Cheap recipes for Uni

[kenyancowgirl]

my Dd won’t touch tins she is a bit of a gastro (my fault). She complains if I use tinned tomatoes in bolognaise instead of fresh and sun dried. She doesn’t like tinned baked beans. This is why I thought I should address this now. The logic is that if I make her aware of the cost of food now and how much she will have per week to feed herself at university, I may be able to persuade her to eat some cheaper options. I am a bit of a food snob and we eat predominantly organic and only locally grown grass fed meat. She is responsible for cooking one main meal a week in our house and as with many things i am beginning to think i have made a rod for my own back. Or hers, in years to come.

Yes you may have done. However you are obviously coming from a different financial bracket to me! I would never dream of spending £17 on an evening meal, unless it was for a special occasion. I think the best thing you can do is teach children to live within their means, whatever their means are. If your DD has more means, then she can afford to be fussy about tinned food - if you put her on a tight budget you may find that she quickly becomes less of a snob! Amber is absolutely right about tomatoes particularly and also about learning to engage with other peoples palates and preferences as a way of making friendship groups too.

It is all very well having champagne tastes but not if you are on a sparkling water budget. My boys make healthy choices where they can but also know that to fill up cheaply, pasta dishes etc are a good choice. I think things may have changed a bit since I was at uni - I didn't expect to eat to the same standard I did at home - I expected there were times I would be eating to survive rather than enjoy!

Why don't you start giving her a tight budget for her weekly meal - and you stick to the same budget one night a week too? You could have fun competing against each other!

[Eccentric]

That sounds like a great idea KCG. Any cook from fresh and scratch cheap recipes greatfully received. Raspberries, strawberries, plums and peaches are off the menu as are eggs because she is allergic to them most recipes containing eggs can be replaced with ‘no egg’ so not too much of a problem.

I grow rocket and salad too Amber but DD will eat a bag a day for lunch so it might be hard to provide her with enough pots. I shop in both Lidl and Aldi and am an enormous fan I top up with Waitrose and the health food shop for the things that I can’t get like nut butters, unusual flours such as tapioca and chestnut, kefir, sauerkraut.

Tonight’s supper is what I would consider cheap.
Organic chicken livers
Leaks
Pancetta
Red wine
Garlic slow cooked and served with whole grain rice. One of dds favourite meals but I don’t think she could get away with cooking this at uni. All her friends think eating liver is disgusting.

[mad?]

Tonight’s supper is what I would consider cheap.
Organic chicken livers
Leaks
Pancetta
Red wine
Garlic slow cooked and served with whole grain rice.

Herein lies your problem Eccentric.
The only cheap ingredients on your list are rice, garlic and leeks (and those only as they are in season at the moment).

Dhal is your friend

[Amber]

Touché mad.

Our dinner is equally healthy I think but rather cheaper;
https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/veg ... ie-chilli/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I buy dried beans not tinned ones and soak them. Very cheap. I have actually managed to grow my own peppers and chillis this year but multi packs are cheap too.

I have just made my own sauerkraut and kefir too but am a little unsure that they are safe!

Either way, I think your daughter will learn to cope if and when she goes to university. She might even end up eating the occasional thing you wouldn't approve of!

[ToadMum]

Tonight’s supper is what I would consider cheap.
Organic chicken livers
Leaks
Pancetta
Red wine
Garlic slow cooked and served with whole grain rice.

Herein lies your problem Eccentric.
The only cheap ingredients on your list are rice, garlic and leeks (and those only as they are in season at the moment).

Dhal is your friend

Chicken livers not that pricey, cheaper in Waitrose than at our local butchers.

The last time I bought sauerkraut, it was either from Lidl during one of their 'weeks', or from one of our local Polish shops (obviously there are unlikely to be many of these where there isn't a reasonable-sized Polish population).

[Surferfish]

All her friends think eating liver is disgusting.

(Can be quite tasty served with some fava beans and a nice chianti... )

It is perfectly possible to eat well and reasonably healthily on a tight budget although some students from more middle-class, gastronomic households may need to learn to modify their menus somewhat!

A few thoughts from me.

1. Have a simple filling breakfast before you go out to avoid having to spend money on expensive snacks from shops/cafes mid morning. Porridge, Weetabix, toast, some fruit etc.

2. Similarly take a packed lunch rather than buying lunch out to save money.

3. Staple food items include:
Pasta
rice
baked potatoes
Bread
Minced beef (higher fat is cheaper than lean. You can always drain the fat after browning).
Eggs
Chicken (whole chicken cheaper than breasts)
Tinned tuna
Sausages
Cheese
Beans
Basic veg - carrots, broccoli, cabbage etc
Basic fruit like bananas, apples etc are no more expensive than chocolate bars and crisps and are far healthier snacks.
Drink tap water. Its healthy and free! Fill a bottle and take it out with you to avoid buying expensive drinks when out.

4. Don't be too precious about eating expensive organic food cooked from scratch. Tinned tomatoes and frozen veg are fine. Whether to buy free range or not I guess is down to personal ethics vs budget. Free range eggs are still reasonably affordable so I'd always recommend those. Free range chicken costs quite a bit more than standard though so may be stretching it for a student? Or just eat more vegetarian dishes.

5. Learn to shop savvy. As mentioned Lidl and Aldi are generally cheapest and quality is fine (actually their wine is far superior to similar priced bottles in the major chains IMO). Check out the bigger supermarkets too though like Tesco and Morrisons. They tend to be better for half price offers and BOGOFs. If you see a non-perishable item on offer stock up if you can, as it might be full price next week. Consider supermarket savings and value items which are often the same thing as more expensive brands in a cheaper looking package. Big packs of things are generally better value than small so buy big if you can. Supermarkets normally display price per gram on items so its easy to compare. Be sensible though and beware of perishables. No point buying 3 extra large bags of salad on offer if you're going to end up throwing most of it away when it goes off in a few days. Try and time your supermarket trips for early evening when they often reduce items which have reached their sell-buy date. You can get some remarkable bargains particularly on baked products and fresh meat/fish.

6. Most importantly though I would say, is don't follow all the sensible frugal advice on supermarket shopping and then blow it by being extravagant at other times. If you fancy catching up with a friend invite them for a coffee and a biscuit, or glass of wine in your house rather than spending £5+ at Costa or a bar. If you feel peckish after a night out wait till you get home and make yourself a couple of slices of toast rather than buying a kebab or pizza on the way home. Enjoy yourself but consider whether that final drink in the bar is really necessary. It might seem like a good idea at the time, but your head and wallet may regret it the next morning! Eating out is fun but don't make it too regular as it will make a big dent in your budget. However cheap the curry or pizza place may be it is still going to cost you far more than something made at home (which can still be a nice social event if you invite friends to dinner and split the costs).

[loobylou]

We also cook almost entirely from scratch but do manage to do so on a much smaller budget. Meat is expensive and we eat more of it than we need to (aim of this term is to increase our non-meat meals) but I stretch it - for example in a lasagne I always add tinned lentils to the meat layer which is tastier anyway.
We do use some tins though. I agree - tinned tomatoes are fine and we buy ours from the "ethnic" section in the local supermarket as they are literally half the price and frankly taste better. Same with chickpeas and coconut milk. I think tinned pulses are much easier to use than dried ones but they are a bit more expensive. Adding pesto to many meals makes them taste better and homemade pesto is quite easy/cheap and freezes well.

[ToadMum]

Just a thought, frozen veg is almost certainly better, nutritionally speaking, than 'fresh' which has sat around for days or weeks since being harvested. Much as I love the Polish shop we use, about the only things I buy from there in the fruit and veg line are tomatoes and beetroot, with the occasional apple or kilo or two of potatoes if they have just had a new lot in.

[Eccentric]

Tonight’s supper is what I would consider cheap.
Organic chicken livers
Leaks
Pancetta
Red wine
Garlic slow cooked and served with whole grain rice.

Herein lies your problem Eccentric.
The only cheap ingredients on your list are rice, garlic and leeks (and those only as they are in season at the moment).

Dhal is your friend

But Dhal is not full of Thiamin, Zinc, Copper and Manganese, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid, Iron, Phosphorus and Selenium. It does have some pantothenic acid, potassium and vitamin B6 but doesn't quite pack the punch that chicken liver does. I do love dhal though, such a comfort food with home made chapatis. Yum

[Eccentric]

Tonight’s supper is what I would consider cheap.
Organic chicken livers
Leaks
Pancetta
Red wine
Garlic slow cooked and served with whole grain rice.

Herein lies your problem Eccentric.
The only cheap ingredients on your list are rice, garlic and leeks (and those only as they are in season at the moment).

Dhal is your friend

Chicken livers not that pricey, cheaper in Waitrose than at our local butchers.

The last time I bought sauerkraut, it was either from Lidl during one of their 'weeks', or from one of our local Polish shops (obviously there are unlikely to be many of these where there isn't a reasonable-sized Polish population).

Yes they are about £2.50 in Waitrose. I am ever grateful that not many people like them.