Don't Forget to Eat While at School!

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oLahav

Don't Forget to Eat While at School!

Author: oLahav

Eating At School Abroad!

Lesson Summary:
Meal Plans
Cook Yourself
Dietary Restrictions
Miss Home Food?
Eat Internationally
Confident Cooking
Smart Shopping
Eat Health

There are many aspects to studyin abroad. One of the things that you may want to think about is *food. People like food because it's tasty, and also because if you don't eat you can develop some serious health problems. It's important to try and eat healthy while you're studying. Many foreign students face problems like dietary restrictions (such as being vegetarian) and are worried of not being able to find the food they know and love from home. Here are some study-abroad tips involving food!

Meal Plans- the School Solution

Universities and colleges always have food facilities. Smaller schools may only have a small cafe where you can grab a small lunch, but larger schools have multiple cafeterias, food halls, and food stands. A lot of schools these days offer meal plans, which are a great option for students, especially undergraduates. If you don't have time for cooking (or you're lazy and a bad cook), you just buy a meal plan, and you can eat in school cafeterias. Sometimes, if you live on campus, a meal plan may be mandatory.

Advantages: Meal plans tend to offer felxibility, and you can buy lots of different foods. It saves you from cooking and usually it's more economical than just buying food with cash. Also, eating with friends in a cafeteria is a much more social setting than eating alone at an apartment.

Disadvantages: Meal Plans can't be used off-campus in most cases, which is somewhat restricting. You can get tired of eating cafeteria food all the time, and not being able to cook your own favourites yourself. Cafeterias are also closed on holidays and vacations, which can pose a problem for foreign students who can't fly home for a break.

Cook It Yourself!

If you're living off campus, you may not have access to cooking facilities. In that case, you pretty much have to get a meal plan or buy food every day. However, some schools have residence options with a small shared kitchen. If you're living off campus, you're likely to have full access to a kitchen and cooking utilities. In those cases, you can cook your own food.

Advantages: You can cook whatever you like and want. You're able to make sure of the ingredients and everything. Cooking for yourself also tends to result in healthier food.

Disadvantages: It takes time to buy all the ingredients, cook, etc. You might not have lots of time as a students, especially during exam time. Also, if you're a bad cook, you can have some trouble.

Dietary Restrictions

Are you vegetarian? Don't worry, it's really easy to find food that fits your needs when you study abroad. The US, Canada, and the UK are all very multicultural, and have restaurants and food stores featuring foods from all over the world. That means that whether you don't eat meat, you keep hallal or kosher, or you have food allergies, you'll still be able to eat well while you study abroad.

There are in fact many people who are vegetarian on campuses these days. Food with tofu and soya can be found in markets and cafeterias all over the campus area. Salads, fruits and vegetables are very popular. If you have a meal plan, you're sure to find tasty vegetarian alternatives in cafeterias. If you're cooking yourself, it's even easier- you can make your favourite vegetarian dishes on your own.

Miss Home Food?

There's no shame in missing home, and there's no shame in missing the food your parents cook for you at home. But luckily, you'll be able to find traditional authentic dishes from your home country abroad too!

There are lots of Indian and South Asian restaurants in all major cities across the UK, the US and Canada. You can get some real food just like home! And if you cook yourself, most large grocery stores have sections for international foods, so you can get all the ingredients you need to cook a great dish with a secret family recipe. That's great!

Eat Internationally

A great advantage of studying abroad is the chance to experience new cultures, and new foods! You'll be able to discover real British food (it's not just fish and chips) and American cuisine (there's a lot more than a burger and fries).

And there's so much more! You can experience French, Italian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Greek, and many other varieties of meals. Cafeterias on campus often feature special "internationally-inspired" meals, and off campus you'll find a lot of great restaurants specializing in different types of food. It's quite an experience for your taste buds!

Confident cooking

Cooking may sound daunting but it's a doddle, really. If you can write an essay or pass your A-levels, you can follow a recipe. You can cook a simple pasta sauce, for example, with a tablespoon of oil, a clove of garlic and a tin of tomatoes for less than half the price of the pasta sauces sold in jars - and it'll taste much better. It couldn't be easier - or quicker - to rustle up a plate of scrambled eggs or to make a spaghetti carbonara (pasta with egg and bacon sauce). It takes minutes to wash and dry a lettuce and make a simple dressing that will cost you a fraction of the price of a pack of salad leaves.

If you have an oven you can even make a slap-up Sunday lunch. Simply buy a tray of chicken legs and thighs and roast them in a big tin with a little oil and garlic, turning them occasionally and chucking in a few sausages halfway through. You don't even have to carve. Make a simple gravy by dissolving a bouillon cube in a mug-ful of boiling water. Melt a tablespoon (15g) of butter, stir in a tablespoon of plain flour and stir in your stock, bring it to the boil and there you have it. Sounds weird but it works.

Smart Shopping for Food

An important part of eating well is shopping well. Supermarkets are convenient for staples such as tinned tuna, pasta and rice but it can be cheaper to shop for other ingredients, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, elsewhere. If you live in a town that has a street market or if your digs are near a row of small independent shops you may well find it's cheaper to buy from them, particularly if you're living in a student house and cooking for a crowd. Fresh herbs and spices are about a third of the price you'll pay in a supermarket.

Even in the supermarket you can save a lot of money by buying ingredients loose rather than pre-packed. A couple of carrots, for example, will cost you considerably less than a pre-packed bag will cost. A pack of grated cheese is obviously much more expensive than a block of cheese you grate yourself.

You'll also save money by pooling your resources. If four roommates contribute to a food fund you'll have a week's food budget that will rival that of most non-student households. Or if ten of you pitch in for a slap-up Saturday night feast you'll be able to afford a meal that's infinitely better than anything you would get for that amount in a restaurant. It's also more fun to cook together - if you share the preparation (and clearing up!) it never seems as stressful.

Eat Healthy- Five a day

Getting the recommended five fresh fruit and vegetables a day might seem like an insuperable hurdle but if you try to incorporate some in each meal it's not that hard. A glass of orange juice for breakfast, a salad at lunchtime, an apple or banana as a snack during the day and a portion of frozen peas with your dinner and you're almost there (frozen vegetables are just as healthy as fresh ones).

Stir fries are also a really tasty way of upping your intake. You don't need prepared stir-fry sauces either - just shake over some light soy sauce (which you'll find is cheaper in small ethnic grocers and Chinese supermarkets).

Cheap fruit isn't always of great quality, but if you add a little sugar or cook it briefly you can make it taste fantastic. Plums, for instance, are often hard and unripe but if you stone them, cut them into chunks, stir fry them in a little butter, sprinkle over some sugar and pinch of cinnamon and cook them for another minute you won't believe how different they'll taste. Serve them on toasted malt bread with a dollop of plain yoghurt for a real feast!