Speed things up and keep costs low in the kitchen!

Saving time and money are essential in all areas of student life, and cooking is no exception. Here’s some suggestions on how to speed things up and keep costs low in the kitchen.

SAVING FROM THE START

If you've got a house of eight, there’s no need for eight sieves, no matter how much you love pasta. Get in contact with your housemates before you move in and fill in the gaps in your cupboards by doing a bit of swapping.

ADDING BULK

Save money on a meal without missing out on nutrition by adding veg to bulk out a meat dish.

• Potatoes, mushrooms, peppers or whatever you have spare, can be chopped up and added to curries, soups, omelettes and more.
• Make soup more filling by cutting stale bread into cubes and adding a crushed clove of garlic to some oil before frying the croutons.
• The cheapest mince is not a money saver because it tends to have a lot of fat and gristle. Save by buying the best mince you can afford but make it go further with added vegetables

STIR FRIES – THE STUDENT’S BEST FRIEND

Stir fries are a cheap and heathy meal, and can be whipped up in no time. The ingredients are cheap and they take minutes to cook. Here are some stir fry tips:

• Cut all the ingredients to the same size, things will all be cooked at the same time!
• Get the wok or frying pan really hot and add a tablespoon of oil. If using meat, stir fry it in the hot oil for two to three minutes, then add the vegetables for a further two.
• Mix the sauce, pour over and stir fry for another minute before serving.
• We know how tempting Sainsbury’s sauce sachets are, why not try your own? Basic sauce ingredients are 4tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp vinegar, and 1 tsp runny honey or sugar. Add chilli powder to give it a kick.

MONDAY UNIVERSITY MARKET

As you all probably know, every Monday there is a market outside SUSU (the concourse). There’s fresh fruit and veg at a really reasonable price (some things are better value than others though, so check if it’s worth buying over a supermarket alternative), there’s the famous muffin lady, fresh meat and fish, fancy bread and that stall with the olivey bits.

If you’re after a deal, try and go down at the end of the day. You’ll always hear someone shouting about some deals to try and shift the stock. And why not try haggling? What’s the worst that would happen?

COOK ON MASS

When your cupboards are looking a bit bare it’s always worth asking your housemates to see if they have the second half of the meal you can almost salvage together. It saves either of you having to go out and buy more ingredients.

If you have the bits to make more than one portion of a meal, it’s always worth cooking what you can and freezing meals for a later date. It saves you having to cook a meal from scratch and stops you binning any leftovers. This is especially great over exam period, just take your dinner out the freezer as you start your day and it’ll be ready to eat with no fuss later. Stress-free!