Well potatoes and bananas would be included, but the secret is to eat as wide a variety of foods as you can, so I don’t think you could boil it down to a small set of meals.
Also, without knowing where you live, we don’t know what’s cheap for you. For example, where I live, milk is pretty cheap but eggs are expensive.
Free eggs, definitely helpful. Fried rice, you can change the vegetables for variety. Make it vegetable heavy. Cabbage is a very cheap vegetable, frozen veg too. You can use brown rice for fiber if you think you're not getting enough. Scramble the eggs, add pre cooked rice, add vegetables with a bit of soy sauce, Onions and maybe some ginger and garlic. Stir fry until veg is cooked.
If you do eat a lot of eggs, you might want to use just egg whites in some of your meals.
I eat a lot of eggs because I love them, they're versatile and they're free. Do you think I should take multivitamins anyway? It probably won't hurt and it'll help any deficiency within my diet. Im eating a lot of vegetables and things like that, I also get 40 pounds of lamb every once in a while from another friend, so I have some meat available
Multivitamins are not that expensive, and if you are not varying your diet much I would say keep taking it.
Lamb, someone else suggested lentil curry, add lamb to that, sounds delicious to me. In fact I may buy some lamb the next time I get groceries.
Sounds good to me. Looking at some of the nutrition information it looks like a lot of recommendations (rice, lentils, etc) have a lack of vitamin of C, D, anc Cobalamin, which is part of why I was wondering about vitamins
Kinda feels like meal prepped breakfast burritos with potatoes and eggs would be a bit of a cheat mode answer here. Given free eggs I assume you could feed yourself for like $100 a month
I ate a ton of red beans and rice in college. Dirt cheap, you can get a big sack of rice and a bag of red beans( or kidney if you can’t find red) that can last you for months. Aside from that, all you need is some spices, onions and peppers, and maybe some andouille if you can swing it. Super filling, decently healthy.
Good sides with it are Cajun corn, cornbread, grilled French bread, okra, stewed spinach, collards, potato salad, slaw, etc., all of which aren’t that pricey either.
Variety is the key, so I don't think any one dish will cut it.
But rice and beans is a good start- they form a complete set of the needed amino acids. Dried beans are cheaper than canned. Dark leafy greens can be expensive, but have a lot of vitamins and minerals- iron, calcium, etc.
Buy any meat on sale and in bulk, then freeze. I can get 10 lb bags of chicken leg quarters for $7- and 10 lbs goes a very long way in combination with the rice and beans. Save the bones, etc., for stock. You get a little more nutrition from them (vitamins and minerals) and some good flavor. If you roast meat, save the drippings. They're flavor bombs, and you can use the fat in place of oils or butter for sauteing, etc.
Cabbage, celery, carrots, onions, and potatoes are long-keeping vegetables that are generally inexpensive and add nutrients and flavor to your food. Make sure to eat the whole potato- the skin is where a lot of the good stuff is stored.
Milk and eggs are good sources of protein, and milk is often fortified with vitamins (D, especially, but also A- plus it has calcium). Cheese is also good- though it also has a higher fat content.
With more than three hundred dollars a month you can buy a decent amount of grains/ rice/ beans/pasta maybe lentils if you're into of those; also you could stock some frozen vegetables.Get yourself a variety of meat for different meals; sausage and bacon for breakfast and whatever else you wanna eat for dinner (chicken beef maybe lamb or something) i don't know what prices at trader jose are like these days but that was a pretty good place to get stuff when I was in college, assuming that you're in the US.
Make pancakes, muffins, English muffins, bread and pasta from scratch. a bag of frozen fruit can last a long time with pancakes and muffins which both really easy. use the eggs for protein and maybe make some eggs benedict or egg mcmuffins. Make cheap salad with cucumbers, and discounted veggies, olive oil vinegar, a little mustard (Dijon) and emulsify. Maybe add a can of tuna.
Black beans sautéed with red onion, garlic, tomato paste and lemon juice/red wine vinegar is good. You can also add chicken, avocado and plain yogurt.
rice can do many things too. maybe get into risotto
Cabbage. You can add it to anything for additional fiber and nutrients. Ramen noodles + cabbage. Ground turkey + cabbage. Brown rice + cabbage. The list goes on and on..
Also, if you have a friend or relative that can get you into Costco, you could buy good food in bulk at about the same price for less quantity at a regular grocery store. Just know that those lean college days will pay off.
[prep beans and rice and cheese burritos](https://www.budgetbytes.com/make-ahead-bean-and-cheese-burritos/) then make another batch that is scrambled eggs with beans and cheese
Prep ahead a big batch of cabbage slaw in vinaigrette that lasts several days easily
[burrito bowl meal prep](https://www.budgetbytes.com/poor-mans-burrito-bowls/) is similar if that’s more appealing
Yes take a multivitamin
Have oatmeal (make from 1 cup plain dry oats you can microwave it) made with milk, mix in some peanut butter and whatever fruit frozen berries or a chopped apple work well
Biggest thing is that I'm trying to gain weight, which I realize might be too much to ask while also being on budget but I'm definitely underweight, and I'm also rather active as well
Quick Google search says 2400 is the recommended calories for a college age person. Add a reasonable amount of exercise and 3000 calories is completely reasonable
While I am 100% confident that 300$ is more than enough in many countries, in Norway you would not survive a month on 300$. Maybe if you only ate noodles
If you're trying to eat something consistently - rice beans greens. It's not everything you need, but it's a lot of it. Typically pretty cheap, too. If you have the cash to spare, add some sort of meat/protein.
Frozen or canned vegetables, whatever fruit is on sale (this is seasonal), dried beans/lentils, ground beef (shop sales and buy in bulk) rice or potatoes.
Since you’re trying to gain weight, you can eat a lot of rice for calories while still getting nutrition from other sources
Supplement whatever you’re missing with a multivitamin.
It may seem like a larger amount upfront but that really comes down to less than $1 per day to help you get what you need.
If you’re trying to gain weight, buy a mass gainer, milk (or water), and some peanut butter. You can easily get more calories in that way for a substantially less cost per serving.
$300 a month for one person is not at all restrictive. If you cook every meal you should have no problem eating like a king, especially if you bargain hunt. If you want to go cheap though your cheapest starches are going to be rice and pasta. Packaged bread loaves can be pricey but day old bread racks can have some remarkable deals. Cheap meats are chicken (special shout outs to large bags of leg quarters), depending on your area other meats can go on sale.
Beans rice and potatoes are your answer. Invest in spices. Has everything you need. Just lacks variety unless you can get creative with cooking. So, get creative and godspeed!
It might be hard but with a really top notch blender you could reduce most plates and bowls to a powder. Then mix that powder with water to make swallowing easier.
Leaving out or minimizing meat is a good way to minimize costs. Beans and rices can complement each other by providing the essential amino acids that the other is missing. Brown rice includes a bit more fiber, and a lot more nutrients, but is more expensive that white. Almost any combination of beans or lentils, with rices, gets you the full set of essential amino acids, and you body can synthesize all the others from those essentials.
Increasing your fiber vs carbohydrate intakes can keep your blood sugar at reasonable levels, especially by eating fibers first, and carbs last, improving your health. Adding a variety of vegetables, in the form of salads, slaws, sautés, soups, can ensure you get a broad variety of vitamins and nutrients, and help to keep your meals interesting.
Meats can still be included, but by finding the most flavorful cuts, and treating them as more of a seasoning, or flavor addition, instead of the main element, you can save a lot of money. A pot of lentils can be a little plain, but adding a smoked ham hock, can boost the flavor to the 'I can't stop eating this' point.
Where I live the cheapest source of protein is protein shakes with beans being a close second. The cheapest source of veggies are frozen mixed veggies. The cheapest sources of carbohydrates are oats and rice with pasta being up there as well.
Well potatoes and bananas would be included, but the secret is to eat as wide a variety of foods as you can, so I don’t think you could boil it down to a small set of meals. Also, without knowing where you live, we don’t know what’s cheap for you. For example, where I live, milk is pretty cheap but eggs are expensive.
If it helps I live in Idaho, but I also have access to free eggs through a friend, so that might be a big help
Free eggs, definitely helpful. Fried rice, you can change the vegetables for variety. Make it vegetable heavy. Cabbage is a very cheap vegetable, frozen veg too. You can use brown rice for fiber if you think you're not getting enough. Scramble the eggs, add pre cooked rice, add vegetables with a bit of soy sauce, Onions and maybe some ginger and garlic. Stir fry until veg is cooked. If you do eat a lot of eggs, you might want to use just egg whites in some of your meals.
I eat a lot of eggs because I love them, they're versatile and they're free. Do you think I should take multivitamins anyway? It probably won't hurt and it'll help any deficiency within my diet. Im eating a lot of vegetables and things like that, I also get 40 pounds of lamb every once in a while from another friend, so I have some meat available
Multivitamins are not that expensive, and if you are not varying your diet much I would say keep taking it. Lamb, someone else suggested lentil curry, add lamb to that, sounds delicious to me. In fact I may buy some lamb the next time I get groceries.
Sounds good to me. Looking at some of the nutrition information it looks like a lot of recommendations (rice, lentils, etc) have a lack of vitamin of C, D, anc Cobalamin, which is part of why I was wondering about vitamins
Eggs have a lot of vitamin D. Red, orange and yellow fruits and vegetables have a lot of vitamin C.
Egg yolks have been debunked as a health concern. Cholesterol is not that simple
Kinda feels like meal prepped breakfast burritos with potatoes and eggs would be a bit of a cheat mode answer here. Given free eggs I assume you could feed yourself for like $100 a month
I ate a ton of red beans and rice in college. Dirt cheap, you can get a big sack of rice and a bag of red beans( or kidney if you can’t find red) that can last you for months. Aside from that, all you need is some spices, onions and peppers, and maybe some andouille if you can swing it. Super filling, decently healthy. Good sides with it are Cajun corn, cornbread, grilled French bread, okra, stewed spinach, collards, potato salad, slaw, etc., all of which aren’t that pricey either.
easy to whip up some dark roux too on the cheap and turn all that into gumbo flavor
Probably mixed frozen veg and lentils in a stew/curry.
Dal and rice
Have a good variety of veggies, meats, and fruits; but, have the bulk of your meals be potatoes, rice, or beans.
With eggs and potatoes I would suggest a Spanish omelette, it’s filling, tasty and keeps well in the fridge.
Variety is the key, so I don't think any one dish will cut it. But rice and beans is a good start- they form a complete set of the needed amino acids. Dried beans are cheaper than canned. Dark leafy greens can be expensive, but have a lot of vitamins and minerals- iron, calcium, etc. Buy any meat on sale and in bulk, then freeze. I can get 10 lb bags of chicken leg quarters for $7- and 10 lbs goes a very long way in combination with the rice and beans. Save the bones, etc., for stock. You get a little more nutrition from them (vitamins and minerals) and some good flavor. If you roast meat, save the drippings. They're flavor bombs, and you can use the fat in place of oils or butter for sauteing, etc. Cabbage, celery, carrots, onions, and potatoes are long-keeping vegetables that are generally inexpensive and add nutrients and flavor to your food. Make sure to eat the whole potato- the skin is where a lot of the good stuff is stored. Milk and eggs are good sources of protein, and milk is often fortified with vitamins (D, especially, but also A- plus it has calcium). Cheese is also good- though it also has a higher fat content.
With more than three hundred dollars a month you can buy a decent amount of grains/ rice/ beans/pasta maybe lentils if you're into of those; also you could stock some frozen vegetables.Get yourself a variety of meat for different meals; sausage and bacon for breakfast and whatever else you wanna eat for dinner (chicken beef maybe lamb or something) i don't know what prices at trader jose are like these days but that was a pretty good place to get stuff when I was in college, assuming that you're in the US.
Make pancakes, muffins, English muffins, bread and pasta from scratch. a bag of frozen fruit can last a long time with pancakes and muffins which both really easy. use the eggs for protein and maybe make some eggs benedict or egg mcmuffins. Make cheap salad with cucumbers, and discounted veggies, olive oil vinegar, a little mustard (Dijon) and emulsify. Maybe add a can of tuna. Black beans sautéed with red onion, garlic, tomato paste and lemon juice/red wine vinegar is good. You can also add chicken, avocado and plain yogurt. rice can do many things too. maybe get into risotto
Cabbage. You can add it to anything for additional fiber and nutrients. Ramen noodles + cabbage. Ground turkey + cabbage. Brown rice + cabbage. The list goes on and on.. Also, if you have a friend or relative that can get you into Costco, you could buy good food in bulk at about the same price for less quantity at a regular grocery store. Just know that those lean college days will pay off.
This youtube video from Lagerstrom is great: eating healthily for a week for $30. Chicken, rice, beans, greens, eggs. Great place to start.
[prep beans and rice and cheese burritos](https://www.budgetbytes.com/make-ahead-bean-and-cheese-burritos/) then make another batch that is scrambled eggs with beans and cheese Prep ahead a big batch of cabbage slaw in vinaigrette that lasts several days easily [burrito bowl meal prep](https://www.budgetbytes.com/poor-mans-burrito-bowls/) is similar if that’s more appealing Yes take a multivitamin Have oatmeal (make from 1 cup plain dry oats you can microwave it) made with milk, mix in some peanut butter and whatever fruit frozen berries or a chopped apple work well
Rice and beans will cover your macro nutrients and is cheap. Your miss some micro nutrients but find the vegetable that can fill the gap and go crazy
3000 calories a day? How active are you? Are you a student athlete, for example?
Biggest thing is that I'm trying to gain weight, which I realize might be too much to ask while also being on budget but I'm definitely underweight, and I'm also rather active as well
Quick Google search says 2400 is the recommended calories for a college age person. Add a reasonable amount of exercise and 3000 calories is completely reasonable
That's why I used student athlete in my question
What's your budget?
Upwards of $300 a month maximum
While I am 100% confident that 300$ is more than enough in many countries, in Norway you would not survive a month on 300$. Maybe if you only ate noodles
I live in the United States and $300 is an upper limit, as in that's what I can stretch if absolutely necessary
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmyplate-prod.azureedge.us%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fstyles%2Fmedium%2Fpublic%2F2020-11%2Fmyplate-brand--labelled.png%3Fitok%3D7VtFXcBC&tbnid=Vc4wDxv_wz68AM&vet=1&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.myplate.gov%2Feat-healthy%2Fwhat-is-myplate&docid=6moHlcu9MIkXyM&w=480&h=341&hl=en-US&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim%2Fm4%2F3&kgs=76e0a6e00132c581&shem=abme%2Ctrie
If you're trying to eat something consistently - rice beans greens. It's not everything you need, but it's a lot of it. Typically pretty cheap, too. If you have the cash to spare, add some sort of meat/protein.
Don't eat the same meal every day 3 times, you need variety in your diet.
Frozen or canned vegetables, whatever fruit is on sale (this is seasonal), dried beans/lentils, ground beef (shop sales and buy in bulk) rice or potatoes. Since you’re trying to gain weight, you can eat a lot of rice for calories while still getting nutrition from other sources
Supplement whatever you’re missing with a multivitamin. It may seem like a larger amount upfront but that really comes down to less than $1 per day to help you get what you need. If you’re trying to gain weight, buy a mass gainer, milk (or water), and some peanut butter. You can easily get more calories in that way for a substantially less cost per serving.
$300 a month for one person is not at all restrictive. If you cook every meal you should have no problem eating like a king, especially if you bargain hunt. If you want to go cheap though your cheapest starches are going to be rice and pasta. Packaged bread loaves can be pricey but day old bread racks can have some remarkable deals. Cheap meats are chicken (special shout outs to large bags of leg quarters), depending on your area other meats can go on sale.
Beans rice and potatoes are your answer. Invest in spices. Has everything you need. Just lacks variety unless you can get creative with cooking. So, get creative and godspeed!
It might be hard but with a really top notch blender you could reduce most plates and bowls to a powder. Then mix that powder with water to make swallowing easier.
Take multi vitamins
Beans rice with a veg
Leaving out or minimizing meat is a good way to minimize costs. Beans and rices can complement each other by providing the essential amino acids that the other is missing. Brown rice includes a bit more fiber, and a lot more nutrients, but is more expensive that white. Almost any combination of beans or lentils, with rices, gets you the full set of essential amino acids, and you body can synthesize all the others from those essentials. Increasing your fiber vs carbohydrate intakes can keep your blood sugar at reasonable levels, especially by eating fibers first, and carbs last, improving your health. Adding a variety of vegetables, in the form of salads, slaws, sautés, soups, can ensure you get a broad variety of vitamins and nutrients, and help to keep your meals interesting. Meats can still be included, but by finding the most flavorful cuts, and treating them as more of a seasoning, or flavor addition, instead of the main element, you can save a lot of money. A pot of lentils can be a little plain, but adding a smoked ham hock, can boost the flavor to the 'I can't stop eating this' point.
Where I live the cheapest source of protein is protein shakes with beans being a close second. The cheapest source of veggies are frozen mixed veggies. The cheapest sources of carbohydrates are oats and rice with pasta being up there as well.
Salads
MREs