Playing your cards with the finances earned in school is very tempting, especially when you smell the good aroma of food everywhere. Some end up falling prey to ordering expensive meals, which would lead them to fall short of cash during their learning period. Coming up with a dining decision that is cost-effective helps in saving money while on campus. All you need to start up is a guide on budget-friendly foods to buy and considering the option of eating at a restaurant or preparing it.
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Ramen Noodles
Noodles are the cheapest set of foods prepared within a matter of minutes. When having too much work on your plate, boil water, dip in ramen noodles with the added seasoned powder, and enjoy the meal. Take some time to use creativity to prepare it to evade the traditional methods of cooking. Make the meal colorful with grated carrots and a snap of peas added to the boiling food. Add some proteins such as red meat or chicken to go with it.
Soup with Grilled Cheese
Laziness often creeps in when the temperatures are too low, especially during winter or on chilly nights. This is the best time to visit the store and buy a sizable loaf of bread, a can of soup, and cheese accompanied by butter.
This pocket-friendly set of foods is easy to prepare and it only takes a few minutes. Heat the soup with a microwave as you set the table to devour on the hearty meal.
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Deli Sandwiches
They are one of the best set of meals that you can get at a budget and take them as a snack or main meal. Accompanying the sandwich with chips, fries, salad, or soup ensures you have a fulfilling dinner or lunch after a long day.
Meat lovers will fall in love with this food as they can add any set of meat to it with a touch of mustard, making it tastier. The best part is that it is cheap but tempting. Food photo created by freepik – www.freepik.com Rice and Beans
Many students across campuses often opt for this cheap set of food compared to other similar products in the store. This combination provides essential proteins and carbohydrates that the body needs to grow.
The rice only takes a few minutes to boil while the beans require some flavoring to add taste. Chopping some onions and tomatoes and adding ground garlic with turmeric brings out a tasty bean soup to match the rice.
Burritos
Wastage is never an option for most students on a budget, especially when it comes to meals. Utilizing leftover from the dinner or lunch, you had by creating a burrito saves a lot. You will only need to buy or make a tortilla to roll them up.
This cost-effective meal goes through the simplest set of preparation. Lay down a tortilla on a plate and pour out some leftover beans, rice, or minced meat before rolling them in. Adding some cheese to it will increase the taste making it a simple, hearty meal.
Vegetables and Chicken Breasts
Get a set of chicken breasts from the store at an affordable price compared to when ordering a single one. Fry it in oil to get it crunchy, grill them to get a roast, or opt for poaching it in low temperatures with some wine, milk, stock, or water.
By the time you steam some vegetables, cravings for the taste of the white meat will be overwhelming. Prepare your plate with the chicken breast, cauliflower, and some white rice.
Spaghetti
This food is a student’s economical best friend because it is cheap to buy. Accompanying these spaghetti noodles with some thick and tasty sauce will leave you craving for more in days to come. Prepare the sauce with smashed garlic, some few peppers to add a grassier taste, and season it with lemon.
All you need is a pot of boiling water, salt, a draining plate, and stirrer. After a few minutes of boiling the spaghetti, be sure to enjoy having it to your fill.
Stir-fry
This simple method of cooking will not leave you exhausted after a long day in class. It only takes a few minutes to light up the source of heat and fry some vegetables or meat on a pan of oil. Broccoli, red bell pepper, carrots, sugar snap peas, and mushrooms are cheap necessities that you need to create a stir-fried meal.
Conclusion
In the mid of all the pressure and spending experienced on campus, you need to take a break and plan. Balancing schoolwork, a job, and home activities requires strength. Feeding on budget-friendly meals that are easy to prepare saves you a lot of time, ensuring more focus is on studies. Ensure to pick on a healthy diet that is pocket friendly and will keep you energized and active all day long.
Judy Nelson is a student counselor helping students work on their academic performance and excel in their careers. She helps them with college assignments that include thesis, essays and coursework, trains them for interviews and mentors them for extracurricular. In her free time, she plays tennis, practices meditation and reads novels.
Most students are struggling with two main problems in college: studying and cooking. However the first one is more serious, the second issue can cause some discomfort too. Probably you hadn’t cooked much before you entered the university, but since you’ve moved from your parents who usually make tasty meals, cooking became one of your chores.
Another reason why students may avoid cooking is a big number of tasks. Sometimes students are so overloaded with assignments and research papers that they can’t engage in any other activities except for studying. In this case, you can turn to the best Australian assignment writing service and get assistance with your academic work. This service helps to save time and meet all deadlines.
Some students manage to survive with the help of takeaways and ready meals for the first semester or two. But after some time they realize the disadvantages of such an approach. First of all, it’s quite expensive and you can easily exceed your monthly budget. Besides, ready meals are usually unhealthy as restaurants often add too much oil and sugar there. These are the main reasons why most students decide to start cooking by themselves. If you also want to make food on your own and need some help with it, consider the seven student cooking tips below. https://www.pexels.com/ru-ru/photo/357743/
1.Always season food
Chefs say that seasoning can change even the blandest food into something outstanding. Try to use not only salt and pepper but also to add some herbs and spices to your dishes. Seasoning can completely transform the way you cook and make prepared food much more delicious. If you are a fan of Italian food and pasta is your typical meal for dinner, then you should learn how to use dried oregano and basil in the right proportions. Also, if you have chili powder, paprika, or Cajun pepper, you can use them for almost any dish as they match most products pretty well. Moreover, you can find some spice shakers that include garlic salt and some herb mixes which can turn a dull dish into a very delicious one.
- Keep all basic ingredients in your cupboard
Typically, many recipes require the same base ingredients. Therefore, it’s a good idea to buy them in advance and stock them in your kitchen. Especially if you are too busy with study or just too tired to go to the shop, you can easily access all the essentials in your cupboard and make dinner yourself instead of ordering the food. In the long run, it will save you money and help you feel healthier.
- Make use of your microwave
It may be hard to believe but your microwave can become an ally in making tasty meals. Of course, it will not be as good as the oven, but still, it can help you cook some simple dishes. Besides, it requires less effort so you can save your energy for something more important.
- Freeze some food
A freezer can make your food last months longer (of course if none of your mates takes it earlier). Choose freezer bags as they take up less room than boxes and put there some portions of soup, meat, sauces, or whatever you want. You can freeze almost any type of food and it won’t lose its taste, just try it! Anytime you feel lazy to cook, just take a portion of a meal and defrost it. This will save you both money and brain cells.
- Buy a really good pan
Get a good non-stick frying pan to make your food taste much better. If you invest in a decent saucepan, you’ll be surprised how it improves the flavor of your meal. Moreover, these utensils will make cooking and cleaning processes much easier.
- Make a meal plan
Planning your meals in advance will save you both budget and effort. If you decide on your meals for the following week, it will make shopping easier as you know exactly what you need to buy. Make sure you have all the ingredients at home, so you won’t go to KFC to avoid shopping. In addition, meal plans will make your nutrition rich with various foods.
- Look for inspiration
University cooking needs you to be inspired. You can get it from your family members who share their recipes with you or from friends who are into cooking. There are also so many websites with recipes for any skill level. If you always try to cook new dishes and master your talent, cooking won’t be a chore for you, but rather an exciting activity during study breaks.
Following these tips will help you to become a confident cook. Anybody can learn to cook by applying simple instructions described above. Take your time to practice as much as you need and enjoy the process itself!
Author’s BIO
Sandra Larson is a professional writer from Elizabethan Authors and an amateur cook who enjoys experimenting with food. She never stops trying new recipes and mastering her cooking skills. Sandra believes that cooking for students is not a routine, but an amusing activity.
