Final College Year Diet Suggestions - Cheap but Healthy!

oseia

Hey everyone, looking for a few diet tips... I've never been one for dieting but I'd like to try to eat healthy so any advice is appreciated! I'm 21 and going into my final year of college so I'm looking for foods that are cheap, not-time consuming to prepare, handy for quick dinners or lunches, and preferably with loads of energy (for college work and hopefully exercise) and of course plenty of nutrition. Also wondering should I take any vitamins or the like or am I better off getting all that through my food intake?

I'm completely happy with my weight as my BMI is a little above the underweight level and therefore healthy (I'm just under 5 foot 10 (177cm) and usually around 62kg). I do usually have a bit of a tummy (the food baby) which I wouldn't mind getting rid of but that'd be more down to exercise and just toning up.

Sleep is usually grand, I get enough though I do generally need a full 8 hours or close to it to function properly. Could maybe do with a boost in the mornings too as I'm normally a zombie but usually have early classes. Not into coffee though!

My usual college diet consists of white pasta, white pasta, white pasta and more white pasta. Lots of bread (normally brown, occasionally homemade), ham, chicken, rice, fruit, veg (often have my veg raw too if I'm not having stuff like stir fry or curry), eggs, cereal (weetabix or bran flakes, usually with a drop honey), full fat dairy milk (may switch to goat or almond milk as it seems to improve my skin, but am fairly set on not having low fat), lots of water, frozen pizza and plenty of chocolate and crisps unfortunately too. For the latter, I usually dig into them whenever I'm feeling down or often when attempting to get college work done... Any advice on how to cut back on that (pure will power I suppose, mainly not buying it in the first place...) or what to replace the junk food with would be great. Fruit would probably be the best bet as I love snacking on stuff like grapes. I don't drink much at all, one or two drinks or none at all whenever I'm out which will probably be less often during final year, so I'm not worried about cutting back on that. I have a massive food appetite though, always need meals to be very filling as I'll be spending a lot of time in college and can't keep going home every couple of hours for food.

Most of my shopping will be done in Aldi or maybe Lidl.

Just looking for ideas on what kind of stuff I should be eating and any quick recipes for handy dinners or lunches would be great. Also looking to work in a lot of spinach in particular (or anything rich in magnesium). Will try to change to brown rice and pasta too, at least the majority of the time.

Thanks in advance!

Honestly I'd say make friends with your local butcher and get deals on meat in there. I wouldn't buy meat from lidl in general from what I've seen I get a lot better value by weight for money from a butcher doing offers
Get your veg deals in aldi and lidl and cheap rice
If you stir fry stuff it cooks itself while you study or whatever so you've no excuse for going for frozen food over it, plus you can use leftovers for lunch the next day

oseia

Local butcher seems okay price-wise anyway, it's just off campus so would get mostly students. For meat I only buy chicken in Aldi really, anything else would be from butchers.

As for leftovers I usually cook enough for two or three dinners whenever I cook properly. Just have the odd frozen pizza (always Goodfellas) when they're a euro or two, sometimes have frozen chips and peas but that's about it for frozen food bar fish, and any meat that I buy and then freeze. I normally have to study in college or I don't get much done so I wouldn't be too productive trying to study while letting stuff cook unless I'd an exam in a day or two.

fussyonion

One recipe that springs to mind and one I cook when food's running low is what I've called Tuna Tomato Pasta.

I boil some wholewheat pasta and in another pot I fry some garlic and onion, before adding a tin of tomatoes and herbs.
When the pasta is done and the sauce has thickened, I get a bowl and empty a tin of tuna in it, throw in the pasta and sauce and stir.

It's very tasty and filling and costs next to nothing.

Alf Veedersane

Frozen veg. Aldi and Lidl do stir fry versions as well that come in handy for speedy meals (prep to plate in under 15 mins). Asian shops for stuff like soy sauce, oyster sauce etc.

Also, a wise man once said "spices maketh the meat". He wasn't far off

oseia

oseia wrote: »

Local butcher seems okay price-wise anyway, it's just off campus so would get mostly students. For meat I only buy chicken in Aldi really, anything else would be from butchers.

As for leftovers I usually cook enough for two or three dinners whenever I cook properly. Just have the odd frozen pizza (always Goodfellas) when they're a euro or two, sometimes have frozen chips and peas but that's about it for frozen food bar fish, and any meat that I buy and then freeze. I normally have to study in college or I don't get much done so I wouldn't be too productive trying to study while letting stuff cook unless I'd an exam in a day or two.

Fair enough!:)
Do you have enough tupperware to carry bits and bobs about?
If you want stuff more filling I would find more meat and more veg filling myself

ford2600

If you are buying beef or lamb (all Irish are primarily grass fed) from a butcher buy what everyone else isn't.

Modern demand is for lean muscle meat, which makes it expensive. Buy fatty cuts ( e.g brisket, lamb neck & shoulder) and really nutritionally dense organ meat like lamb's liver, sweetbreads and heart.

Learn how to cook stews and eat for 3 days, you can also add whatever veg is cheap, spices and lentils beans etc. A cassoulet is another excellent peasant food which lends itself to cheap meat and haricot beans. Again eat over 2/3 days.

For free food roast beef shin bones and add some marrow to stew or on top of potatoes etc.

Eat fresh foods in season or on special and eat frozen veg also.

Eggs of course are cheap and a brilliant food.

oseia

Thanks for all your replies, appreciate them.

fussyonion wrote: »

One recipe that springs to mind and one I cook when food's running low is what I've called Tuna Tomato Pasta

Will try that, thanks. I never eat tuna for some reason, must get into it!

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Also, a wise man once said "spices maketh the meat". He wasn't far off

I have no idea how to use spices or anything when I'm cooking, wouldn't mind learning though instead of always using jars of stuff for sauces and the like.

bluewolf wrote: »

Fair enough!:)
Do you have enough tupperware to carry bits and bobs about?
If you want stuff more filling I would find more meat and more veg filling myself

Plenty, will invest in more if needed! I always tend to stock up on pasta but I'll bare that in mind, would probably work out much better to have more meat and veg!

ford2600 wrote: »

If you are buying beef or lamb (all Irish are primarily grass fed) from a butcher buy what everyone else isn't.

Modern demand is for lean muscle meat, which makes it expensive. Buy fatty cuts ( e.g brisket, lamb neck & shoulder) and really nutritionally dense organ meat like lamb's liver, sweetbreads and heart.

Learn how to cook stews and eat for 3 days, you can also add whatever veg is cheap, spices and lentils beans etc. A cassoulet is another excellent peasant food which lends itself to cheap meat and haricot beans. Again eat over 2/3 days.

For free food roast beef shin bones and add some marrow to stew or on top of potatoes etc.

Eggs of course are cheap and a brilliant food.

I would love to but lamb is one meat I really can't stand, same goes for any really fatty stuff. May just browse the butchers and see if they've anything cheap that looks nice though!

I think I can make stew, I just never do in college as it's time consuming enough. Lentils and beans are more things I need to start adding to my meals, never make use of them!

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Frozen veg. Aldi and Lidl do stir fry versions as well that come in handy for speedy meals (prep to plate in under 15 minas). Asian shops for stuff like soy sauce, oyster sauce etc.

ford2600 wrote: »

Eat fresh foods in season or on special and eat frozen veg also.

Would fresh veg not be better than frozen? Or is it just a suggestion because it's cheap?

SillyBeans

As far as a I know (I could be wrong) the frozen is just as good nutritionally. I don't find it tastes as nice though as it doesn't seem to have the crunch. I do use frozen most of the time though as I find the fresh stuff just goes off.

What I've been making a lot of lately is some lean mince, a tin of those little preboiled baby potatoes and loads of spices. Then when the juices start to come out of the meat, I make a gravy (make it with boiling water first as normal then add it to the pan, just make it much thicker than you normally would, the meat juice dilutes it). Or sometimes I just throw in a stock cube. When it's all cooked I throw in some of the cooked veg that I boiled separately and mix it all up. Takes about ten minutes and I tend to make it in bulk (in a wok) and it does me for lunch and dinner for a few days. If I'm wanting a complete carb fest, I add some pasta too. I'm hungry now...!

ford2600

oseia wrote: »

I think I can make stew, I just never do in college as it's time consuming enough. Lentils and beans are more things I need to start adding to my meals, never make use of them!

Ask for stewing beef so, mainly lean, add a little fat for flavour(he'll throw it in for free) and you don't need to eat it. Making a stew is simple, not much work and it gives three days of proper nutrition.

There is many varieties but I would always do the following
* chop up a large onion or two, celery and chillies and add to casserole pot
* Brown liberally salted meat in small batches on pan and add to pot
* Deglaze pan with stock/cheap red wine to remove all brown from meat(this helps with colour and flavour)
* Add some soaked lentils
* Add enough water/wine/stock to barely cover bring up to temperature and stick in oven on low heat for 2-10 hrs depending on how cheap cut is time constraints.
* Add more veg later carrots, turnip whatever is there, frozen peas are cheap and add colour
* you can add whatever spices you like, I don't think I've ever made same stew twice
* chorizo adds nice flavour also in small amounts
* tins of tomatoes are also nice addition(but not a stew, I'll add link to cooking forum where people are more strict than me on what a stew or casserole etc...)

Don't be getting hung up on frozen versus fresh, veg are good (one of the few things everyone agrees on!) get them into your diet as much as possible

Best thing about stew is it gets better on day 2/3 and you can add veg to bulk it up to last.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057453917

Cassoulet is another great one pot wonder, replace cocunut fat for olive oil and don't do any of the wiping nonsense! Get your haricot beans in lidl/aldi(i.e baked beans) and just wash of the crappy sugary tomatoes sauce). Sausages don't need to be S African BTW:)

http://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/food/recipes/2011/1011/2585-wild-boar-sausage-cassoulet/

Add boiled/roasted potatoes(add roasted bone marrow to roasted potatoes FTW) to any of those types of meals if needed