By: Marcelle Reis Rosmaninho
Starting uni comes with a whole lot of changes. For most of us, an unexpected change we must adapt to is learning how to cook for ourselves. Cooking is a daunting experience, especially for someone who has never cooked before. After seeing my flatmates in the first year constantly eating frozen Tesco pizza, I thought it would be a good idea to share my 5 easy recipes that can be taken to uni on a busy day!
Breakfast:
Personally, I find breakfast the hardest meal to prepare as I would rather sleep in than make a healthy breakfast. However, with these two breakfast recipes, you can grab something healthy and filling before you rush out the door.
Banana oatmeal muffins (makes 6 muffins):
The first recipe, my favourite banana oatmeal muffins. This one is quick and easy and makes 6 muffins – one for each day of the school week! Whilst at Uni it is especially important to try to eat as healthy as possible so that you have lots of energy for the different activities available. I adapted this recipe from a video that I found on Tik Tok by @themodernnonna.
Ingredients:
- 1 banana
- 1/3 cup of peanut butter (or any nut butter that you prefer)
- ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- ¾ cups of oats
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Preparation:
- Mash the banana with a fork into a bowl until smooth
- Add in the egg, nut butter, and vanilla extract
- Mix in the banana, egg, nut butter, and vanilla extract until completely mixed
- Add in the oats and baking powder and mix until combined evenly
- Place an equal amount of batter into a muffin tin with muffin liners
- Place the tin in the oven at 190℃ for 22-25 minutes
Layered breakfast overnight oats
This recipe is my personal favourite! These oats are super easy to make before bed and you can put it in a to-go container or a mason jar and rush out the door in the morning.
Ingredients:
- Yogurt of choice (my choice is Alpro soy yogurt)
- Sachet of oats (I use the Quaker golden syrup sachet oats)
- Milk of choice (I use Almond milk)
- Fruit of choice (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, bananas, apples)
Preparation:
- Place 1/3 of the oat sachet into your container
- Pour just enough milk over the oats to moisten them
- Pour the same amount of yogurt on top of the moistened oats
- Repeat the first 3 steps until the sachet is full poured into your container
- Cut slices of desired fruit onto the top layer of yogurt and place in the fridge overnight
Lunch & Dinner:
Some might find that lunch and dinner are harder to prepare. Hopefully, with these next recipes preparing your meals will be easier.
Quinoa Salad
I really enjoy making this Quinoa salad as I find it is such a refreshing meal to make and eat. It doesn’t take long to make, and it is super easy to take to uni as you don’t need to heat it up in the microwave.
Ingredients:
- Quinoa
- 1x Onion
- Parsley
- Mint
- 2x Tomatoes
- Corn
- 1x Cucumbers
- Greek Cheese or Feta Cheese (I use the Violife Greek White Cheese)
- 1x Lemon
- Olives
- 1x Bell Peppers
Preparation:
- Cook the Quinoa as directed on the back of the packet
- Wait for the quinoa to cool and place it in a bowl
- Wash and chop all the vegetables into small cubes and place them into your bowl with the quinoa
- Cut the cheese into smaller slices or crumble it using your hand and place it in the bowl
- Slice the lemon in half and squeeze the juice of the lemon into the bowl
- Mix all the ingredients in the bowl and add salt as desired
Creamy Red Sauce Pasta and Chicken
Everyone can cook pasta, but instead of just eating pesto pasta for every meal this is an easy way to spice up your easy pasta game.
Ingredients:
- Penne Pasta (or any desired pasta)
- Red tomato sauce
- Cream Cheese (I use the Violife cream cheese)
- 3x Garlic cloves
- 1x Onion
- Chicken (I use the Quorn “Chicken” slices)
- Vegetable oil
Preparation:
- Cook the pasta as directed on the packaging
- Save the pasta water as it is needed to make the sauce
- Chop half an onion and 3 garlic cloves into small cubes
- Cut the chicken into smaller cubes and cook in the pan with a small amount of vegetable oil
- Once the chicken is fully cooked place the onion and garlic into the pan
- Add ½ cup of tomato sauce and 1 ladle of pasta water to the pan
- Add 2 tablespoons of cream cheese and mix
- Add in salt and other desired spices
- Drain out the water from the pasta and place the pasta into the pan to mix in the sauce
Udon Noodle Mushroom Ramen
This is the perfect recipe to make when you get fresher’s flu or feel under the weather. It is a very warm meal that hopefully can make you feel better in no time. I originally found this recipe on the So Vegan website, however, I enjoy putting my own twist on this recipe so feel free to do the same (the recipe below is my version of this ramen)!
Ingredients:
- 1x Onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 250g Sliced mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon of miso paste
- Vegetable stock
- Udon noodles
- Spring onions
- Chilli oil
- Vegetable oil
Preparation:
- Chop the onion, spring onions, and garlic into small cubes and place in the pan with some vegetable oil
- Add the sliced mushrooms to the pan and cook until they go darker in colour
- Place half of the mushrooms and all the onion and garlic into a blender with the heated vegetable stock
- Blend until mixed
- Prepare the udon noodles as suggested on the back of the packet
- Place the udon noodles and broth into a bowl and place the remaining mushrooms and spring onions on top of the broth with some chili oil and enjoy
I hope these recipes are quick, helpful, and enjoyable to make and that you can make healthier meals rather than Tesco pizza every day!