Food ideas while on a budget

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geltner1

Cooking with dried beans is so inexpensive. They taste much, much better than the canned. They freeze well so you can have frozen beans one cup at a time or whatever quantity you wish. They are used in so many recipes but are also very good just with some olive oil and parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast (for vegans). Black eyed peas and chick peas are in this category as well.

PixelPuff

Cabbage. Cabbage is glorious. Usually about $.049/lb, right? Chop up about 1 small head of cabbage (1.5lbs is the average in my grocery stores) into some strips. Don't have to be fancy, hack away into what you consider semi-large bite sized pieces. You can ask stores to cut them in half if you don't want this much but I say get a whole one and experiment by adding different sauces. Add a single large sliced carrot (~$0.79/lb)... Heat it in a large pan (preferably covered) with some salt & pepper to taste, and maybe 2 tablespoons of water at the most. When carrots are to your liking in firmness (depends on how thick you sliced them for cooking time), add sauce.

Some recommendations are teriyaki, sesame ginger (ily, King Soopers/Kroger), tomato, plain ol' hot sauce, peanut sauce (pad thai), bbq, just some of your favorite herbs, whateeevveerrrr. o: Any sauce that is good warm. Remember to count your calories on how much sauce you add, and stir well. Since it'll still be a bit wet from the water in the pan and the cabbage releasing some liquid, the sauce will spread really well.

That. Is a huge af side dish for relatively little calories. The quantity above makes a RIDICULOUS amount of food. You can use it for every meal, adding your sauce directly into your tupperware for the day, to have a /different/ meal every day. Just vary your protein + sauce, bam. Entirely new dish.

This is my main bulk for my lunches this week. My coworkers keep smelling my food (cabbage, carrot, chicken breast, Kroger store-brand sesame ginger sauce/marinade) and keep commenting on how delicious my lunch smells.

And damn...

Does it smell good.

Sp1tfire

oatmeal

OldHobo

Thick_Chickk wrote: »

What are some good foods to buy while on a budget? (Besides fruits and veggies) for breakfast and lunch?

I never know what to buy so I end up buying a lot of frozen crap.

There's a health-food/grocery type store where I buy bulk steel cut oats for 50¢/lb. Less than 5¢ per serving. Lots of fresh produce including organic and bulk items available for less than the big chain grocery stores

There's a Mediterranean Grocery that sells lots of stuff that's expensive in regular grocery stores at very reasonable prices. For instance, I recently bought Buckwheat groats and Millet very cheap. Millet was $1.49/kg or about 67¢/lb. That's less than 4¢ per serving. Millet, by the way, is a grain-like seed you can make into a breakfast porridge like oatmeal or a savory side dish like wild rice or quinoa. The buckwheat was inexpensive but don't remember exactly how much. Quinoa is cheap also. European sardines, herring, and sprat are bargains there. too. You can find a similar store in your area by googling:

• Mediterranean Grocery
• European Grocery
• Middle Eastern Grocery
• Arabic Grocery

If all else fails, call the nearest Islamic Center and ask them to recommend a store that sells Halal meats and groceries (think Muslim kosher).

If you live in the US there are stores near you that cater to Mexican, Carribean, and South American immigrants. There are tons of bargains there, I guarantee it. Ask your gardener or your neighbor's gardener where their abuelita (Grandma) shops. If there are no gardeners working in your neighborhood, chances are you can ask a neighbor or co-worker. If all else fails google:

• Mercado (market),
• Tienda (store),
• or Carniceria (butcher counter).

Same deal applies to Asian groceries, maybe more so. You get the idea.

By the way, I recommend all of the above whether you're on a budget or not.

AngryViking1970

PixelPuff wrote: »

Cabbage. Cabbage is glorious. Usually about $.049/lb, right? Chop up about 1 small head of cabbage (1.5lbs is the average in my grocery stores) into some strips. Don't have to be fancy, hack away into what you consider semi-large bite sized pieces. You can ask stores to cut them in half if you don't want this much but I say get a whole one and experiment by adding different sauces. Add a single large sliced carrot (~$0.79/lb)... Heat it in a large pan (preferably covered) with some salt & pepper to taste, and maybe 2 tablespoons of water at the most. When carrots are to your liking in firmness (depends on how thick you sliced them for cooking time), add sauce.

Some recommendations are teriyaki, sesame ginger (ily, King Soopers/Kroger), tomato, plain ol' hot sauce, peanut sauce (pad thai), bbq, just some of your favorite herbs, whateeevveerrrr. o: Any sauce that is good warm. Remember to count your calories on how much sauce you add, and stir well. Since it'll still be a bit wet from the water in the pan and the cabbage releasing some liquid, the sauce will spread really well.

That. Is a huge af side dish for relatively little calories. The quantity above makes a RIDICULOUS amount of food. You can use it for every meal, adding your sauce directly into your tupperware for the day, to have a /different/ meal every day. Just vary your protein + sauce, bam. Entirely new dish.

This is my main bulk for my lunches this week. My coworkers keep smelling my food (cabbage, carrot, chicken breast, Kroger store-brand sesame ginger sauce/marinade) and keep commenting on how delicious my lunch smells.

And damn...

Does it smell good.

I LOVE cabbage. I usually roast it or sautee with olive oil and S&P and nom away, but I never considered adding a sauce. Awesome.