EAT WELL LIVE HEALTHILY Save money, eat healthily and make delicious meals

Everyone knows the importance of eating well and staying healthy. Here at the University of Brighton there are many initiatives to help you do both. These include healthy options in the canteens and cafés, weekly sustainable fruit and veg from the Food Coop and the many activities Sport Brighton has to offer.

This booklet gives you tips, advice and some delicious recipes contributed by students, that will also help you save money. You

will also be introduced to university groups and initiatives that

are here to make sure you are staying healthy, while achieving academic success.

Funding for this project was awarded by the university’s Springboard Grants Fund. Thanks to Sue Burnett from the Counselling and Wellbeing team in Student Services and all the contributors. Happy eating!

Contents ` 3 Starting at university

` 4–7 Healthy eating

` 8–9 Shopping tips

` 10-11 Lunch box tips and ideas

` 12-13 Nutritional labelling – what do they really mean?

` 14-15 Useful links and apps

` 16 Sport Brighton

` 17-20 Meal Planning

` 21-31 Recipes from our International student community

2

STARTING AT UNIVERSITY Starting a new life at university may mean you are looking after your health and wellbeing for the first time. Whilst being a

student there are many demands on your finances, and combining living on a budget with eating healthily may seem a real challenge.

Eating healthily is as much about when you eat as what you eat.

Making sure you eat breakfast to kick start your metabolism can help to improve concentration when studying and attending lectures. Not leaving too long between meals can help you make healthier choices, rather than grabbing the first thing available when you are really hungry.

Generally speaking, some of cheaper food products you can buy are high in fat and sugar, which will give you a short-term energy boost, but hunger will soon be back. With this in mind, it is better to eat foods such as fruit, vegetables and whole-

grains including brown bread, rice and pasta. These will make you feel full for longer and slowly release energy for several hours after eating. These foods are also packed with vitamins and minerals that build up your immune system and help to keep you in peak condition throughout the year, keeping our diet in balance. Planning meals ahead of time and buying a variety of cheaper but healthy options can help keep your food costs low.

This booklet is designed to offer a broad introduction to the areas covered. For further reading and information see the Useful Links on page 14.

3

THE EATWELL PLATE Use the eatwell plate to help you get the balance right. It shows how much of you should eat from each food group.

Fruit and vegetables

Bread, rice, potatoes, pasta

and other starchy foods

Meat, fish, eggs, beans

and other non-dairy sources of

protein

Foods and drinks

high in fat and/or sugar

Milk and dairy foods

Public Health England in association with the Welsh Government, the Scottish Government and the Food Standards

Agency in Northern Ireland © Crown copyright 2013

4

ery tein our

uit

DO YOU EAT THE RIGHT MIX? You should focus on reducing the amount of salt, sugar and fat consumed in a day, eating them occasionally rather than with every meal.

Two thirds of our plates should consist of fruit, vegetables and

complex carbohydrates such as rice, pasta and potatoes. Brown or whole grain varieties are the best carbohydrates as they contain more fibre and nutrients.

The protein element of our daily food is v important, especially for vegetarians. Pro is likely to be the most expensive part of y shopping basket. Interestingly, we often eat more protein than our bodies require for growth, repair and maintenance, and the remainder becomes a costly form of energy. The recommended serving size for meat and fish is approximately the size of a pack of cards. Limiting the portion size of protein means more of your shopping budget can be spent on fr and vegetables.

Vegetarians can achieve a healthy balance by choosing a variety of vegetable proteins. Individually the majority of vegetable proteins do not contain all the essential body building nutrients, but by mixing and matching protein sources, a healthy diet can be achieved. For example bread and baked beans together provide a full complement of essential proteins. There are also some vegetable products such as tofu from soya and Quorn which already have the full quota of first class proteins.

5

HEALTHY OPTIONS AND COOKING TECHNIQUES One of the quickest ways to blow your food budget is to live off takeaways. Learning to cook might seem like a challenge but taking the opportunity to cook for oneself can be cheaper and better nutritionally than buying takeaways and processed meals.

This can also reduce the amount of fat, salt and sugar, and increase the levels of vitamins and minerals in your diet.

Getting together with some friends, will make preparing food fun and will help share the cost of meals. This also means you can buy in bulk and divide up the items. Large bags of pasta, rice and potatoes can prove to be very inexpensive. Use the

‘BOGOF’ (buy one get one free) offers and split them with a friend.

If you are a novice in the kitchen, it may

be worthwhile investing in a cookery book. You can often pick up cheap,

good quality second hand books in charity shops. There are many instructional demonstrations online now; see Useful Links on page 14.

6

Instead of.... Try a choice of....

Saturated fat such as

lard, palm oil, ghee or butter

Mono-unsaturated oils such as olive oil and rape

seed oil (sold as vegetable oil) and margarines (avoiding any containing hydrogenated and trans fats)

Full fat milk or cream in drinks Semi skimmed or skimmed milk

Frying foods Grilled, steamed or baked

Fatty meats

(sausages, streaky bacon), skin on

poultry, fried fish

Lean meat, skinless poultry, drain fat off meat after

browning. Bake, grill, roast or poach meat or fish, serve with low fat sauces. Back bacon

Glazing vegetables with butter Serve freshly cooked without fat

Heavily salting food Use herbs, spices and citrus juice to flavour food.

Either use salt in cooking or at the table but avoid both

Refined starchy foods such

as white rice, pasta, peeled potatoes, white bread, sugary and refined breakfast

cereals

Unrefined starchy foods such as wholegrain cereals,

wholegrain, rye and granary breads brown and wild rice, wholemeal pasta

Just garnishing food with a little salad or a slice of

tomato

Aim for five portions (80g) of fruit and vegetables a day with as much variety in colour as possible -

this maximises the vitamin and mineral content

Fried potatoes, potatoes

cooked in cream or oil,

or served with sour cream

Boiled or baked potatoes, mashed with milk instead of

cream (or lower fat spread). Homemade oven chips-

potatoes cut up and boiled in water for 3-4 minutes, drain and place on a baking tray, spray with vegetable oil and bake at 200ºc for 20 mins or until golden

Cream cakes and

sugary desserts

Fruit based desserts and natural sweeteners like honey.

Stevia, a natural sweetener newly approved for use in this country

Cake or biscuits Currant bun or malt loaf with lower-fat spread

Croissant with butter Toasted bagel with low-fat soft cheese

Creamy or cheesy sauce Tomato or vegetable sauce

Butter on bread Lower-fat spread on bread

Cream Reduced-fat Greek yoghurt

Ice cream Frozen low-fat yoghurt

Coleslaw, potato salad

and similar

Salad without dressing or use of low fat alternatives.

Mixed vegetables with a little olive oil. Use yogurt instead of mayonnaise

7

SHOPPING Don’t just go to the nearest convenience shop - they are generally more expensive than bigger supermarkets.

The university’s money website will help you find local

shops: www.brighton.ac.uk/current-students/my-

finances/ ways-to-save

TIPS ` Online shopping can help you stick to a budget, check the

latest offers, but don’t impulse buy

` Multi-buy and bulk buy essentials like pasta to keep the

cost down - but don’t be tempted to overload on items with short cupboard/fridge life

` Look at the price per 100g to compare different prices

` Shop after 7pm or Sunday afternoons when there may be

bargains on offer on perishables e.g. bread and vegetables

` Always buy unpackaged fruit and veg – better for the

purse and the environment

` Plan weekly meals to prevent throwing food away, taking

into account going away at the weekends

` Make a shopping list and stick to it

` Treat with caution some enticing supermarket offers. It

may seem like a bargain, but will you use it?

` Always check sell-by dates, especially for

perishable goods

` Refill your water bottle at home rather than buying

expensive energy drinks and wash the bottles regularly

` Never shop when you’re hungry

` Make extra portions of your main meals and freeze the

rest for another day

Join the university’s Food Coop

- weekly healthy, local and

seasonal fruit and vegetables at a low cost delivered to

Moulsecoomb, Falmer and Grand Parade campuses. http://uobfoodcoop.wordpress.com

9

WHAT’S IN YOU Bringing a packed lunch can save you serious shops. Make sure you are filling yours with he

HEALTHY

` Wholemeal bread, pitta, bagel or wrap

` Fruit snacks will keep energy up between meals

` Water = no sugar come down!

` Low fat options: cottage cheese, lean meats

and yogurts instead of hard cheese, salami and sweets/crisps

10

R LUNCHBOX? cash compared to buying at canteens and

althy, brain-power boosting foods.

UNHEALTHY

` These foods have low nutritional value and

can impact on how you feel. Sugar may give you a short lift, but this isn’t sustained

` Would you put eight-ten teaspoons of

sugar in your tea? That’s how many is in a can of Coke

Image source: Food Standards Agency/BBC online

11

NUTRITIONAL LABELLING

Do you know what these mean?

‘LITE’ OR ‘LIGHT’

‘UNSWEETENED’

‘HELPS MAINTAIN A HEALTHY HEART’

‘NO ADDED SUGAR’

Often these descriptions can mean whatever the manufacturer wants them to mean, and can be misleading.

If a product makes a nutritional claim, such as ‘low fat’, the product’s nutritional information must be shown. Which format depends on the health claim. For example, if a claim is made relating to the content of sugar, fibre, or sodium, the full nutritional information must be listed.

The real meaning of

FAT FREE For example: 85% fat free.... ` This means it contains 15g of fat per 100g of product

` Is the portion size greater than 100g?

` A standard yogurt is 125g

‘Fat free’ does not mean low in calories - these products are often high in sugar!

Other common claims Flavour When the name of the product contains flavour, the food does not need to contain that ingredient. For example cheese and onion crisps.

Reduced calorie The product must be at least 25% lower in calories than the original.

Fresh, pure or natural No legal definition for these –

it’s up to you to decide whether

it is true or not!

USEFUL LINKS Anyone who has switched on the TV in last year will know cooking is everywhere! Here are some online resources full of cooking ideas and nutrition information.

Student Cook

www.studentcook.co.uk

StudentCooking.tv - videos

www.studentcooking.tv

BBC Good Food - cheap eats

www.bbcgoodfood.com/feature/budget

Channel 4 - 4Food cheap recipes

www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/cheap

Sorted food - YouTube channel

www.youtube.com/user/sortedfood

Food Tube - Jamie Oliver’s YouTube channel

www.youtube.com/user/JamieOliver

Livewell

www.nhs.uk/livewell/healthy-eating

British Nutrition Foundation

www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/healthyeating

14

THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT If you’ve ever wandered aimlessly around the supermarket, only to leave with a random selection of ingredients that don’t go together, search for and download one of these free apps.

15

Salad Recipes FREE (Android)

or

Salad Recipes HD

Lite (iPhone/ipad) Salads don’t have

to be boring!

Epicurious - Free Browse a

massive database and filter by ingredients you particularly like or mood you are in!

Change4Life Smart

Recipes Lots of healthy recipe ideas and

combinations. Also includes snacks.

SPORT BRIGHTON Parklife is the university’s recreational sport programme providing students with a way to play sport in a social, informal environment.

Taking part in Parklife is a great way to meet new people and make new friends. Parklife has lots of different sports and activities on offer through its weekly timetables, and it doesn’t matter whether or not you have played before – everyone is welcome regardless of their experience or ability.

As well as the social benefits of taking part in sport, it is also a really good way to relieve stress and keep fit. Parklife provides the perfect break from uni work or exams and joining in is easy; there is no sign up process or commitment required, just turn up and play when you have the time. Better still, no activity will cost more than £1!

Further information on the Parklife programme can be found on the Sport Brighton website www.brighton.ac.uk/sportbrighton/parklife.

PLAN AHEAD If you’re looking to save time and money a weekly food planner is a great tool to keep you on track.

Planning ahead will:

• make your shopping easier and

• help you make the most of your leftovers

There are loads of great online resources to help you, or you can use this pull out section with weekly food planners to start planning your meals.

Pull out centre pages to start using your weekly meal planner

MEAL PLANNER

week of

THURSDAY

MONDAY FRIDAY

TUESDAY SATURDAY

WEDNESDAY SUNDAY

SHOPPING LIST

MEAL PLANNER

week of

THURSDAY

MONDAY FRIDAY

TUESDAY SATURDAY

WEDNESDAY SUNDAY

SHOPPING LIST

MEAL PLANNER

week of

THURSDAY

MONDAY FRIDAY

TUESDAY SATURDAY

WEDNESDAY SUNDAY

SHOPPING LIST

RECIPES AND IDEAS FROM OUR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT COMMUNITY

Carrot and ginger soup

orks well

st, heat own.

GRILLED SALMON IN SOY SAUCE Louis Loy Seng Ye

This is a great recipe as it is easy to cook for yourself or for friends. It is delicious in flavour and simple to prepare.

You will need ` 1 salmon fillet per person, keep the skin on for

cooking. ` 100ml soya sauce (or Teryaki sauce w

too) increase if required for more fillets

What to do

Wash the salmon fillet in cold water and place in a bowl. Add enough soya sauce to cover the fillet and turn occasionally. Leave to marinate in the sauce for 30 minutes in the fridge.

The fillet can either be grilled on a grill pan or baked in the oven at 180ºc for 15-20 minutes depending on the size and number of fillets being cooked.

If using a grill pan, lightly brush with oil fir the pan and add the salmon, skin facing d Cook for 5 minutes then turn over and cook for a further

5 minutes. Use a small knife to check the salmon is cooked in the centre and leave a little longer if preferred.

Louis suggests serving the salmon with steamed broccoli and cauliflower or a nice mixed salad.

22

MISO SOUP Caroline McGuinness

‘On a budget Miso Soup is the best! Summer and winter but especially in winter with a kick of chilli to warm you up.’ - Caroline.

What you will need ` Miso paste (You can buy this in Infinity Foods or Waitrose, or the

International Foods section of other supermarkets a little expensive but lasts forever!)

` Cabbage, carrots, peppers, mushrooms, spring onions ` Noodles, precooked or instant. We used egg noodles in the photo

` Chilli flakes and a little butter or oil for frying

What to do Shred the cabbage and slice the carrot, peppers and mushrooms. Heat the butter in a sauce pan and add one teaspoon of chilli flakes, add the vegetables and cook over a medium heat until they start to go soft and release their flavours.

Add enough water to cover the vegetables and add a large spoonful of miso paste. Allow the soup to cook until the cabbage is cooked. Then add the cooked noodles.

Once it is heated through it is ready to serve. It can be served with a little soy sauce and fresh crusty bread.

CARROT AND GINGER SOUP Lola Odessy-Waters

You will need ` 2 carrots, peeled and diced ` 1 onion, chopped ` 2 inches of root ginger, peeled and grated

` 1 tin of tomatoes (1 teaspoon of sugar)

` Herbs and spices (½ teaspoon oregano, ¼ teaspoon chilli powder and

½ teaspoon cumin) ` 2 cups of water ` 1 tablespoon of oil for frying

What to do Fry the onion in the oil for a couple of minutes, with the spices.

Add the carrots and ginger and cook or a further five minutes. Season with a little salt and pepper. Add the tomato and sugar (to balance the acid in the tomatoes) and the water and simmer for approximately 15 minutes. Check the seasoning and add pepper and salt to taste, if required.

24

25

POMEGRANATE SALAD Anfal Al-Qadri

A beautiful and nutritious salad.

You will need ` 1 pack of mixed salad

leaves or a selection of lettuce leaves

` 1 tomato

` ½ an avocado ` 2 tablespoons of ready

to eat pomegranate, available in some supermarkets

` Dressing: olive oil, sea salt and lemon

juice. Mix to taste

What to do

Arrange the lettuce in a serving dish and add the sliced avocado. If not serving immediately sprinkle the avocado with lemon juice to stop it going brown.

Take a handful of the pomegranate seeds and sprinkle generously over the salad and serve with the dressing.

whisk

oup

PEGGY’S SALAD DRESSING Fredrika Uppman

A delicious salad dressing with an unusual ingredient! You will need ` 250ml oil (not olive oil) ` 200ml vinegar

` 250ml sugar

` 125ml finely chopped onion ` 3 finely chopped cloves of garlic

` ½ teaspoon of salt ` 1 teaspoon mustard powder (Coleman’s or similar)

` 1 can of tomato soup

` 1 teaspoon paprika powder

To make the dressing Place all the ingredients in a bowl and several minutes. I add half a can of s initially and then taste it and add more if need. Store in a glass bottle in the fridge.

26

OKRA COOKED IN OLIVE OIL Anfal Al-Qadir

What you will need ` 1 tablespoon of olive oil ` 1 cup of water

` A handful of okra ` 1 tomato, chopped

` Half an onion, finely chopped ` 1 garlic clove, finely chopped

` Salt, pepper and ground cinnamon

What to do Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the onion, garlic and chopped tomato. Mix well and add salt, pepper and cinnamon to your taste. Always add a little first and then add more if required.

Add the okra and then the water, cover and let it cook on

a low heat for 15-45 minutes, depending on how crunchy

you like your okra. Throughout cooking, check that the water hasn’t completely dried up, and add more if

required.

When cooked serve as a main or to accompany a meat dish.

27

Indonesian fried rice

NASI GORENG Sue Burnett

This is my easy to make vegetable version of this popular Indonesian dish. The recipe also works very well with diced pork or chicken.

You will need ` A little oil for frying

` 2 eggs

` 1 pepper, any colour, de-seeded and chopped ` Baby leaf greens or shredded cabbage

` 1 chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped ` 2 spring onions, washed trimmed and chopped

` 6 chestnut mushrooms, cleaned and sliced ` Any quick cooking vegetables - a butternut squash was used in the photo

` 2 teaspoons of curry powder. Salt and pepper to taste

` 1 sachet of precooked rice or 100g (dry weight) of basmati rice, boiled

What to do

Heat a frying pan with a little oil. Whisk the two eggs in a bowl. Pour into the frying pan and cook into a small pancake/omelette shape. When cooked, remove from the pan and roll into a sausage shape. Set aside.

Heat the frying pan and add a little oil. Add the vegetables (not the spring onions) and chilli and fry gently until cooked but firm, control the heat so the vegetables don’t burn. Season to taste. Sprinkle in the curry powder, stir and allow to cook through.

Stir in the cooked rice over a low heat and sprinkle

with the spring onions.

Take the omelette and slice through

the sausage shape. Lay the egg strips on top of the rice dish and serve.

perfect.

BRAEBURN APPLE MUFFINS Sue Burnett

This muffin recipe is really easy to make and is ideal for a morning coffee break or a lunch box treat. This is a great way of using apples up that aren’t quite

You will need ` 1 egg, beaten

` 120mls milk

` 50g butter, melted ` 2 small Braeburn or Cox apples or one large

` Peel and finely chop

` 40g caster sugar ` 150g plain flour

` 1 ½ tsp of baking powder ` ¼ tsp salt

` ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon

` Topping - 4 teaspoons of Demerara sugar or 4 crushed

brown sugar lumps and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

What to do Preheat oven to 200ºc/400ºF/Gas 6.

Mix together the egg, caster sugar, milk and melted butter thoroughly with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients are combined.

Sieve the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into the egg mixture and add the apple, mix together quickly.

Spoon the mixture into 6 large muffin paper cases in a muffin tin.

Topping - in a small bag mix the Demerara sugar or crushed sugar lumps and the remaining cinnamon. Sprinkle a little of the mixture onto each muffin.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes until the muffins have risen and are golden brown in colour.

29

CHICKEN AND LEEK FILO PIE Sue Burnett

I was thinking about pastry and wondered if there was a healthier option that was easier to work with and came up with this idea. Having done the taste test on friends and family I believe it is a winner!

What you will need ` 2 chicken breasts chopped into 2cm pieces ` 1 jar of ready-made white sauce (sometimes sold as a lasagne sauce)

` 1 leek, washed, trimmed and chopped into small pieces ` 1 onion chopped finely

` A little oil for frying (approximately a table spoon)

` Salt and pepper ` 50g butter melted

` 1 pack of filo pastry

30

What to do Take a 4’’ flan tin for an individual pie or a 7’’/8’’ flan tin for a family size pie (increase the ingredients for a bigger pie). Lightly grease with a little oil if not a non-stick dish. Preheat the oven to 180ºc/Gas 6.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan and add the chicken, fry for about 5 minutes until golden, then add the onion and leek. Fry until the vegetables are soft.

Add half the jar of white sauce and mix together. Add more of the sauce if necessary to cover all the ingredients. Heat together for a few minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper if required. Take off the heat and leave while preparing the pastry.

You will need the melted butter and a pastry brush. Open the pastry and unravel the pastry. Use 3 sheets of filo for each pie. The pastry I was using was pre-cut into squares which were a perfect size for my individual tins. Separate the sheets of pastry, (if your bought pastry has excess flour, dust this off) and brush melted butter onto one sheet. Place another sheet on top and brush with butter, place another sheet on top (use 4 sheets of

pastry if making a bigger pie).

Lift the pastry onto the flan dish and gently fold the edges into the centre to allow the pastry to fall into the corners of the tin. Lift the folds of pastry out and lightly press the base of the pastry onto the tin without stretching or

making a hole in the base. There should be a lot of pastry hanging over the side of the tin, do not cut it off!

Take the chicken mixture and place approximately two spoonfuls into the pastry case or until there is enough filling to be level with the top of the tin.

Take the edges of the pastry and bring them together so they meet in the middle, then pinch together at the base to create a ‘scrunched’ effect (see photo).

Using the remaining melted butter, gently dab the top of the pie with butter all over as this gives it a golden colour.

Place in the centre of the oven for approximately 30 minutes and until the pastry is fully golden in colour. Remove from the tin and serve with salad or mixed vegetables or can be eaten cold.

EAT WELL LIVE HEALTHILY

This booklet was researched, written and compiled by Sue Burnett from the Counselling and Wellbeing team in Student Services.

In her role as Curriculum Development Worker, for Student Wellbeing, Sue Burnett develops and delivers wellbeing workshops within the curriculum and delivers other wellbeing initiatives that support the student experience whilst at university.

Produced by University of Brighton’s Student Services

department with help from the Springboard Grants Fund

2014 www.brighton.ac.uk/current-students