For beginner student chefs you’ll need to master some basic student cooking class so you don’t starve while at university. I have to face it that I’m not the most gifted cook in the world. Cooking has never really been on one of my strong points. Before going to university Mummy and Daddy fed and provided for me.

This means you could get into a habit of eating convenience ready meals and living off junk food. This year I’ve made more effort to prepare healthy meals and use fresh ingredients.

It’s time to learning some cooking basics for beginners. When it comes to cooking everyone has to start somewhere. Soup, pasta and beans on toast will always come to a student’s rescue however now you’re living independently an essential skill you need to master as a student is cooking and food shopping.

You can’t to eat out all the time, live off frozen ready meals and survive on alcohol for three years. During tough times you need to be responsible and more sensible about what food you buy and where you buy it from so you can save yourself a few quid. You’ll quickly find out that you may need to cut back on luxury and branded food items you used to eat at home and you can’t just stuff things in the trolley anymore.

On top of cut backs you’ll also need to eat a healthy diet, you can’t live off expensive takeaways and junk food snacks like Jaffa Cakes and Pringles. Living on your own needs some financial discipline and control.

Food budgeting your money better may take some practise. After leaving home for university you’ll soon discover that filling up the supermarket trolley like you did at home runs up a great deal of expense. If you fill up the trolley now there’s no Mum or Dad to cough up the money to pay for it you’ll overspend.

Healthy Cooking for Students

When it comes to healthy cooking students may neglect themselves after moving away from home cooked meals. Now you live away from home you can trying new things. I’m learning to get more comfortable with cooking for myself and others using fresh vegetables, meat and a dash of spices and herbs.

Some may argue that cooking healthy food costs more than cooking the pre-packaged real meals. The good news is that there are health recipes that are very cheap and easy to make with real nutritional ingredients.

Here is a grocery shopping list for student food items you can test out when going grocery shopping.

Grocery Shopping List for Students:

• Noodles
• Rice/Pasta/Spaghetti (Cheap and filling)
• Bread and Butter
• Milk
• Sugar
• Tea/Coffee
• Juice/Squash/Fizz Pop
• Fresh Vegetables – Potatoes, Peppers, Carrots, Onion, Broccoli, Cauliflower
• Canned and Frozen Vegetables as a backup – Chips, Tomatoes, Peas, Sweet corn, Beetroot
• Baked beans (of course)
• Soups
• Salad – Lettuce, Tomatoes, Cucumbers
• Fruit – Apples, Oranges, Bananas, Grapes
• Cheese
• Eggs
• Yogurt
• Cereals for Breakfast
• Meat – Chicken, Lamb, Pork, Beef, Mince, Bacon
• Fish – Tuna, Sardines, Prawns, Fish Fingers
• Deli – Ham, turkey
• Curry, Chinese and Pasta Sauces
• Tortillas
• Herbs and Spices – Mixed Herbs, Chilli, Mint, Garlic
• Gravy and Stock Cubes
• Cooking oil
• Salt, pepper, ketchup, mayo
• Snack Food – Crisps, Chocolate, Biscuits/Cream Crackers
• Beer, Vodka, Wine and drink mixers (Of course)

This list should give you some meal ideas and suggestions. It also helps if take a shopping list and you plan your weekly meals in advance or you’ll overspend. Another student cooking tip is to make large portions of curry, chilli and then freeze them. Lots of food you make can be frozen with no problem and then reheated later. A big pan of chilli can last me for a few meals and is cheaper and more filling than ready meal versions.

Here are a few ideas to try with the list above:

• A fresh chicken or prawn salad can be prepared in under fifteen minutes.
• Tortillas Wraps just add your own filling.
• Curry
• Mexican Chilli
• Pasta in Red Wine
• Jacket Potatoes with beans/cheese
• Panini’s
• Chinese Stir-fry a healthy vegetable mix
• Cheese (on Toast)
• Egg Noodles with a Lamb or Pork Chop and side veg/salad
• Fruit Salad
• Chicken wrapped in Bacon (Sunday Lunch)
• Wine with Cheese and Savoury Biscuits
• Tea and Biscuits
• Just Biscuits (I like biscuits)

Not all great lunches and snacks require long cooking time in order to prepare. It is possible to prepare wonderful food for students without much heavy cooking. There is always something wonderful to cook even if you’re on a tight budget. To make sure you don’t go hungry always have the basic essentials in your kitchen and avoid the takeout.

We all make excuses not to do the cooking and instead live off unhealthy junk food. You may not know how to cook but you can read so buy some second hand cook books and give the recipes a try. No one is a born master chef cooking. Your cooking skills and kitchen confidence will grow as you practise making meals and adjusting recipes to your own tastes.

Feel free to add to the lists and magic up your own meals. I hope the student grocery list and ideas will give you some food for thought and get your own student cooking juices flowing.