Shopping and Cooking Tips
Shopping
Grocery shopping can feel overwhelming, especially if it is new to you! But that’s okay, hopefully with these tips it will feel less daunting.
Doing a weekly shop can help you stay organised and prepared for the week ahead alongside your responsibilities. To make the process efficient, I recommend that you create a shipping list. You can start this by planning your meals for the week- this ensures you are buying enough ingredients to save you multiple trips within your weekly schedule. Another useful tip is categorising your shopping list. This can help you avoid unnecessary back and forth in the shop, making your trip less stressful.
If you are living on campus, there is a Tesco Express and a Morrisons within walking distance. Tesco Express is a 17-minute walk and Morrisons is around 26 minutes. However, due to heavy bags the university offers a free shuttle bus that stops at both shops. You can find the shuttle bus timetable on the Leeds Trinity University Website!
Batch cooking
A great cooking tip that we highly recommend is batch cooking. When you make a meal, ensure that you make enough that can be split into a couple of portions. You can then freeze the extra portions for another meal. Preparing food this way means you can buy bigger packs of meat and/or fish which is cost effective in the long run. Another great tip is buying frozen vegetables. It is cheaper and will not go off, saving you from having to throw out off food. Although these tips are help with money management and time, freezer space is limited, especially in student accommodation. However, another tip is that rather than using food containers to freeze your food and meals, put them in freezer bags. You can flatten them out which will save you a lot of space allowing you to fit more in your freezer draw!
Saving cooking time
Cooking can feel like a chore, especially when you are making a meal for one person which results in a lot of washing up. Therefore, to reduce this time we want to be smart about how we prepare and cook food. As we discussed above, freezing meals is great for time as it is already prepared, all we need to do is defrost it which can be done in the microwave or be put in the fridge overnight. Then all you have to do is reheat it and there is minimal washing up and a meal. Another suggestion, if you are wanting to cook potatoes, microwave it first and then pop it in the oven if you want to crisp it up, it will save you some time and energy.