Food in University

chrussell

I'm at Uni and i'm sick to death of eating crap all the time, pasta, beans, waffles and fish fingers...blah!! Anyway I was wondering if anyone knew of some simple, nice and cheap dishes I can make up. IF u could also tell me how to make it that'd be great! Thanks

superficies

maybe you could give us an idea of what kind of things you like to eat? Immediate ideas that come to my mind of things that are easy, cheap and good for you are things like soup, rissoto, spanish omelette, stir fry, stews etc. I'm sure if you tell us what you like we can all come up with a few ideas and you're going to be so happy you've done this. Eating well will make you feel happier AND you'll have much better energy for lectures and socialising ;-)

chrussell

I have to say I'll genuinely eat anything, I love fish, red and white meats, vegetables , everything really. I've noticed lately that I've got allot less energy than I usually do, and I think it's to do with my diet.

speedy2007

i love chicken stew in the winter.
Basically just get some chicken, pref on the bone cos the meat tastes better (also cheaper than breast). Remove the skin and fatty bits cos it will only get soggy in this dish. Chop up some veg, i like parsnip, carrot, onions and mushrooms. I usually just quarter the onions cos they go really soft, so any smaller and you mightnt notice them.
Stick everything in a pot. Then pour over a pint of chicken stock. Bring to the boil then lower and leave it cook for about an hour and a half with the lid on. You can put potatoes in for the last half hour (if you put them in at the start they soak up all the stock and get all mushy..not good)
It takes a while, but its so easy and very little clean up afterwards.

Oh and if you make a good bit, it heats up really well the next day too

dellas1979

Well one very simple dish to accompany meat/fish/veg is a potato/vegetable thing I make sometimes. Youll need

Bag of baby potatoes (99c)
Red and yellow pepper (say 99c each-1.98 multipack prob cheaper)
A couple fresh tomatoes chopped up (say 60c)
Cloves of garlic (50c)
Extra virgin Olive oil (you may have this already if not invest in some - small bottle in dunnes about e2.50)

- Turn on over to about 200.
- Halve baby potatoes. Boil until half cooked.
- Put half cooked potatoes, chopped tomatoes, chopped peppers and crushed garlic in oven pan. Cover in a little oliver oil. Season with salt/pepper.
- Takes about 15-20mins in a nice hot oven.
Tastes devine. I like to eat it with some garlic salt, but that costs an additional e3 to your budget.

superficies

Here are a few super easy ones

Easy Peasy Soup

Chop up and onion, a butternut squash (about 1.30 at tesco...less at lidl), one or two red peppers, put into a big pot with a pint of veg stock (2 stock cubes plus warm water), salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, reduce heat, simmer for 20 mins or until squash is soft, then allow to cool a little, blend and hey presto soup. This quantity will do you for 4 or 5 lunches or, with some nice chunky bread, toms, salad etc... will make a great winter dinner and very healthy

Simple Stir Fry

Put on some rice to boil
Chop up (relatively finely) some onion, peppers and then anything else you want (I like to also add v finely chopped carrots and some mushrooms) or just leave it at that if you wish. Chop up some protein (could be chicken, pork, beef or prawns [can get frozen proawns at good price in lidl and the big €4 bag will do about 4 or 5 stir fries so it's good value]). Put some oil in a pan (wok if you have one...if not no worries) and allow to heat. When v hot add the veg and cook for a few mins, then add the protein and make sure it's fully cooked (shouldn't take too long as should be thinly choped)
When rice is boiled drain it. Once the veg and protein mix is cooked put the drained rice into the pan. Fry for 30 secs or so. Then add soy sauce or oyster sauce or a stir fry sauce pack if you prefer to buy these pre-prepared ones. Delicious--v quick, v easy, extremely healthy

Remember that generally just flinging piles of things in a pot with a tin of toms or some stock will usually give rise to something edible and sometimes even something yummy. The best part is playing with things. Remember to always season. You will learn what combinations you like very quickly!

ToniTuddle

1 x 400g packet of pasta (eg penne)
1 medium broccoli broken
1-2 cans tuna in brine (250g)
1 cup sliced button mushrooms (suppose any mushrooms would do!)
1 x 400g can mushroom soup
150ml milk
1 cup grated cheese
1 small packet natural potato chips



-Preheat oven 200'C. Spray ovenproof dish/lasagne dish with non-stick baking spray.
-Boil pasta in salted water. Add broccoli for last 3 minutes of cooking time. -Drain and tip into prepared dish.
-Drain tuna and flake over broccoli and pasta.
-Sprinkle mushrooms over it then.
-Mix soup+milk together+pour over,gently stirring to mix.
-Sprinkle with cheese+crush potato chips over the top.
-Bake for 15-20 mins until topping is crispy and golden and the dish is well heated through.


I'm a terrible cook and even gave myself food poisoning the first time I cooked chicken >.< But will keep trying to get better as cooking does rock!!
I'm also in college and will be moving into my own place in about a month or so. I'm going to do my best not to live off crap and try out all these funky recipes I've been collecting. If I think on anymore relatively easy ones I'll post them up!

Klove

Make friends with lentils! Especially red ones that you can throw into soups, stews and even pasta sauces for v. cheap and v. filling source of protein. They make nice burgers too if you mix them after cooking with breadcrumbs and mashed vegetables and some egg to bind them.

Grains like cous cous and buckwheat are usually pretty cheap too and a nice change from pasta and rice.

My biggest tip though is to spend as much as you can afford on different herbs and spices and some good stock. Can make a huge difference to the most meagre of ingredients.