Cooking for Students/Teenagers - Any suggestions?

by MrsNesbitt 23rd January 2010, 3:58 pm

Me again!

My 2 oldest nephews (20 and 19) are renting a house with some other friends. Due to a mix up with Student grant money they are struggling, financially wise. I have told them I will give them a tin of home baking each week. Last week, the first one comprised of White Chocolate Cupcakes, Corned beef pie, Meat Rolls, Cheese scones.
Any ideas for cheap home baking ideas?

Thanks

by Guest 23rd January 2010, 4:40 pm

Bacon and egg pie.
Nice simple plate pie.
Simply place rashers of streaky bacon on top of a pastry base, lightly whisk a couple of eggs and pour over the bacon.
Season
Pastry lid on top.
Bake.
Serve cold with plenty of salt and pepper.

by polgara 23rd January 2010, 5:37 pm

Sausage rolls, sausage & onion pie, cornish pasties
Pol

by MrsC 24th January 2010, 9:02 am

Mrs N

Not sure if they're good or confident in the kitchen or not, so apologies if this is not useful. When I was a student I got a copy of a book called "How to Boil an Egg" which is great at teaching about cooking basics and meal ideas based on them. It's also great in that for veg I could buy whatever was cheapest in the greengrocer and then look up how to cook it when I got home. Available used on Amazon for just 1p! http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Boil-Egg-Simple-Recipes/dp/0716020734/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264322986&sr=8-2

As for cheap meal ideas - obviously beans on toast is a cheap classic. We often get tins of fish in tomato sauce (mackerel, sardines etc) mash it up, poss with a bit of tomato ketchup and then spread on toast, pop under the grill and eat (with a spot of vinegar in Mr C's case) Very yummy as a small dinner. Other tinned stuff can be very cheap and put to good use. I'm currently craving tinned fruit and the Sainsbury's basics range has some great stuff incredibly cheap!

One of the most versatile bases is a huge amount of a mince based thing that can then go with pasta, rice or a jacket potato. Add loads of veg (onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, garlic) and tinned tomatoes. Portions can then be frozen or just saved in the fridge for a few days. The BBC Economy Gastronomy series had a load of ideas for things like this. I've done a quick search, but can't find a series website anywhere, but there are quite a few general recipes from the series that various newspapers etc have done. This link has a few on it: http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/Economy-Gastronomy

The other baking idea could be a fruit cake. I make what I call a Matilda cake which is very simple and got dried fruit in it. A good energy booster snack that could be taken with them to lectures etc to go with lunch. Recipe on my blog here: http://mrsc.typepad.co.uk/being_mrs_c/2008/10/matilda-cake.html

Hope this helps.

Mrs C

by seileasdar 24th January 2010, 10:53 am

Get them a wok (best student investment ever)
and they can make a humoungous amount of stir fry stuff they can then eat over several days on rice.
And they can use whatever they want in the wok, some easy wok recipes on the side and then they can start to mix and match according to their taste.
Also to go with the set: soy sauce, some hot spices, some curry, cumin, oil, and off they go! chef2

by Mike 24th January 2010, 1:52 pm

Although good at this here (my own days immediately ex-student) I can't directly advise since........
a) No idea how much cooking experience any of these students have
b) No idea about the comparative cost of ingredients vs here.
c) No idea about how the kitchen is equiped (example -- is there freezer space?).

But these general points might be useful.

1) Don't need anywhere as much meat as most tend to eat for a healthy diet.While many of the plant protein sources unbalanced a comparatively small amount of the real thing can fix that (supply the missing amino acids), In some cases suitable mixing of plant protein sources can reduce imbalance effects (why you might want to eat corn and beans together).
2) Eggs* (here) would be among the cheapest sources of animal protein. If by weight cheaper than meat, a better buy.
3) The standard dishes of people in the poorer parts of the world are standard for a good reason (cheaper).
4) Tinned food is almost always going to be more expensive, reserve for what is out of season or not available dry. Tins are a time saver, but when you are poor, out of work, time you have.
5) Vegetable stews can be made from veggies past their prime.
6) I know, guys, but learning how to do kitchen prep, how to cook, how to clean up, etc. is not going to make them less men. Besides, in this day an age the young gals may not be coming all that much better prerared in "home ec" (as it used to be called).

NOTE: Where I went to school maybe a little odd this way but in junior high the boys had to take "home ec" (so they knew at least a little basic cooking, how to sew a button on, how to do a laundry, etc.) while the girls had to take "shop" (so they knew how to properly use the basic hand tools, make some emergency home repairs like change a leaking faucet washer, etc.)

* If you think about it the right way, obvious. Were that a fertilized egg the entire contents of the egg (that mix of fats, proteins, etc.) is exactly what gets converted into the body of a chick.