Being a student and having a healthy diet are two things that don’t go hand-in-hand. Although it’s important to include healthy foods in your diet, sometimes it’s hard to do so on a tight budget. Especially when you’re living pay cheque to pay cheque. Still, there are quite a few budget friendly ways to enjoy a healthy diet, and a few tricks to balance your money and your lifestyle. However sometimes even the best budgets just don’t work. And when you check your bank balance you realise maybe you didn’t need to go out mid-week for yet another uni night. But hey, it was fun right?
So, instead of resorting to a diet consisting of two-minute noodles, try out these three recipes. Keep in mind, although they may not be the most nutritious or the most-tasty, they’ll definitely fill you up and tide you over until next payday.
Garlic pasta
The ultimate pre-payday recipe. It has fed me through a thick and thin bank balance (mainly thin). You’ll only need three ingredients – pasta, butter, and garlic.
To make, cook the pasta according to the packet instructions, drain, then stir through a tablespoon of butter and some garlic. Add salt and pepper for more flavour.
Tucking into a big warm bowl of this is seriously comforting, especially if your low funds are getting you down. Pasta fixes everything.
Cous cous salad
Cous cous is a great staple as it’s cheap, and when cooked it swells up to about four times the original size. Quite the bang for your buck.
I like to make this recipe with luxury vegetables like eggplant and zucchini. But for this money saving recipe, add oven roasted sweet potato and garlic roasted chickpeas. For your greens, add alfalfa sprouts or spinach leaves straight from the discount section of the produce aisle.
Burrito bowls
Burritos are a hit with a great deal of uni students. They’re filled with tender meat, fresh guacamole, salsa, rice, sour cream, corn and tasty cheese. Unfortunately, they’re also known for selling about ten bucks a pop.
To create your own burrito bowl, fill a bowl with cooked rice and pan roasted beans. Top this with chopped tomato, red onion, a little grated cheese, and salsa or taco sauce if you have it at home. To keep it fresh, add leafy greens like spinach or kale, or toss in some broccoli for an extra veggie boost.
