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You can use cronometer for free. Plug it in and it will tell you what vitamin, mineral, and amino acids you'd get vs. what you need, per day.

If you're not meeting all the targets, try adding in some servings of frozen broccoli and spinach. When I have used cronometer to track my own diet, I've noticed that those 2 things have a lot of bang for the buck in terms of meeting my vitamin and mineral targets.

https://cronometer.com/

Honestly? Pretty much no food will survive and be palatable in the warmer months.

You want to buy this cooler (note it's small, hard bodied, and under $10). Next pick up an ice pack (usually like $1-2).

Now that cooler I listed is a lot bigger than it looks. It holds 13 cans. Now what I do is make a sandwich, put it in with the freezer pack a drink and a baggie of chips and a candy bar.

My meal generally costs about $2.50.

Get some sodium citrate (which is an emusifier) and you can make amazing cheese sauce with just cheese and water.

Refried beans and rice.

All you need is minute rice, and dehydrated refried beans. You can find them in bulk bins at some health foods stores, or buy these. Boil water, add to beans and rice, wait 5 minutes. You may have to mess around with water ratios, and maybe doing the two separately.

I do the above when backpacking. Put in a tortilla with hot sauce and it's delicious. Adding cheese and Fritos makes it even more delicious.

Seconded, also adding Tony Chachere's, which i put on basically everything. also some spice humor.

Big time secret to making amazing greens as told to me by an old lady who is friends with my mama (I’m from Mississippi): use some broth (beef or chicken) in place of the water and put in 2 tablespoons of Knorr Vegetable Soup mix before cooking. Simmer, don’t boil heavily.

My husband is Muslim so I don’t add pork to mine and they still taste amazing.

Also, you need to find the right mix for greens for you. Some people like all mustards, all collards, etc. some like to mix them. Some greens are more bitter than others. So read up on the taste of each and decide what you like.

If you want to add pork, get a ham hock. It’s the best IMO because it has the ratio of smokiness, fat, and muscle. Or add a few strips of salt pork but then don’t add more salt to your greens.

Top your cooked greens with pepper sauce. It looks like this.

The irony is that when you're poor you have little time to prepare food due to work, so you end up buying more processed food that costs more money month-to-month.

I was able to slowly break that cycle by trying to cook a few things regularly (such as minute oats for breakfast) so it became quick and second nature. A lot of low cost cooking is just remembering ratios (2 cups water to 1 cup dry rice, 1 portion of quick oats is 1 cup water and half a cup oats, etc)

Good luck!

EDIT: If you guys are living paycheque to paycheque, I would really look into You Need a Budget as a budgeting system and software to keep track of household expenses. You save up a month's worth of expenses and then budget using last month's expenses, so you only spend what you have. Worth a look, Reddit is a big fan.

I hope you're not throwing away those brown bananas. Cut them up when they're brown and freeze them, then throw in smoothies or make two-ingredient ice cream.

Mushroom risotto is awesome! basically if you have mushrooms, chicken broth (or boullion), short grain rice, and onion you can make it. It's super rich and delicious and not hard to make at all. this is the recipe that i modify for cheaper/simpler ingredients

Best advise I can give is to invest in a crockpot. Amazon has lots of very reasonable ones (+free shipping with amazon prime student account). There are 100s of amazing, cheap & easy slow-cooker/crockpot recipes that you can make and eat on their own or put over pasta or rice. Pinterest boards is the hands down the best place to get lots of recipes for reheating crockpot recipes: Pinterest slow cooker

Latkes are great. Keep the shredded potato from discoloring by shredding into water and keeping it in water until it's time to mix all the ingredients. But even if it does discolor it still tastes fine.

Microwave potato chips are fun for kids.

You could also just make your own crust, which is tasty and cheap as well. When I'm in a rush I use this recipe and have been quite pleased.

Lumpia. It's pretty easy to make, and if you can find some cheap wrappers (or maybe make your own) it really doesn't cost much to make a lot.

Also, tortilla espanola, or the Spanish omellete. Theyre delicious and inepensive.

edit: added a recipe

Tons of recipes with canned chicken as an ingredient, and a lot of them look great.

This butternut and acorn squash soup is pretty yummy. I use half the amounts of both butter and cream cheese, and a 1/4 cup of brown sugar though as it is way too rich with the amount the recipe calls for.

Any of these travel coolers. I have two of the tote bag style ones, which is like a big ass shopping bag for when I do my road trips and travel with meals or regional perishiables I get on my travels. Takes up less space and easier to transport/pack than a hard cooler. You can meal prep and store stuff in the bags replacing the ice bags or getting some really good ice packs or both. One thing I also do is I put water in plastic drinking bottles (used water bottles, 1 liter bottles) and freeze water so when it melts it's also cool drinking water as well as an ice pack.

Also great to use if you shop at Aldi! The other day I fit about $50 in groceries in one bag!

The other "But wait! There's MORE!" is these bags are also great for HOT items and perfect for when you pick up pizza or other hot items. That's why I have two in different colors to indicate which is which if I'm packing all sorts of stuff.

This recipe is the one I've been using for years, know it by heart at this point. I like the change suggested by the top commenter, if you heat up your oil, then add your curry powder/paste, it makes a kind of spice slurry that smells incredible, and then add the onions, garlic, and ginger as normal. For protein, I normally use chicken thighs, cut up into bite-size squares. And depending on what else I have on hand, I try to add other things like peppers, cubed potato (cheap way to add volume), and cubed pineapple + some canned pineapple juice adds a lot to it. I personally think getting the canned coconut milk is worth it, it adds a creamy sweetness, and since I like it spicy as well by adding hot peppers/cayenne pepper/hot sauce, it's got this initial sweetness with a lingering spiciness, I have to restrain myself to not try and eat the entire batch in one sitting, it's so delicious.

MINCE MEAT PIE. Maybe not something you'd be interested in, but it's a dessert so it's VERY different from other things people have listed. Lots of people love it, and if you have lots of free meat, why not try it? The second main ingredient is apples, which also tend to be cheap so that's a plus too.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/blue-ribbon-mincemeat-pie-filling/

As painful as it is for me to give away my favorite (and way too easy to make) recipe, here it is: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spinach-Basil-Pesto/Detail.aspx Delicious fresh, or freeze and then thaw in the dead of winter when you want to taste summer :)

TIL about chocolate paste and discovered http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/453220503/chocolate_toothpaste.html

Thank you for this recipe, I was wanting to make something like this, the chocolate toothpaste was just an amusing bonus.

I wouldn't mind seeing this if you also tracked nutrients. Not just calories, protein, and fats, but all the vitamins as well. Chronometer is good for this.

Otherwise, it seems like it may not be a good thing to emulate, although it might be an informative social experiment.

I live in an area where there is a large hispanic population. I can find a 1lb bag of quinoa (non-organic) for $2.00.

You can use quinoa as a pilaf, in side dishes, as a breakfast cereal, etc. It's a very versatile grain. Plus, it's a complete protein.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/healthy-cooking/super-foods/whole-grains/quinoa/main.aspx

Is that crust mix actually any good? I like to make my own pizzas, but I buy the pre-made crusts. It could save me a couple bucks if the Jiffy stuff tastes just as good.

Also, this recipe for pizza sauce is very cheap and VERY tasty with the modifications found in the top comment.

Orgain protein powder is $10.95/lb amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Orgain-Organic-Protein-Vanilla-Packaging/dp/B00J074W94?th=1

Truenutrition is $9.50 / lb (Plus $7 flat rate shipping, you choose how many lbs): https://truenutrition.com/p-1169-vegan-protein-optimizer-formula-1lb.aspx?

Kecap Manis works really well too! It’s an Indonesian sweet soy sauce and it’s wonderful.

You could even do spam & egg fried rice! Add some kecap manis. Gives it a nice, sweet flavor.

Stuffed peppers. Rice + ground beef + cheese + spices stuffed in a green pepper (with seeds removed) and topped with tomato paste. Here's a recipe: Yum.

If you're on a budget, don't use Olive Oil, use Canola. It's more affordable and has the same benefits as Olive.

Also, plan your meals. I use Allrecipe's meal planner and we only buy what's on our list.

But a wonderful variant thereof :)

I use this recipe (I don't follow it super closely but it's inspired many a soup) for Fijian dhal many times and it's so yummy. I never get sick of it. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/fijian-dhal-soup/

I have no idea of how authentic it is, I just know it's delicious :)

You could also try something like this where you don't have to worry about keeping it hot, you can just make it hot on the fly.

I don't know how convenient it would be for you, 45 minutes isn't that long of a time but no reason not to have a kit in the car in case you get downtime to eat?

We use these for hotpot and such. You can easily have a heating source with you if having a warm lunch will brighten up your day.

Edit: But then again, if you're in a company truck, it may be problematic to carry around little butane cans. I don't know.

Here is the Web Version

and

Here is the ODS version

This version shows a basic 1 pound of chicken, vegetables, broth, tomatos & paste and 2oz of pasta per serving recipe. You can add rows and grow the spreadsheet to encompass multiple recipes with similar ingredients.

Is there a reason you went with skim milk over 2% or whole milk? It's always the same price, and you can thin it out a bit if you want to stretch it. It's a lot tastier for oatmeal, as well, and makes your $$$ go a lot further.

With your limited freezer space, I would think about regular potatoes. They keep a long time and are SO CHEAP. Plus you have more options (baked potatoes in the micro/oven/slow cooker, for example).

If you start cooking more, I would definitely go for tortillas and make your own Mexican-style "lasagna" or enchilada casserole. It would be way cheaper, and likely tastier. I've had a lot of frozen lasagna in my day, and I have had a grand total of one lasagna that wasn't mushy or crunchy on the edges (in a bad way). You can do a ton with tortillas, too, including making a surprisingly good French "toast" a la Mark Bittman. (Hopefully that link works. It's a Google Books image of the page from his book.)

Unfortunately is not that simple. Stripe, which will handle the subscription doesn't allow you to conditionally modify subscriptions or change them in the time needed. Say I apply a discount to the subscription, that credit will only show up the following month and not for the month when the user stayed within budget. While that might be ok, it is just a logistical nightmare.

Programming a fee for going over is easier because you simply make a transaction instead of a modification to a subscription.

Sure! All transaction data will be automatically retrieved via a third party API Plaid.

This shifts the burden of security away from the app and to an established platform that's basically known for their PCI compliance.

Anytime a set budget is exceeded a one-time transaction of $5 is made to the user via Stripe

Fried, breaded zucchini! Yum! If you don't have bread crumbs, you can take saltine crackers and grind them in a grinder and use them to dip the zucchini slices in.

A recipe to use as a guide: http://hubpages.com/hub/Breaded-Fried-Zucchini-Recipe

spoonacular is also a good free option - nutritional information for every recipe and an easy to use meal planner. However, the meal planner isn't mobile friendly, but I understand new apps are on the way.

If hot meals are important to you, then do yourself a huge favor and get a lunchbox oven. They're only $30, and are powered by your cigarette lighter. Works great for heating up/cooking just about anything. (there are a few different brands out there, suggest reading the reviews on each yourself)

Walmart or your grocery store sells disposable aluminum trays that fit perfectly inside, for a lot less money than they cost on the internet/Amazon. To lower the per-use cost even more, just take regular aluminum foil, and use that to line the disposable tray, and throw out the foil liner when you're done, instead of throwing out the tray. Ends up costing you almost nothing this way.

Using a lunchbox oven, you can prepare just about any meal ahead of time, put it into a tupperware type container, and keep that in a cooler with some ice packs until lunch. Put the food into the lunchbox oven, heat it up, and voila - hot meal of any kind. Can also use it to heat up your cold cans of Beefaroni or whatever!

Of course, you could always just eat cold sandwiches (roast beef/ham/turkey/etc), its a lot easier. As others have said, having a cooler is the main trick here. I also work via truck in the heat of summer, so I usually just freeze a bunch of water bottles and pack those around my lunch. They're super cheap, and when they melt, you're left with bottles of cold water to drink ;)

I would so it on low for 6 hours. If your crockpot doesn't have a timer and you want to start it before work, I suggest getting one that the plug goes into. 8 hours is a long time for veg.

They make digital ones, but you have to reprogram them Everytime you plug it in. Here is a link to a mechanical one. https://www.amazon.com/Century-Plug-Mechanical-Timer-Grounded/dp/B00MVFF59S/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1536151828&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=plug+timer&dpPl=1&dpID=41hWDwaWyhL&ref=plSrch

Unless you're going to use a food processor, the best way to dice onions is simply learning to use a decent chef's knife. You need one anyhow, as it's hard to get far in cooking without at least the one, onions or no onions.

I'm happy with the modestly priced Mercer knife I got earlier this year. Here's the steel I got with it to keep it honed. I cook regularly but not every day (it's just me, so leftovers are a thing), so hopefully it'll be a while before it needs proper sharpening.

It's plain-jane as far as a knife goes, but it's heavy, super sharp, durable and reliable. It was cheaper when I bought it, though...

This is hands down the best garlic press I've ever used. A friend gave it to me after she had tried out multiple presses.

What makes it so great is that the part that the garlic smooshes through is connected by a hinge, so it's super-easy to clean. That's my biggest issue with all the other garlic presses - they don't clean easily.

https://www.amazon.com/Kuhn-Rikon-2315-Epicurean-Garlic/dp/B0000CD0HX/ref=sr\_1\_3?keywords=kuhn+rikon+garlic+press&qid=1671627934&sprefix=kuhn%2Caps%2C111&sr=8-3

If you or a family member have a Sam's Club membership you can get chicken or beef ones super cheap or you can even order them for $20 off Amazon. According to the one I have there are 227 in there.

https://www.amazon.com/Members-Mark-Chicken-Bouillon-Cubes/dp/B079GN1XM3

I like this one. I add red pepper to make it hotter as well.

super easy, super tasty meatballs.

i personally skip the onions myself, but that's just me.

some pasta (with or without sauce) goes really well with this, throw in a green and you've got a meal.

This rice cooker

Not really going to give you a recipe idea but I do want to share something I learned as a single person.

I highly recommend investing $20 on a freezer mold like this. Each section is a 1/2 cup in volume.

This will allow you to cook in bulk and freeze in individual portions that are easy to store in the freezer and heat up when you are hungry. This way even if you freeze portions you are not having to thaw out 3 days worth of food for a single meal. This also reduces food fatigue and makes weeknight dinners super easy and quick.

I use this for things like Chili, spaghetti sauce, curry, stews, soups, open sauces, ect.

So for example... if I want curry and rice Ill make some rice in the rice cooker, grab a block or 2 of frozen curry from my freezer, throw that in the microwave, and bam, easy dinner once the rice is done cooking.

Same thing with spaghetti sauce. microwave a few blocks while cooking noodles and and easy but cheap dinner.

As a single person it is a serious game changer!

One of the best books I've found for people getting a bit more serious about cooking is "The New Best Recipe". Pricey and big, but available used/Kindle/etc.

It's basically every recipe familiar to a USA-based human, including some Asian, Italian, etc. Pot roast, chicken parm, thanksgiving turkey dinner, those sorts of things, tons of soups and desserts. BUT - many of the recipes start with their testing procedures, what they felt works and doesn't work for many of the standards of family cooking. You can skip that stuff, but you'll learn a tremendous amount of cooking know-how, how to "think" like a cook.

It also covers some basics, like making your own stocks for cooking, how to make things like pie crusts properly, basic techniques like searing and braising.

I'd say the one thing I dislike about it is that they'll combine steps "to make one less pot to clean up", but simplifying things that might be worth it for more flavor - it's kinda geared to working people or busy moms, though they do note "special occasion" recipes vs. easy and quick dinners.

My wife and I are pretty "advanced" home cooks, but we'll refer to it when we want to try a recipe - they really have explored the things that can make home cooking kinda sub-standard, and there's a lot of "eureka" moments where they find the key to making the best version of a recipe.

In addition to countless recipes online to use Trader Joe foods to save time, there's a cook book about how to use Trader Joe (TJ) products as a base for quick meals for every phase of life: [https://www.amazon.com/s?k=trader+Joe+cookbooks&i=stripbooks&crid=1W7BP6J9TZDZJ&sprefix=trader+joe+cookbooks%2Cstripbooks%2C81&ref=nb_sb_noss]

Including college: [ https://www.amazon.com/Love-Trader-Joes-College-Cookbook/dp/1646042441/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1W7BP6J9TZDZJ&keywords=trader+joe%27s+cookbooks&qid=1665537720&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIzLjE1IiwicXNhIjoiMi43NSIsInFzcCI6IjIuNDcifQ%3D%3D&s=books&spref... ]

If you want to REALLY trim your food budget - go vegetarian. Cheap meat is full of additives and nasties. Your health and wallet will appreciate it.

Nothing stops you from eating meat occasionally - drop it from your regular items list.

Edit: Found this just now on /r/vegetarian

http://www.buzzfeed.com/emofly/5-easy-vegetarian-dinners-for-10-each

I don't want to just tell you to buy more things, but I have a hard time getting motivated to eat, so ease is essential, and I don't like spending money on groceries just for me. This rice cooker does every single thing (I have not tried to make a stew, but I make beans and steam vegetables all the time), and also the rice is perfect. I've gifted this to everyone I know who makes rice (that I would give a gift to for an occasion; I'm not Oprah).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007WQ9YNO/

Otherwise I recommend red lentils in particular because you don't have to soak them for hours - you can pretty much just cook them in whatever you're doing, and building a spice collection. I think kosher salt, pepper, cumin, paprika (of any kind), cayenne, cinnamon garlic powder and onion powder works as a starter set, if you will. Spices are so key for me making something super basic very tasty without much effort, but so many people don't spice their food.

+1 for Aroma. This is the one I have, still going strong after 5 years. You could get one for even less if you don't care about the timer and steaming features and just want one that cooks rice with a simple on/off switch.

Dry or canned beans/rice/vegetables. A $1 can of chickpeas with some salt and garlic powder can be a pretty satisfying 1 or 2 meals for me. Dry stuff will cost less per pound, especially once you cook it, but the tradeoff is that you'll need to take a few hours to prepare it.

Portion control is a very important thing. You may want to eat 4 eggs, but if you're only hungry enough to need 2, then you have the opportunity to save 50% on this part of your grocery bill by not eating for enjoyment. And, with that, gum is a great substitute for other more costly snacks.

Also, as a fellow (fiancée of a) college student who has no oven, we've got a toaster oven like this which lets us do things like roast veggies or make brownies. Absolutely a worthwhile long-term investment, provided you can handle the upfront $50-$100 cost.

Do you have access to a stovetop, or is it really just a microwave you've got? You may also wanna look into getting a hot plate. They're basically portable stovetops.

I would like to suggest a book called The Flavor Bible it helps you seek ingredient pairing patterns and gives ideas how typical and most ideal preparation style. I couple this with The Food Lab to help learn excellent home chef skills with instructions that help you learn how flexibly shop and use what you have. I made a huge list of breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals I loved, homemade or not. And then have spent the last two years trying to cook more things that I used to buy premade or from a restaurant. I also am ServSafe trained from a million years ago when I was a barista but I strictly adopted a lot of food safety practices into my kitchen to keep my eye on my pantry inventory and make sure I rotate and use up items. That has significantly reduced my food waste.

My grocery shopping has shifted a lot by using these two to really help learn how to cook. Also your local library might have or be able to order in cook books to borrow, since these both might be a lot. Good way to learn!

I've got the cheapest Black and Decker from Amazon. I've had 3. One I bought 10 years ago that an old roommate still uses. one I used for 3 years before I accidentally ruined the nonstick coating (90% sure it was user error). One I just got again last Christmas to replace. I make rice 1-3x a week usually, I've never had any issues. For $20 it's well worth the price.

If you're willing to wait, scope out garage sales and thrift stores for an even cheaper find. Someday I'll get one of those cool ones that do a million things, but I'm more than happy with mine for now.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooking-Bootstrap-simple-budget-recipes/dp/1509831118?ref_=d6k_applink_bb_dls&dplnkId=9d6bfd0d-9d01-4441-8b54-267aeee079cb

There's a woman here in the UK called Jack Monroe whose niche is budget meals. I've linked to her book, above. Otherwise, many of her meals are freely available on the web.

Here is a link to a neat product I use. It's a microwave mac and cheese cooker. They make other items too like a rice cooker and and ramen cooker. I brought mine on vacation so I could make a whole box of mac and cheese in the microwave. I'm not usually a fan of single-function products, but these are good.

invest in something like this and you can cook certain meals like that in bulk and freeze them in individual portions for easy reheating later. You can also use a muffin pan for smaller 1/3 cup portions.

I do this with spaghetti sauce (I doctor up the stuff in a jar), chili, shredded chicken/pork, stews, soups, beans, curry, gravy, ect.

Makes it super easy to make individual meals once you prepped the food. For example I will throw some rice in a rice cooker and heat up a portion of curry and boom easy dinner. Same thing with the spaghetti sauce... just boil some noodles and nuke a block of sauce. Easy meal.

This is my favourite indoor smoker.

Seriously though, I would highly recommend smoking outdoors. Trust me, it hurts because I live in an apartment without a balcony, but it's a luxury I can live without (or imitate with the product I linked) in the name of safety, haha.

tbh I was really surprised, because the concept sounded pretty gross haha. But then I tried the REAL sprinkles and OH MY GOSH it's delicious!! Not cheap but they have it on Amazon:

• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074YN4CR7

Here is a version based on a fortified beans & brown rice staple I eat for lunches. I buy dried beans on sale (pintos, black, kidney) and make up a week's worth of food (TexMex, Cuban or Cajun respectively). Averages $1.80-$2.00 per serving with excellent/organic ingredients.

Here is the ODS version.

Hope this helps someone!

thanks! https://www.amazon.com/EasyLunchboxes-Reusable-4-Compartment-Containers-Classic/dp/B097CM93WX/ref=sr\_1\_12?crid=35XHTXTORCJ8Y&keywords=easy+lunchboxes+set&qid=1648070856&sprefix=easy+lunchboxes+set%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-12

Yeah, I try to eat them once or twice a week for health reasons. But they also taste great! It makes for a quick lunch. Just add crackers and hot sauce for me. Although I do use them on salads and such. Recently bought a book called Magic of Tinned Fish. I plan to try some of the recipes soon. I would also add that quality makes a difference here. An extra buck or two probably won't break your budget, but it will make a big difference in flavor.

You should be able to make hearty cold salads far cheaper than anything else.

Hard boiled eggs / chopped cold chicken / leftover bacon bits for protein, some greens, whatever the heck you want veggies. Shred the last leftover carrot, chop up that last lone green pepper, toss in left over grape tomatoes (Note, I prefer grape tomatoes over cherry), splash in shredded cheese from your pizza night, mix in kernels of of corn from corn on the cob and steak night, top with olives from the cocktail night you had, salt, pepper, and a lidded condiment cup of dressing so it doesn't wilt. https://www.amazon.com/Zeml-Disposable-Dressing-Condiment-Container/dp/B07THLS22G/

Do you see where I am going with this? These are all bulk leftovers from the other meals you should be making that also save you money. You can combine almost anything into a salad with the protein-leafy green-chopped veggie 3 punch combo. Anything you can think of. Maybe uncooked asparagus would suck, but I've turned roasted chicken, rice and broccoli night into a lunch salad the next day. You just have to get in the habit of binning up the extra components of previous meals, and get in the habit of using them. Doesn't have to be a lot of food. It just has to be stuff with flavor that can extend the boring lettuce head you bought. Embrace and Extend the leftovers. Turn them into a tool.

It would to know where you live u/cathias so we can help better. Absent that my thoughts are based on US and western EU. Many are considered "salads" here in the US; they may or may not be where you are.

Tuna salad (some people have odor issues), chicken salad, lots of Asian cold noodle salads, some people are okay with cold pasties. If available where you live consider something like this https://www.amazon.com/HotLogic-Mini-Personal-Portable-Black/dp/B00EC7XJ00 or, as mentioned elsewhere, a Thermos. Note that coolers are insulated boxes and keep things warm as well as cool.

If you two like spicy, this is awesome: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/amys-spicy-beans-and-rice/

These type salads are great too:

Brown rice Legumes - kidney, garbanzo or black Drained can of corn Chopped green onion Shredded cheddar Diced tomato Diced avocado Olives

Mix, omit & match however you like, you can't go wrong.

I made Fijian dhal yesterday from this recipe... it is very yummy and cheap. I used ground fenugreek seeds because that's what I had and it turned out great. Also I did the whole thing (apart from sauteeing the onions & garlic) in my slow cooker because I needed to go out and do a few things.

find out how to make a good cheese sauce and make some good ol' mac and cheese! http://allrecipes.com/howto/cheese-sauce-made-easy/

Another thing you could look into is some simple pasta sautes. They'd usually fairly cheap, and you can get some really great flavor out of it.

How strange! Mine is also a stroganoff variant. Except, we used to get ground turkey for real cheap and so when I went off to college I tried to find a recipe along the lines of that my mother made (she doesn't use recipes / make recipes so she couldn't give me anything.)

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/lazygirls-ground-turkey-stroganoff/

1 (8 ounce) package uncooked egg noodles

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 pound ground turkey

1 tablespoon minced onion

1 cube chicken bouillon, crumbled

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon paprika

salt to taste

Instructions:

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place the egg noodles in the pot, cook 6 to 8 minutes, until al dente, and drain.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place the turkey and onion in the skillet and cook until turkey is evenly brown and onion is tender. Mix in the bouillon.

Stir the cream of mushroom soup and water into the skillet. Cook and stir until heated through. Season with paprika and salt. Serve over the cooked egg noodles.

Here's a cheap homemade bread recipe: http://hubpages.com/food/Whole-Wheat-Depression-Bread

Also, I also buy a whole chicken and make legit everything from it. Use the breast for chicken dinner, the other meat for chicken salad, the bones and any meat scraps to make chicken broth and soup.

Thanks :)

It's not a replacement for a doctor. A medical professional is really the only one that can give you a definitive answer. That said, I use cronometer to track my food intake and it's really helped me. I can see I've been taking in too much sodium and not enough potassium, for instance. Getting an accurate understanding means putting in everything you eat/drink which is a hassle :/ But if you want to know what you intake compared to the RDA then that site is great for it. I use the free version; there's also a paid version.

Also, have you ever had kale chips? I'm not saying they're better than potato chips, but they are streets ahead.

Cheap chicken and rice recipe

I usually add a strained can of black beans and the entire box on instant rice, but for about $25 you can have lunches for about a week. Also it's delicious and not horrendous for you.

Another tip is whenever you make dinner, put lunch sized portions of any leftovers in tupperware, and refrigerate. Then you can just grab it and go in the morning.

Yes, they're relatively inexpensive, microwaveable and reusable. It's these ones (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079YNCP3R/), they're relatively cheap and well made. I bought a bunch on sale and use them for meal prep all the time. My freezer and fridge are full lol.

⬇️ RECIPE BELOW ⬇️

Meal prep app

IOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/meta-nutrition/id1556778258

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.metanutrition.metnu

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Nutritional Information (Per Serving):

Cal - 283 Protein - 15 Fat - 12 Carbs - 30

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Ingredients:

- Ground turkey

- Eggplant

- Brown rice

- 1 tbsp olive oil

- 1 drizzle of sriracha

Directions:

Ground turkey: Pan fry with 0.5 tbsp olive oil

Rice: Cook however you like

Eggplant: Drizzle remaining tbsp of olive oil; put in oven at 385 F, cook for 20 min or until browned

Boneless skinless chicken thighs. I buy these packages from Costco and throw a section in the crock with some salsa, a can of chipoltle peppers and some water. I come home to the BEST burrito, taco, tostada or nacho topping ever. Or I throw them in with galic and onion and add BBQ sauce when I get home, pulled chicken. Or mix the plain chicken with pasta and sauce. Thighs are always moist and the tastiest part of the chicken. The thighs are sturdy but really disintegrate on the 8-10 hour cook time, keep it at 4-6.

You probably have a lot more experience than I, But Ill make some suggestions that perhaps you havent heard of.

The first is costco was selling an emergency food supply for very cheap. Link Here

The other is Make everything. Buy canned bulk everything, Rice, Packaged noodles like ramen noodles, potatoes, cheapes cuts of meat like whole chicken.

>Night 1: Whole Rotisserie Chicken (store-bought, hard to beat)

Easy to beat. Whole chickens are usually a dollar a pound in my area, sometimes cheaper on sale. Roasting one in the oven is about as simple and fuss-free as you want to make it. You don't even need a roasting pan - here's a great recipe using a cast iron skillet. I make it this way all the time (without the extras).

Cooking it yourself allows you to control the salt, season it the way you like (rosemary for me please). After the chicken is done, pour off some of the fat and make gravy with the rest. Add a spoonful of chicken gravy to thick soups or other meals for the rest of the week.

Buying whole chickens gives you a few extras, like the neck bones for stock and the gizzards and liver for .. well, I'm stumped there :)

A bit late to the party, but we'd like to throw our hat into the ring ;) We're redoing our apps because they don't currently include the meal planner, but it's available online if you're okay with something web based for now. Recipe search engine, recipe saving extensions, and meal planner with nutritional info: https://spoonacular.com/

We're going to be making some big changes to the meal planner soon (including an editable shopping list) but if you do have a look and have any feature requests we'd love to hear them.

Another free option at least =)

Chicken breast implants?

wait, no...ew.

How about some of Mark Bittman's Ginger Chicken?

I just made some with my girlfriend last night. Some Sticky Rice, rum +coke and an appropriate movie makes for a great night in!

tl;dr: 120+ tortillas for $2.00 when you buy the masa flour vs. 12 tortillas for $1.30.

Here's the maths again:

4 cups per lb of flour and my flour sack is 4.4 lbs.
That's 17.6 cups, so call it an even 17 cups of flour for a little over $2.00. Just now, I made 7 tortillas from 1 cup of flour (plus black pepper, 1 cube chicken bullion, and ½ cup of water).
That gives a conservative yield of 119 tortillas.

To answer your question directly, yes - there are plenty of advantages if you have the time. Personally, I like the idea of making them when you need them. They are always fresh and you don't have to worry about the tortillas going bad. They can be very easy...the masa, water, and a dry hot pan is all you need.

A quick Google search led me here and it shows more ideas for the masa.

Personally, I like to make things in the kitchen. Nobody in my family would ever think to make them from scratch. But I learned it was darn easy and simple. I've been making these for the pasty two months now, when I was reasonably satisfied with my creation, I immediately cut the tortillas up and fried them in oil for fresh corn chips. They were thick, tasty (I used black pepper in the dough), and didn't break off in my salsa. For me, it a great way to be constructive and creative. Did I mention it was darn cheap too?

One more thing: I have yet to buy a tortilla press. If you have plastic wrap and two reasonably flat cutting boards, you can press a ball of dough into the right shape. It will be slightly thicker then store bought (in my experience). They call that rustic or country style and it's tasty.

I buy this Hot and Spicy ramen and add ham slices to it while it's cooking and medium cheddar cheese to it once it done. I've used Muenster cheese or Havarti before. As long as the cheese doesn't completely disintegrate like kraft american cheese does, it should work. The ramen absorbs the flavors and comes out fairly tasty.

Adjustable egg rings!

https://www.amazon.ca/Fusionbrands-EggXactRing-Adjustible-Silicone-Presenting/dp/B073XRMBWS

There’s a picture of it in the Amazon link that I posted.

Pretty much it’s 21 different types of dried veg and herb, but no salt. Since there’s so much flavour coming from the veg and herb, I usually just add a bit of salt or soy.

I’ve used up my bottle but off the top of my head, there is: Lemon peel, orange peel, black pepper, bell pepper, mustard seed, cumin, all of the usual green herbs like oregano and rosemary, and I’m struggling to remember the rest!

Kirkland Signature Organic No-Salt 21 Spice Blend Seasoning - 14.5 oz https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WQYP6H8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabt1_uGeRFb410DXM6

Long marinade times for your meats. Most recipes say to salt the chicken then cook, but the salt doesn’t have time to penetrate through the meat. Even if it’s served with some sort of sauce, it would taste like bland meat covered in sauce.

Chicken thighs - marinade the meat overnight, or marinade and freeze raw portions. I like adding a bit of oil, fresh pressed garlic, and a no-salt seasoning like this one:

Kirkland Organic No-Salt Seasoning-14.5 oz https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PTD3WW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_6mSOFbP0FJD7S

my mom did this for me. she bought a bento box (They make more kid friendly ones on amazon now) so everything was separated and it was GREAT. it was like little compartments of individual things. on non cracker cheese meat days, shed do little fruits, little pasta little meat. yash

please look into a kids bento box. kinda like this! its called bentgo! but there are other less expensive ones

I think the BEST thing you can do is buy foods you will actually want to eat. Definitely have made the mistake before of bringing "campy" foods like trail mix and then had no desire to eat it.

​

Some of my favorite camping/roadtrip foods are listed in a different post on r/xxfitness. Even though the post is about good healthy snacks in general, it applies to camping as well.

​

My girlfriend has also enjoyed the east of buying a bulk container of freeze-dried Mountain House Rice & Chicken on Amazon. Just add boiling water! It claims to be 10 servings for $15 but is actually more like 5-6 servings for hungry folks like us. So it ends up being ~$3/meal. Not the MOST economical, but healthier & cheaper than stopping at a restaurant. Also convenient if the ice chest is out of commission!

One pretty cheap snack is popcorn. You can buy a huge container of kernels for $10. Then if you get a silicon microwave popper (this is the one I have](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MS65QTL) but there are plenty of others on amazon. it makes it super easy to pop... and if you don’t add anything to it it’s actually a pretty healthy snack

This stuff is absolutely amazing. It is unflavored and unsweetened and very high quality for $29 if I remember correctly. It has lasted me months.

https://www.amazon.com/Levels-Unflavored-Grass-Protein-Undenatured/dp/B071WD9936?pd_rd_w=xSznH&pf_rd_p=b1335604-246e-4b5e-8fbd-a1c826ead4a3&pf_rd_r=KKDZFHZHA3NX5GHHC0AC&pd_rd_r=59f2eed9-e251-4e7c-81ca-f01a7c942eb9&pd_rd_wg=S2CQz&am...

Pasta maker for $29usd on Amazon. Add in a few dollars if you want all stainless steel. $15 for ingredients, and you'll break even after you make the equivalent of 44 boxes of cheap $1 pasta. If you're the type of person to splurge for the $4 bag of pasta, you'll break even after the equivalent 11 bags.

Jury is out of it's actually a cheaper way to have pasta, but by the 11th (or 44th) batch you'll be pretty proficient at making it, and it'll be soooo much tastier than the store bought stuff.

I carried one of these: (1-cup rice cooker)

BLACK+DECKER RC3303 1.5-Cup Dry/3-Cup Cooked Compact Rice Cooker, White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002CVTT52/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_g0vKCbH1YBWPB

for a while while travelling like you do. Made rice with whatever I could think of, and is still going. Also this:

Prep Solutions Microwave Fish and Veggie Steamer, Adjustable Steam Vent Control, Vegetable Steamer, BPA FREE, Dishwasher Safe https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FMXY52N/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_D3vKCbPRY247T

Which allowed me to do steam veggies and other things with the hotel microwave.

https://www.amazon.com/Inomata-Japanese-Washing-Bottom-Drainers/dp/B004QZAAS2

buy a rice washing colander. it makes things 1000% easier, and you lose so much less rice

nice fluffy, separate grains with just a fraction of the work.

Is Malt-O-Meal rice cereal GF? Malt has gluten in it.

I found one source which says it includes malt extract. And another that says no.

I also found another source which said they do not have a dedicated factory/machinery for the GF products.

You might want to keep this in mind - cross contamination can occur. Also you should know that the longer you are GF your body becomes more sensitive to smaller and smaller bits of gluten.

https://www.amazon.com/Malt-Meal-Crispy-Cereal-32-Ounce/dp/B0015GKOE0

Hey, glad to help. I had the same epiphany a few months ago. The food really is designed for it. If you live somewhere with any sort of international market, go there and grab some Indian spices in bulk. I drive half an hour to closest one for black peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric, green cardamom pods, and garam masala. It's so so cheap and totally worth it. Also brown rice and whatever special lentils they have like unsplit black lentils. Oh man are those foods cheaper and better than I imagined.

I also have this great book about instant pots by Roger Ebert. I'm also a U of I alum, and just found it fascinating. It's a great read and it's really interesting to read a short book by someone that is so incredibly passionate and funny about a subject like this.

We have an Aroma brand rice cooker that has a white, brown, steamer and warm setting (like a simpler version of this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007WQ9YNO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_jcu5zbVR8RDGJ ). I put the rice and water in the cooker about 12:30 and set it to start cooking 4 hours later. Once the rice is cooked, it switches to the warm setting until turned off.

If you're making brown rice, set it to start earlier because it takes longer to cook.

I have a different model, but I guarantee this Zojirushi Rice Cooker is worth every penny. I buy sushi and hybrid brown rice at a local Asian market, ~$20-25 per 15lb bag. Wash 4 cups of rice (sushi rice needs to be washed to have some of the starch removed, or it gets really gooey, but this isn't necessary for all rice types), fill the pot to the indicated fill line, close and push "start". In roughly 40 minutes you'll have perfect rice, and the cooker will keep it warm for days. After 90 hours, it can get soggy on the bottom and dry on the top if you don't stir it up, but it still tastes fine. Plus, you can use it for things other than rice, like cake, no lies.

Dried milk will most likely be a lot more expensive per unit. I once calculated that this stuff was about $4/gal.

Now if you throw away 3/4 of it, you are going to come out ahead. I still buy it because this stuff really is as good as fresh and it's great in coffee, for camping, baking, etc. I also find myself buying less fresh milk, because I only do once in a while or when I have a recipe calling for lots of it.

I use these.

Bentibo 20 Piece 3 Compartment Meal Prep Food Storage Containers with Lids Divided Bento Lunch Boxes, Portion Control, Dishwasher/Microwave Safe Cover Plates, 20 Sporks, 36 oz. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G52FL9G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_vuldzbS3DSSPR

Stackable, reasonably-sized, and easy to wash!

I use Nalgene food container.

They are available in size from 4oz to 32oz. They are nearly unbreakable, they last for ever (I've had some for 20 some years) and they are leak-proof and tumble-proof. They go in the freezer and in the microwave (even with the cover on (unscrewed and slightly ajar)).

They go in the dishwasher, the cover too, but it will shorten their lifetime a bit.

I'd also suggest a French press for coffee. It takes a bit longer but it's the best way to prepare coffee and cheaper. I've had that 4 cup press for about 10 years and I paid around $25 for it. I've recently survived the transition from k-cups back to press and it's so much better. :)

That means nothing these days. We live in 2016/2017.

https://www.amazon.com/Goya-Guava-Fruit-Ounce-case/dp/B00CHU0C2M/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1483206288&sr=8-1&keywords=Goya+guava+fruit+pulp

Make your own tea: https://www.amazon.com/Lipton-Black-Bags-Americas-Favorite/dp/B00286KM8E That package is $.03 per tea bag. The sugar would be like... $.10 or less per tbs. I have no idea how to convert tbs to weight measures.

lets say you still want a burger - 90% lean is 3.89/lb at aldi at the moment, maybe mix in some potato veg and oats to stretch the meat. Maybe grab a cheaper price/lb meat? Cook up 3 days worth of meat at a time. Buy a cheap cheese, buy a cheap bun. figure out a sauce and/or veg that will taste good to you.

Go shopping with a calculator and an eye towards making a cheapo version of your fast food lunch.

Does your space have any rules against using a hotplate? I bought this guy for $11 for use in my cooking experimentation and it's been very solid. It doesn't get extremely hot but it's enough to boil water, make soup, fry eggs, bacon, anything else you want.

I paired it with a PID temperature controller and turned it into what amounts to a sous vide/crock pot

I've also heard electric water kettles spoken of very highly for people in your situation. Drastically safer than a hotplate it'll make boiling water in a jiffy; that's all you need for a quick condensed soup. Pour boiling water into a thermos with rolled oats or beans n rice and it'll be perfectly cooked in about an hour