Foo - Eating cheap...like really really cheap.

I'm trying to eat on ~$20-30week.

I've been eating a lot of day old bagels, pasta, pancakes, beans, and homeade curries.
I don't eat meat.

Any tips or favorite foods/recipes to suggest?

I'm trying to eat on ~$20-30week.

I've been eating a lot of day old bagels, pasta, pancakes, beans, and homeade curries.
I don't eat meat.

Any tips or favorite foods/recipes to suggest?

go to your local East Indian food store and buy curry powder
and basmati rice in bulk. Get a 50 lb sack o' lentils.

Supplement your proteins, then, and add a multivitamin, since given the diet you just stated, you are risking certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies. ;)

Supplement your proteins, then, and add a multivitamin, since given the diet you just stated, you are risking certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies. ;)

If you eat lots of leafy greens you should be fine.

Go to a farmers market if you can.

Go to a farmers market if you can.

+1

Go to a farmers market if you can.

Just make sure it's not one of the many fake "farmer's markets" popping up these days. Some people are a bit too proud of their homegrown "organic" (uncertified and unwashed) veggies and charge much more than the store, or they're just reselling items purchased in bulk you can buy at a big box market.

See if you have a food co-op in your area. At least with those the items are screened by the group for price and quality.

I've heard of people buying peaches en masse from an HEB (regional grocery store), then setting up a roadside stand and selling them off with a 2-3x markup.

Red Beans & Rice....cheap and nutritious.
Chili - regular or vegetarian.
Vegetarian Lasagna.

All of these can be made pretty cheaply, can be made in reasonably large quantities, and can store for a while in the freezer.

I agree - whole grains and dried beans, bought in bulk, are among the cheapest foods available.
Definitely supplement with fresh veggies and fruit, farmers markets are good if you can find a good one.

If you have a Chinatown or some kind of Asian market near you, that can be another good place to find affordable produce.

COSTCO

Top Ramen

+1 on costco, especially if you have a large freezer.

Rice, potatoes, and lentils are very helpful. Carrots, greens, and other veggies can be had cheap.

Frankly, you don't need a recipe. Just throw the stuff in a pot with spices and some salt and you will be fine. Indian food is cheap and easy. Rice, dahl, and vegetable curry is good stuff.

lentils and rice lentils and rice w/ either durkee red hot or soy sauce depending on your mood. Or both if you're feeling crazy.

Roadkill

Come on, someone had to say it! :lol:

isn't ramen high fat, high sodium with little nutritional benefit?

Uh huh.

Hi Viking! *waves* :)

isn't ramen high fat, high sodium with little nutritional benefit?

mmmm, but it tastes so good. You need something to counterbalance all that fresh whole-grain goodness everyone else is suggesting.

isn't ramen high fat, high sodium with little nutritional benefit?

+1

dried beans and rice coupled with whatever green is on sale. when i was in college i would cook a big pot of black beans or pintos. you can make a lot of meals out of beans. beans & rice, burritos, soup, and black bean burgers (or fresh falafel using chickpeas) are all quick and good.

isn't ramen high fat, high sodium with little nutritional benefit?

um, yeah, it is.
So what's your point? :D

Rice, potatoes, and lentils are very helpful. Carrots, greens, and other veggies can be had .

Carrots are cheap. Even organic ones aren't all that pricey.

I'm telling you, buy meet. It feels expensive, but it isn't.

8 chicken breasts for $12. Put $.10 of pasta on the plate and $.20 of frozen veggies, suddenly you've got yourself a pretty damn cheap, and filling, meal.

I always have chicken breasts frozen in my freezer in individual bags. Sometimes i'll buy another meat. This month it was a box of frozen catfish. Yeah, hardly gourmet, but it's a change of pace and damn cheap.

I just spent $150 at the store. I bought chicken, pasta, veggies, 3 boxes of cereal and some other crap here and there. It should last me the next 6 weeks minus milk. That's right in your budget.

Come on! Roadkill is very high in protein! :rolleyes:

Okay, true story, for our 10th aniversary we butchered a deer that was hit on the road about midnight outside of our house. How romantic, eh?

Come on! Roadkill is very high in protein! :rolleyes:

Okay, true story, for our 10th aniversary we butchered a deer that was hit on the road about midnight outside of our house. How romantic, eh?

Doe? If so then Yum!

I want to go hunting, not really for the "sporting" side of it, but so I can bag a good doe and have myself venison and homemade jerky. Actually on second thought, I just need to make a deal with someone, they probably waste plenty of animals w/o doing something productive with the meat.

Yep - it was a doe, and a young one.

isn't ramen high fat, high sodium with little nutritional benefit?



Nah dood !!!


you = FAIL



there's no law that says you need to use the ''flavor'' packet. You 'can' season it yourself you know.


calories are calories .. and you need 'calories' to keep your metabolism going, (so that you can live).

Ramen noodles are flash fried.

most of what i eat is given to me by friends, family, coworkers and other students. just beg enough and you're bound to get lots of food.

All you need are: ham hocks; chicken necks; pinto beans or black eyed peas; collards, cabbage, and carrots; rice; and government cheese.

Boil one cup of rice and pour one can of Campbell's Minestrone soup over it. Makes a pretty good cheap meal......but it has relatively high levels of sodium.

It only takes about ten minutes............or five after the water comes to a boil. Just finished mine.

Good luck.

Find a kid you know and eat lunch at a school. Lunch $1.50, breakfast is even cheaper.

What school are YOU talking about? Over this way it's $2.50 :eek:

rice + can of tuna + glass of OJ + vitamin pill

I was near broke one weekend when I was working by a University. Lots of crowded bars. I'd hit the free lunches hard and fast getting things I could load in my pockets. If a wait-person stopped me I'd buy one of the cheapest beers they had, load up again, and leave. Spent ~$3.00. When my partner came back from visiting family in the area he did not believe I'd done it. So that night I fed both of us for $2.

For yourself get an updated version of "Diet for a Small Planet". You can eat eat cheap and veggy if you watch your protein balancing.

you could have 3 power bars a day for ~$30. ??

pb&j

rice + can of tuna + glass of OJ + vitamin pill


If you can afford the tuna .. why are you gonna be filling up on rice?




No .. here's how it's done.






1 can tuna. ~ $1.50 (white tuna - Albacore! .. not the 'chunk' junk)



crush it and then add to it;


some goya xtra virgin olive oil, some mayo, some garlic, some curry, some salt and some pepper (black or hot - or both) .. and some parsley or cilantro - if on hand. :beer:


I find some of that wassabi sauce (in the squeeze bottle) works as a good substitute for the mayo - and soy (low sodium soy - or sucks you dry) is a good substitute for the salt of course. And some mustard goes good with it too.



That's like a meal by itself .. it will fill you up, and it's almost all of it protein! (protein = good) .. :)

If you can afford the tuna .. why are you gonna be filling up on rice?

So wait, ramen noodles are ok but rice is teh sux? :rolleyes:

So wait, ramen noodles are ok but rice is teh sux? :rolleyes:


yeah, of course .. but only if you can't afford a solid staple of 'protein' - like tuna. Or eggs. And btw, eggs and ramen actually go very good together! .. Eggs and rice? -not so much.. Tuna and rice ? .. I dunno - to each their own.

yeah, of course .. but only if you can't afford a solid staple of 'protein' - like tuna. Or eggs. And btw, eggs and ramen actually go very good together! .. Eggs and rice? -not so much.. Tuna and rice ? .. I dunno - to each their own.

Fried rice! :eek:

Fried egg over rice (over medium) is awesome!!

But eggs are $6.99 for an 18 pack.

Fried egg over rice (over medium) is awesome!!

But eggs are $6.99 for an 18 pack.




Jesus Christ (?) .. are they coated with genuine gold? .. No, I haven't bought eggs for 'a while' - but I recall them being ~ 1.99 - 2.49 for a dozen! .. that was not that long ago! .. (like maybe one month ago since I went food shopping - I've been eating out ever since) .. :P -?


^ that's got to change btw.



so .. if not eggs, then what is now the cheapest source of raw protein?

Yep - it was a doe, and a young one.

For the next time it happens:

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Deer_butchering/Deer_butchering.html

(note that he is also using roadkill deer)

And btw, eggs and ramen actually go very good together! .. Eggs and rice? -not so much..

Says you. Mmmm, how about some raw egg over rice?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Egg-gohan6.jpg

1 can tuna. ~ $1.50 (white tuna - Albacore! .. not the 'chunk' junk)

The 'junk' has less mercury though, which could be an issue if we're talking dietary staple here.

Amazing how hard it is to find chicken backs and necks in the stores these days. Are *all* the stores going way snooty?

rice + can of tuna + glass of OJ + vitamin pill

I don't know about the OJ, but a cup of boiled rice with a small tin of tuna thrown in just before it comes off the burner is great.

Those small cans do have lots of sodium, on the order of 350mg each.

Fried egg over rice (over medium) is awesome!!

But eggs are $6.99 for an 18 pack.

Not where I come from.

5 dozen=6$ at costco

1-1.50 for dozen

18 eggs=2-2.50

What school are YOU talking about? Over this way it's $2.50 :eek:

One of the benefits of the Mid-West I guess.

Boil one cup of rice and pour one can of Campbell's Minestrone soup over it. Makes a pretty good cheap meal......but it has relatively high levels of sodium.

It only takes about ten minutes............or five after the water comes to a boil. Just finished mine.

Good luck.

Boil the rice, toss in some frozen mixed veggies, some red beans, etc. Season with some oregano, tarragon, or soy sauce, etc. Also, look at Progesso soups. They seem to be lower sodium IIRC.