If you are like me, all of this eating advice is great, but dammit if it isn’t hard to do on a tight budget. Anyway, figured it’s time for another post on the latest and greatest way to spread the food dollar.
Please toss in your ideas. Here are a few of my own…
First off, here’s the scoop on a place to find nutritional food facts:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/
Okay, though sometimes I think I am the oatmeal king, here’s some cooked meal ideas that I’ve been trying just recently:
- Pollock and Beans
Pollock 400g $2.99 ($2.99/lb)
kcal 368.0
prot 77.8
fats 3.9
carb 0.0
Beans 14oz Can $0.69 ($0.69/can)
kcal 465.0
prot 21.3
fats 1.8
carb 91.3
Cook up the pollock in a pan. Throw on some cayenne pepper, some garlic salt, whatever you like. When the pollock is almost done, dump the can of beans into the pan. Let it all simmer up for a little bit. Use the spatula to mince and mix the fish into the beans.
There you go, two cheap ass protein and carb meals. Less than $2.00 per meal or serving (depends if you eat alone). You could of course sub in canned tuna or salmon or whatever instead of the frozen pollock. Don’t be afraid to cook up a big batch and use different types of beans at the same time.
On a different note, sometimes I just want some juicy dead animal meat. You know, a hamburger or something that slides down without a fuss. But is has to be cheap as well. Here’s an alternative to the old bulk ground beef:
Hot Italian Sausage .542g $3.57 ($2.99/lb)
kcal 1875.0
prot 77.2
fats 170.0
carb 3.5
If you are looking for more calories, as some of us are at times, just cook up the italian sausage. Chop it into two or three portions and you have some good (though small) protein plus fat snacks for a nice low price. Again, cook up a large batch and keep 'em around for when you want something without carbs. If you like veggies, chop up some onions, peppers, or whatever to go with it – maybe to help fill you up, but watch out for carbs.
For nutritional details, go look them up yourself, but for a cheap and handy
snack keep around a bag, jar or can of nuts. Perhaps peanuts or almonds for example. A $5.00 container will last you a week or two if you ration them out. They are also really easy to take to work.
Hey, I’m not telling you how to eat, I’m telling how to get in some reasonable foods cheaply. It’s up to you to find appropriate ways to fit these items into your nutritional needs, but I’ll be damned if doing things like this won’t help you save up for those all important supplements!
Just think, eating out once for $15 bucks will give you two or three days worth of basic good eatin.
Oh yeah, just remembered, buy your spices in bulk and reuse your old spice containers. You’ll save a bundle!