Cheap recipes for Uni

[Eccentric]

I do have concerns over poor diet at University which is why I want to do all that I can to make it easier for DD when she goes. All the research on the human microbiome recently has shown how important diet is to maintaining both physical and mental health. For example did you know that 70% of all seratonin is produced in the gut with the aid of gut microbes that convert tryptophan and in order for this to be useful in the brain you need to eat certain tripes of starches.
I am not sure what the figures are for mental health problems at University but I know they are staggeringly high. When YP go off to University this is often a trigger point for obesity and dental problems as well as other health problems.
there are some extremely valid points on things like frozen veg.
Anyhow. Tonight’s cheep and quick recipe is French onion soup made with bone broth from last weekend’s chicken carcass cost 5 large onions and some stale bread. I am proud of this one. Cheap and delicious.

[ToadMum]

I'm afraid that, browsing on TSR for a while, the overwhelming feeling with regard to many of the 'university life I so awful, I'm so depressed' threads is that the person concerned was probably brought up in a household where 'don't talk to strangers' was the daily mantra and as a consequence, they have absolutely zero skills when it comes to interacting with an entirely new peer group.

[KB]

Brings back aroma memories of mum boiling turkey carcass for post Christmas soup

No doubt that many students have a poor diet and it's definitely a good idea to send them off well equipped to shop, cook and eat as healthily as possible.
Two important points to consider though -

To make sure they realise that making some compromises won't do serious long term damage and not to get stressed by not living up to 'hine standards'. The odd frozen pizza isn't a disaster

To be prepared for the restrictions of student living. Generally the storage space ( fridge, freezer and cupboards) is very limited and there is no way to stop your food going missing. Most ********* are messy and often dirty. Cleaning up every time before you cook is exhausting and time consuming. There will be many people using the limited cooking facilities so you have to be flexible.
For example, a whole chicken is an economical way to eat but in first year accommodation it wasn't practical. There was rarely space to keep it in the fridge and in any case it would get eaten by others. Blocking up the oven for an hour and a half didn't go down that well either. ..

Eccentric, enjoy your adventures in cheap healthy cooking. Maybe you should start a blog of your own

[kenyancowgirl]

+1....

KB makes a very valid point - the state of the kitchen and, more importantly, the pans within, meant that I became a dab hand at making one pot dishes...

Eccentric, the soup sounds good (I detest onion soup, personally!) - of course there is a cost to the chicken carcass as well, as assumedly you didn't just pull it out of someone else's bin - although your DD may find that if someone else has cooked one she could just purloin it - as KB also says, food going missing is also a standard in student homes - especially milk and bread! I am not sure what tripe of starch is that you mention though - hopefully the seratonin you are worried about is found in chips - most students eat those!

[Amber]

I'm afraid that, browsing on TSR for a while, the overwhelming feeling with regard to many of the 'university life I so awful, I'm so depressed' threads is that the person concerned was probably brought up in a household where 'don't talk to strangers' was the daily mantra and as a consequence, they have absolutely zero skills when it comes to interacting with an entirely new peer group.

I usually agree with your posts TM but am genuinely really shocked at this assertion. It is awful to witness a young person struggling with depression and anxiety and I have had the misfortune to be closely associated with several students in this state. None of them came from the socially constrained backgrounds you describe, there were no 'daily mantras' or similar, only supportive and 'normal' parents. The mental health crisis in our universities cannot imho be attributed to a 'don't talk to strangers' mindset and it is actually a bit upsetting that anyone would think this.

[Moon unit]

You are correct that the bowel makes a lot of the Serotonin found in the body.
The gut Serotonin isn't available for the brain to use so doesn't play a part in mental health.
That's not to say of course that there aren't links between diet and mental well being just that Serotonin from the gut isn't involved.
I know cooking from scratch is a great thing.
Life does sometimes make that hard to do every day.
I think it's also useful to teach our children how to read the food labels and check ingredient lists on packaged products.
There are lots of jars of pasta sauce made from healthy ingredients.Checking labels will help good choices to be made.
Also no evidence that fresh fruit and veg are better than canned or frozen.
For people on a budget who can't access shops every day some meals that can made from store cupboard ingredients are a very useful back up.
Your diet at home sounds amazing. A whole world away from turkey twizzlers.
There is a middle ground though that's unlikely to lead to health problems.

[hermanmunster]

You can get serotonin from chocolate, maybe it should handed out free

[mad?]

You can get serotonin from chocolate, maybe it should handed out free

Sneaking off the the fridge for some 90% Lindt for breakfast as you type doctor!

[hermanmunster]

You can get serotonin from chocolate, maybe it should handed out free

Sneaking off the the fridge for some 90% Lindt for breakfast as you type doctor!

Usual scenario is raiding the shop at tesco garage at end of dire evening

(at least it doesn't cue another message from some bossy manager about the base and car smelling of pizza or curry again )

[Eccentric]

You are correct that the bowel makes a lot of the Serotonin found in the body.
The gut Serotonin isn't available for the brain to use so doesn't play a part in mental health.
That's not to say of course that there aren't links between diet and mental well being just that Serotonin from the gut isn't involved.
I know cooking from scratch is a great thing.
Life does sometimes make that hard to do every day.
I think it's also useful to teach our children how to read the food labels and check ingredient lists on packaged products.
There are lots of jars of pasta sauce made from healthy ingredients.Checking labels will help good choices to be made.
Also no evidence that fresh fruit and veg are better than canned or frozen.
For people on a budget who can't access shops every day some meals that can made from store cupboard ingredients are a very useful back up.
Your diet at home sounds amazing. A whole world away from turkey twizzlers.
There is a middle ground though that's unlikely to lead to health problems.

The middle ground is what I am trying to learn and teach my children. I have spoilt my family on the food front and admit that I am a terrible food snob. I don't shy away from frozen veg or fruit though. Frozen fruit is great with yoghurt for breakfast and in smoothies and for making quick ice-cream.

I use frozen veg for making quick soups. Broccoli soup made with a bag of frozen broccoli and onion and some bone broth is delicious. with Cashew nuts added it becomes cream of broccoli soup. and adds protein and B6 which helps the uptake of serotonin. On Serotonin, I am not sure that the story is quite as simple. I think there is a lot to learn still https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... ond-brain/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;