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Getting Ready For Uni? Top Tips For Cooking For Yourself!

Heading off to university doesn’t just mean the first time living away from home or the first time scheduling their own timetable; there are lots of ‘firsts’ youngsters experience during their Fresher’s Year, including the first time they have to cook for themselves. 

And parents will probably be wincing at the thought of their adolescent eating what they probably did when they went to uni, which was most likely a diet of takeaways and free processed meals handed out in the Student Union on a lucky day. 

The good news is we know a lot more about food, cooking and nutrition these days, and there are tonnes of meals young people can create that are quick, healthy and, most importantly, not going to blow a hole in their tight budget.

Here are some tips on how to cook while at uni:

Stock up on store cupboard essentials

While school leavers might be used to lots of fresh food at home, there will be a huge shift in their diet when they go to uni, as they are unlikely to spend as much time shopping or meal planning as their parents do. 

That is why it is important to have a good stock of store cupboard essentials, such as tinned vegetables, pulses or fish; grains like rice or couscous; pasta; spices and sauces, so they can always have something to make a meal out of.

It is also worthwhile stocking up on frozen foods like vegetables, fruits and fish, as they are much more value for money and are packed with nutrients.

The great thing about these essentials is that they last a long time, so there’s no pressure to get them eaten before they go off. 

They can also make delicious - and healthy - meals, even if you don’t use fresh ingredients. For instance, a Tuscan bean stew containing different types of beans, tinned tomatoes, and dried herbs served with bread provides protein, vegetables and carbs.

Bulk buying and batch cooking

Students will find that buying large quantities of ingredients often works out more cost-effective. Therefore, it is cheaper in the long run to buy 2kg of rice or 1kg of lentils than it is to buy smaller portions. 

Those who are worried about their items going bad could also batch cook meals and freeze them. This means they can take advantage of the larger packets that get them more bang for their buck or the 3 for 2 offers that supermarkets always have. 

For instance, a great meal to batch cook is bolognese or chilli con carne, so they would just need to buy 1kg of mince, five tins of tomatoes, a few onions and garlic cloves, carrots and celery, and make ten portions to put in the freezer.

This way, if they come in late one evening or they want to rustle up something quick, they can simply take it out of the freezer and cook some pasta, rice or potato to go with it. 

Learn to shop smartly

Most students have a very restrictive budget, so it is important to shop as smartly as possible to continue eating well. This means going to cheaper supermarkets, such as Lidl or Aldi, where good produce can be found at a fraction of the price of bigger stores.

It is also worthwhile shopping later on in the day or finding out what day of week items are reduced, as expensive goods, such as dairy and meat is often heavily discounted.

Learn the basics before you go

Although there is not a lot of time before parents will be packing their cars to the brim with their child’s bedding, clothes and books, there is still an opportunity to learn some basic cooking skills, such as chopping, whisking, separating eggs and so on.

Enrolling in private cooking lessons, for instance, could help them speed up their food prep time so they can make meals more quickly; widen their palette by trying new foods; build up their confidence in the kitchen by knowing what to do with different ingredients; and get to grips with basic meals. 

Knowing how to whisk up an omelette, create a healthy vegetable-based tomato sauce, make a chicken or sausage traybake, or cook a nutritious soup from scratch will certainly help them avoid living off processed food during their time at university. 

Make the most of leftovers

Getting to grips with cooking can sometimes mean failing to get portion sizes right, which can result in lots of food being left uneaten. Around 9.5 million tonnes of food is thrown away in the UK every year, which is extremely wasteful - and will also weigh heavily on a student’s bank balance! - so it is worthwhile getting used to creating things out of leftovers.

For example, leftover veggies can be used in a multitude of dishes, such as hash; soups can be turned into casseroles; anything can be chucked into a frittata; and cooked meats are great in pasta sauces, curries or stews.

Once you’ve mastered the basics, students will be able to look at a handful of mismatched ingredients and work their magic to create themselves a delicious meal that is both nutritious and won’t break the bank!

If you’re interested in having a one-to-one cooking lesson to learn essential cooking skills and recipes before going to university, give me a call today. 

 

 

Fri Sep 13, 2024

Top Tips On Getting Your Child Ready To Start School

Top 5 Food Activities To Entertain Kids During The Holidays

We’re in the middle of the summer holidays, which means most of us have either run out of ideas of what to do or run out of money. 

Making sure young children are entertained all day for weeks on end can be extremely draining (speaking as an exhausted mother myself!). That is why having some fun, free things that you can do at home is always useful. 

Here are some of our favourite food-related activities that will keep your little one entertained, as well as get them interested and involved in learning about food. 

Chia seed slime

Chia seeds have become all the rage over the last few years, as they have a multitude of health benefits. But did you also know they can make a fantastic slime?

By soaking them in water, the little seeds expand and form a gelatinous mixture. If you put some cornflour in as well, you will create a satisfying slime that is fun to play with and safe to eat!

Fruit picking

There are lots of farms that allow you to enjoy fruit picking these days, but you don’t have to spend a fortune on raspberries or strawberries to have a fun day out. 

Why not venture into your local park or forest and see if there are any bramble bushes with blackberries that you could pick? You might also come across an apple tree or two, giving you the perfect ingredients for a scrumptious apple and blackberry crumble that we have made in our children’s cooking classes before. 

As well as killing a few hours, it teaches children lots about where fruit grows, which ones are safe to eat, and how to clean them before eating so as to avoid any bugs.

Cupcake decorating

You don’t need to be an expert chef to get your children decorating cupcakes. You could just buy plain ones from the supermarket and let them jazz them up with some sprinkles, chocolate chips, sweets or squeezy icing pens. 

This is a great opportunity for kids to use their imagination, creating some fantastic cupcakes for their loved ones and, obviously, themselves. 

Edible dirt

If you’ve got a young child who loves messy play, diggers, tractors, bugs, or dinosaurs then it is certainly worth learning how to make edible dirt. 

All you need is cocoa powder, flour, icing sugar and water. Simply mix these together to form a dough before leaving to dry and crumbling into a tray to create realistic-looking dirt.

Then you could make your own muddy farm, dinosaur kingdom, construction site, or underground insect world. 

If you want to use this opportunity to teach the little ones about where food comes from, you could hide plastic vegetables in the ‘mud’ and encourage them to find them all.

Pasta play

Is there anything that pasta can’t do? Not only do nearly all children love to eat it, but they also love to play with it too. 

You could draw a face and stick fusilli hair on to the picture, for instance; make a macaroni necklace to develop their fine motor skills through threading; or chop up spaghetti to practise scissor skills and use this as hair.

Alternatively, you could create a fun messy play activity with cooked spaghetti mixed with oil, which is a great way to introduce babies and toddlers to different sensory experiences. The slippery spaghetti will certainly be exciting to touch, smell, and even taste! 

These are just a few exciting activities that are easy to do during the holidays, as most people have the ingredients in their kitchen cupboard already. And even if they only entertain the children for half an hour, every minute helps! 

If you’re interested in enrolling your children into KiddyCook holiday clubs, email today on natasha@kiddycook.co.uk to stay updated on upcoming classes.

Thu Aug 15, 2024