So what do students eat/cook?

[melodyangel]

Hopefully, all going well, DS1, my PFB, will be off to uni this September. We are currently writing up a list of bits and bobs he will need and I have been writting out all my recipes for him but I never went to Uni and Dh didn't stay long enough to get out of catered halls. So I have no idea how it works in self catered halls. Do they all cook for themselves or do they have a rota? What about shopping? Do they all have a tub of butter, loaf of bread, pint of milk each?

I've only ever cooked for a family so meals for one isn't exactly my strong point.

Advice would be very gratefully recieved.

DS says pasta, pasta and oh pasta! Agrees withMilliways also does a mean sausage casserole. Lots of eggs, super noodles, pizza. If he did make normal meals always cooked double required and had remains next day.

Re sharing DS said only shared marg & washing up liquid! Very rarely cooked for the flat in hall but they did do giant pasty, posted making it on Youtube called "Epic mealtime Wales" looks disgusting but DS said he had a number of helpings!!

He was bought a couple of recipe books and I did him a recipe sheet of some simple meals but I don't think he ever used them

I don't think I can have been the only student ever to have been so thrilled at having the 'power' to choose what I ate, and when, that I have a distinct memory of eating Angel Delight for breakfast in my first year. I also remember making a lunch of tinned tomato soup with cold cooked rice thrown in. Mmmm.

I'm planning ahead and aim to teach ds1(11 ) to cook ten recipes well by the time he's 18. So far we have done: roasted vegetable lasagne and mushroom & cheese omelettes.

I lived on pasta with jars of cheap tomato sauce, sweetcorn mixed in, with grated cheese on the top. God it was boring.

Both DC have been part of cooking rotas. Shared cooking and eating seems to be a big thing.

They have their own shelves in the fridge and in the freezer. Own milk and butter. Usually own bread and veg. Can share spices/herbs.

DS pinched my best cookbooks, having had his nose in them for years. DD took what was left. They seem to eat a lot of pasta with various home-made sauces; veg stir fry with rice; scrambled eggs and mushrooms; various curries; loads of aubergine and paneer, loads of salads, sushi. DS in particular is now an excellent cook. We are vegetarian.

It helps them to have a kettle, cafetiere, nice coffee, tea, cheerful teatowels, tin opener, 1 good all purpose non stick pan with lid. 1 wooden spoon. Teaspoons. Measuring jug. Cutlery 2 place sets.

I sent them with dry cupboard basics: pasta, herbs, spices, lentils, chick peas, beans, flour, baking powder, olive oil, vinegar etc. ie 1 box of kitchen stuff including food. Other mums sent home made biscuits which was nice.

I shared with 5 others in a hall and we cooked for ourselves mainly. Until we realised one worked part time as a chef
I cooked a lot for other people because I am a bit of a feeder. Mainly easy stuff like corned beef hash or spag bol, jacket potatoes etc

Most useful skills were: how to cook rice, scrambled eggs, omelette, pasta, quiche, a basic veg curry; how to make salad dressing.

I still remember our hilarious cooking rota from uni: highlights were a pineapple omelette and a rice pudding with a whole tin of cloves!!!!!!

Toast, pasta, rice and cheap tins of tomatoes, sweet corn etc, cuppa soup. Forget meat, that was saved for meals out with visiting parents
Oriental/ china town supermarkets brilliant for cheap noodles, rice and soups!

Make friends with the local fruit and veg shop / market stall. They used to give us bags of fruit and veg every week for next to nothing. I lived on £8 a week . Although it was 15 yrs ago

Every group of people will do it differently but with everyone on diff budgets students tend to buy for themselves and maybe cook a communal meal once or twice a week.

It's great fun

We did a lot of stir frys - bought the veggies and chicken on day. Spag bol or just pasta and sauce - tinned olives and mushrooms with a jar of sauce.
Basically anything that could be cooked in two saucepans worked (it's not really the done thing to take over the whole hob even if you have that many saucepans), and if you could go home occasionally and come back with a bunch of premade sauces (Ben's sweet and sour etc) that was a bonus for when you were short on time needed to get to the pub in a hurry.
My brother bought a tiny drinks fridge for his room and kept his milk, butter and other stealable perishables in it.
I teamed up with one or two of the flatmates and we would combine ingredients and the cooking to share the costs/effort. My DH (sub 10 hrs per week lectures) seems to have spent his entire student loan and more besides cooking gourmet meals with a similiarly unchallenged friend. Was hilariously fat leaving uni !