GROUNDED

1.0 What's going on this week?

With students from every university in Scotland, GAFF is well placed to know what’s going on near you.

Run Club Supremacy

Firstly, if you weren’t already aware, run clubs are everywhere!

No matter what app I open, my feed is inundated with strava stats, the newest trainer, or another My Protein collab and, I admit, I am guilty of having contributed to this. However, I am delighted that GAFF is jumping on the trend with Whoosh Run clubs officially taking off!

Whoosh will be meeting weekly in Stirling, Edinburgh, and Glasgow with two possible running distances and all paces welcome. We encourage everyone to come along - even if just for the social at the end.

St Andrews is on the telly...again!

I adore Dolly Alderton and everything that she writes so when I found out that her book, Everything I know about Love, was going to be made into a series, I was over the moon. Her writing style is candid, unapologetic, and entirely relatable. She perfectly captures how daily life feels as a 20-something year old as well as the trials and tribulations faced when at university.

However, when I think of Dolly Alderton I don’t often think about St Andrews and yet, they have found themselves on the telly once again (throwback to when The Crown made its way to the small coastal town to film the William and Kate episodes).

Available on BBC Scotland’s YouTube channel, The Bubble, is aiming to capture the varied perceptions and perspectives found within the university town. It highlights the inequalities that arise when 11,000 students are forced to reside within the same three streets.

While I’m not sure how much of a place reality TV should take up at university, maybe the show will force a revaluation on the price of student black-tie ball tickets.

Discounts

Tesco was right, every little does help - especially as a student. So, we wanted to highlight our current favourite student discounts for you to make the most of.

For all of our coffee lovers out there, both Black Sheep and Café Nero have regular student discounts on all drinks for when you need a cheaper pick me up between classes. Either through Unidays or via their app - I beg that you don't miss out on this.

For our Dundee students, Clarks Bakery by the Nethergate, is currently holding a 20% student discount and I would highly recommend using this to your advantage for some wonderful doughnuts.

Otherwise, if you are looking for an autumn wardrobe re-vamp like me, ASOS continues to boast a 10% student discount on all items.

This Weeks Outing.

This week I tried Paddywax candle bar in Edinburgh. While a slightly more expensive day out than usual, I went to celebrate a friend’s birthday and, I assure you, it was worth every penny.

I arrived in Edinburgh just after midday and thoroughly welcomed the fact that I was able to wear my sunglasses and not only for aesthetic purposes. After a quick trip to Oliver Bonas to fantasise about the interior of my future home, I headed to Hanover street for my candle making workshop.

From the get go, we had so much fun. The room smelled incredible, the vibes were immaculate, and everyone in attendance came with one intention and one intention only - to make the cutest candle ever been made.

The workshop itself took just under an hour, but time passes super quickly when you are in the process of becoming a chandler. In a mere 50 minutes I had transformed an empty vessel into a peach-tinted frangipane and pear scented bougie and I am delighted with my creation.

Find Out More

What's For Dinner?

To set the scene for your first read, we wanted to share the taste of the week. This week, we are focusing on autumnal flavours; we are channelling warm, hearty, but definitely not expensive (we want to save what we can for heating).

*This is simply a recommendation based on what one of our students has made this week with the ingredients that they had at hand*

Autumn Loaded Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

One 400g can of butter beans
Diced chicken breast (or substitute)
Two teaspoons of tomato paste
One red onion (or pre-chopped frozen onion)
Garlic
Chilli flakes
Two Sweet potato’s (halved)
Spinach (fresh or frozen)

Written by Erin Cruickshank

*And, if you need a snack while you wait, or you fancy a dessert, this week we are loving blueberry muffins.

Steps

Line a tray with baking paper and place on top the halved sweet potato, cover with olive oil and place in a pre-heated oven at 180 for 45-60 minutes or cook for 5-8 minutes in the microwave if you are short on time.

Once your sweet potato has been in the oven for 30 minutes, grease a pan and place on a medium heat. Add in your onion and leave to soften (will require longer if frozen).

Then, add your chicken (diced), cooking it on both sides until fully cooked through.

Once your chicken has cooked, add in your butter beans (drained from the can) with a splash of water

Leave to simmer for a few minutes

Add in two teaspoons of tomato paste and stir through before adding the garlic and chilli flakes (optional)

Finally, add the spinach to wilt

Place the chicken and butter bean topping on your sweet potato and finish with a sprinkle of feta