10 Essential Student Cooking Tips

As a new student, you're probably living away from home, and cooking and budgeting for yourself for the first time. What sort of things do you need to know, and how can you make cooking fun?

  1. Make sure that you eat properly and within your budget. While you might be tempted to live off takeaways in the first month or so, you'll soon be living off toast come the end of the term!
  2. Plan your meals a week in advance and budget accordingly so that you don't need to go shopping several times a week. This will help you save a fortune!
  3. Special offers can be a great way to save money on the things that you buy anyway. Don't be tempted to buy things that you know you'll never eat, just because they're cheap. Make the most of your freezer, by buying in bulk and freezing what you don't need now. Also, you can make meals or part meals in bulk and freeze what you don't use now.
  4. Use fresh food rather than processed or ready meals, as it will be cheaper, and you'll know exactly what's in your meals. Fresh food is better value, and better for you too. Why not use your local greengrocer or butcher, or visit a local market rather than being tempted by everything else in a supermarket?
  5. Carbohydrates are important for energy, and to keep you feeling full during the day. Feeling fuller for longer will stop you wanting to snack. Pasta, rice and potatoes are a great basis for a meal, and are very versatile. What about curries, or lasagnes, as well as spag bol?
  6. Protein is also important, so make sure that you eat plenty of baked beans, chicken, fish and eggs. Pulses are also important for those people who don't eat meat. Milk is also a good source of protein, so a glass of milk is a healthy option at any time of the day.
  7. It's essential that you at least try and get your 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Having a glass of fruit juice, an apple or a banana during the day, as well as a healthy lunch and evening meal should make this much easier to achieve.
  8. Wash up after every meal. Although you might think that the bombsite kitchen is found in every student home, it's very unhygienic and can lead to all sorts of unwanted illnesses.
  9. Get some recipe books, or write down some of your family favourite recipes. An improvised book stand can make reading a recipe easier. It's much quicker to use a book or a piece of paper than having to keep running backwards and forwards from the computer!
  10. Having the right cookware is important, and it's much easier to cook when you have the right size pan, or the right tool for the job. If you're not sure what you need, why not look for a starter pack that will give you what you need to get started in the kitchen? Cooking should be fun, and doesn't have to be difficult. By starting with simple pasta or rice dishes, you'll soon become better in the kitchen, and enjoy making your own meals. As well as eating more healthily, and saving money, you'll also feel a great sense of achievement, and you might even impress your new friends too!

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Preston Wilson
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