Meal Prepping 101:

 

Feeling overwhelmed by the idea of daily cooking? Meal prepping is your student kitchen saviour. Spend a few hours on the weekend prepping lunches and dinners for the week. Check out SavetheStudent on how to actually go about meal prepping. Save the student has amazing budget-friendly meal prep ideas, that can be cooked in bulk and portioned out for the week and most importantly provides you with a cost breakdown of each meal cooked. 

 

Here are some simple tips to consider when meal prepping: 

1. Here is a step by step guide on how to: Meal Prep

2. Plan your meals: Choose 3-4 meals you'll eat for lunch and dinner throughout the week. Consider using a meal planning app or browsing budget-friendly recipe websites like BBC Good Food

3. Make a shopping list: shoppers who use lists spend less money and make healthier choices. 

4. Prep your ingredients: Wash and chop vegetables, cook grains like rice or quinoa in bulk, and pre-cook proteins like chicken or lentils. This will save you time during the week.

5. Portion and store: Divide your prepped ingredients and cooked meals into containers for easy grab-and-go lunches and dinners.

6. Leftovers are Legends: Don't bin leftover bolognese or curry! Get creative and transform them into delicious lunches or quick dinners. Leftover bolognese can become a tasty toastie with some cheese, and leftover chicken can be turned into a budget-friendly fajita fiesta!

7. Take your meals with you:  Pack your lunch! Making your lunch instead of buying it on campus can save you a significant amount of money. Invest in a good lunchbox and thermos to keep your food warm for longer or heat your pre-cooked food in our various Heat and Eat spaces located across campus here: 

Canterbury Campus

• Food Court, Anselm – microwave and water boiler available
• Verena Holmes – microwave available (boiling water can be requested from staff in Verena Holmes Coffee Dock)
• Augustine House (Library) - microwave and water boiler available
• The Students' Union building has a kitchen space with microwave and hot water dispensers.

Medway Campus

• Touchdown Café, Rowan Williams Court – microwave available (boiling water can be requested from staff)
• Cathedral Court, Ground Floor - microwave available (boiling water is available in flasks)

 

Bonus tip: Avoid buying coffee and get your free coffee fix in the Students’ Union building everyday from 8:00-18:00, unlimited cappuccinos and lattes! And free breakfast at the Students’ Union every morning from 8:00-11:00 every morning. 

 

So you want to meal prep, great!

Here are links that can be super handy when it comes to meal prepping and shopping! 

Meal plans:

• SavetheStudent - Weekly meal prepping with prices per meal or weekly meal plan.

Recipe websites are perfect for whipping up awesome meals on a budget:

• BBC Good Food student recipes - Simple and tasty recipes with clear instructions.

• Student Eats - designed specifically for students cooking on a budget. 

• Tesco: Student Recipes - with recipes from online supermarkets, you can often add the ingredients straight into your online basket.

Make use of loyalty schemes: Many supermarkets offer free reward schemes which provide you with cashback, discounts and rewards such as:

• Asda Rewards

• Tesco Clubcard

• Sainsbury’s Nectar card

• Morrisons More

Other discount schemes:

• Totum Card

• UNiDAYS

Also, Budget supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl are great options for students.

 

Still feeling like take out? 

Fine… if you must order takeout do consider using the following:

1. The Too Good To Go app next time you are craving takeout  To meet demand, stores usually have to produce more food than they can sell, which often leads to unsold food being thrown away. Too Good to Go gives that unsold food a second chance by offering students the excess food at the end of the day for only £5.

2. Checkout the Universities UPAY app to get a free meal or two by switching on notification for the UDONTPAY feature. UDONTPAY notifications notify students when there is excess free food at the end of the day available across the catering outlets in the University. 

3. Check-out 54 way of saving money on food here: Save the Student

 

Let's face it, a single takeaway meal can easily cost £10-£15. That adds up quickly! Imagine cooking that same meal for a fraction of the price. With a little planning, you can whip up delicious meals for just £2-£3 per serving.

Here's the maths: a bag of pasta costs around £1, a jar of sauce is around £1.50, and vegetables can be as cheap as £1 for a bag. That's a hearty and filling meal for under £4, with leftovers for lunch!

Ditching takeaways and cooking at home is your key to tasty, affordable meals.