Students Chelsea and Alessia launch Nourished @ Deakin, our new healthy eating hub!
Do you eat the recommended five serves of vegies every single day? We know it can be hard to always make healthy food choices, but this National Nutrition Week is the perfect time to revisit your eating habits.
To help you create healthy, delicious and budget-friendly food, we worked with two third-year Bachelor of Nutrition students who eat well, but understand how hard it is to juggle lifestyle choices with study and other commitments.
So we’re deeply egg-cited (sorry) to launch our new online healthy eating hub, Nourished @ Deakin! Featuring recipes hand-picked by students Chelsea Hughes and Alessia Indovino, it’s packed with ideas, inspiration and step-by-step meal guides.
Chelsea and Alessia also got to roll up their sleeves and host their own cooking segment at Waurn Ponds Estate, alongside Executive Chef Adam Draper.
Chelsea, Alessia and Adam share with us how they brought Nourished @ Deakin to life:
What’s your favourite recipe on the blog?
Chelsea: The Wholemeal Pancakes! I serve them with a dollop of Greek yogurt, raspberries and a drizzle of maple syrup. YUM! If you have leftover batter, store it in the fridge and use it the next day, or cook up the remaining batter into pancakes for an on-the-go snack with a spread of peanut butter.
Alessia: It’s the Banana Nice-Cream for me! The next time you feel like icecream, go check out the video to see just how simple the recipe is!
How did you choose these 13 recipes?
Chelsea and Alessia: We conducted a survey to get an insight into the dietary habits of university students, and used that information to help establish target areas such as increasing vegetable consumption, affordability and sustainability.
We wanted to ensure that lunch and dinner options were interchangeable to show how easy it is to make recipes in bulk so you can have healthy options ready to go. We also searched health organisation sites such as Diabetes Australia and Nutrition Australia for delicious recipes.
What are the biggest barriers for busy students to cook nutritious food at home?
Chelsea: Preparing healthy meals can be hard because it requires time for planning (writing lists, thinking of meal ideas), shopping, preparing, cooking and cleaning. Our recipe ideas save your brain power for more important matters (like your uni assignments!) and they’re all time-efficient.
Hint: Make a double batch and create some single portions to store in the fridge or freezer for a quick lunch or dinner – no preparation required!
Alessia: People often overcomplicate what it means for a meal to be nutritious. You can make a delicious and healthy meal from only a few ingredients that won’t take up too much time or cost you an arm and a leg.
What’s your top ‘cooking hack’?
Chelsea: Try to plan your weekly meals so you use some consistent ingredients. You’ll save money and reduce your food waste. For example, a recipe might use half a capsicum, so pair that with another recipe that also uses half a capsicum!
Alessia: I used to skip breakfast until I discovered Overnight Oats! There’s no cooking involved – just put ingredients into a jar, stir and pop in the fridge overnight. When you’re about to leave in the morning, just grab the jar and you have a delicious, nutritious breakfast to take with you!
What was it like filming at Waurn Ponds Estate?
Adam: It was great to work with like-minded, passionate people who want to make a real difference by helping educate students on how to prepare quick, nutritious and delicious food that can be made ahead of time. The highlight for me was how healthy the recipes are and how I could adapt them to be substituted with different proteins, including plant-based ingredients.
Chelsea: Adam is an incredible chef and I learnt a lot from cooking alongside him. The most memorable thing I learnt from him was how to crush garlic! SO SIMPLE!
Alessia: I definitely learned a few things about presentation when watching Adam put together each of the recipes. I was amazed at his skills in plating up dishes to make them more colourful and appealing, and just how creative he was with each dish.
Feeling inspired? Check out Nourished @ Deakin, and share your creations with @DeakinLife on Insta using #NourishedAtDeakin for your chance to be featured!