Thursday 15 November 2018

Healthy Meals for Uni Students (Paid Partnership with Co-op Food and Britmums).

Back in September we waved 3 of our young people off to uni, 2 of them as Freshers starting their 1st Year. Before she went I had a special 'goodbye tea' with my daughter and last Friday we turned the tables. It was my turn to visit her at Uni and she had to cook for me. I also had a peep in her kitchen cupboards to see if she really is eating healthily...


My daughter had mock exams until late afternoon, so I met her straight afterwards at the Student Union. There's a Co-op food store really close by and we headed over there and picked up the ingredients. It's a gorgeous Co-op with loads of space...


The Co-op are working with MOB Kitchen and you may have seen one of the crew, Ben, in the October issue of Co-op magazine (found in-store). They've put together a collection of recipes that are easy to make, healthy and filling, and so we decided to choose a recipe from the list.


My daughter made the selection as she was cooking for me this time and she chose Loaded Veggie Quesadillas. It's from the same area of the world as our previous recipe, Easy Veggie Tacos, but still very different. It's actually easier and takes up less of your time.


Recipe Ingredients:

Red Pesto
8 Tortilla Wraps
320g Wyke Farms Mature Cheddar
2 Red Onions
4 Peppers
3 Courgettes
2 Aubergines

Despite me saying I'd happily throw in some extras and pay for them, my daughter was very reserved in her shopping. Only 2 months in and already she is thinking really frugally - we spent £22 including her 'treats' - the Friday night lagers, face wipes and washing up liquid!


Their kitchen was incredibly clean and tidy for a house with 6 students (thank you everyone!) and we soon had the veg chopped, on a tray and drizzled with a little oil for roasting. Roasted vegetables are sweet and full of flavour, and definitely worth doing if you have time. Half an hour later and we were ready to build the Quesadillas.


Here's the whole trip on video - plus a few thoughts from my daughter on her first 2 months buying and cooking for herself - and her tips for saving money on food. And not forgetting....what was in her cupboard?


Our Co-op didn't have a vegetarian red pesto, so we improvised with a nice spicy basil pasta sauce. One of the secrets to cooking is that recipes can almost always be adapted. We also replaced the aubergines with mushrooms and bought a huge block of my daughter's chosen cheese, so that she can use the 'leftovers'.


5 minutes in the pan and the tortillas are crisp, and it's ready to eat... The lighting in the kitchen is shocking, but I can promise you it was gorgeous.


Then there were just the pots to finish off... and the train home to Manchester!

This was such a lovely thing to do. It was incredibly nice to spend time with one of my children alone, however grown up she is now. I've seen her uni notes, know more of her housemates and understand what she needs to brighten her room - I know exactly what she needs for Christmas. I also know that she really is cooking incredibly healthily and looking after herself well. She's doing grand...


You can find the full instructions for the Loaded Veggie Quesadillas on the Mob Kitchen website, where you'll also find loads more healthy, filling, frugal and easy recipes ideal for students. I also have a selection of easy recipes listed on my Food Page - most of my recipes are suitable for vegetarians.

I'm a huge supporter of the Co-op, their support for communities locally and worldwide, strong ethical policies and commitment to supply good quality produce. Find out more by checking out the Co-op Food website or by following on social media @CoopUKFood, where you can also find out about the latest deals and offers.

As a Co-op member, when you buy selected products and services, including from food stores and Co-op Electricals, you earn 5% of your spend back. Students with TOTUM cards (previously NUS Extra) get an extra 10% off on top at over 2000 Co-Operative stores nationwide.

This blog post and video are part of a paid project with The Co-op and BritMums to get students cooking and eating healthy meals sponsored by The Co-op. Visit Co-Op Food to plan a meal that brings your family together!


16 comments:

  1. Aww this is fabulous! I really enjoy cooking now but I was quite hopeless when I first went away to Uni! Holly is doing great. I bet it was a lovely treat for the two of you.

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    1. It was awesome. She said she had a lovely time too - so nice to have that special time together :)

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  2. What a fab post! I am so glad she is getting on well and enjoying Uni! That kitchen doesn't look like it has seen many parties yet though, it's far too clean and tidy! ;) The meal looks fantastic and expect it was lovely for her to cook for you :) Sim xx

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    1. Hahaha that kitchen was immaculate! I was so impressed - I think she lives in a really good household. It was definitely a treat being cooked for :D x

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  3. That's so lovely to read and dinner looked fab too. And! her kitchen looks amazing compared to the one my niece was using in her Freshers year, well done to all the roomies on that one

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    1. Definitely so! It was immaculate - I think one person may have responsibility for just how clean and I should probably send her a bunch of flowers :D
      It was lovely - both the experience and the meal :)

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  4. That looks really tasty. Definitely going to check out some of those recipes!

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    1. They're a really nice set of recipes actually and all fairly frugal and filling :)

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  5. OMG that's made me hungry and I've just finished lunch :)

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    1. Hahahaha - it's so easy, you could whip it up for tea Phill! Even my young kids have always eaten quesadillas :)

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  6. Ah so lovely to hear she is so settled. I bet she enjoyed her afternoon with you to.

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    1. It was lovely! I have been too busy sorting this to read yours yet, but your daughter seems to really be going well at her uni! :)

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  7. So lovely to see her and know she is eating well. Looks like a tasty easy meal. I will have to go and have a look.

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    1. It is so nice. We are lucky in that she's not too far away, but even if she was in the same street it's still nice to be reassured she's coping :)

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  8. I totally love the idea of adding the tomato sauce to this recipe! I'm actually going to try that as I think it would make it really tasty. It's great to see she has settled in so well to uni life and is looking after herself

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    1. Yeah, it was a tomato-based pasta sauce that was nice and condensed, so it has lots of flavour. You could use passata or tomato puree and your own seasoning though, it works really well. It is lovely to see how well she's settling in - thanks Zena :)

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