar. Hmmm.

Fire_Fox

ListerS wrote: »

Also your student loan (note I didnt say grant) doesnt go very far with all the socialising you have to do..
So basically the challenge is this..Shopping for one, for a week, fully balanced diet(PLEASE!!!) with each meal recipie taking no more than 20min to prepare.

and your budget is £20 or less (yes this is realistic! and dont expect them to go to a grocers or a real butchers either..think major supermarket only!)

If you want full balanced the government recommendation is for two portions of oily fish per week, and Glenryk pilchards in tomato sauce is the cheapest way to achieve this. I know there are four portions below, I cook these for myself and will happily eat four days in a row or your imaginary students could share. Both recipes are very easy as the green veg is frozen so no prep and the fish is pre-cooked in the tin. :T I don't know how long it takes to boil rice as I always steam which is slower.

Spicy Pilchards with Rice (four portions @ 40p each)
Glenryk pilchards in tomato sauce 64p
Half tin plum tomatoes, no juice 16p
Smartprice onion, 200g 8p
Frozen petit pois, 200g 32p
Garam masala, 1dsp
Red chilli or hot sauce to taste
Brown basmati rice, 250g 40p

Leave the peas out to defrost for a few hours: steam rice as normal. Chop your onions and fry over a low heat until softened, add the pilchards and break into halves lengthwise so you still have chunks not a mush. Add the tomatoes, spices and chilli to taste, pop a lid on and heat through. Stir the rice and peas together and serve the fish mixture over the rice!


Pilchard & Vegetable Pasta (four portions @ 40p each)

Napolina wholemeal pasta, 250g 35p (B&M)
Glenryk pilchards in tomato sauce 64p
Tin plum tomatoes, chopped 33p
Frozen fine green beans, 160g 16p
Smartprice onion, 200g 8p
Frozen garlic, 1 block 4p
Black pepper to taste.

Leave the green beans out to defrost for a few hours: cook pasta as normal. Chop your onions and garlic and fry over a low heat until softened, add the pilchards and break into halves lengthwise so you still have chunks not a mush. Add the tomatoes and pepper to taste, pop a lid on and heat through. Gently stir in the cooked pasta and green beans and serve!

Fire_Fox

I can spend £20.26 in Asda: :money:

CARBS
3 x SP brown bread
1kg SP potatoes
1kg SP porridge oats
1kg brown rice

PROTEIN/ DAIRY
Six SP eggs
2 x 4 pints milk
1 pack SP frozen mince
1 can pilchards in tomato sauce
1 bag red lentils
2 cans SP baked beans
1 can SP kidney beans
1 jar SP peanut butter

FRUIT & VEG
SP frozen broccoli
SP frozen sweetcorn
2kg SP onions
500g fresh carrots
1 bulb garlic
2 cans SP tomatoes
SP raisins
KTC creamed coconut
1 bottle lemon juice

CONDIMENTS
SP tea bags :beer:
SP reduced fat spread
Asda yeast extract (use as stock cubes)
Madras curry powder
SP dried mixed herbs

Fire_Fox

Balanced-ish diet: :j

BREAKFAST/ SNACKS
Porridge with raisins
Marmite or peanut butter on toast
Carrot and raisin flapjacks
Coconut flapjacks
Tea with milk

LUNCH/ SNACKS
Beans on toast
Lentil soup
Cream of broccoli soup
Minestrone soup
Spanish omelette
Pilchard pate sarnies
Lentil pate sarnies

EVENING MEALS
Huevos rancheros (eggs in tomato sauce)
Jacket potato and beans
Chilli con carne in jacket potato
Vegetable, lentil and coconut curry with rice
Spicy pilchards with rice

The only problem with doing this a week at a time and probably with limited storage, is that you don't get the variety of fruit and veg that the government recommends. I think I have still managed a rainbow of colours, pulses count towards the five a day so there are plenty on the list. Plenty of protein and wholegrains: not confident there is sufficient dairy.

Pitlanepiglet

I was really impressed with two young lads in Asda last night. I was on the same timeline as them as I kept passing them in the aisles - I wasn't stalking them! .

They were clearly cooking properly as they were buying "proper" ingredients, lots of fresh, seasonal (cheap!) veggies, big bags of green lentils - no meat. There was a long debate near the oils about the relative merits of olive oil over veggie oil and whether the cost difference was worth it, plus a calculation of the cost of a small (affordable) bottle of oil over a bigger bag.

I ended up behind them at the same checkout (I really wasn't stalking them!) and they even had their own bags for their shopping!

I was so impressed with them, their mum's (or grannies) had done a good job with them :T

sally_80

I know you said no grocers or butchers but I'm a university student in Bournemouth and I save myself SOOOO much money by going to a green grocers in Winton called 'Longs'.

My favourite is when they do 'Jumbo Jackets' (and by jumbo, we're talking the size of your face!) 5 for £1.20. you could feed a whole family on these things.

The most expensive thing I find at uni is cheese! Any tips on where to find cheaper, nice cheese would be great!

quintwins

sally_80 wrote: »

I know you said no grocers or butchers but I'm a university student in Bournemouth and I save myself SOOOO much money by going to a green grocers in Winton called 'Longs'.

My favourite is when they do 'Jumbo Jackets' (and by jumbo, we're talking the size of your face!) 5 for £1.20. you could feed a whole family on these things.

The most expensive thing I find at uni is cheese! Any tips on where to find cheaper, nice cheese would be great!

What are you using your cheese for? we use edam cheese in sandwichs (i like the creamy taste) you can get 6 slices doe 95p in tesco but there huge so we cut them in half. for sheperds pies and pasta we buy the value grated cheese and freeze it, i then use it straight for the freezer, for bakes taties or cheese on toast we use catherdral or pilgrims i buy when it's on offer usually, £2-£2.50 a block or bogof, it keeps for ages in the fridge and if it starts going funny i grate it and throw it in the freezer. I also buy reduced cheese for 9p sometimes which i grate and throw in with the value stuff