/ck/ - Food & Cooking

[Anonymous No.4687979]

Hi /ck/, I recently moved out and am on my own now. I'm trying to live on a budget, but also not starve myself to death or have fast food/Ramen every night for dinner.
Any tips for relatively cheap meals that aren't awful to eat and won't bust my wallet?
My weekly food budget is about $80.

[Anonymous No.4687992]

>>4687979
>Food budget is about 80

Bro even at $5 a meal you'll barely break 70

Chicken breasts poached and lentils then.

[Anonymous No.4688013]

Rice
Beans
Lentils
Vegetables
Whole Chicken

[Anonymous No.4688024]

Rice, beans, eggs, potatoes, and cheap cuts of meat like pork shoulder and salmon head (For soup n' shit) are staples.

Don't forget all your vitamins and minerals either. Liver and nuts are a good source, as well as vegetables like broccoli, radish. and squash.

Get your hands on a crock pot. Easy and carefree way to cook.

Good luck OP.

[Anonymous No.4688450]

>>4687979
Crock Pot and learn how to use it. Whole chicken and eat for 3 days

[Anonymous No.4688520]

As previous anons have said, Rice, beans, lentils, and chicken will go a long way towards keeping you from going hungry. Get veggies when they're on sale/cheap; you want stuff that all different colors. Soups/stews are easy as hell and chicken works nicely with a ton of them. Not only that, but you can save the carcass of the chicken for making stock (and sacrificing some veggies to make some really tasty stock).

Crock pots/slow cookers are nice too, since you can set something in the morning, go to work, and come home to a fantastic dinner. Look up recipes online and adapt them to fit your needs.

Spices can be found cheap and in bulk at spanish/asian/indian stores, so get them there instead of in tiny jars at the store.

Learn to bake breads. A bag of flour, sugar, salt and some yeast will be a lot cheaper than pre-sliced loaves of bread, but only if you're willing to make them.

[Anonymous No.4688548]

>>4687979
80 dollars a week. What the fuck, I can make a kingly meal every day with that.

[Anonymous No.4688561]

>My weekly food budget is about $80.
>Trying to live on a budget
Jesus Christ. Mine is $20 and I live in fucking Australia.

[Anonymous No.4688563]

>>4688561
Yeah, but Kangaroo meat is like what, 1 aus dollar for 20 roos?

[Anonymous No.4688569]

>>4688563
Were you born a fuckhead, or is it an acquired thing?

[Anonymous No.4688571]

>>4688569
>Not grasping the joke about how your economy is shit but Kangaroo meat is cheap.
>It's a play on two things about Australia.

[Anonymous No.4688573]

>>4688520

homemade bread is amazing, but not worth the time and doesn't even save you money. There's just as cheap bread out there

[Anonymous No.4688584]

Couscous. It's pretty much the simplest packaged food you can buy while still being surprisingly cheap. It's also reasonably nutritious, it yields a lot of food per package, and it's FUCKING GOOD. You can throw whatever additions and seasonings you want into it. I think it's the next best thing to making everything from scratch.

>>4688520
Are bouillon cubes expensive? I wonder if they might be a better alternative to homemade stock, unless OP has a suspicious amount of free time on his hands, or an extreme aversion to wasting food scraps.

I may be biased against homemade stock due to years of watching my mom boil down disgusting turkey carcasses after Thanksgiving and Christmas, decanting the scummy product into big plastic tubs which would then haunt our fridge and freezer with their greasy presence for months on end. AND THE SMELL. JESUS.

[Anonymous No.4688586]

>>4688573
Eh, if I'm making some baguettes or something I don't have any issue with making bread once a week. I hate making "sandwich loaves" though, fuck making that more than a few times a year without a bread machine.

[Anonymous No.4688588]

>>4688571
Australian economy isn't shit. I used to live in europe, and I got to say. Australians are rich as fuck. They earn 2x 3x more then europeans, and they pay way less taxes. But ofcourse because everyone gets paid more, the price of stuff raises also. But if you look at the right places you can find cheap food.

[Anonymous No.4688591]

>>4688561
Jesus christ dude how do you do it? Mine's 200$ for a fortnight. I've skimmed on 120$ a fortnight once before but I wouldn't want to do it again, even when I was shopping cheaply.

[Anonymous No.4688589]

>>4688584
Bouillon cubes are nothing compared to a home made stock. It sounds like you just have bad memories, or maybe your mom made not so good stock, but did it anyway.

>>4688588
That's just it though, you're getting paid a higher amount, but things cost way more. The exchange rate is what's important. And yeah, you can find cheap food pretty much anywhere if you look hard enough, but your typical market that the denizens of /ck/ [typically] go to are expensive in their Australian counterparts.

[Anonymous No.4688595]

>>4688591
It depends on where you live. For example, food prices in North Dakota have shot up a lot since the oil industry just took off there, but somewhere like, Tennessee, where there's nothing much going on, the cost of living is way lower, and as such, your food budget is much smaller.

[Anonymous No.4688597]

>>4688595
I'm talking to a fellow Australian.

[Anonymous No.4688601]

>>4688591
>>4688595
SPUDSHED
SPUDSHED
SPUDSHED
For 3 people we pay like 160 dollars on food.
Just buy all your fruit and veggies there.
And buy meat in bulk. Also make all your things yourself, don't buy premade stuff.

[Anonymous No.4688603]

>>4688597
Eh, didn't catch that. Doesn't make what I said any less true though. I'd be willing to bed food is more expensive in larger cities in Aus. than in smaller towns.

[Anonymous No.4688604]

>>4688601
>Also make all your things yourself, don't buy premade stuff.
>Try to make a change from junk food to healthier stuff
>"I'll get one of these healthy microwaveable meals. Wow, 6$? okay..."
>Microwave dat shit
>Taste real good
>Delicious but no where near full
>Begin making my own equivalent
>Another bowl of left overs
>Feeling full
>9$

Sure learnt my lesson.

[Anonymous No.4688608]

>>4688601
>Also make all your things yourself, don't buy premade stuff.

This is USUALLY true, but I've actually found a few rare exceptions. My local Costco actually sells whole roast chickens cheaper than any other local grocery or supermarket sells them uncooked, and that shit's moist and delicious. I have no idea how they manage to do it.

[Anonymous No.4688611]

>>4688608
>Get whole chickens for $4 a bird
>Cook and sell for about $6 because all they do is spice them and put them in the rotisserie.
>Sell uncooked birds for about $7 a bird.

[Anonymous No.4688620]

>>4688591
-buy grains like rice and pasta in bulk
-wait for 10kg bags of rice to go for 50% off
-Do you have any moral scruples? Because get used to Supermarket branded milk and cage eggs
-find your nearest NQR
-if you're in Melbourne, check different suburbs. I've noticed when going between campuses some Safeway/Coles have better specials or cheaper prices on certain items
-some shit you can't buy in bulk, especially when living alone. I made the mistake of stocking up on veges when they were on special, only to have them go bad before I could eat them all
-cook large pot of something at the beginning of the week, eat it throughout the week. Minestrone is fantastic for this
-Maesri curry paste and a 40 cent can of coconut milk will turn any veges you have into a decent meal or three. You can actually do this in a rice cooker if you have no saucepan
-K-Marts 'Homemaker' range are decent-quality knock-offs of Sunbeam products. Their sandwich toasters and rice cookers are cheap and effective.
-Don't buy single serves of tuna. Buy the 1kg tins, drain, cut with chopped onion, spices, etc. and you have sandwich mix you can just spoon onto bread throughout the week.
-Buying meat from the deli section at supermarkets costs half as much for the same thing as you'd get for the pre-packaged stuff

[Anonymous No.4688622]

>>4688620
-meat is a twice-a-week luxury
-don't buy anything pre-made
-It's cool to spend $10 on a meal if you can refrigerate it and spread it out into 10 portions
-Chilli con Carne is a great thing to make and then heat up over the course of the week. You can skimp on beef and add extra beans. I usually throw in a can of chickpeas with mine. Fucking sue me.
-Learn to cook Indian dishes like dhaal and rice, chole/channa masala, rajma, etc.
-Certain supermarkets discount whole roast chickens around 10pm to get rid of them before close. My sister's gotten one for $4 before. YMMV.
-You don't need to eat all the shit you usually eat. Do you buy crackers? Chips? Do you buy biscuits? Your budget for that, weekly, is now $4.

[Anonymous No.4688624]

>>4688622
Also, there's an app called Pickle Club which scores you cheap Maccas in Prahran/Richmond

[Anonymous No.4688627]

>>4688622
80 dollars a week, and have meat a twice a week luxury?
thats silly

[Anonymous No.4688634]

>>4688622
bro u on dat rfd?

[Anonymous No.4688641]

$80? That's just a tad over double what I spend (about $39USD each week). I eat like a king!

Unless you live in Switzerland, you'll be fine. When visiting family there, a cup of coffee and slice of cake from Starbucks costs like 20CHF. That's about $22USD. Everything is expensive there.

Here's some small advice:

Don't buy:
prepared breakfast cereal (the types meant to be eaten cold), yoghurt (other than once), a dozen eggs costing more than $2USD, dried herbs you can't easily find fresh, packaged bread
Do buy:
rolled oats (to make müesli), whole milk (make your own yoghurt from a batch you bought once; a quart/litre of yoghurt costs about as much as a gallon/four litres of milk), eggs from Asian grocers (Asians eat eggs more than most other groups, so their prices will be far lower; basic supply v demand), fresh herbs (and dry them yourself), flour and yeast (to bake your own bread, which is easier than you'd think; once you've got the yeast, you can use it to make a sourdough starter that you can feed from time to time to keep it alive so you never need to buy more yeast), Adolf-brand tenderiser (for those cheaper, tougher meat cuts; makes stews and stir-fries much, much better)

Learn to prepare good food from cheaper ingredients and you'll be golden, such as müesli ($8USD/lb) from rolled oats ($1USD/lb), bread ($4/loaf) from flour (80¢-worth per loaf) and yoghurt ($4/quart) from milk ($1/quart). Fresh herbs are always cheaper than dried. An oz of dried thyme costs $5.28, just a tad cheaper than a POUND (sixteen ounces) of fresh thyme. Of course, the thyme will grow lighter as it dries, but it's not like 94% of its weight is water, you know.
Don't throw out soured, whole milk. If it's gone freshly soured, let it sit in the fridge just a few more days until it separates, then strain solids from liquid through muslin, cheesecloth or coffee filters. You just made skyr. Congrats.

[Anonymous No.4688671]

>>4687979
80 bucks is pretty good. do you have an experience with cooking?

[Anonymous No.4688821]

>>4688627
Well no, it's on a $20 a week budget. I'm sure if you threw on another $60 a week you could get some fat juicy steaks out of it.
>>4688634
>rfd
que

[Anonymous No.4688830]

$80 a WEEK? You can afford to eat the best food available every day for that.

[Anonymous No.4688837]

I spend about $225 a week

If I could bring it down to $80 that would be great, but that requires making some compromises I'm not really interested in making.

[Anonymous No.4688849]

>>4688837
We're discussing USD here, not HKD. I hope you're confused and not spending that much in USD or SGD (way too much) or NTD (way too little to live on).

[Anonymous No.4688855]

I spend about 100-150 on groceries per week for my girlfriend and myself. However, we eat pretty well and I buy a lot of relatively expensive beer and chocolate too.

[Anonymous No.4688861]

>>4688849

Yes, generally on the internet, when there is no other indicator, the $ means US dollars. Enjoy your autism.

[Anonymous No.4688863]

>>4688861
I will, thanks! I'll just be over here in the corner, vibrating and rocking to and fro if you need me. asdnflksafjnaksljhfslajhfsjklahdflksajdnflsajnflsanfslkjdfsalfhjslkjadhfnslkjdfnsalkf
>Vibration noises↑

[Anonymous No.4688866]

>>4687979
Spend it all on corn flakes. Trust me, I am the doctor

[Anonymous No.4688869]

>>4688863
Calm down

[Anonymous No.4688875]

>>4688869
dsaflksdahfskljadfhslakdjfhsakdjfhsadkfhjaslfdasfdsafd
Sorry, I'm too busy vibrating.

[Anonymous No.4688877]

>>4688875
Relax, it will be fine!

[Anonymous No.4688878]

>>4688620
>>4688622
I like your style.
That's pretty much how I live, though I don't do the big pot of something because I need more variation in my diet. I would add;
>Bulk stores can be excellent. At the one near me I can get 3kg bags of muesli for some 13nzd.
>Go to a farmers market if you can. There is likely to be one somewhere near you.
>Never turn down a free meal.
>Grow your own vegetables if you have the space/time. At least a box of herbs, dammit.

I also reserve a few dollars, say three dollars a day that I can go down to the local supermarket to get a little bit of something that I'm craving. I don't necessarily spend that three dollars every day, of course. A small steak, or a bit of chicken or a chocolate bar or a bag of chips or some sour cream or a amall cheese. You know, something to fill out a meal with the ingredients I have at home.

[Anonymous No.4688879]

>>4688877
alkdfjhskldjfhsljdfhslkajfdhsakfdjhslkdfjhsalkfjhslkjfhslkdjfhskjfhsalkjdfhslkjdfhslkjdfhsaklfjhsakljdfhaskjdfh
Spending $225USD each week on food is making me asp-out. That's more than what many people spend on rent or mortgage!

[Anonymous No.4688886]

>>4688877
Holy shit, 225 dollars a week?
How many people are in your family?
Is that eating out or just the food that you are buying?
I live on ~60-70nzd a week, which is 45-55usd or so.

[Anonymous No.4688891]

>>4688879

Let me know when you find me rent or mortgage for $225 a week in a place that isn't located somewhere in the Jesusville-Methburg unincorporated census area. Then I might consider worrying about my food budget.

[Anonymous No.4688927]

Here you go OP.

[Anonymous No.4688932]

>>4688891
That's $975 a month, you know.
You can find places in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, DC, Seattle and many others for that amount or less. Stop trying so hard to look like you know what you're talking about. And Babyjesusberg, West Virginia is my joke, douche.

[Anonymous No.4688934]

>>4688932

Ok, let me clarify that. Neither Jesusville-Methburg, nor Brownsville, East New York, South Ozone Park, East Tremont, or Newark, NJ.

And stop taking credit for my jokes.

[Anonymous No.4688947]

>>4688934
I found a place in Flatbush for exactly $975 each month. That's smack in the centre of Brooklyn.
I bought a place in South Philadelphia one block to Passyunk Avenue, one of the hipper parts of the city. I paid cash for it, but had I gotten a a mortgage, it would have been about $700 each month. My insurance on top of that would still be less than $975 monthly ($564 each year). You've no idea what you're talking about.
You're likely some newcomer to city life from one of those M-states (they're all from M-states: Minnesota... Michigan... Mlorida etc) who got fleeced like the corn-eating rube you are and think that those costs are legitimate, like a Japanese couple I know who paid three quarters of a million dollars for a house in a neighbourhood filled to the brim with junkies, crackheads and vagrants where the average income is well below $50K per household.
Yeah, they saw you coming a mile away.

[Anonymous No.4688952]

>>4688947
>Flatbush

No thanks, enjoy your 22 year old "urban pioneers" and black people everywhere. Speaking of crackheads and under-$50k households.

Your projection is pretty funny.

[Anonymous No.4688964]

>>4688952
I don't live in Flatbush and never have. As I said: I live in Passyunk Square.

[Anonymous No.4688971]

>>4688964

I don't care much for Philly so I have no idea what that is. I'm sure it's very nice though.

While we're on the topic of shit flinging, why do people think it's ok to ride their bikes on the sidewalk in philly? Every time I go there I almost get killed.

[Anonymous No.4688991]

Christ, I live in the middle of a city and I live and eat pretty well on $50/week. What the fuck are you buying?

[Anonymous No.4688998]

>>4688971
It seems it's just the M-state newcomers that do that. I rather dislike it, too.

[Anonymous No.4689033]

>>4687979

>all dis elitism about cities in dis here thread

Ahahaha. You faggots are literally doomed.

[Anonymous No.4689042]

>>4689033

Yes, when the SHTF, you'll be lording it over us with your collection of Cold Steel throwing knives, your 6 TB of tranny porn on VCD, and your year's supply of MREs.

[Anonymous No.4689048]

>>4687979
>$80/week

That's a budget? I spend half that and Im not even poor

[Anonymous No.4689055]

>>4688571
shit assumptions.

OP, pasta. If you want to eat that instant ramen, at least balance it out with some frozen veggies chucked in (about the same time you put in noodles) + egg/tofu etc

[Anonymous No.4689092]

>>4687979
>live on a budget,
>My weekly food budget is about $80.

Jesus, do you only eat name brand shit and eat out?

[Anonymous No.4689135]

>>4689042

>not having farmland with the best soil this side of some place with really good soil
>not knowing how to take care of yourself
>not living away from all the shit that will inevitably go down in cities once society takes a dip down shit waterfall
>being this much of a jealous babby over someone clearly superior to them

Nice projecting with the neckbeard image, by the way. I guess all the pure, proper food I've been eating for the past 10 years and the amount of excersise I do on a daily basis due to my work must really make you cry, huh, fatty?

[Anonymous No.4689133]

I spend about 800 a week on food. I very rarely make my own.

[Anonymous No.4689147]

>>4688932
Its actually 900 a month

[Anonymous No.4689204]

>>4689147
Are you /really/ this stupid?
$225 per week × 52 weeks in a year ⁒ 12 months in a year = how much?
>but anon, a munff be 4 weeks durrrrrrrrrrrrrr
No. It isn't. Were a month equal to four weeks, there would be thirteen months each year of twenty-eight days each plus one extra day. As the world runs on the twelve-month Gregorian standard, you're wrong and a month, other than faggot ass February, is not equal to four weeks, fullstop.

Think of it this way, then: $225 per week ⁒ 7 days in a week = $32.14 per day. That's 31 days in most months (7 months have 31 days), so for the majority of the year, that's equal to $996.34 per month.

No matter how you look at it: you're wrong.

[Anonymous No.4689280]

>>4689204
forget meds today?

[Anonymous No.4689337]

>>4687979
>My weekly food budget is about $80.

[Anonymous No.4689378]

>>4688548
this.

[Anonymous No.4689380]

>>4687979
>My weekly food budget is about $80
>eating on a budget
retard detected
I eat for about $25 a week and I could go cheaper if I was really in a tight spot. I don't understand how people spend so much goddamn money just to feed themself.

[Anonymous No.4689392]

>>4689380
good food costs money. I know I know. hurrr hurr tastes gud to me.

spoiler - it tastes like my worst nightmare.

[Anonymous No.4689402]

>>4689392
>good food costs money
Confirmed for retard. What do you think I eat? I assume when you say good food what you actually mean to say is processed,pre-packaged, frozen garbage.

my typical day in terms of meals
breakfast - oats with peanut butter, walnuts, and almond milk
lunch - spinach based salad
dinner - soup or some fish dish. sometimes an omelette with veggies and ham

[Anonymous No.4689410]

>>4689402
ha ha. confirmed for entry level Alton Brown watcher.

good food costs money. enjoy your tilapia.

[Anonymous No.4689416]

Was it ever established where OP lives? Not gonna bother reading through the thread.
>>4689392
I do maybe 30-40USD max per week even after factoring in bulk shit that I stock up on every now and then. For both myself and my girlfriend. And we eat meat with every meal. And it's good-ass food because everything is pretty much fresh and I know how to prepare it. And I live in downtown Seattle, generally regarded as one of the more expensive areas to live in the US.
It's really not hard. Most important is just knowing how to make a good meal out of whatever shit you have at hand. Also, abusing $0.19/lb giant-ass Russet potatoes at your local sketchy Asian market.

[Anonymous No.4689418]

>>4689410
You're right, I should be making elaborate and expensive food for myself on a daily basis.

[Anonymous No.4689425]

>>4689410
>confirmed for entry level Alton Brown watcher
>oats salads, soups and shitty omelettes are dishes you need careful instructions to make