For many of us, moving away from home involved moving away from fresh, home-cooked meals that appear like clockwork on the table. No need to question how much the meal cost. No need to dip into the overdraft in order to refill the cooking oil in the cupboard. No need to ration your fruit intake because you can’t afford it that week.
- Granola
-
Tired of the same toast or cereal for breakfast? You can buy boxes of good quality granola from Aldi for £1.39! As well as being different to your typical cereal, it helps with your intake of fibre, vitamins and calcium. This is perfect for breakfast but can be adapted for a healthy mid-day snack or something sweet but healthy after dinner!
Ingredients:
Granola (made up of nuts, dried fruit etc.)
Yogurt (try soy or coconut as a vegan alternative)
Banana (or another affordable fruit)
Honey (if you are vegan either remove or replace with vegan honey)
Method:
1.Chop the bananas.
2.Put everything in a bowl, squeeze a bit of honey.
Job done!
- Crêpes
-
Fancy being the favourite housemate? Make a big batch of delicious crêpes on Sunday morning for everyone to share! This recipe makes 12 so multiply if necessary.
Ingredients:
100g of plain flour
2 large eggs
300ml of milk
Sunflower oil (1 tablespoon)
Butter
Filling (personally, I’d recommend lemon and sugar, but other options include peanut butter or Nutella)
Method:
1.Put the flour, eggs, milk and oil in a bowl and whisk together until there are no lumps of flour left.
2.Put your pan on a low heat and put a bit of butter in the pan with a tiny splash of oil (butter gives the crêpes a better flavour and the oil prevents the butter from burning).
3.Pour in your batter and tilt the pan so that it is covered in a thin layer of the batter. Once the crêpes starts peeling on the side lift it to see if it is starting to brown. If it is, flip!
4.Put your favourite crêpes fillings on the table and they’re ready to serve!
- Roasted Vegetable Salad or Couscous
-
Packed lunches tend to feel like chore. It requires excellent organisation and time management. This recipe is a life saver as it is super easy to put together (I usually do it while cooking my dinner the night before) and it will make you actually excited to whip out your Tupperware.
Ingredients:
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 pepper
1 courgette
3 tomatoes
Chickpeas
Iceberg lettuce or couscous or both (depending on how hungry you are)!
Stock cube (veg/meat)
Method:
1.Preheat the oven to 200 degrees fan.
2.Slice the onion into strips. Crush the cloves of garlic and then cut into quarters so that you have 8 small pieces of garlic. Chop the pepper and courgette into strips too. Chop the tomatoes up into small chunks.
3.Put a bit of oil on a baking tray and then add all the vegetables on top. Drizzle a bit more oil on (preferably olive). Add salt and pepper and a bit of paprika if you have it.
4.Put in the oven for twenty minutes.
5.Boil water in your kettle and add to a pan with however much couscous you want. Put the hob on the lowest setting. The ratio of couscous to water is usually one to one and a half. Add a stock cube into the water for extra flavour and make sure to stir it through.
6.Ensure that after it has been in the oven for ten minutes you shake the veg around the tray so they are crispy.
7.Five minutes before the veg has to come out, add a can of chickpeas to the tray and put it back in.
8.If you’re having lettuce rather than couscous, put the lettuce in Tupperware, add a couple spoons of mayonnaise and shake the lettuce round in the Tupperware to distribute it properly.
9.Once everything is cooked, mix the vegetables in with the couscous or lettuce and put it in your favourite Tupperware ready for lunch.
- Jazzed up Tomato Pasta
-
Obviously, tomato pasta is a standard, weekly student dish. But there are ways to make it tastier and more interesting so that you actually want to eat it or freeze it in batches to look forward to later! If you make double portion at dinner time this means your packed lunch is sorted too!
Ingredients:
Linguine (I discovered this at uni; not only is it is nicer than spaghetti it also cooks faster). Try penne if it’s for a packed lunch – I’ve learnt the hard way that eating linguine outside the library means mess!
Passata (I prefer this to tinned tomatoes because it creates thicker, richer sauce; you can also buy passata that has basil or chilli in it)
1 pepper
3 tomatoes (I buy salad tomatoes because they’re always cheaper and they have a light flavour)
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic (or spoons of minced garlic)
1 teaspoon of minced chili (or half a chili)
Half a can of chickpeas
Bacon or Quorn chicken pieces
Cheese (optional)
Method:
1.Start boiling the pasta in salted water. Add a drop of oil to the water to avoid it sticking together.
2.Chop the onion into small cubes. Crush the garlic and chop up as small as possible.
3.Next, cube the peppers and chop the tomato into bite-size pieces. If you are having bacon, chop that into small strips too.
4.Heat up a frying pan with oil. Ensure the oil is hot before you add anything.
5.Fry your onions, garlic and chili together.
6.Once the onions are brown, add the bacon/ chicken pieces.
7.Once the meat has partially cooked, add the pepper to the pan and fry.
8.Once the meat Is basically cooked, add the chickpeas so they become crispy.
9.As soon as the chickpeas have started to brown, pour in the whole passata carton and turn the heat down so that the sauce is lightly simmering.
10.Add the tomatoes last so that they retain their shape a little.
11.Sieve your pasta and serve it in a bowl. Pour your sauce on top.
12.If you fancy it, sprinkle some cheese on top!
- Stir-Fry
-
This is a standard meal I make weekly because the ingredients can be changed depending on what’s in the fridge. You can also buy 50p sachets of stir-fry sauces from Morrisons that make it even easier to chuck loads of flavour in!
Ingredients:
Rice or egg noodles
1 onion
1 pepper
Broccoli
1 Courgette (I always buy in three packs and then chop them all up on the day I bought them, separate them into portion sizes and freeze in small freezer bags)
2 garlic (If you are lazy you can buy jars of minced garlic and it is sometimes cheaper because it lasts a while in the fridge)
Optional: 1 teaspoon of minced chili in a jar (or use fresh but again this is cheaper)
Dark Soy sauce (buy the dark one because it means you use less in one go than the light one)
Sweet chilli sauce (not expensive if you get from Aldi)
Your choice of meat / Quorn chicken pieces or if you have enough vegetables, you could just use these!
Stock cube (again this is veg or meat depending on your preference)
Method:
1.Cook your noodles in boiling water and add the stock cube. This immediately adds more flavour to the dish. When you add the noodles to the pan, some more stock can go in as well to make the dish less dry.
2.Heat up your pan with oil on a medium to high heat.
3.Slice your onions into long pieces rather than cubed pieces. Crush your garlic with the side of your knife and then chop into smaller pieces (or spoon the garlic from the jar). Put the garlic, onion and chilli into the pan together and add a splash of soy sauce.
4.Chop your peppers into bitesize chunks, your courgette into tiny cubes (the smaller they are, the crispier they will get) and break off your broccoli into small pieces.
5.Once the onions have started to brown, add your choice of meat (I personally use the Quorn chicken pieces)
6.Once your meat/meat substitute has begun to cook through, put your courgette in and let it fry. Shortly after, add the broccoli. Lastly add the pepper because you don’t want to over cook it – you want it to have a little crunch.
7.Add 3 tablespoons of sweet chili sauce and stir through so that the sugar in the sauce caramelises the vegetables a bit.
8.Once the noodles have finished, and the meat / veg is cooked, sieve the noodles leaving a couple tablespoons of the stock left, and the noodles and small portion of stock will go into the pan.
9.Add more soy sauce, a couple tablespoons or whatever your preference.
10.Plate up!
- Easy Pizza
-
Instead of wasting your money on Dominoes, try this cheap, healthy recipe which you can tailor exactly to your pizza needs.
Ingredients:
Wraps (wholemeal or white)
Passata with basil
Mozzarella (or another cheese if you prefer, for a vegan alternative try the brand Violife)
Olive oil
Whatever pizza toppings you fancy!
Method:
1.Heat your oven to 180 degrees.
2.Place your wrap on a slightly greased baking tray.
3.Spread the passata evenly over the wrap with the back of a spoon.
4.Rip up your mozzarella into pieces (or grate your cheese of choice) and sprinkle over the wrap.
5.Add your favourite toppings. I would choose onion, peppers and courgette.
6.Add a small splash of oil over the top and put in the oven. It would usually take 15 minutes, but it depends on how many toppings you used and how you like your cheese; I like mine bronzed.
7.Take out the oven and cut slices!
- Hot Brownie Pudding
-
Looking for a little treat on a night in? This recipe is quick, easy and delicious. If you are wanting to cut the calories, you can use the Fibre One Brownie bars that are only 90 calories.
Ingredients:
Brownie (either the cheap ones you can get in the boxes or Fibre One bars)
Milk
Optional ice cream
Method:
1.Put brownie in the bowl and put a splash of milk on it
2.Microwave for 30 seconds until it is hot and gooey.
3.Add a scoop of ice cream if you can afford it.
Remember, you don’t have to reach for the Pot Noodle almost everyday just because you’re a student. You can still save time, money and treat yourself. I bet you can’t wait to get to the kitchen and try out these recipes!
Words by India Woodward.
Edited by Flora Lonie.