Student Savings – fancy food without the price tag

For those who have read my articles in Source News you will know that I am a food enthusiast, even when juggling this on a student budget. When I first came to university I discovered that the only supermarkets in a reasonable walking distance were Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer (M&S). Like most students I had assumed that M&S was only where the well-off bought food, not students like myself. However, after partnering up with West Orchards, I realise this it is not as it seemed.

Using M&S ingredients I made ‘Strawberry Love Hearts’ for my friends, which only cost £3.80. My picture only shows six love hearts, but once I re-rolled the pastry I easily made 10 big love hearts. These are a super easy and tasty treat to make, all you need is:

• Ready rolled pastry

• Strawberry jam

• One egg

• Caster Sugar

• And a Love heart cutter

Using M&S own brands for the ingredients ended up being cheaper than if I had bought branded products from a different store! The Love Hearts were a big hit with my friends and I have already received requests to make more in the future.

As I am gluten-free, I sadly could not enjoy these Strawberry Love Hearts. Most supermarkets in Coventry do not seem to stock pre-made gluten-free pastry. However, I must say that M&S is ahead of the game with gluten-free food. I am a huge fan of their Made Without Wheat pre-made sandwiches as they are the only supermarket to sell these, and they have so many filling choices. One morning when I was running late for university and did not have time for breakfast, I decided to try to pick something up on route. Usually when looking for a gluten-free and preferably healthy product, the options are limited. M&S however sells tasty breakfast pots and I went for the Mango Quinoa Yoghurt Pot and to go with it, a Super Berry Smoothie. It was a delicious, convenient and filling breakfast, costing under £4, and gave me a great start to my morning.

M&S is well known for their ‘Dine in for two for £10’ meal deal and I must say that I have occasionally shared this with a friend. For me though, my newest M&S meal deal discovery tops this! It is a Stir Fry meal consisting of, meat, vegetables, noodles and sauce for £7 (and they have a Made Without Wheat option!). It is a pick and mix of all the above, personally I think the beef is best value for money, and it serves two, so I often cook up half one day then the second half the next day and to say they are generous potions is an understatement! It is super quick to cook up in a wok, and full of flavour. Plus, as most pre-made Chinese food contains gluten, it is wonderful to have an option to satisfy this food craving, and much cheaper and healthier than buying a greasy take-away.

I hope I have inspired you to give M&S a visit as like all supermarkets they do offer good value products and they are high quality so definitely worth the occasional splurge! In Coventry you can find your nearest M&S inside the West Orchards shopping centre, and I would like to say a big thank you to West Orchards for making this blog post possible.

All pictures and videos from this post can be found on my Instagram account: @alicewass98