Food advice

L337Llama

Senior member
Mar 30, 2003
358
0
0
I am living in an apartment this semester, and it's my first time without a meal plan. I need some advice on getting healthy food and cheap recipes. So far, I've been living on a lot of frozen pizzas, tacos, and canned things.

Any advice? For the most part, I am just cooking for myself since my roommate does have a meal plan for the school. I could use suggestions for some food budgeting and recipes and stuff like that.
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,479
3,976
126
For healthy and cheap look for canned and frozen INGREDIENTS. Don't go for canned/frozen finished products. Stick to that rule and you'll have healthy food at little cost. Stay away from fresh items at this point. They tend to be pricey, time consuming to prepare, and people tend to let them rot meaning you lose your money. The main exception for me is that I like fresh onion/garlic since that is cheap and lasts a month or longer. But even garlic can be bought in a jar prechopped.

Canned fruit can be $1 for a good snack or $2 for a meal.

Canned corn/veggies are delicious with a dab of butter and salt/pepper. Should be $1 for a snack or $2 for a meal.

Frozen veggies are quick, simple, and cheap. Microwave them with a dab of butter and salt/pepper. Or put them in boiling water and add noodles all together and 6-10 minutes later your meal is done.

Then learn to prepare a few simple items in bulk that you can freeze. Pour a can of diced tomatoes, a small can of tomato sauce, a small chopped onion, a spoonful of chopped garlic, and whatever spices you like and let them simmer. I suggest lots of salt, basil, oregano, and hot red pepper for spices. There you have the best spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce you'll ever have (for pizza go with more oregano and add olives/red bell peppers, for spaghetti sauce add basil and mushrooms/green bell peppers and a splash of alcohol if you have it). Make it 10 times that size and freeze in quart bags or sealable plastic containers. Now whenever you want it, microwave a frozen container and boil some noodles and 10 minutes later you have healthy and cheap spaghetti. For pizza, use any form of starch (bread, tortillia, english muffin, or pizza crust) add sause and cheese. Each meal can be under $1 ($2 if you eat big).
 
Last edited:

Farang

Lifer
Jul 7, 2003
10,913
3
0
I would disagree and say go with fresh items. As long as you stick to whats in season and on sale, you aren't going to pay a lot. I rarely waste anything because I consistently cook for myself.

One trick I found was when possible, make foods really spicy. For me this means I eat less of the main course and more of the filling side (more rice and less Szechuan chicken, example). A couple habaneros cost maybe $.40 but give the meal a kick and make me eat less of the expensive part (the chicken).

Of course if you're really serious about saving money you'll eat as little meat as possible, as it easily takes up half of the cost of most basic recipes. Stick to cheap proteins like rice/lentils, eggs, and tofu.
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,358
8,447
126
frozen > canned

canned has had the nutrients cooked out of it. frozen can often be more vitamin and mineral rich than fresh, as the frozen stuff is picked when ripe, while the fresh stuff is picked before it gets ripe.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
57,978
8,217
126
frozen > canned

canned has had the nutrients cooked out of it. frozen can often be more vitamin and mineral rich than fresh, as the frozen stuff is picked when ripe, while the fresh stuff is picked before it gets ripe.


Maybe, but I like the taste of canned food better. Here's my order of preference...

Fresh
canned
frozen
 

HybridSquirrel

Diamond Member
Nov 20, 2005
6,161
2
81
Rice, ground beef or stir fry beef, veggies. profit. Canned fruit was a good suggestion, as well as the frozen veggies. If you can, shop at costco and stock up for the month. You'll eat a lot of the same shit but its cheap and most of their stuff is decently healthy
 

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
166
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com
I would disagree and say go with fresh items. As long as you stick to whats in season and on sale, you aren't going to pay a lot. I rarely waste anything because I consistently cook for myself.

One trick I found was when possible, make foods really spicy. For me this means I eat less of the main course and more of the filling side (more rice and less Szechuan chicken, example). A couple habaneros cost maybe $.40 but give the meal a kick and make me eat less of the expensive part (the chicken).

Of course if you're really serious about saving money you'll eat as little meat as possible, as it easily takes up half of the cost of most basic recipes. Stick to cheap proteins like rice/lentils, eggs, and tofu.

I disagree. I was just at the store - boneless, skinless chicken breast was the same price per pound as fresh apples, and cheaper than many other types of produce.
 

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
62,483
8,344
126
Grab a cheap crockpot and look up recipes online. $3 or $4 worth of ingredients and a few minutes of preperation should yield you an easy 4-6 meals worth of food. Just throw it in the crock pot before going to class in the morning and let it sit on low for 8 hours while you are out. You've got a hot $1 a meal option waiting for you when you get back. Chicken breasts, pork loins, beef roasts, ect. All of them are pretty forgiving in the good old crock pot. Toss in your starch & veggie of choice. Add a bit of sauce and you're good.
 

Lotheron

Platinum Member
Oct 21, 2002
2,188
2
71
25 lb rice bag = $7 @ sams club.

Exactly.

Find someone with a club membership and stock up on stuff you like that can be stored. That way the more frequent grocery trips will be less strain on the wallet replacing stuff that doesn't last as long.
 

kalrith

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2005
6,628
7
81
The crockpot is a good recommendation. Chili, dry beans, stew, soup, etc. will all taste better in it and are relatively cheap as long as you go easy on the meat.

I also recommend the frozen > fresh > > > canned for ingredients. They freeze them so quickly these days, that you sometimes get more freshness from them than you would from "fresh" ingredients that have been sitting on the shelf for days. You don't have to worry about them going bad at home either.

Rice, pasta, and mashed potatoes are all cheap per calorie. I have pbj's and cereal as snacks. A huge can of peanuts makes for a relatively cheap and healthy snack as long as you measure out your servings ahead of time, or else you'll wind up eating 1,000 calories without realizing it.

If you do know someone with a Sam's Club membership, you can shop online, add a bunch of stuff to your shopping cart, and print out the list to take with you to the store. If you're good friends with the person, they can even log in and make the shopping cart into a click-n-pull list, which means they'll have all the stuff waiting for you when you get there. Make sure you have cash, debit, mastercard, or discover (I think Sam's accepts all those) to pay for it since Sam's Club doesn't take VISA in the store.
 

nerp

Diamond Member
Dec 31, 2005
9,865
105
106
Learn basic knife skills. Get the Joy of Cooking and learn how to make the basic sauces. From there, experiment until you have a few reliable meals you can make every week and continue building your repitoire over time.

Whatever you do, don't fall into the rut of eating greasy take out every night of the week. It's expensive and unhealthy. If you learn to look at cooking not as a chore but a source of relaxation and pleasure, you'll look forward to coming home with some fresh veggies and busting out the cutting board.
 

Aztech

Golden Member
Jan 19, 2002
1,922
0
0
Grab a cheap crockpot and look up recipes online. $3 or $4 worth of ingredients and a few minutes of preperation should yield you an easy 4-6 meals worth of food. Just throw it in the crock pot before going to class in the morning and let it sit on low for 8 hours while you are out. You've got a hot $1 a meal option waiting for you when you get back. Chicken breasts, pork loins, beef roasts, ect. All of them are pretty forgiving in the good old crock pot. Toss in your starch & veggie of choice. Add a bit of sauce and you're good.

I guess it's considered safe to leave a crockpot going unattended for many hours? I'm just asking since I'm not sure. We own one, but have barely used it, and have never left it unattended for long hours...
 

joesmoke

Diamond Member
Nov 2, 2007
5,420
2
0
stock up on frozen whole chickens and brown rice when theyre on sale.

buy fresh veggies based upon whats on sale and make something according to what you have.
 

kalrith

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2005
6,628
7
81
I guess it's considered safe to leave a crockpot going unattended for many hours? I'm just asking since I'm not sure. We own one, but have barely used it, and have never left it unattended for long hours...

Yep, that's perfectly fine. You might overcook your food if you cook it for longer than you're supposed to, but most meals take 8+ hours on low, which should accomodate most schedules. Some crockpots have a timer, will switch to a keep-warm setting once it finishes cooking, and then will turn off after several hours on the keep-warm setting.
 

Hacp

Lifer
Jun 8, 2005
13,923
2
81
Pasta, burgers, fried chicken, french fries, lasagnia,mac and cheese, stir fried rice and tacos are all cheap and easy to make.

As for veggies, I don't eat much of it. Perhaps sauteed spinach which is very good. Also, make sure you buy lots of chicken broth. Its well worth the money .

A good vegetable dish might be carrots, peas, corn(all from a frozen bag) with chicken. ground the chicken up, put a little chicken broth, butter, salt, pepper, corn starch, onion and garlic powder and saute them in a pan. Serve with rice.
 
Last edited:

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
57,978
8,217
126
two questions:

what is an aldi?

what is your avatar?

Aldi's a discount food store. I've been going there a lot lately. The food seems to range from decent to pretty damned good. I haven't had anything terrible yet, but I don't buy everything from them.
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,479
3,976
126
Pasta, burgers, fried chicken, french fries, lasagnia,mac and cheese, stir fried rice and tacos are all cheap and easy to make.
I think you missed the "healthy" part of the original post.
 

Hacp

Lifer
Jun 8, 2005
13,923
2
81
Also, you might want to invest in a slow cooker. I don't have one but I heard they're easy to set up and make tasty meals, especially with tough meats.

Btw, chicken fried steak burger= YUM.
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,479
3,976
126
Whats unhealthy about tasty food eaten in moderation?
Nothing is wrong in moderation. But when the rest of the meals have so far been "living on a lot of frozen pizzas, tacos, and canned things", I don't think fried chicken and french fries are a good addition.
 
sale-70-410-exam    | Exam-200-125-pdf    | we-sale-70-410-exam    | hot-sale-70-410-exam    | Latest-exam-700-603-Dumps    | Dumps-98-363-exams-date    | Certs-200-125-date    | Dumps-300-075-exams-date    | hot-sale-book-C8010-726-book    | Hot-Sale-200-310-Exam    | Exam-Description-200-310-dumps?    | hot-sale-book-200-125-book    | Latest-Updated-300-209-Exam    | Dumps-210-260-exams-date    | Download-200-125-Exam-PDF    | Exam-Description-300-101-dumps    | Certs-300-101-date    | Hot-Sale-300-075-Exam    | Latest-exam-200-125-Dumps    | Exam-Description-200-125-dumps    | Latest-Updated-300-075-Exam    | hot-sale-book-210-260-book    | Dumps-200-901-exams-date    | Certs-200-901-date    | Latest-exam-1Z0-062-Dumps    | Hot-Sale-1Z0-062-Exam    | Certs-CSSLP-date    | 100%-Pass-70-383-Exams    | Latest-JN0-360-real-exam-questions    | 100%-Pass-4A0-100-Real-Exam-Questions    | Dumps-300-135-exams-date    | Passed-200-105-Tech-Exams    | Latest-Updated-200-310-Exam    | Download-300-070-Exam-PDF    | Hot-Sale-JN0-360-Exam    | 100%-Pass-JN0-360-Exams    | 100%-Pass-JN0-360-Real-Exam-Questions    | Dumps-JN0-360-exams-date    | Exam-Description-1Z0-876-dumps    | Latest-exam-1Z0-876-Dumps    | Dumps-HPE0-Y53-exams-date    | 2017-Latest-HPE0-Y53-Exam    | 100%-Pass-HPE0-Y53-Real-Exam-Questions    | Pass-4A0-100-Exam    | Latest-4A0-100-Questions    | Dumps-98-365-exams-date    | 2017-Latest-98-365-Exam    | 100%-Pass-VCS-254-Exams    | 2017-Latest-VCS-273-Exam    | Dumps-200-355-exams-date    | 2017-Latest-300-320-Exam    | Pass-300-101-Exam    | 100%-Pass-300-115-Exams    |
http://www.portvapes.co.uk/    | http://www.portvapes.co.uk/    |