Cooking at home and with others

If you’re getting bored of the same mundane day to day routine, why not change things up and cook something from scratch. Grab a few ingredients, a recipe and make the experience of cooking all that more enjoyable.

You may find that between study sessions you’re always reaching out for that convenient sandwich and coffee, but such things can easily be made at home. Making things at home means you know exactly what ingredients are in it and it’ll be tastier and cheaper!

So, up with the utensils as you get your flatmates into the kitchen to cook dinner. The buzz of everyone bustling around the kitchen, chatting about the day and sitting down to eat together can make for a really great evening!

Here are my favourite dishes to cook with friends and family.

Curry

A curry doesn’t need to be made with pre-made curry paste. Grab a tin of tomato soup, a few simple spices and you’re good to go. My favourite curry is Chicken Tikka Masala (served with basmati rice, of course). You can always swap the tomato soup for coconut milk and the chicken for chickpeas. If the curry is a little too thin, add a tiny bit of cornflour to thicken it.

As you’re cooking away, pop some roughly chopped sweet potatoes into the oven, with a sprinkle of cinnamon for a flavoursome side dish!

Cookies

Cookies are a great snack to munch through as you write your essays and they’re so easy to make. The basis recipe is full-proof and you can just add what you like. If you love peanut butter, these peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies are the best around!

Bread

At the heart of a great lunch is some warm bread served with soup or cheese. Good bread in London can be expensive, so roll up your sleeves and get going with this recipe for a three flavour focaccia. Perfectly crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle and a great range of toppings.

Soup

If you’re in a hurry, a pot of steaming soup is all you need. Soften your favourite vegetables in water, add in some vegetable or chicken stock and blitz away. You can even freeze some pots of soup, so you always have it to hand.

Julie Colonna, BA English Language and Literature