Amongst the hundreds of clubs at McMaster University, there was one club that particularly caught my attention this month and that was the Mac Veggie Club. It started out with a simple invite on Facebook that sparked my interest, and after a little background research, I was lucky enough to have a chat with Amanda Wright, who is the co-president (and co-founder) of the Mac Veggie Club.

This newly established club was founded in January 2010. With inspiring enthusiasm, Amanda explained that she realized that there wasn’t anything like Mac Veggie Club on campus, and that it would help fill a void. She continued by saying that, “A lot of people are interested in vegetarianism, whether they want to become vegetarian or vegan or simply want to reduce their meat consumption.” I was able to get a gist of the club through Facebook and the website itself, but those combined few lines doesn’t even come close to the magnitude of awesome that this club encompasses. The Mac Veggie Club provides a valuable service on campus, they not only educate people who are interested in vegetarianism, but also provide resources such as information pamphlets on nutrition, a free recipe book, a recipe browsing program, and vegetarian cooking lessons among others.

After a little quality time on Google, I did a little research to back up my assumption that most people are not vegetarians. Statistics show that 4% of adults in Canada follow a vegetarian diet. This lead me to my next question for Amanda, and that was how do you motivate students to join your club, seeing as non-vegetarianism is such a dominant way of life? Now the answer to this question surprised me as it turns out that the club doesn’t really have a problem motivating students to join, as a lot of them are already vegetarians, or are interested in learning more about vegetarianism.  Although that doesn’t stop them from creatively inducing students about their causes as a lot of their events are socials! They host tons of potlucks, cooking lessons, outings to vegetarian restaurants, bar nights and next year they plan on having a banquet and a movie night!  Also to clear any pre-assumptions about the club – you don’t have to be a vegetarian/vegan to join!  You just have to have an interest in vegetarianism. If anything, Amanda confided that her biggest challenge is, “getting the word out there that we exist!” Currently, the club actively participates in advertising around the school, giving away free buttons and having regular information tables in the student center.

Now remember I mentioned a Facebook invite earlier that initially intrigued me about this club?The event was the International Meatless Day!! “The purpose was to get people to pledge to abstain from eating meat for one day, November 25^th.  The goal of the initiative is to raise awareness about the way that animals are mistreated and to get people to really think about what they are eating”, said Amanda. This was an amazing cause and being such an avid meat eater myself, I pledged to be meatless. In all honesty, it was definitely an experience! You don’t realise how much meat you drift towards in your daily meal choices!

Being a part of such a great event, I was definitely interested in what the club had in store for the rest of the year and Amanda filled me in by letting me know that one of the most important events of the year that they have been running since the club’s inception is Meatless in March. She explains that, “It’s based on the International Meatless Monday’s campaign.  During the month of March, we encourage members of the McMaster community to abstain from eating meat on Mondays,” and continues by adding that, “The goal of this initiative is once again to raise awareness of the many benefits of reducing one’s meat consumption.” This sounds like a great cause, and we wish you the best of luck Mac Veggie Club! Don’t forget to visit their website www.macveggieclub.com for more information!

-Written by Nisha @ McMaster

You might be thinking to yourself “Student recipes? Sounds like an oxymoron”. It kind of is. The idea was to post two student recipes collected from Mount Royal Students. That way we can ALL be super inspired and start cooking these fantastic meals, and start calling ourselves Chef. Maybe, even open our own food court kiosk in Wyckham House — I’ll get to the recipes, don’t worry.

First though, I’d really like to address the fact that as students (correct me here if I’m wrong) we don’t really “cook” most of the time…

There are the students who still live at home, and still get to come home to a varied selection of leftovers, snack foods, fresh produce, and even maybe a fresh home-cooked meal, courtesy of Mom (the lucky bums…).

Then there’s the students who have moved out into their own apartment or into residence, received their student loan, and once the fees are paid and the books are bought and the Texas mickey (that is *going* to last the whole semester) is sitting comfortably beside the “congratulations-on-your-first-place” hand-me-down appliances from all your relatives, they realize that their food budget is limited to ichiban, Kraft dinner, peanut butter and Costco-sized boxes of cheerios.

Let’s face it, we’re student! We’re broke and when we do have money we save it for the weekend, put on our Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday best and spend every last penny on Jagger-bombs and 3am pizza.

We’re also busy. My evening used to consist of: getting home at 9pm, taking the precooked Safeway chicken out of the fridge, pouring some bbq sauce on a plate, and pulling pieces of chicken off and dipping it into the bbq sauce as I read my textbooks. My best friend’s most frequent dinner is a can of tuna straight from the can and a diet coke. I know a group of boys who live on res, who basically live off of the daily specials (19 cent Wing Wednesdays, and $8 Burger & Beer Mondays, anyone?) at the Local 002 Tavern a few blocks from the university. Not the healthiest options, but they are quick, and they are cost effective.

Anyways, being a busy, fiscal student, I have taken to a couple relatively healthy and simple recipes to get me through the school year. If you don’t have a Costco card, get one. It will be your best friend.

The first is my Broccoli & Feta Soup! This stuff looks gnarly but if you’re a fan of veggies you’ll love the taste! It lasts about 3-4 days in the fridge and costs about $5 or less to make about 3-4 servings.

Step 1: Boil about three heads of rinsed fresh or frozen (never used frozen but I’m sure it’d work fine) broccoli in about 1.5 cups of water (or any kind of broth) until they are super soft. It’s easier if you chop them up first – sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t feel like it. Also, open a window – broccoli smells super strong when it’s cooking…

Step 2: Once the broccoli is soft, put it in a food processor (along with the water or broth), and blend until smooth.

Step 3: Pour the now broccoli-smoothie back into the pot, and turn the temp to low-med. Add about a cup of feta cheese, salt and pepper, then cover, stirring occasionally.

After about 5-10 minutes the feta will have melted into the soup, now it’s ready to serve! It’s super filling and really healthy. Sometimes I adapt it based on what I have going on in the fridge. I’ve also done a carrot-ginger soup (with powdered ginger and a tiny bit of butter), and a cauliflower-cheddar soup (it looks prettier when the cheddar is shredded and mixed in, rather than letting it sit).

I actually can’t take credit for the next recipe, I made it with a friend I met last semester. But again we’re sticking with the theme: delicious, cheap, simple, and relatively healthy. Healthy(ish) Fried Rice 

Step 1: Cook the rice (I use wild rice or brown rice, but anything will work. You could even use ichiban noodles if you wanted!).

Step 2: While the rice is cooking, sauté some frozen veggies (Costco has mega huge bags for a decent price – one bag usually lasts me around 3 weeks) in either butter or olive oil (olive oil is better for you, but it’s more expensive).

Step 3: Once the rice is finished, transfer it into the pan with the veggies, and mix well, ensuring that the oil or butter coats the rice. Here I usually add some powdered ginger, pepper, and sometimes salt to taste. Keep heat med-low.

Step 4: Crack a few eggs (depending on how big of a portion you are making, try to use 2 eggs per portion) into the pan, and mix into the rice-veggie deal. Cover and let sit on med-low. Eggs cook quick, so check every couple of minutes and stir it around. Remove from heat as soon as the eggs are cooked fully. enjoy!

Ok, and I’m gonna add one more recipe just for fun. This recipe is not cheap, simple, or healthy, but it’s damn fun! I did this one for Canada Day and we had a blast eating them!

Cute Watermelon Jello Shots!

That was officially the longest post ever. Happy cooking!

PS: If you have any student recipes to share, send me a tweet @_arieleve and we’ll connect so I can post it!

xo A

-Written by Ariel @ MRU

One of the worst feelings in the world is waking up with the feeling that your stomach is going to implode from being so extremely hungry, AND THEN, opening your fridge to find absolutely NOTHING in it. As students, I can guess that this happens to a lot of us. With school work and extra-curriculars taking up your entire week, the last thing students would think about is what their fridge is deprived of and their grocery lists. And that’s where I come in! For me, being a student does take its toll on my dieting habits so what I’ve come up with is a list of foods that I think can help bring creativity, variety and nutritional value to your every day meals.

1) EGGS.

I think eggs are the number one essential ingredient in your fridge. They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I don’t know about you, but I love to eat eggs during breakfast and even throughout the day. Eggs are one of those timeless ingredients that never gets old. It’s also flexible in a sense where you could make them scrambled, fried and even hard boiled. One of my all-time favourite egg recipes is my dill and smoked salad egg salad. I find the recipe very convenient and easy to make. It’s also a great source of protein and can be stored for a couple of days, providing multiple meals.

2) YOGURT.

Another essential ingredient that my fridge is always stocked with is yogurt. A great source of calcium and probiotics, it is also a very portable ingredient that students can bring to class as a healthy snack. Yogurt can also be served any time during the day. You could have a parfait in the morning to start your day off, a yogurt smoothie after hitting up the gym and a yogurt for in between class snacks.

3) FRUIT

Last, but definitely not least, an important essential ingredient that my fridge always contain are fruits. Students never get enough fruits  when it provides us with the most vitamins and fibre! The more vibrant the color, the more packed full of vitamins it is! Fruits can be treated as daily snacks or even incorporated into your main meals. It could be part of the parfait you eat in the morning or part of your salad during lunch. They are pretty much the most versatile ingredient out there. My favourite fruit recipes that are convenient for my student life are my banana bread recipe or my berry parfait. They’re easy to make and suitable year round!

Of course these are only MY top 3 essential ingredients that I usually have in my kitchen. Everyone has different taste buds and a variety of preferences. Things to always keep in mind though when shopping for groceries is to think about the nutritional content, versatility and portability a product or ingredient is, ensuring it is suitable for your student life. What are YOUR top 3 ingredients and why? Please feel free to comment below!

Written by Leslie @ Waterloo