/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>14263671
>multivitamin
>whole rotisserie chicken 1-3 times per week depending on proton needs
>lots of lentils
>shop at discount grocery stores (for example:Aldi), watch for sales/coupons
>stick to whole foods, they're healthier and cheaper than anything processed
>buy some basic seasonings to make your slops of shit palatable

>>14264040
don't buy the multivitamins and eat butter and eggs instead

>>14263671
I will never understand why this board does not have a sticky addressing this question

You're most of the way to a dirty rice or gumbo with what you've got.

Heavy starches will give you a lot of energy on the cheap. Get a couple dishes with rices, pastas, and potatoes. If you're super handy you can pound out some flour for bread or tortillas, but I find living deathly cheaply you won't have the energy or time for this.

For protein think whole chickens, beans, eggs, cheap pork, yogurt. Cook the leftover chicken into a stock if you're hard. Eggs make hundreds of things.

Basically go to the grocery store and only buy produce, meat, and some dairy. Everything that is in a box or frozen is trash. Buying real food gives you a time frame that it needs to be cooked in. Worst case is you put all your fridge in a pot and make a decent hobo stew.

And if you're worried about scurvy just get some lemons and squeeze the juice into things for some tang.

>>14263671
soups and stews are super easy and cheap to make. Tomato sauce or canned tomatoes are cheap, pasta is cheap, chicken is cheap, eggs are cheap, milk is cheap, bagged frozen protein are cheap (bagged frozen salmon is cheaper than most beefs/pork), bagged beans/rice are cheap, cruciferous veggies are cheap, banana/apple/oranges/grapes are cheap, on sale berries are cheap, seasonings are cheap.

Stop eating fast food. The price of three trips to mcdonalds could feed you for a week. Stop eating junk food. Waste of money and energy. If anything, learn to bake. Brownies and cookies are easy af.

Beans and rice, of all kinds. Black beans, red beans...lentils, chickpeas....with just a few spices you can eat for days. Also, desu, getting fresh veggies and meat is seriously not much more expensive than processed shit. Buy stuff on sale.

Do research on cooking recipe websites. Lots of great recipes for poorfags that will give you ideas. Adapt as you like/can afford.

Pasta is a lifesaver. Even cheap spaghetti sauce can be ok if you doctor it with oregano, garlic, and hot pepper flakes.

Do you have an Aldi near you? They sell tons of stuff that's the same as more expensive brands but half the price. Their pasta ans spaghetti sauce is generally quite good (not grat, but good).

Making food in bulk is a good idea. Like, make 6 quarts of chili and eat it over a week or so. You'll get all the cooking done at once and save money because you can always heat stuff up in minutes. No need to go to McD's since that takes longer.

>>14263671
Pasta Puttanesca:
Olives
Capers
Anchovies
Garlic
Hot Pepper Flakes
Tomatoes
Maybe Canned Tuna
Pasta

>>14263671
>>14264117
This is 99% correct, but I will say not all frozen food is trash. Frozen prepared foods, generally yes, as they are often overpriced, oversalted, overprocessed garbage that's not worth it, especially on a budget. However, some frozen vegetables/fruits(mostly berries/peas) hold up extremely well and you don't have to worry about them going bad. Generally budget friendly as well. Things like frozen corn and spinach also do in a pinch when making things like soups, or maybe a quiche/frittata.

I'd also add to your list, dried split peas and yellow/red lentils as people forget about them, but they are as nutritious as beans and good for split pea soup, dhals, curries, etc.

Most importantly, learn the basics of cooking - how to sear, braise, stir fry, make stews/soups, etc. Your goal should be being able to cook and adapt based off what's on sale and what leftovers you have to minimize waste.

http://www.paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html

Read more, scroll to Note 1.

Beans and Rice, along with how to shop for the ingredients to further save money.

>>14264105
maybe someday

Rice
Chicken
Brocolli
Onion
Carrot
Throw all of this in a pan then add sweet and sour sauce

>>14264042
This. Eggs cooked in butter with some salt and Tabasco will give your body a solid base. Top it off with some oily and fatty fish for extra brain health (canned sardines) and after that whatever vegetables you think you need. Multivitamins are for those who don’t know.

>>14263671
braised peanut cans from CHINA(taiwan).
wasabi paste.
crackers.

fry or grill peanuts on a nonstick or with peanut oil. mash it.
apply wasabi on it.
turn off heat. leave it to warm up a few minutes, while covered.
apply pastey shit on crackers.
CONSUME!

>>14264040
>>stick to whole foods, they're healthier and cheaper than anything processed
everything cost 2 or 3 times as more here if it's labelled as "raw" or "organic". whole foods is a shill.

>>14264938
Not the store you fucking moron

>>14264905
thanks for the tip
not the same anon but why suggest against vitamins? Are they known to not be effective at keeping your body healthy?
I usually eat them with either lunch or breakfast, usually an omega3 fish oil pill with some zinc and vitaminB12

>>14264954
there's no "whole foods" in asia. everything that "organic" , "raw" or "healthier choice" here does usually cost twice as much. doesn't matter if it was growth on a local farm.

>>14264989
not the same anon, but if you can get the nutrients from food instead of processed into a pill, your body is more likely to use it.
OP is poorfag, and would be buying the cheapass vitamins which do technically contain nutrients, just often in the inexpensive low bioavailability form.

Tofu and vegetables. Very very cheap and packed with protein and other goodies.

>>14265544
Whole food just means minimally processed food. Basically any fresh vegetable is a whole food, for instance.

>>14264137
this, but into salads or green tea

i eat a lot of cabbage and baked beans

mix either with ground beef and onion and youre good to go for a day or two

>>14263671
You don't need a lot of fresh veggies but keep lemons and limes around. Squeezing fresh citrus on to food makes a very big difference.

everyone's already mentioned pulses and rice, here's some slightly more specific advice:

for black beans, look up cuban / brazilian black beans, they're a staple. this is a good recipe, made it a few weeks ago and they're really tasty and filling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnhTVwNMeFI

for other pulses like chickpeas, split peas, and lentils, look up some curry recipes like dhals, masalas, etc. also do your shopping at an asian supermarket. whether it's chinese, indian, or middle eastern won't matter too much since they'll all stock a good range of dried pantry foods and spices / sauces. most world cuisine will have a bit of a startup cost in getting the spices but once you have those you're golden.

now the thing that sucks is cooking takes time, but also recipes which take longer are as a rule of thumb harder to fuck up. learn about meal prep - you basically need to know when you'll have 2-3 hours in the week to prepare a meal. you also need to have the foresight to buy ingredients before that allocated time slot. now that might sound like a long time, but you can easily prepare most of your meals for the week in that time - make big batches of above things and freeze them, then all you'll need to do for your weektime dinners is reheat in the microwave which is as quick and easy as making a hot pocket or some shit. you can also prep lunches in the form of salads which can use the same beans and pulses as you use in your dinners. for salads, look up how to make dressings rather than individual salad recipes - once again some start up costs but once you have a jar of homemade dressing you can experiment yourself with what you like in your salad, only use salad "recipes" as inspirational guides. for breakfast, you can do overnight oats with frozen berries and peanut butter.

as for snacks, replace them with things which are healthier - you can get big bags of cheaper nuts (like peanuts), get cheap fruit like bananas (or whatever's in season and overstocked)

>>14263671
You want to get some cheap carbs and some cheap protein first. Pasta, rice, bread, and potatoes are all very useful and pretty cheap. Then there are a lot of really cheap, but still passable processed meats. They're not great for you, but better than something that's also processed but then deepfried in lard. Eggs are also pretty insane value, so consider making a lot of egg based dishes.

And finally, get some vegetables unless you want to feel like absolute shit. My favorites are tomatoes, but they can be a bit pricey if you go for the good stuff. You can generally just look around the store and see what's the best value for your money and general dining experience.

Once you have all of these things worked out and have supplies at home, just look at recipes. Small amounts of cheese are your friend, so are sauces. You can make a lot of sauces at home really cheap by just using milk and flour with a few spices and other ingredients. But if you don't want to bother with that, ketchup, mustard, garlic sauce, sriracha, and so on can take you a really long way for really cheap.

Also, if you want to eat sweets for cheap, nothing beats pancakes and crepes. They cost basically nothing to make and are really easy too. You can feed yourself for an entire day with pancakes that cost less to make than a 2L bottle of coke. And you can make them really good with the right condiments.

>>14264938
can confirm, I work at WFM and a lot of shit there is woefully overpriced, especially "organic" crap. The conventional (not organic) stuff is okay, but anything organic is easily 50-200% more expensive.

>>14263671

you've got to get into dried beans. They go so far and stay in the cupboard forever. You just need fat, salt and water. Spices for flavour. Dried beans have way better texture when you do them right than anything from a can too.

>>14263671
>Walk into supermarket
>Go to meats section
What is it cheap there?
Is chicken cheap?
Is whole chicken cheaper than breasts or thighs?
Is pork cheap?
What kinds of cuts are cheap?
Is cheap pork tough?
Is cheap beef tough?
Does the supermarket sell liver or kidney?
How much does the supermarket charges for ground beef? Can you find cheaper beef than ground beef (you can make your own ground beef at home)
>Walk to the produce section
>Can I find oil?
>Can I find rice?
>Can I find eggs?
>Can I find noodles?
>Can I find bread?
>Is bread expensive? Are noodles expensive? Knowing that I can make bread out of flour and water and yeast and noodles out of flour, water and egg is it worth it buying bread and noodles?
>Go to fresh produce
>What fruits are cheap?
>Apples and oranges can also be used for cooking
>Lemons can be used for cooking
>What vegetables are cheap?
>Lettuce, onions, tomatoes, corn, cucumber and carrots can be used for salads
>Carrots, onions, peppers, zucchini, brocoli can be used for stir fry
>Tomatoes and onions can be used for sauces
>Is tomato sauce cheap?
Walk to the legumes
>Are chickpeas cheap?
>Are lenties cheap?
>Are beans cheap?
Beans + chickpeas .and hummus, that's some cheap breakfast
Lenties can be stewed
>Walk to spice rack
Are there any spice blends?
Are there any herbs blends?

I can't tell you how to cook for cheap because I don't know where you live and I can't answer these questions but you.can use this as a guide

The best way to eat healthy and cheaply is to try to eat as "clean" as possible. Google local food banks and go there to get basics before you go out to spend money on groceries. This will help signifigantly. Once you have your free shit, try to find low cost grocery stores (In seattle, we have a chain called "Grocery Outlet" where it's basically leftovers from other grocery stores sold cheap.) Aldi is another great place to save on food.

Try to eat less meat and instead get friendly with eggs and tofu and fish. (My local asian market sells fresh whole mackerels for around $3.)

Go to the thrift store and get yourself a crockpot. This thing is a bachelor's best friend. You can buy a whole chicken for $4, a can of cream of mushroom for $.50 and a cup or two of rice with water. Set it on low and slow and leave for work. By the time you get off work, you'll come home to a delicious HUGE hot meal that you can feast on and then put the leftovers into containers for lunch the next day.

You can make a vat of crockpot chili and cornbread. Also cheap and filling.

>>14264187
Supermarkets here figured they can lower the price of meat and make up for it by rising the cost of vegetables and people didn't realize it
>Oh meat is so cheap, I'm going to get a lot
>Wait how did I end up spending so much???

>>14263671
Do Americans actually do this?

>>14268017
Never had Jambalaya, eh?

>>14267982
asian markets where ever I go all the countries ive been too their rpices are significantly cheaper than the supermarkets.

mind you dry goods are still way more than their native countries.

buy foods like chicken thighs, potatoes, bananas, rice, beans that cost about $1 per pound, but avoid buying foods like steaks, shellfish, and baked goods that have your name custom spelt on them, which can all cost much more than $1 per pound.

In the end, trying to save money is worthless because it gives money too high of a value. In the end, spend it all, you may die tomorrow.
Now go and buy a bag of delicious sausages and eat them in one sitting

>>14264938
Just eat organic and eat less fatty it’s better for you

>>14265718
>your body is more likely to use it.
Do you have a source to support that?

>>14269371
>fat makes you fat
Retard

>>14269371
>less fatty
>better for you
dude fat is what gives food taste, why would you torture yourself like that?

>>14269378
it's mostly bullshit that gets propagated in foodie circles, but it's also partially true. bioavailability is a thing and synthetic vitamins tend to be less bioavailable, but pill manufacturers will just cram more vitamins into pills by amount so at the end of the day your body absorbs the appropriate dose regardless of the bioavailability of the source.

>>14267978
good advice but just wanna add that when buying spice blends I always look at the ingredients list because there's a 9/10 chance that the primary ingredient is salt, so you'd basically be buying lightly seasoned salt - waste of money
same thing goes for most things, always look at the ingredients because it's easy to be duped into buying shit that isn't as valuable/nutritious as it seems on the packaging

>>14269378
No sir, I am straight talking out of my ass.

Except that if you're trying to stretch your food dollar, buying $10 of fruit and veg is probably going to get you farther than a $10 bottle of pills.

>>14263671
>guys seem like you know about food

holy fuck guys thanks, I'm gonna screencap this whole thread

>>14263671

Invest in multivitamins, you can get a 90-pill bottle for like 25 bucks

Thats most of your nutrition covered, then just eat cheap like beans, eggs, rice

>>14268017
That actually looks nice. Put some broccoli on the side and that would be a nice meal

>>14268017
A little diced green pepper, onion, and tomato, a cup of tomato paste, heavy old bay, shrimp, and quality Andouille sausage that is actually hot. When you get it from Louisiana its different. Youll cry. For poorfag version no shrimp obviously, and any "cajun" sausage. Sausage is cheap, and its a staple of peoples diet around the world.

t cajun

>>14272620
people also add chicken, usually dark meat, or white meat pork, but sausage, tomato, and rice is what makes it jambalaya

>>14272620
red beans and rice is also the shit and cheap as hell. Andouille is best for that too. Ok im done.

you probabky dont know this since you eat fastfoood, but trraderjoes has cheap prices like aldi

>>14272620
>Sausage is cheap
$6/half lb here, especially if you want "good" and not that johnsonville crap

>>14264040
Make sure you get enough electrons in your diet too not just protons otherwise you'll oxidize every time you go outside

>>14272732
If you're doing proper bangers and mash, then take the loss.

If you're doing bolognese and just need cheap fatty filler to render down then ten johnsonvilles for $5 aint a bad option.

>>14272766
Spontaneous human combustion is no laughing matter.

>>14263671
Kimchi (bulk, 2gallon) and fried rice with eggs. I use shrimp over eggs but i shoplift them. Protip for anybody: meat beeps unless its from the deli counter same goes for seafood. Most foods do not beep.