Uni Recipes - Please add to this! Anything cheap and easy to prepare

[Ventress]

Hi all,
As we discussed on the year 13 thread, our young people are sometimes not the best with preparing cheap and healthy meals so this thread is give them some ideas 😊

Please join me in adding your ideas and recipes 😊

Here we go…

Storage and fridge space was very limited for my dd in halls and private house. She wouldn’t have got a whole chicken for example on her tiny bit of fridge shelf.
Her staples are Greek yoghurt and frozen berries. Bagel with ham and cheese and cucumber on side. Caesar salad with chicken. Pasta pesto. Chicken with seasoning and rice.

Just reading back on comments very much echo comments about not assuming there will be space to cook or store food. My dd was in a 12 share halls flat and the kitchen/fridge was totally disgusting most of time. I know she resorted to itsu noodle pots sometimes as there was nowhere to prepare food/her pan and plate were taken and left filthy etc. Fridge was disgusting with rotten food and green slime dripping.

miso ramen- buy sachets of miso paste ( or a pot, that’ll be cheaper if room in fridge), mix with some stock, add noodles, protein and veg of choice, maybe sesame seeds and chilli oil on top, delicious, quick and nutritious.
agree with dhal ( can add in eg frozen spinach too), and pasta recipes, carbonara a favourite and easy, fried rice too with whatever veg needs using up.

Frozen paratha/roti canai, available from major supermarkets as well as Asian stores, served with homemade dhal.

A Malaysian breakfast dish, but also a cheap and filling student meal.

When I was uni I had a storage box in my room with a flat lid that I stored food in. We had a regular stoner thief from downstairs who would eat anything. I also kept my plate/utensils and pans in there.
Also if you have a cool bag and change freezer packs over daily you can keep food cold. In the winter we hung things in plastic bags out of our window, desperate times.

Love the idea of a cool bag @Chimneyissuesand the frozen paratha/dhal @Needmoresleep

I had a 2am mistake buy of ramen bowls and spoons. I think the will be way more helpful than “real” crockery!

Do consider not buying new, and waiting until they arrive before buying big items.

Kitchens are small and others will arrive with unbelievable amounts of kit. Almost certainly others will have the TV or air fryer. Then equally astonishing amounts of stuff are abandoned at the end of the year. The level of stealing, both of food and stuff, from fellow students can be depressing.

We passed our old kitchen items onto DD and bought replacements for ourselves. She then took anything she no longer wanted at the end of the year to the charity shop. The advantage of picking up crockery/cutlery/equipment from charity shops is that it is more identifiable than basic ranges from IKEA/John Lewis/supermarkets.

Because of the stealing a storage box for the bedroom was essential. As well as a big supply of toilet roll. The person she shared a bathroom with seemed to devour it, but never offered to buy any.

We messed up and had booked holiday when her term started. (She took a last minute gap year so we lost track.) It turned out fine. Two cheap suitcases from TKMaxx were filled with things needed for the first week, including lap top and duvet. We then drove down with what she needed, were able to park and unpack then head off to Ikea/Lidl for missing items and bulk buying of staples. Amazon delivered the (essential) mattress topper.

I agree with others - keep it simple.

There is very little storage. A fridge shelf and a freezer drawer if you're lucky (and not all shelves/drawers are equal!).
Batch cooking only really works for one dish at a time - cook a large spag bol, freeze 3 portions, and there won't be much room for anything else with the oven chips and frozen peas.
Mine usually ended up eating the same meal 2 nights running as it was easier just to put the second portion in the fridge (always at least 2 portions because packs usually contain min 2 chicken breasts, 2 chops etc).
One of mine had a flat that only had combi ovens, not proper ovens. Not big enough for a roast chicken. And they would not have been popular using that for 90 mins for a roast or casserole.
The other had ovens, but they only stayed on for about 20-30 mins and then automatically turned off to prevent the flat going up in flames if someone left something in it all night or something. So you had to stay nearby to switch it back on again.
Not all halls allow air fryers, slow cookers etc so do check the rules carefully.

Had hoped my DC would get catered halls but that's not the case now so I'm coming back to this thread now for some ideas. So helpful of @Ventress to have set it up (sending you and your DC lots of love)

@Fabfabfab , well done to miniFabfabfab for getting into uni and best wishes for the course (and cooking).

Same goes for other DC heading to university for the first time

Recipe looks lovely, but more importantly your user name is one of my favourite lyric lines. It’s just so implausible I thought for decades that I’d misheard it (along the likes of “he has his trombolese”)

Pasta, beans and cheese - cook and drain pasta, back into pan with a tin of beans, warm through and top with grated cheese

Chicken curry - fry onion, add good dollop of curry paste, add whatever veg (frozen fine), chicken (I tell my DS if not bought in chunks to add whole and cut into chunks in the pan with scissors to avoid contaminating chopping boards/knives) and tin of toms. Simmer 25 mins or so.
DD veggie and uses sweet potato, chick peas, spinach instead of chicken.

Smoked salmon pasta - boil pasta, and frozen peas 5 mins in. (Chop a pepper, red onion if you feel like it. Set aside) Add pack of spinach to pasta/peas when pasta cooked (to wilt) Drain catching pasta water in cup. Heat on high, bit of oil into hot pan, sear chopped pepper and red onion (if using) add pack of smoked salmon, pack of philli, warm through, add pasta/spinach/peas splash of pasta water and squeeze of lemon, black pepper. My son will stir in chopped spring onions, and I’d add grated Parmesan (he never does)

I see a lot of tray dumps on FB - intend to experiment a bit

@LiveLuvLaugh , I often have cheesy beans - usually reheated 'rice with bits in' leftovers, with baked beans, a bit of chilli sauce and garlic topped with cheese.
Microwave until piping hot to kill germs.
Stir and let it cool a bit.

If I don't have beans other tinned pulses will do.

Rice with bits in is chopped veg (lots of spring greens, carrot, stalk of celery, a bit of leek, any other veg that looks in need of eating...) boiled with long grain rice.
I don't really like rice but it's cheap and quick.

Variation: waxy potatoes or some other grain like freekeh instead of rice

Chicken Gnocchi

Cook 2 chicken breast in foil in air fryer for 30 mins. Chop up. Pour a packet of gnocchi into a oven proof bowl, chop 2 peppers (I used red and yellow ones) chip up a motzerella ball into little cubes, mix everything around then add a pot of red pesto, mix again, add a chicken stock cube in a pint of water. Add chopped chicken breasts. Mix up well. Add a dash of cream. Bake in oven for 40 minutes. My teens love this meal. Serve with garlic bread.

Creamy chicken and bacon topping for pasta.
Chop up 2 chicken breasts and dry fry in sauté pan with bacon lardons once cooked add a large pot of reduced fat creme fresh and a half a packet of dulcelate cheese. Add a handful of frozen peas. Simmer on a very low heat while you cook your pasta. ( I used tagliatelle). Serves 3. Only takes 15-20 minutes to cook. DS did this recipe for his GCSE food technology. He did a quick main with a time consuming and fancy dessert.

If room in freezer much cheaper to buy 2kg of chicken breasts (Morrison's) for £10.

Chicken Stew

Use a large saucepan with lid or pressure cooker if have one. Chop up 6 good sized potatoes in discs, 4 large carrots into pennies, 2 onions, chop up half a swede I to cubes, and a stick of celery. Boiler with a chicken stock cube and enough water to cover vegetables plus a a mug full more. Add seasoning. Add a large spoon of beef gravy granules. Chop up 2 chicken breasts and mix into stew. Cook for an hour until vegetables are cooked. Add another mug of water and gently stir the pot. Use Atora to mix with self raising flour and water to make dumplings. Roll dumplings into balls and add to pot. Put on lid and cook for a further 20onutes until vegetables are beginning to break up. Serves 3 portions. If you want to stretch it to 4 portions add some pearl barley at same time as vegetables and add an extra carrot. Takes a while to cook but once in pot you can wonder off and come back later. Great comfort food on a cold night.

Tip: A little bit of grease perks up a bland dish (e.g. reheated leftovers).
The 'grease' could be cheese, butter or bacon and a little goes a long way.

Yellow sticker food (obv!) but also Too Good to Go and Olio for discounted food

Olio also has non-food items for sale at very cheap prices or to give away.

Will come back with some recipe ideas!

Yes definitely second toogoodtogo app Greggs is £3 for a big bag of sandwiches/pasties/donuts.

Sometimes restaurants do hot food eg carvery or hotel breakfasts.

Could be a good ice breaker with flatmates too.

@ Hellometime

Yy re ice-breaker etc

In no particular order

Black bean quesadillas or meat version (see Recipe tin eats)
Tinned sardines or mackerel in tomato/spicy chilli sauce on toast
Falafel, wraps etc
Dal, rice and ?? -
Chickpea & cauliflower curry
Hm soup made from leftover veg
Spag with butter, garlic and cheese
Baked potatoes
Stir fried noodles with veg/whatever
Nasi goreng

Autumn/ winter puds such as crumbles, rice pudding, bread & butter pudding etc

Tbh, I think making pastry etc is a bit ambitious for a first year student

One last thing: learning how to store rice after cooking is v important