minorfleshwound

I'm a broke college student struggling to eat decent food while attempting to get back in riding shape. My typical food intake looks something like:

Breakfast - Cereal w/ yogurt and OJ

Mid morning snack - Smoothie w/ turkey sandwhich

Lunch - Chicken caesar salad or wrap

Afternoon snack (prior to riding) - Banana and clif bar

Post ride snack - Smoothie w/ protein powder and pasta

Dinner - Some variation of baked chicken w/ veggies


As you can see I pretty much eat chicken and smoothies with occasional bagel or turkey sandwhich/wrap. Just looking for any advice on mixing things up a little bit and still having a decent diet. Having baked chicken for dinner almost every night is getting dull! Anyone have and cheap food that I could throw in maybe 2 nights a week? Thanks!

UmneyDurak

Beans are dirt cheap and have tons of protein in them. Rice makes a nice side to most meals. For breakfast oatmeal would provide better nutrition then cereal. For snacks try more fruits, or cottage cheese, or yogurt. Cliff bars are what buck something a bar? Pretty much any real food would be cheaper then that. You could also buy frozen fish, and cook that. It goes nice with rice, or beans, or with some veggies wrapped in burrito. For sauce you can mix up some greek yogurt or sour cream with dijorn mustard. A great snack (or a meal) is oatmeal mixed with some cheddar cheese, and cottage cheese. I usually do 1 serving of oatmeal, 1 serving of cheddar cheese, 1 serving of oatbran, and 1 serving of cottage cheese. It makes for a quick to prepare lunch that I can take with me to school.

UD

MTBLover

+100000 to the beans- I'd look into interesting grains as well (quinoa, wild/brown rice mix, millet, wheat berries, etc., etc.). As to beans, black beans are super versatile- you can while up a spicy black bean soup in no time with a can of beans, a little garlic, onion, green pepper, lime juice, and chili powder. BBs are also great for salads- I mix them in with quinoa or millet, add assorted veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, scallions, carrots, maybe some roasted rutabagas or parsnips), some raisins or dried cranberries- figs are nice too- and dress with homemade lime-cilantro dressing. Easy to make, and a batch is good for a dinner or two, or a lunch or three.

Garfield Cat

Eat slowly. When taking the smoothie, drink it first.

That will make the stomach feel fuller. Then take solids. For smoothie, use a lot of anti oxidants like Langer's pomegranate juice which can be found at Costco. Also at Costco or Sam's Club there are frozen blueberries and dates. Sam's Club sometimes has the date pieces. I put in romaine lettuce or even cucumbers.

CbadRider

Shrimp is good and fairly cheap. It cooks up quickly and you can throw it on pasta or add it to rice and some stir-fried veggies.

downtube42

Jumbalaya

Red beans and rice

now I'm hungry

DataJunkie

Spaghetti is pretty yummy.
Grilled portobello sandwiches.
Salads are always a good thing. Stuffing a pita pocket is a fun thing to eat.

You can make calazones fairly easily. Pickup frozen dough at the store, defrost it, roll it out, stuff it with whatever, and cook it.

UmneyDurak

Any recipes to share?

DesnaePhoto

PB&J.

Grilled cheese. (esp with some tomato soup)

You can get pork loin pretty inexpensively in bulk. Slice it up and freeze. Roasts are pretty cheap -- bag of Lipton Onion Soup and a can of regular Pepsi or Coke, veggies, and bake. Yum!

minorfleshwound

Tons of good info here, never would have thought of lots of this stuff. Thanks for all the replies I'll be making my next grocery list from here

dsotm

Grits are also a good source of carbs, cheap too. If you buy nuts in bulk, they can be reasonable as well.

downtube42

Here's a decent one: https://southernfood.about.com/od/jam...r/bl20120a.htm

Fool around with the peppers, onion, garlic, tomatoes, and spices until you find your taste - or based on what's in the kitchen.

I like sausage jambalaya better than chicken, but that's just me. I suppose the chicken's healthier.

Jtgyk

Different Curries (powder and paste / red and green) Different spices

try some mediterannian fish recipes with citrus and tomato.

Visit the spice isle of your store and experiment.

You can actually eat chicken and turkey a different way each meal and not feel like the same ol' same ol'.

fghhunter

Try adding some CINNAMON IN WITH YOUR OATMEAL & a mashed banana.
Get some more carbs in your diet, adding 1/2 cup of Post Grape Nuts with your oatmeal is good or try some Fiber One cereal the little wormy looking kind is good, both of these cereals have a lot more carbs than the oatmeal. The cereals would be great for post ride snacks too. At lunch you should try getting some carbs so you're fueled for your ride, the salad doesn't do much.
If you're buying the smoothie & protein powder I'd drop it for a couple different types of fresh fruit and fat free chocolate milk (carbs&protein).
If you cook for yourself look up/read about QUINOA, it's a whole grain with lots of carbs PLUS its a protein. It's good in soups, salads, add with chopped veggies. Look for it at a health food store or maybe in the bulk foods section of a regular grocery store

Go to smartpeople.com and use the nutritional tracker, you can track your carbs, fats, protien, fiber; then you'll know what you're getting for nutrition, they have a pie chart that shows all the breakdowns, wonderful sight. Hope some of this helps you.

Jtgyk

+1 on Smartpeople
Good recipe datbase too!

Onuts

Here; Jeez! These have never failed me!

THUNDER BIRDS

1 package of 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 package of cream cheese
2 bunches of green onions, chopped
6 jalapeno peppers seeded and chopped
1 package of bacon

Pound chicken breasts as flat & even as possible with a meat tenderizer mallet
Cut flattened chicken breasts roughly in half
Mix cram cheese, onion and jalapeno together
Place 2 TBS cream cheese/onion/jalapeno mix onto chicken piece
Roll up chicken, wrap with bacon (2 pieces running opposite) and skewer with toothpicks
Grill over low or indirect heat until chicken is fully cooked, cheese melted and bacon browned. Bacon grease flares up bad!


Chicken Enchilada Lasagna

Big box of oven-ready lasagna noodles
1 can of cream of mushroom (or cream of chicken) soup
1 can of Fiesta Nacho Cheese soup
2 4 oz cans of green chilies
1 can of evaporated milk
1 cup of favorite salsa
1 can of chopped black olives
3 each boneless, skinless chicken breasts (tenderized)
1 medium onion - chopped
Butter or margarine
Cajun or Taco seasoning
15 oz Ricotta cheese
1 slightly beaten egg
½ tsp basil
½ tsp oregano
24 oz cottage cheese
12 - 16 oz Mozzarella cheese

Drain, drain, drain, drain and drain (the soups and milk are enough liquid) Drain and drain!

Fry chicken breasts with butter/margarine and seasoning; shred and set aside
Saute onion until translucent - set aside
In large bowl combine soups, chilies (drain), milk, salsa, olives (drain) and then add onion and shredded chicken
Combine in small bowl: Ricotta cheese, egg, basil and organo
In a large deep disposable lasagna pan: spray bottom and sides; lay in botton layer of noodles; making as many layers as possible separated with noodles using:
Ricotta cheese mix
Chicken mix
Mozarella cheese
Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375F for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for at least 15 minutes; remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving


King Ranch Casserole

10 ¾ oz Cream of mushroom soup
10 ¾ oz Cream of chicken soup
10 oz Rotel tomatoes
1 small can of sliced black olives
1 each 8 oz package cream cheese, cubed
2 pounds of ground beef (or 2 cups of pan cooked white meat chicken)
12 corn tortillas, broken to fit inside the casserole dish
2 cups of shredded cheese
Choice of meat seasoning


Preheat oven to 350F
Mist 9 x 13 casserole dish with cooking spray
Brown and season meat of choice and drain excess grease
Add mushroom and chicken soups, Rotel tomatoes and cream cheese
Use ½ the tortillas to line the bottom of the dish
Add meat and soup mixture
Top with the other ½ of the tortillas
Top that with cheese and olive slices
Bake 35 - 45 minutes; slightly brown the cheese
Serve with garlic toast?

Terex

Many good recommendations already given.

Plain baked potato and an order of chili from Wendy's. Dump chili on potato.

And eat more bananas.

Bag of hash brown, uncooked potatoes from the refrigerated section of the grocery. Put olive oil in pan, heat, fry potatoes in the oil. Add spices, fresh tomatoes, left over salsa, grated cheese - clean out the fridge.

Do you have a George Forman grill? If not, get one. Buy pork loin chops from Costco in bulk, freeze some, and cook some. Season chops with McCormacks seasoning. It's available for steak, pork, chicken, fish.

Buy an inexpensive crock pot. Buy a crock pot cook book. Possibilities are endless.

jorbenweb

For cheapness, it's tough to beat beans and rice, as has been noted. Try and find a couple good Mexican or Salvadoran places that serve lunches to immigrant work crews. The food is often more authentic and the prices can't be beat. There's a little pupusas place by me where I can get a pretty good light lunch for under five bucks, with a variety of protein choices.

JBW

cyclehen

Great ideas here! My personal favorite cheap eats are tunafish and canned salmon, pb&j, lowfat yogurt, cottage cheese, hummus (homemade is cheaper) & pita bread, rice & black beans, peanuts, oatmeal, bananas. Kashi has some cereals that are great for snacks (buy them when they're on sale)-- with dried fruit they make good trail mix. I'd spend my $ on real food and not the protein powder or food bars. For dinners, frozen seafood is a good alternative, especially scallops if you can get one of those large bags and thaw just what you need.

JLahr

Try lentils. With the right spices they are delicious and cheap. Here's a recipe that I've been using for years and is a simple backbone to endless variation.

- Saute 3-4 cloves of minced garlic with an onion, maybe 2 if they're small. Cook until the onion is beginning to get translucent and the garlic is nice and fragrant.
- Add 1 cup of boring grocery store lentils (not red or du poy lentils, although they can be delicious in other things) with 3 cups of water. Simmer for about an hour until the lentils are a consistency that you like. About this time the lentils will be breaking apart and will make the dish more smooth and mushy. Don't go too far or the dish with turn sticky and pasty (in which case you can always add more water and keep cooking).
- When you have about five minutes left, add 1 teaspoon of salt and cumin and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
- Serve on top of rice.

Although it seems simple, you really can't go wrong with this dish. Feel free to add carrots, celery, hot peppers, bell peppers, cilantro... almost anything you'd like after the onion but before the lentils. Don't put in salt before the lentils are done cooking- just something I've always been told.

If you don't have cumin and cayenne in your cabinet, you really need to get off the computer and run to the store this minute! They're extremely fundamental to spicing it up.

Arkansan07

whole wheat pancakes, i destroy these

MTBLover

True that- same thing with any beans- salting the cooking water makes the outer covering tough. Best to salt after cooking.


BTW, here's another thing you can do with lentils- tagine!!!
Follow JLahr's recipe, but fry the cumin in oil before adding the garlic and onion. Also add a cinnamon stick (yea, that's right, cinnamon), paprika, turmeric, and ginger. Saute everything together, then add the lentils and water. When the lentils are about halfway done, add about a cup or prunes (now known as dried plums) and/or dried apricots. Serve on couscous.

You can also just dump everything at once into a crockpot and let it go for 5-6 hours.

Ka_Jun

Tofu, seitan.

DataJunkie

+1

I add chunky applesauce, cinnamon, and oats to mine. My son and I will eat them without syrup or butter.

barturtle