/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>5267115
Well help me out then

>>5267092
>$200/month
>small budget
I eat on $50/month. Get on my level.

>>5267092
I spend less than that every month and Im not even hurting for money.

Just go up every aisle and look at prices. Prepackaged stuff is really, really cheap. 8-pack of buns + bag of 9 frozen meat patties (steak, chicken, w/e) is like $6-7. That's a meal for <$1. Canned Soup is $1.50. Don't waste money on sodas, buy the 2.5 gallon containers of water and some powdered drink mix. Buy some ground beef, a package of generic taco seasoning, shredded cheese and some tortilla chips. That can be dinner for 4 days at maybe $3/day.

>>5267143
>buy the 2.5 gallon containers of water
I have a water cooler at home that was a gift, it only costs me 1.25 to fill up 5 gallons so I'm good on that. The thing is stuff like ground beef, shredded cheese etc is fucking expensive where I'm from. I'm tryin to spend $50 a week and a bag of shredded cheese is like $8 bucks, almost 1/5th of the budget

Maybe I'm going to the wrong places?

>>5267092
op 200 dollars a month is more than I know what to do with, and I do not eat small ammounts of food.

I imagine youre getting max from ebt or something? you don't have a limited budget, you have an exorbant one. unfortunately, in order to get you to understand how to spend that money wisely i'll have to start telling you what to fucking buy, and this may pose problems for someone who doesn't understand what they want to eat.

Rice, first of fucking all, rice. 15 lb bag, from an asian grocer, get something decent, not that nico nico crap, but dont spend more than 30 bucks.

Next, beans, beans are a little harder to find in bulk, but just buy a few verieities in a local grocery, these things are great.

next, canned stuff. youre going to want canned tomato sauce, a jar or two of paste, and perhaps a jar or two of canned diced. don't spend more than 10 dollars on this.

Next, onion, you should be able to get a back of small yellow onions for under 5 bucks, buy them as you need them. if you want a few reds pick them up, but again, buy them as you need them.

Bread is easy to bake but it can be a pain in the ass, buy 2-3 dollar bread new if you want fresh, only go higher if you want a whole grain bread, theyre amazing and good for you,

but, ALWAYS check the day old bread in your grocery, day old bread can get you sick deals on wonderful loaves of fun stuff, just avoid buying crap like pies and cakes in there. you'll eat a lot of it and get sick of them, which wastes money and is bad on your health. your store should have other manager specials, check them out. you might find something you always wanted to try but couldn't afford. they even have manager special boquets if you want to make your table a bit fancier.

other basics: garlic, paste or cloves. don't buy too much untill you know what you'll use.

Carrots, Cellery, these are great for soups and stocks, or just snacking. don't ever buy lettuce unless you have a plan to use it, <c>

I'd say you should start making stews/casseroles/chilis etc using as much clearance-stock meat and veg as you can. those things usually sell for a lot cheaper in the late evening. make enough at once to last for a few days (to have with rice/potatoes/pasta etc), instead of making a new dinner every night.

I'll assume you're a student who goes to mcdonalds or whatever during the day for your lunch?? if so, try to switch to homemade cold lunches (sandwiches, wraps etc)

>>5267175
What kind of places do these people live in where the tap water isn't good?

Paying anything for containers of water is silly.

>>5267227
Lettuce is great for your colon, but it goes bad faster than a single person can reasonable eat unless you are jonsen for some salad. Same with spinach, buy these things when you have a plan to use them or they will wilt.

Next grab a bell pepper or two, green to start,

these are the basics in vegetables, you'll want more if you want to make anything that isn't super basic, but these selections will not go bad fast, so buy them and increase your back stock.

Fruit, Oranges apples, bannanas, whatever you enjoy eating, don't bother with the juices unless you want a treat or just enjoy them, theyre pretty much like slightly healthier soda, fruit becomes good for you when you account for its fiber. The best way to eat fruit is continental breakfasts, if you aren't in the habbit of eating it, a small orange with crackers/toast tea a bit of chease and bacon or meat in the morning can get you acustom

Now stop staring at all these colorful perishables and get the fuck out of the produce isl. we're here to get you a pantry not have fun. later you can come back and just mainder for an hour, looking at the various different ingredients. dont be intimidated by the veriety, but keep focused on your goals or you'll end up bying shit you wont use.

Freezer isl, Almost nothing in here is worth buying, think of it as all desert items, head straight to the vegetable section, this is where you want to be. Some vegetables freeze better than others. Get some carrots and peas, together or seperate as you like. dont bother with anything with corn in it. corn is not much of a vegetable. its sugary and grainy, if you want corn get it by itself, but don't accept it as a filler in your mixed vegetables.

Grab some brussle sprouts and some mixed peppers if they have them, brussle sprouts are better than you think they are and theyre very filling.

okay onto the pasta and spanish isl. your beans can often take care of most spanish food, but if you want refried it can <c>

>>5267258
be convinient to just grab a can for 99c. salsa is great addition to many meals you could, particularly soups, stews, marinades, whatever, buy a can of whatevers cheap. tortillas can be made cheaper, and better, on your own, but baby steps, if theyre not cheap, avoid them, but if you can get them on a good deal, pick some up, unlike bread they will not go bad super fast even if you leave them out of the fridge.

Pasta, get some veriety, spagetti is nice but boring, try different shapes, try spinach and tomato pasta, and whole grain for a healthier dish. don't spend more than 10 bucks, and don't let your self be swindled by expensive brands, pasta is easy to make at home too, and if you want to splurge check out a recipe on youtube.

Pasta sauce is a waste of money, if you have to get any, go bottom barrel, then fix it up at home with additional love. this is what your canned tomatos are for among other things. pick up a can of black olives if you like.

Now onto the dairy section. Buy the bottom barrel block of cheese, no shredded bags of shit, no expensive brands, just the lowest costing name brand block, look at the price per lb/oz, not the whole price. And no good cheese from the counter, expensive nice cheeses are for good girls who don't blow all their money on cereal water and bags of shreded craft. get some milk if you like, whole if you'd like to cook with it, lower % if you just want to drink with it. Grab a pack of butter, and don't be afraid to pick up some yogurt, cottage cheese, or sour cream, just watch the sugary stuff.

By now you shouldn't have spent much more than 100 dollars and you have more food than you possibly know what to do with. the problem? its all boring. this is the part where we head to the bakery section, where you can pick up some cheap oil to cook with, some flour and sugar if you'd like. start small bags, the bulk bags are the best deal, but you don't want to settle on a kind of flour just yet, try a veriety over time<c>

>>5267092
>$200/month
>$50/week
Try switching to bargain brand caviar, Mr. Carnegie.

>>5267282
and different kinds of sugars have differnt uses too, so don't go grabbing a huge bag. next, head down to the meat isle, look around for anything less than 4 dollars a lb. meat is delicious, but you can't go wasting your money on it either, remember you can freeze meat, so don't feel too afraid to pick up something thats in the manager special selection. Avoid beef to avoid paying hand over ass for meat. fish is also pretty expensive, but talapia is versatile and usually under 4 dollars a lb, and the best part? low mercury content, so you can have it as often as you feel like. don't bother with more than a can or two of tuna. shits bad for the environment and your health unless you eat like no fish ever. for a while, use the 4 dollars or less per lb price guide, once youre good at managing your intake and budget, treat yourself as a reward, but nice cuts are for good girls.

Now that you have some meat and flour, head over to the condiment rack, buy any condiments you'll use the most frequently, DO NOT GET MORE THAN 15 DOLLARS OF REFRIGERATED CONDIMENTS. hot sauce and worschticher are one thing, but nobody, not even you, enjoys opening the fridge to a billion different half used and probably expired condiments obscuring the entire fridge door. don't go over 20-30 here, you're already running almost dry and you still need spices.

Now onto the spice racks, this is our last stop, spices are finicky little bastards and girls who live on tv dinners can get lost here, so buy carefully and cheaply, cracked pepper and nice salts can come later, grab the bare minimum for now on your first pantry run, you'll want to grab some cumin for your mexican stuff, some oregano or italian spices for the italin stuff, some cyanne pepper for some heat, and some chicken stock. these are basics used in a lot of different foods. next buy whatever extras you want. just dont forget to pick up some eggs with your change

by now you've blown all your money on one little trip. <c>

Be vegan, live on whole grains, legumes, and cheap fruits and veg

>>5267316
you may have noticed you have no money left from your budget there abouts to buy much of anything for the rest of the month. but heres the secret op. come next month, theres no way you'll have eaten through 6 boxes of pasta, 15 lbs of dry rice, tortillas bread all your meat and veggies and extras.

Come next week you will find you don't need to buy rice, and you still have 3-4 boxes of pasta left, maybe you still have some tilapia left over, and you haven't even gotten halfway through your bottle of cumin or corriander.

which means next trip you can stock more, always try and keep yourself buying at least a good portion of pantry goods. but now its time for the final lesson op.

Learn to fucking cook.

This is important because as you grow more confident in the kitchen, that shit in the grocery store stops becoming a mess of lures and bait for bad girls and starts becoming a toolkit for people who buy smart.

Now you have the basis so go on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9iWedik8hw
check out some star chefs.
https://www.youtube.com/user/cookingwithdog
or head over to something foreign and exotic
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tomato%20based%20recipes&sm=3
maybe you really like tomato?
Look at these recipes and get excited and more confident about cooking, build up the desire to try something, and let that be your guide to buy new groceries, and more importantly, perishables. this will ensure you use your perishables and they dont go to waste, and that you don't get lured into trap options and TV dinners.

The world is on your plate, give your new good girl head a soft pet, and dig in.

>>5267316
bu... bu... muh TV Dinners

I even like the chicken if the sauce is not to blue.

ZZ TOP - TV Dinners
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-6mI708yWc

>cheap and healthy

Welcome to a plant-based diet.

>>5267372
This, OP. Rice, beans, canned low sodium foods. Buy fruits and vegetables in bulk. Just go to the manager or someone in a similar position and ask to buy it in bulk. you'll get a crate of fresh produce much cheaper.

don't buy animal products, most of them are expensive (besides eggs perhaps) and you don't need them in your diet.

Eating plants and starches will be much more cheaper and healthier than a diet that incorporates animal products. plus, you will contributing to the reduction of a HUGE pollutant.

>>5267336
>>5267372
>>5267402
When did the VIDF get here?

>>5267092
As for you OP, this guy (>>5267227 and all subsequent posts) gives a lot of good advice if you can get past the irritating writing style. There are two things I'd like to add:
1. Don't be afraid to go shopping often. I find that if I buy a month's worth of food at a time, much of it goes bad or unused. This is especially true with produce - buy it as you need it, not as you think you'll need it.
2. As for bread and meat, FREEZE IT. If you don't eat much bread a frozen loaf can last for weeks and will taste fresh if you let it thaw on the counter as you need it. With meat you have to be a little more careful, but if you freeze as soon as you buy you can keep it for at least a week or two.

>>5267092
eat boiled potatoes and cabbage and carrots with sour cream/mayo and drink milk

>>5267092
>ramen
>cheap
>40-60 grams per bag
>30 cents per bag
>at least 5$ per kg
>cheap

>>5267510

It's a thread about eating cheaply and healthily, why wouldn't you expect vegans to show up?

>>5267092
eggs are cheap
eat them

>>5267243
Well if you live in Florida, all of the tap water tastes the way a fart smells. It's got quite a bit of sulfur in it. I live in NC right now, and the tap water tastes like metal.

The only place I've had legitimately good tap water was from a town in TN where the tap was fed by a spring.

>>5267534
and they say murrrika is a first world country

reading shit like this kinda disproves that claim and proves the fact that it's a third world shithole

it's 2014 for fuck's sake and water is the most fucking basic necessity for humans and you burgerclaps can't get clean odorless water from a fucking tap in your homes

OP Here, thanks a lot for the info guys!

First off I want to say I used the $200 for the month due to the fact that that's about how much I spend on going out for food in a month (give or take)

It seems like doing this will be a lot better for me, I don't really enjoy cooking all that much but anything that doesn't take more than like 40 mins to cook is fine

haven't read through all the posts thoroughly but from what I read it seemed like some good suggestions, so thanks

>>5267558
NY has fine water, some of the best in the the USA, hes just a pussy who likes his water to taste vaguely of plastic.

And florida is 2nd world at best, its just a giant gator yard and walking graveyard

Idk how much I spend monthly, but I think it's pretty cheap. Some of my staples include:

Loaf of bread
Various cheap lunchmeats
Frozen chicken breasts in bulk
Large amount of ground beef to be frozen when not in use
Fruits/veggies

>$200
Bachelor with an EBT card, huh?

>>5267764
It was lowered by $11.

>>5267716
I live in Cincinnati, our water is just amazing.

buy bulk meats, chicken, beef - freeze em
buy mince, make everything. spaghetti bolognaise? easy. hamburgers? easy
learn to salt and season everything, very cheap and adds a 100 x the flavor
rice based meals are really cheap, you can get large bags on the cheap at any supermarket

when you get more confident in your cooking you can start to add more herbs and spices. i spent 50 dollars a week on my groceries and eat pretty well in comparison to my housemates who buy takeout and spend >150 a week

>>5267558
The water is fine and they are just being picky bastards. There is nowhere in the US where it is unsafe to drink tap water.

On the other hand now that I live in Italy everybody tells me not to drink the tap water (all the Italians spend money on bottled water) but that is all bullshit too the tap water is fine here as well.

The point is people in a lot of different countries have been duped into believing tap water is unsafe when it isn't.

>being >15 years old
>having difficulty with this
oh my.
I buy groceries weekly. Never over $30 and I eat like a (healthy) champ.
>Oats
>Lentils
>Broccoli
>Carrots
>Tomatoes
>Apples
>Whole Rice and Spaghetti
>Chicken
>Tuna
>Bread
>In (subjectively)healthy and healthily proportionate quantities with tasty seasonings
Note the lack of dairy and/or processed shit to lack of $ correlation.
Don't be scared of tinned stuff if it's cheaper, additive minimal/free and you live in a developed country.

>>5267175
>shredded cheese is $8

Don't shop at whole foods or anywhere that a hipster would be seen. Or alternatively, move out of California/New York/Whatever liberal infested shithole you live in.

Eggs - Anywhere from $3-$6/dozen
Bananas - ~20 cents each (california)
Onions - $1/lb?
Bell peppers - ~$1 each
Rice - $1/lb
Beans -$1/can, cheaper if you buy dry.
Tomato Sauce (canned) - 89 cents
Oats - less than $5 for giant cylinder
Pasta - Depends but ~$2.50/lb

Spices etc: Cumin, Curry, Cayanne, Oregano, Sugar/Honey, Vegetable/Olive oil.

Stock up on the non-perishables. All of these things are super cheap and super versatile. Buy whatever produce is on sale if you can use it before it spoils.

Also lol @$200/month. That's way more than enough if you're willing to cook for yourself. You'll find, if you stick to your lifestyle changes, that cooking for yourself saves you a significant amount of money.

If I didn't buy protein powder my month food budget would rarely go over $100.

>>5268625
>eggs
>$3 a dozen
holy shit that's expensive. I spend $2.38 for 1 1/2 dozen.

>>5268625

This, minus eggs is a good, relatively healthy, low-cost diet. Gotta have SOME vegetables though. Cheap stuff like kale, spinach, carrots, and sweet potatoes

>>5268660
Not who you're responding to, but I buy a brand of eggs that's a little over $3 because I like the flavor much more than the cheaper ones. I'm not picky, but because I really love my eggs it's one of my few extravagances.

>>5268676
Listen, asshole, not sure if it sunk in yet, but op is not a vegan, and op will be a vegan if he wants to, not because some asshole on the internet keeps shoving it down her throat.
fuck off.

>>5268707

The fuck?

>>5267534
I know what your saying. That south Florida sulfur water is some nasty shit, especially when trying to rehydrate after a night of drinking. It smells pretty dank too. I find NYC water to be excellent however, same in upstate NY, I don't find it metallic at all. TN and VA water I've also had, that's neutral to me.

The S Florida water though, yeah 100% dank shit, maybe that why so many people that live there seem to bug out and do weird shit.

>>5267534
>>5268734
I live in FL and my tap water tastes fine. Maybe you guys are drinking well water?

>>5268973
Where in Florida? I'm talking the water in South Florida on the Atlantic coast, pretty much from Miami through Ft Lauderdale.

It's dank sulfur crap, if it doesn't taste that way, it's either imported or has been run through filters.

>>5267308

> be canadian
> victoria british columbia
> cheapest red meat is ground beef at $10 a kilo
> vegetables and fruit are all expensive, chicken and fish are ridiculous

I can't eat bread or pasta so that's one cheap staple I can't include. I cook all of my meals at home and it costs me about $120 a week to feed myself, and that's buying cheap shit and eating rice every single day.

>>5268710
Anti-vegan propaganda patrol. Ignore it. There's a few 'merkan fatties who do this 24/7 around on /ck/, for some unfathomable reason.

>>5269131

I'll break it down actually since I lift and run and I'm 6'4 I try and eat a lot of food and protein

> meat option, usually costs about $6
> rice, about 40 cents worth
> 200grams of some nut mix, about $4
> 100 grams of some dried fruit about $2
> 6 ish hard boiled eggs, about $2
> salad with greens, beets, avacodo, spinach/whatever about $3.50
> some fruit about $2
> protein shake with coconut milk, about $2

>>5269135

So please everyone telling me it's so easy ro live off of $3 per day tell me how it can be done if I want to maintain a good healthy diet and not just eat a kilo of rice daily.

>>5269136
It's easier to get a job and make some money so that you don't have to live off of $3 a day in the first place. This is the USA, not some third world shithole where some vegan fuck dictates that you have live off of rice and beans.

>>5267175
Ugh. At $8, you might as well buy a fucking food processor and shred the cheese yourself.

>>5268625
Nigga I buy eggs at about $8 for FIVE dozen. From WAL-MART.

Make an egg casserole with a dozen eggs once a week. You WILL eat them all. Trust me.

>>5269131
>> be canadian
Your first mistake.

>>5269156
>$8 for five dozen
lol I can get a gross of eggs (144 or a dozen dozen) for that price. Eggs are super cheap here, 78¢ for a dozen large unless you're buying by the gross, then it lowers to 66¢-67¢/dz.

>>5267243

Tap water where I live contains chemicals clinically proven to cause developmental problems because it's the cheapest way to kill the other pollutants in the open sewer of a fresh water source we have.

>>5268625
>Bananas
>Onions
>Bell peppers
>Rice
>Beans
>Oats

Are you me. Those are my staples.

>>5269096
Maybe that explains it. I'm on the Gulf Coast, Tampa Bay area.

Split pea soup was one of my staples for cheap meals.

Also, turkey drumsticks. They're one of the cheapest per pound of usable meat, most places. Chicken thighs are also good, especially when they go on sale. (Just try to get them without the huge chunk of spinal bone that some places like to leave on to jack up the effective price.)

>>5267807
can confirm, cincinnati tap water is gud

>>5267402
>he thinks we care about "pollutants"

>>5269134

Take it to /pol/, life failure.

>>5267716
Don't forget the copious amounts of strippers and bath salt zombies

>>5270160
Sup fellow Tampon

Youre also going to have to struggle to make food which tastes good if you buy on the cheap. Its alot harder than most of the people in these threads make out. My guess is that most of them dont live like this, its some of the most obvious easy advice to give, i always wonder how stupid the ops of these posts are. If youve been homeless you know how to be frugal, but youre also going to need it to taste good or else it will severely lower your qaulity of life.

Rice and beans takes a bit to taste good, if you just follow a recipe it still tastes bland. You have to put it in things, not just eat plain.

You can make some really tasty sauces as needed with cheap condiments. Ketchup+mustard=BBQ/Ketchup+mayo=fry sauce.

Some things are very simple and taste good.. Potatoes and salt and margerine. Eggs and salt. But mostly it is going to be a stretch. Top ramen also comes in handy for flavoring and other prison food type uses. Fried foods with salt also have a strong flavor. All you need is old, flour, egg, salt.. and a cheap veggie.. Zuchini here only costs 88 cents for 4 large ones, but it isnt a good calories for price ratio, just good cheap flavor.

Also, your budget isnt frugal, the entire thread is pointless. If you are shopping for 1 buy whatever you want.