One of the best things you can do in terms of feeding yourself well at uni is making sure your cupboards are well stocked and stocked with the right things. It's especially important if you're going into your first year and you're in halls; chances are you'll have at least one whole cupboard to yourself, whereas in your fridge and freezer you might only have a shelf. Filling up your cupboard with important staples is a sure fire way to keep yourself decently fed when you're limited on fridge space. 

It's not just a case of keeping the cupboards full, though; what you put in them is important. The whole point of food posts in this little Student 101 series is to make sure you lovely lot aren't surviving solely on Super Noodles and scrambled eggs, but that's not to say you should never eat those things. Having a few packs of dried noodles on hand is always a good idea for quick meals when you're busy with classes and revision. Dried foods, in general, are a good idea to keep in stock - pasta, rice and lentils make for easy, quick, filling meals and have long shelf lives. Typically, these things will stay good in your cupboard for months on end and are generally very cheap, so they're a good thing to buy in bulk.  

TIP #2: LEARN SOME BASIC RECIPES 

Now listen, I'm not going to insult your intelligence and pretend this isn't glaringly obvious. Of course, it is: if you want to eat well, you're gonna need to learn how to cook something. The question is what? As I mentioned earlier, my aim here is to get as many students as possible not solely existing on semi-prepared convenience foods. Things like pasta sauces, chillis, curries, and casseroles can be as easy as dumping a bunch of ingredients into a pan and shoving it in the oven or simmering it on the hob for a bit, and you can even recreate your favourite takeaway pizzas with minimal effort, minimal cost and minimal skill. These things are also handy to know how to cook because they're incredibly adaptable - made a pasta sauce that you fancy bulking out with a bit of protein? Chop up some sausages and chuck them in there! Having your mates round for chilli, but one of them's just gone veggie? Swap out the mince for beans and lentils! Once you've got the base recipe down, making alterations like that are simple, and it really helps in keeping your diet varied and interesting as well as being a hell of a lot cheaper than constant takeouts. 

You can find a whole host of good free recipes for students online, including here at BBC Good Food (and you can also watch this space for potential recipes from yours truly in the future), or you can find a number of recipe books including the ever-popular Nosh For Students (£5.76 on Amazon) or my personal favourite, The Student Cookbook (£4.58 on Amazon), which I was gifted by my lovely Auntie Ellie before I moved away to uni and which has been a real lifesaver for me ever since (if you do get it, I strongly recommend the sausage casserole and garlicky lentils recipes - delish!) 

TIP #3: KNOW YOUR SPICES 

Here's the thing about cooking: it's all about the seasoning. You can know how to sear a steak to absolute perfection, or whip up mashed potatoes that are the perfect combination of thick and creamy - but unless you throw at least some kind of seasoning in there, chances are it's going to be entirely bland and boring. 

Now, nobody is expecting you to have your halls kitchen kitted out like you're Gordon Ramsay or something, and there's absolutely no need to be buying fancy, exotic, expensive spices that you're never going to use, but there are definitely some basics that you should keep in supply. Salt and pepper are an absolute must, as they (salt in particular) form the base of almost any flavour you can possibly hope to create in the kitchen, and you won't get very far without them. I'd also recommend keeping paprika, parsley, chilli powder and/or cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, coriander and cumin in constant supply, as these are very common seasonings that a lot of recipes call for, and you can generally cobble together most anything using those. Seasoning blends are also a good idea to have on standby - things like Chinese five spice, dried mixed herbs and curry powder can be picked up super cheap from most supermarkets and are handy to be able to chuck into anything to give it that bit of extra oomph. Remember: a well-stocked spice shelf never hurt anyone, and having these basic seasonings kicking about can really take your cooking game from zero to ten in no time. 

The eternal debate of real adults and fake adults (aka me) alike: to buy fresh, or to buy frozen. The answer is... kind of, both. 

Here's the truth: no matter where you're at in your adulting career, your best bet it to buy some things fresh and some things frozen, and I honestly can't really tell you which to buy from which category, because it largely depends on who you are as a person. Myself, for example, I buy almost exclusively frozen diced onions, because my eyes are very sensitive and I end up crying like a bitch any time I try to chop a fresh onion. If you don't have that problem, however, and you do use a lot of onion, you may find that it works out to be cheaper for you to buy your onions fresh. Conversely, I can't bear the texture of frozen cauliflower so, when I eat it (mostly in the form of Buffalo Cauliflower Bites - stay tuned for my recipe), I always buy fresh. Peas and corn I always buy frozen, because it works out to be far cheaper and much easier and quicker to cook - and let's face it, lads, I'm pretty bloody lazy. Fact of the matter is what you should buy fresh and what you should buy frozen comes down to you. Have a good think, practically, about what you're going to use up before it goes out of date if you buy it fresh, and what will you need to keep for longer, and judge it that way. The good news is this - frozen veg is every bit as good for you as fresh, so you don't have to worry about not getting your nutrients if the way for you is frozen. 

All this in mind remember; it's okay even if you're on a student budget to treat yourself sometimes. There's absolutely nothing wrong with ordering yourself your favourite takeout or going out to dinner with your friends every now and then. The point of this post series isn't to discourage you from doing that - rather, just to show you that you don't need to live off of takeout and fast food every day if you're a student, and that you can genuinely eat as well as you did back at home while providing for yourself for the first time. 

Keep your eyes peeled for coupons and discounts on your favourite takeout restaurants; some of them will hand out fliers and vouchers (possibly even free samples) at Fresher's Fairs, and a lot of them - for example, Domino's and Pizza Hut - have deals on constantly, with vouchers available on their respective websites or attached to their menus. You can also often get discounts as a new user on most of the takeout apps like Deliveroo, UberEats and Just Eat and remember to always keep your eye out online for additional discounts. 

So, those are my five tips on eating well as a student. Give them a whirl and see if they help you out, and feel free to drop any you think I've missed in the comments down below. 

Keep it weird, 

Jazz xo

A riddle that I'm sure plagues everybody who's asked what Slaughterhouse 5 is about: how exactly does one go about describing the plot of Vonnegut's seminal masterpiece without sounding entirely fucking mental? Seriously, try telling anyone you're currently engrossed in an anti-war novel about an American World War 2 soldier/prisoner of war who becomes unstuck in time and eventually gets abducted by aliens, and they'll likely look at you like you've grown a second head. 

Jokes aside, Slaughterhouse 5 is genuinely one of my all time favourite books and I was super pumped when I found out it was on my twentieth century lit course this semester. Maybe I'm biased because I'm firmly of the opinion that Kurt Vonnegut is one of the coolest people to ever exist, and he's definitely on my 'Who would you invite to a dinner party' list, but I definitely think that this is one of the best books of the twentieth century. A weird and wonderful tale about the futility of war, the abstract concept of time and - you read it right earlier - literal aliens, Slaughterhouse 5 is an absolute must-read for any sci-fi fan worth their salt. Definite 10/10. 

First and foremost here I'll say if you don't know who Mike Jeavons is, you're missing out. He creates content over on YouTube which I, personally, think is absolutely hilarious in a dry, sarcastic, deadpan sort of way. I've been a fan of his for a good couple of years now, and he's been talking about writing this novel on his channel for as long as I've been subscribed. Usually, I'm not one to buy into the whole 'YouTuber book' thing because I find they're often pandering, ghostwritten drivel that was produced far too quickly in order to make a bit of cash. But with Mike, I knew it was gonna be different because a) I know for a fact Mike wrote it himself because he's been proving that on his channel for ages and b) since Mike seemingly has a more mature fanbase than those who generally put out books, it has a lot more of an adult theme to it. The premise is this: Chad's webcam gets hacked while he's having a wank, and the video gets leaked to the internet - seemingly by his own brother. All hell breaks loose.

Now, here's where the 'me being a little bit shit' part comes into play. I ordered this on Amazon earlier on in the month and began reading it as soon as I opened the package - and then I realised the sheer amount of work I've had to complete in the latter half of the month and just never got round to finishing it. I'd say I'm currently about 1/4 of the way through, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far. It's as hilarious and sarcastic as I'd expect from Mike, and I can only assume it's gonna get better as it comes. It's maybe cheating a little bit to include it in this month's reading round up when I didn't actually read all of it in the month, but I wanted to include it because it's a new release and I want to show my support for one of my favourite content creators (and let's face it, I needed to pad out this post with something). From what I've read so far, the book is a solid 8/10, and I can only see it getting better. 

TOTAL BOOKS READ THIS YEAR: 5.25

PERCENTAGE OF YEARLY GOAL ACHIEVED: 10.5%

This is the only book I read this month that a) was not a part of my required reading for my course and b) I had already read before. Truth be told, Jude is one of my all-time favourite classic novels, and Hardy is up there amongst my favourite authors of all time. I chose this to read after the previous two because I've been feeling under the weather for the past few weeks (hence why I've been so shitty at posting  - apologies for that!), so I wanted to read something that I found easy and enjoyable to read. As with any Hardy book, Jude errs on the side of morose with some scenes being downright upsetting - so if that's not your thing you probably won't like this as much as I do. However, I would, as always, give Jude a 10/10. 

Now, maybe this is something most people already knew and I was just late to the party, but when I discovered supermarket comparison sites and apps at the beginning of second year, I was blown away by how handy it was. 

The one I specifically use is MySupermarket (not spons). It's pretty simple: you use the site to search for any items you need, and they compare the prices across fifteen different stores in the UK, including the leading supermarket chains. You can even compile an entire shopping list, and the site will tell you which supermarket is best to go to in order to spend the least. The site also allows you to see the best deals currently going on across all the stores they work with, and you can even use it to order a grocery shop online if that's what you prefer to do. My only criticism of it is that the mobile app isn't fantastic, and I much prefer working with the mobile site. 

TIP #3: LISTS AND BUDGETS

If you're looking to spend as little money as possible, I can't stress enough the importance of making a list before you hit the supermarket to get your grocery shopping. If you go in without one, even if you have an idea in your head about what you want, you're significantly more likely to go off-piste and spend money on additional things that you don't need. Make a physical copy of a list and take it and a pen with you to the shop so that you can check each item off as you get it. Remember here that there's nothing wrong with supermarket own-brand or value-brand products, and that frozen veg is no worse for you than fresh. 

It's also a good idea to set a budget before you go to the supermarket - perhaps even write it down on your list. If you go to the shop knowing that you want to spend no more than £20, for example, you're far less likely to overdo it. If you want to be even stricter with it, you can take only as much cash as you want to spend and leave your card behind at home; that way, you can't overspend even if you want to.

TIP #4: COUPONS, COUPONS, COUPONS 

This is another point that may seem redundant in its obviousness, but as with the first tip, it's obvious for a damn good reason. 

Coupons can be your absolute best friend when it comes to shopping as a student. Be they for cashback or for money off your entire purchase or singular products, anything that's going to help you save a wee bit of dough on your weekly shop is going to be handy for you. They can be a bit of a pain in the arse to find, but its worth putting the work in if you really need to scrimp and save. 

Your best shout for finding coupons these days is online; there's a whole page of them over on Money Saving Expert which gets updated regularly and is thoroughly checked to ensure all offers are fully valid and verified. There's also the offers page on P&G's Super Savvy Me website, where they regularly offer coupons on products from many of their daughter brands (note: P&G brands are all non-food brands, and these are mostly just useful for cleaning products and toiletries). You can also go the old fashioned route and check the newspapers for vouchers, but there's no guarantee here that you'll find any, and this does involve spending the money that the paper costs to get them. You can also check the App Store or Play Store to find coupon apps. 

TIP #5: SUPERMARKET LOYALTY PROGRAMS

My first two years of uni, I was great at socialising - always out doing things with my friends, even if it was just a short walk or a quick coffee. This year, however, for various reasons, that doesn't really happen so much any more and outside of classes, I don't really get to see people that often. 

This year, I want to make a concerted effort to spend time with my friends at least once a week, even if it just means them popping round to mine (or I to theirs) for a coffee and a chinwag. Studies have found that spending time around people that you like increases levels of serotonin - the happiness chemical - and have even suggested that socialising could lower your risk of dementia, so it's really worth trying to hang out with people more often. 

If you know me irl, you'll know that I am the literal personification of the concept of a 'floordrobe'. My clothes generally end up on a massive pile on my bedroom floor, rather than hung up in the cupboard or folded in my drawers. Simply put, it's because I just have far too many clothes, and I don't even wear half of them. I also keep buying more - a habit I know is going to be harder to break than my messiness, so we'll maybe deal with that in 2020 instead. 

This year, however, my plan is simply to go through my wardrobe at the end of each month and clear out anything I feel like I haven't worn in a long time, anything that doesn't fit me, or anything that I feel like no longer suits my style. 

Since I was a baby, I've suffered with eczema and I've had issues with psoriasis for the past couple of years. It's something I'm used to and it doesn't bother me as much as it once did, but it is getting in the way of one thing in particular; since I was a little thirteen year old emo kid, I've been desperate to have at least a couple of tattoos. However, as you can probably imagine tattoos and such conditions aren't really the best of pals; it's not sensible to ink over broken skin and in some people tattoo ink can even cause breakouts of eczema. 

This year, I'm really going to try and make a concerted effort to get my skin under control for a long enough period so that I feel like I can get my first ink by New Year's next year. That's another thing that my last point should help with too; I could for sure spend the money I'll save on takeout on a tatt! 

So those are my goals for the coming year - here's hoping I manage to smash them! 

How about you guys? Have you got any goals or resolutions this year? Let me know! 

Happy new year,

Keep it weird, 

Jazz xo