A Fresh approach to student food

Many of you, I am sure, have come to university hoping to be able to survive on a basic diet of Dominos pizza and beer. Alas, living the dream will certainly have its consequences, not only for your general physique but probably also for your bank balance. Whilst I consumed my fair share of Dominos for breakfast during my first year, I also made sure I ate at least one decent meal everyday. So here is my guide to surviving year one without contracting scurvy.

Tip one: plan your meals in advance, this will save you time and money when it comes to shopping because you won’t buy things you won’t use.

Tip two: buy things like rice and lentils in bulk. If you don’t think you’re going to use all of it, split it with a flat mate.

Tip three: keep a bag of fruit in your room. You are more likely to snack on that which is nearest to you.

Tip four: don’t go overboard and try to live solely on carrots.

Tip five: do not shy away from bacon as a hangover cure. Hangovers need dealing with before you try and cleanse.

Tip six: cooking for yourself is almost always cheaper and healthier than ready meals.

And most importantly…

Tip seven: do not be fooled into thinking vegetables are too expensive for a student diet.

One of the biggest myths surrounding healthy eating is its expense. Vegetables have an unfair reputation for costing a lot, but if you really want to save money buying certain things, frozen or tinned ends up being pretty cheap.

It can seem a little daunting trying to eat cheaply and healthily, especially if you aren’t a massively confident cook, so here’s an example of a really flavoursome, really cheap recipe for a vegetarian curry which has kept me going for weeks on end.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of olive oil: £0.10
1 large onion: £0.21
4 cloves of garlic: £0.13
2 small red chilis (optional): £0.30
1 tin chopped tomatos: £0.31
2 tins of green lentils: £1.30
1 tin of chickpeas: £0.69
2 tins of spinach: £1.10
2 tbsp curry powder: £0.30
1.5 vegetable stock cube: £0.02 (Tesco sell 10 stock cubes for 10p!)

All you need to do is fry the onion, garlic and chilli until soft, then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 10 minutes. It really is that simple. This will make enough curry for about six meals. The curry costs £4.46 to make, which makes it about £0.75 per meal, ridiculously cheap for something that is not only really healthy but tastes pretty good too. You can add more or less of whatever you want to make it suit your taste, it doesn’t have any strict boundaries.

So now there is really no excuse not to at least ‘attempt’ to eat well. You’ll feel better for it and inevitable 4am Domino deliveries will seem all the sweeter if you save them for those drunken twilight hours spent happily munching in the corridors.