You've probably seen TV shows about "extreme couponing", where ordinary people save tons of money on groceries by using coupons, but have you noticed the sort of foods they generally end up with? While boxed noodles and energy drinks may sound like a college student's best friend, we at Savvy Student want you to treat your wallet and your body well. Besides, who has time to coupon during midterms?
Meal planning is a great place to start before heading to the grocery store. We like to think of it as a life hack. By spending an hour or two on a Sunday planning out your week's meals, you can avoid waste, save time at the grocery store and never wonder where your next meal is coming from. Meal planning can be an excellent exercise in time management and strategy, as you can start learning which foods are the most versatile and can be used in various dishes.
Of course your meal planning is a very personal experience and will depend largely on any dietary restrictions you may have as well as your tastes. Brainstorm your favorite meals to prepare. Can you inflate the recipe so you can feed yourself for a few days? Are there components of your favorite meal that can be "recycled" (we'll call it "mealcycled") into another dish? Here are some examples of foods that can be cooked and then mealcycled into various other dishes without much effort:
1) Roasted chicken
Roasting a chicken for a single person (or even two people) can yield quite a lot more than meat than even the hungriest of us can eat in one sitting. With just a few more groceries (bread, spring mix salad, tomatoes, chicken broth, carrots) you can turn your abundant chicken into: chicken soup, chicken salad and chicken sandwiches! Remember that broth you had to buy? Save the carcass from your chicken to boil in water to make your own broth that you can freeze to use for later.
2) Curry sauces with rice
A rice cooker is such a good investment for a student because it quickly and perfectly prepares a large quantity of one of the cheapest foods that is also the most versatile. If you're into curries, make a pot of any variety you like with some rice, and then with the help of some veggies, soy sauce, oil (coconut, sesame, vegetable, even butter), and some more of that broth you have on hand from your roasted chicken soup, you can make curry soup by thinning out your sauce with broth and maybe adding some more veggies or fried rice using your leftover rice, some soy sauce, some oil and some veggies.
3) Vegetable or meat based sauce
Make a big batch of sauce (try allrecipes.com for some good ideas) and freeze it in smaller quantities to be used over freshly prepared pasta or rice. We recommend you make the pasta sauce in advance but not the pasta itself as carby foods tend not to keep well in the fridge. Cream based sauces can be cooked with rice to make something similar to a risotto, tomato based sauces can be easily turned into soups, and herb based sauces make great meat marinades.
A great way to start your meal planning journey is to learn what sorts of food you like. If you haven't cooked much before, consider inviting your friends over for a potluck. Tell them to bring the meal they like to make that they think is the most versatile. Ask for recipes! Parents, older students and recently graduated friends are great resources. For the internet addicts among us, there are tons of cooking blogs to check out. including:
Collegiate Cook
Stone Soup (learn how to make impressive dishes using five ingredients or less!)
This Week for Dinner (a busy mom makes meals every night of the week by planning ahead)
Send us your favorite recipes, pictures of your delicious creations and any suggestions for more posts on food. Some of us at Savvy Student are major foodies and would love to satisfy your craving for more posts like this!
Meal planning is a great place to start before heading to the grocery store. We like to think of it as a life hack. By spending an hour or two on a Sunday planning out your week's meals, you can avoid waste, save time at the grocery store and never wonder where your next meal is coming from. Meal planning can be an excellent exercise in time management and strategy, as you can start learning which foods are the most versatile and can be used in various dishes.
Of course your meal planning is a very personal experience and will depend largely on any dietary restrictions you may have as well as your tastes. Brainstorm your favorite meals to prepare. Can you inflate the recipe so you can feed yourself for a few days? Are there components of your favorite meal that can be "recycled" (we'll call it "mealcycled") into another dish? Here are some examples of foods that can be cooked and then mealcycled into various other dishes without much effort:
1) Roasted chicken
Roasting a chicken for a single person (or even two people) can yield quite a lot more than meat than even the hungriest of us can eat in one sitting. With just a few more groceries (bread, spring mix salad, tomatoes, chicken broth, carrots) you can turn your abundant chicken into: chicken soup, chicken salad and chicken sandwiches! Remember that broth you had to buy? Save the carcass from your chicken to boil in water to make your own broth that you can freeze to use for later.
2) Curry sauces with rice
A rice cooker is such a good investment for a student because it quickly and perfectly prepares a large quantity of one of the cheapest foods that is also the most versatile. If you're into curries, make a pot of any variety you like with some rice, and then with the help of some veggies, soy sauce, oil (coconut, sesame, vegetable, even butter), and some more of that broth you have on hand from your roasted chicken soup, you can make curry soup by thinning out your sauce with broth and maybe adding some more veggies or fried rice using your leftover rice, some soy sauce, some oil and some veggies.
3) Vegetable or meat based sauce
Make a big batch of sauce (try allrecipes.com for some good ideas) and freeze it in smaller quantities to be used over freshly prepared pasta or rice. We recommend you make the pasta sauce in advance but not the pasta itself as carby foods tend not to keep well in the fridge. Cream based sauces can be cooked with rice to make something similar to a risotto, tomato based sauces can be easily turned into soups, and herb based sauces make great meat marinades.
A great way to start your meal planning journey is to learn what sorts of food you like. If you haven't cooked much before, consider inviting your friends over for a potluck. Tell them to bring the meal they like to make that they think is the most versatile. Ask for recipes! Parents, older students and recently graduated friends are great resources. For the internet addicts among us, there are tons of cooking blogs to check out. including:
Collegiate Cook
Stone Soup (learn how to make impressive dishes using five ingredients or less!)
This Week for Dinner (a busy mom makes meals every night of the week by planning ahead)
Send us your favorite recipes, pictures of your delicious creations and any suggestions for more posts on food. Some of us at Savvy Student are major foodies and would love to satisfy your craving for more posts like this!
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