Post: #26

The organic trick is something I'd consider, but the almonds and milk thing? Straight up stealing. Buy cottage cheese: cheap and lots of protein.

Post: #27

Walmart meat is horrendous.

I don't cook much, but when I do I shop at a real grocery store with a good meat counter.

Hell, I avoid Wally World at all costs for anything I can buy elsewhere.

Yes, I understand the OP is on a budget but I just had to comment concerning those buying their meat from there.

Post: #28

How to eat like a Boss on a Budget:

I am hella stingy with food prices but eat like a king. Many brought up good points such as buying in bulk and props on the Self Checkout trick as I use that all the time also. The Self Checkout is really the only way I can get organic stuff these days. Here are some pointers I can offer up as I am well versed in being a cheap ass and still living like a Boss.

Anybody on a "budget" should not be touching Chicken Breasts. They are exorbitantly marked up due to processing and nouveau riche demand. Buying Chicken breasts with 'Skin - on' and 'Bone - in' is probably a quarter of the price, most places would not sell you these more than $6-7 a KG. When a Chicken breast will run you $11-13 a KG. I also just buy Thighs and Legs, in all honesty the dark meat fat difference is negligible, one has flavour while the other does not. Remove the skins and you are basically left with a piece of flesh.

Meats:

Generally stores will cycle through meats and mark them down. Plan your weekly proteins around these deals. One week it may be Pork Side Ribs, the next might be cheaper cuts like Eye Round, etc, etc. Find the best deal and buy one or two of these and they will last you for a week plus of meals. A few weeks back I was able to get a Eye of Round Roast for about $4 a KG. I bought a 2KG+ roast for about 9$ and it lasted me about 2 weeks. I cut it into two, trimmed off a hunk of top-fat, and made one side into "steaks" froze them, and made a full roast of the other. A half-hour of prep probably saved me 30$. Eye of Round Steaks aren't even that great for simply grilling, but for example it would cost you 3.75$ (per steak) For a little Quick-fry at the store - I had about 9 made from that large whole roast.

Around Holidays Turkeys and Hams are cheap. just be really picky about quality you get some grimy birds that are pumped full of Salt for like 3$ a KG. In these situation just dig around and look for the best quality for your price range, or a the very least get one that is not pumped full of Salt to increase the weight. Hams I don't mess with as they are are almost exclusively pumped full of Salt-solutions but if they are your thing then they are also dirt cheap around Holidays... Stock up and Freeze them.

Fish:

Fish can be pricey as they are now having to go farther and farther to get decent stuff if it is not mutant farm crap. If its wild your paying out the ass. The only deals with Fish you can really knock out is Canned Tuna, Sardines (acquired taste, but I love them), and buying Whole fishes. Now I am not at the level where I can de-bone a fish year but you can generally by "Dressed" Fish (De boned already) with their heads on and shit for quite cheap. I have been able to get to whole Tilapia Fish for 4$ at times. I just roast them Nemos' in the oven with lemon and fresh dill and they are hella good and easy to prepare.

Ethnic Staples:

Honestly you can't get any cheaper then this. If you live in a Big City that is multi-cultural in anyway seek these out (If your City is still quite segregated you may have to travel, but generally every City will have about 3-4 dominant groups of Ethnic Minorities, Outside of Toronto in Canada for instance it would usually be Asian and Eastern European). I am bless to live in one of the most multi-cultural Cities on earth so I can track down Staples from some far off places. Stuff like Lentils, Good quality rice, Beans, Mexican Corn, etc, etc. You search around and find these things dirt cheap at the Ethnic grocers. People simply refuse to spend high amounts on their natural staples. I suspect many stores under price them and just go off Volume to break even because many time a large bag of good quality rice will be like 10$ at the Asian Stores while 15$ and the regular people stores. Main/Staple vegetables will usually be cheaper at these spots too.

Kosher & Halal Butcher shops:

If you got mad Jews or Muslims in your area hit up their local butcher shops, you will find good deals on meat. I took the plunge on a shady looking Halal Butcher down my street. I asked a bunch of questions of where the meat was sourced and it ended up being a step up in quality from the Ghetto "Save" stores like NO FRILLS and shit, that usually get in Grade A floor crap. This stuff maybe was not Grade AAA (The lamb was AAA, and some the beef was, but not his chicken) but he was selling Chicken for only 3.85$ a KG which is good value for around here. I can't think of any other place to get decent to good quality meat then these Ethnic butcher shops. Miles above the garbage cuts they get tossed to Wal-Marts, NO FRILLS and such. I got two whole chickens from him and he cut them up into parts for me. Good man.

Kosher Jewish Bakers will give you top tier quality breads for good prices also. The ones in Toronto are too far from where I am at but coming across one they were selling big loaves of fresh bread for like 1-2$.

Root Vegetables:

These things are mad cheap. 10lbs bags of potatoes cost like 2$. Yams are cheap, so are beets, I eat a lot of these things and they are good for you if prepared properly.

Frozen Veggies:

They don't go bad! Sometimes I get sick of the massive amounts of Broccoli I will get on sale and buy Day 5 I am forcing it in me so I don't toss it. Frozen Veggies help with this as you can cycle through stuff without the worry of it spoiling.

Grains/Starches:

Rice is dirt cheap of course but so are other Starches like Cornmeal. I make Polenta all the time Cornmeal is ass cheap, so is Cassava, Couscous and Qunioa which are not to tricky to prepare.

Fruit:
Only buy your favourites. Buy in Season.

I like Oranges so I buy them twice a week (I go through a whole bag in a like 2-3 days), in the summer I go through a lot of Apricots. But other then that the majority of fruit I find is really just a treat. You can get more nutrition from vegetables at half the price. Treat yourself to fruit but me personally I do not make it a staple of my diet due to prices and the changes in season.

Nuts:

For the most part are cheap. Peanuts give me a dodgy vibe but the king nut are Sunflour Seeds. They are dirt cheap and good for you. With the money saved from other parts you can easily upgrade to Almonds and such. The are nutrient dense and never *really* go bad.

Protein Powder:

When you crunch the numbers and ignore its marked up price at times this shit.. dollar for dollar.. protein per gram/$ is still cheap.

Organic:

The reality of being cheap is that you can't *really* eat as clean as you would like. Its just a reality and one that bugs me to the core as I am one whom thinks if the Govt had any sense (which it doesn't) it would reverse subsidies and offer them to Local Organic farmers and undercut GMO crap that comes flooding. Giving their populations a chance to eat clean and healthy.

But getting away from the politics of it all.

I do find it difficult to eat Organic. I see fellow College kids (mostly women) whom look unhealthy yet their shopping carts are full of "Organic" stuff. I see it as a balance as if I eat more regular foods, even though they are not 100% clean I am still better of then the person whom eats 40% Organic while the rest of the 60% is crap like cookies and chips. Plus "Organic" has been bastersized into a mass hustle. A lot of "Organic" Beef for instance is just the same sterile crap as the regular stuff. Healthy and nutritious Cows are fed Grass and Hay. If a cow is fed "Organic Corn and filler feed" It does not make it any better off then it being fed the GMO corn and feed - It hurts the Cow either way. A lot of Organic crap these days is marginally cleaner, and alto still have GMO compounds in their from some step of the process.

Its not worth it - You will be 'nickel'd and dime'd'. It has even come out that WHOLE FOODS still sells GMO crap in their stores. Its all a hustle right now, a lot of stuff is falling through the cracks. Like I said I will take my chances until I get my money up by eating 100% clean with regular food.

What I do is buy certain things strictly Organic. I get the cheapest of the cheapest meats like Organ meats - naturally raised, fed and Organic. I'll get those discounts cuts like Kidneys on Clarence at the same Organic Grocery stores I rotate through. Or I will pull the stunts of doing Self Checkouts with some Organic Veggies likes Lettuce and such.

Tools of the Trade:

To buy cheap you need some tools and space. Having a deep freezer is the biggest splurge if you got the space and cash. I have done massive orders of meat between friends before where we have purchased Half a Cow and had a ice-chest full of meat. Its not needed as just having a regular Fridge-Freezer should be enough space for just one person.

Other useful things to have are:

Slow Cooker - To cook down cheaper cuts of meat down

Oven pans, roasters - Again to help you cook down your Meats, Veg, and Roots vegetables I like baked potatoes/daily and eat them almost daily.

Rice Cooker - Any frugal head staple go to. Mine gets used weekly to make a big batch of rice I store in the fridge.

A Grill or small Habachi/Coal Grill - Cook your meats and Veg like a King. My Microwave only gets used to heat leftovers and *maybe* steam some veggies if I'm mad lazy. Other wise I'm putting tons of flavour on my meat, you have to sometimes but other time sis why not? Food should be enjoyable and not feel like some forced thing.

Good Knives - Seek out a good set of cutters and carvers to cut down your meats and Vegetables.

All in all you can eat like a King for quite cheap. The only issue is really setting the time to:

A. Find deals and B. Do prep work.

Setting aside a Sunday to Stock up on food and do prep for you meals will leave you with a week of easy to prepare shit which will taste good and save you cash.

Cheers

(10-26-2012 08:44 AM)Menace Wrote:  The organic trick is something I'd consider, but the almonds and milk thing? Straight up stealing. Buy cottage cheese: cheap and lots of protein.

I wish I had your morals. What about the Big Mega Food Store that installed these machines because they are to stingy to pay somebody to run a Checkout till?

Post: #29

(10-26-2012 09:31 AM)Hotwheels Wrote:  Walmart meat is horrendous.

I don't cook much, but when I do I shop at a real grocery store with a good meat counter.

Hell, I avoid Wally World at all costs for anything I can buy elsewhere.

Yes, I understand the OP is on a budget but I just had to comment concerning those buying their meat from there.

That's why I was suggesting to the OP to stay diligent with the sale ads. Also, some grocery stores have a discount section on meat isle. It's stuff that's getting ready to expire and they'll reduce the price to half or better. Eat it that night or immediately freeze.

Post: #30

[quote='kosko' pid='294871' dateline='1351263187']
How to eat like a Boss on a Budget:

I am hella stingy with food prices but eat like a king. Many brought up good points such as buying in bulk and props on the Self Checkout trick as I use that all the time also. The Self Checkout is really the only way I can get organic stuff these days. Here are some pointers I can offer up as I am well versed in being a cheap ass and still living like a Boss.

Anybody on a "budget" should not be touching Chicken Breasts. They are exorbitantly marked up due to processing and nouveau riche demand. Buying Chicken breasts with 'Skin - on' and 'Bone - in' is probably a quarter of the price, most places would not sell you these more than $6-7 a KG. When a Chicken breast will run you $11-13 a KG. I also just buy Thighs and Legs, in all honesty the dark meat fat difference is negligible, one has flavour while the other does not. Remove the skins and you are basically left with a piece of flesh.

Meats:

Generally stores will cycle through meats and mark them down. Plan your weekly proteins around these deals. One week it may be Pork Side Ribs, the next might be cheaper cuts like Eye Round, etc, etc. Find the best deal and buy one or two of these and they will last you for a week plus of meals. A few weeks back I was able to get a Eye of Round Roast for about $4 a KG. I bought a 2KG+ roast for about 9$ and it lasted me about 2 weeks. I cut it into two, trimmed off a hunk of top-fat, and made one side into "steaks" froze them, and made a full roast of the other. A half-hour of prep probably saved me 30$. Eye of Round Steaks aren't even that great for simply grilling, but for example it would cost you 3.75$ (per steak) For a little Quick-fry at the store - I had about 9 made from that large whole roast.

Around Holidays Turkeys and Hams are cheap. just be really picky about quality you get some grimy birds that are pumped full of Salt for like 3$ a KG. In these situation just dig around and look for the best quality for your price range, or a the very least get one that is not pumped full of Salt to increase the weight. Hams I don't mess with as they are are almost exclusively pumped full of Salt-solutions but if they are your thing then they are also dirt cheap around Holidays... Stock up and Freeze them.

Fish:

Fish can be pricey as they are now having to go farther and farther to get decent stuff if it is not mutant farm crap. If its wild your paying out the ass. The only deals with Fish you can really knock out is Canned Tuna, Sardines (acquired taste, but I love them), and buying Whole fishes. Now I am not at the level where I can de-bone a fish year but you can generally by "Dressed" Fish (De boned already) with their heads on and shit for quite cheap. I have been able to get to whole Tilapia Fish for 4$ at times. I just roast them Nemos' in the oven with lemon and fresh dill and they are hella good and easy to prepare.

Ethnic Staples:

Honestly you can't get any cheaper then this. If you live in a Big City that is multi-cultural in anyway seek these out (If your City is still quite segregated you may have to travel, but generally every City will have about 3-4 dominant groups of Ethnic Minorities, Outside of Toronto in Canada for instance it would usually be Asian and Eastern European). I am bless to live in one of the most multi-cultural Cities on earth so I can track down Staples from some far off places. Stuff like Lentils, Good quality rice, Beans, Mexican Corn, etc, etc. You search around and find these things dirt cheap at the Ethnic grocers. People simply refuse to spend high amounts on their natural staples. I suspect many stores under price them and just go off Volume to break even because many time a large bag of good quality rice will be like 10$ at the Asian Stores while 15$ and the regular people stores. Main/Staple vegetables will usually be cheaper at these spots too.

Kosher & Halal Butcher shops:

If you got mad Jews or Muslims in your area hit up their local butcher shops, you will find good deals on meat. I took the plunge on a shady looking Halal Butcher down my street. I asked a bunch of questions of where the meat was sourced and it ended up being a step up in quality from the Ghetto "Save" stores like NO FRILLS and shit, that usually get in Grade A floor crap. This stuff maybe was not Grade AAA (The lamb was AAA, and some the beef was, but not his chicken) but he was selling Chicken for only 3.85$ a KG which is good value for around here. I can't think of any other place to get decent to good quality meat then these Ethnic butcher shops. Miles above the garbage cuts they get tossed to Wal-Marts, NO FRILLS and such. I got two whole chickens from him and he cut them up into parts for me. Good man.

Kosher Jewish Bakers will give you top tier quality breads for good prices also. The ones in Toronto are too far from where I am at but coming across one they were selling big loaves of fresh bread for like 1-2$.

Root Vegetables:

These things are mad cheap. 10lbs bags of potatoes cost like 2$. Yams are cheap, so are beets, I eat a lot of these things and they are good for you if prepared properly.

Frozen Veggies:

They don't go bad! Sometimes I get sick of the massive amounts of Broccoli I will get on sale and buy Day 5 I am forcing it in me so I don't toss it. Frozen Veggies help with this as you can cycle through stuff without the worry of it spoiling.

Grains/Starches:

Rice is dirt cheap of course but so are other Starches like Cornmeal. I make Polenta all the time Cornmeal is ass cheap, so is Cassava, Couscous and Qunioa which are not to tricky to prepare.

Fruit:
Only buy your favourites. Buy in Season.

I like Oranges so I buy them twice a week (I go through a whole bag in a like 2-3 days), in the summer I go through a lot of Apricots. But other then that the majority of fruit I find is really just a treat. You can get more nutrition from vegetables at half the price. Treat yourself to fruit but me personally I do not make it a staple of my diet due to prices and the changes in season.

Nuts:

For the most part are cheap. Peanuts give me a dodgy vibe but the king nut are Sunflour Seeds. They are dirt cheap and good for you. With the money saved from other parts you can easily upgrade to Almonds and such. The are nutrient dense and never *really* go bad.

Protein Powder:

When you crunch the numbers and ignore its marked up price at times this shit.. dollar for dollar.. protein per gram/$ is still cheap.

Organic:

The reality of being cheap is that you can't *really* eat as clean as you would like. Its just a reality and one that bugs me to the core as I am one whom thinks if the Govt had any sense (which it doesn't) it would reverse subsidies and offer them to Local Organic farmers and undercut GMO crap that comes flooding. Giving their populations a chance to eat clean and healthy.

But getting away from the politics of it all.

I do find it difficult to eat Organic. I see fellow College kids (mostly women) whom look unhealthy yet their shopping carts are full of "Organic" stuff. I see it as a balance as if I eat more regular foods, even though they are not 100% clean I am still better of then the person whom eats 40% Organic while the rest of the 60% is crap like cookies and chips. Plus "Organic" has been bastersized into a mass hustle. A lot of "Organic" Beef for instance is just the same sterile crap as the regular stuff. Healthy and nutritious Cows are fed Grass and Hay. If a cow is fed "Organic Corn and filler feed" It does not make it any better off then it being fed the GMO corn and feed - It hurts the Cow either way. A lot of Organic crap these days is marginally cleaner, and alto still have GMO compounds in their from some step of the process.

Its not worth it - You will be 'nickel'd and dime'd'. It has even come out that WHOLE FOODS still sells GMO crap in their stores. Its all a hustle right now, a lot of stuff is falling through the cracks. Like I said I will take my chances until I get my money up by eating 100% clean with regular food.

What I do is buy certain things strictly Organic. I get the cheapest of the cheapest meats like Organ meats - naturally raised, fed and Organic. I'll get those discounts cuts like Kidneys on Clarence at the same Organic Grocery stores I rotate through. Or I will pull the stunts of doing Self Checkouts with some Organic Veggies likes Lettuce and such.

Tools of the Trade:

To buy cheap you need some tools and space. Having a deep freezer is the biggest splurge if you got the space and cash. I have done massive orders of meat between friends before where we have purchased Half a Cow and had a ice-chest full of meat. Its not needed as just having a regular Fridge-Freezer should be enough space for just one person.

Other useful things to have are:

Slow Cooker - To cook down cheaper cuts of meat down

Oven pans, roasters - Again to help you cook down your Meats, Veg, and Roots vegetables I like baked potatoes/daily and eat them almost daily.

Rice Cooker - Any frugal head staple go to. Mine gets used weekly to make a big batch of rice I store in the fridge.

A Grill or small Habachi/Coal Grill - Cook your meats and Veg like a King. My Microwave only gets used to heat leftovers and *maybe* steam some veggies if I'm mad lazy. Other wise I'm putting tons of flavour on my meat, you have to sometimes but other time sis why not? Food should be enjoyable and not feel like some forced thing.

Good Knives - Seek out a good set of cutters and carvers to cut down your meats and Vegetables.

All in all you can eat like a King for quite cheap. The only issue is really setting the time to:

A. Find deals and B. Do prep work.

Setting aside a Sunday to Stock up on food and do prep for you meals will leave you with a week of easy to prepare shit which will taste good and save you cash.

Cheers

after all of the advices I am now convinced that i will probably spend less than a $150 this month. Thanks a lot
This also makes me want to dig around my other expenses and see if I can reduce my spending as well. great advices thanks a lot.

Post: #31

WIA has a good general plan on the first page. I'd add to buy stuff in the ghetto. The prices are MUCH more favorable. My food budget for two people was ~$150 a month for a few years, and at the time I had to eat 4,000 calories a day just to not lose weight.
For example:
Soda deal: $4 for two 2-liters in the burbs, $10 for 10 of 3-liters in the ghetto. Bag of chicken nuggets: $8 in the burbs, 2 for 5 in the ghetto. Frozen pizza: $7 in the burbs, $3 or $4 in the ghetto. Also "Banquet" is a very cheap brand in most places, but stores will mark them up. If you're in college, a toaster oven is your friend. It's like grilling: any idiot can do it and it comes out great.

Quote:The reality of being cheap is that you can't *really* eat as clean as you would like. Its just a reality and one that bugs me to the core as I am one whom thinks if the Govt had any sense (which it doesn't) it would reverse subsidies and offer them to Local Organic farmers and undercut GMO crap that comes flooding. Giving their populations a chance to eat clean and healthy.

This. Cheap and healthy are very very difficult to mix. It's no wonder our people are getting fat when it's expensive to eat healthy and everyone's broke.

Post: #32

(10-25-2012 10:15 PM)Aliblahba Wrote:  Also, look for a for a discount bakery. Great deals can be had in there for bread that is a day old.

Great advice here. There's a place about a half mile from where I live that has great deals on freshly baked bread, as it's all baked on location and is usually still warm if you hit it at the right time of day (early AM). They have a day old section, but I rarely look at that stuff because their loafs and other products are cheap enough that I don't really feel the need to cheap out any further. Also, check out your local ethnic shops. You would think that a specialty shop such as these would charge more, but that isn't always the case. Not too far from the first spot I mentioned is a Greek bakery that does fresh breads and other Mediterranean cuisine. Their Pita Bread is amazing. It's all made right there. I pay slightly more for the stuff there because I enjoy the quality. As an added bonus I believe the joint is family owned and operated by a genuine 'just off the boat' Greek family, with more than a couple 20 or so year old Greek chicks working there. Gives you the opportunity to potentially kill two birds with one stone. Game and shop. I've also met a couple attractive Lebanese women at this bakery. I have a thing for olive skin and dark hair, as well as good bread.

Post: #33

I'd get:
Rice
Sweet Potatoes
Potatoes
Kale
Spinach
Tomatoes
Brussell Sprouts
Asparagus
Red Cabbage
Onions (red and white)
Garlic
Chillis
Lemons
Strawberries
Olive Oil
Butter
blueberries
rasberries
gold top milk
pork loin steaks
rump steaks
chicken breast
salmon fillets
cans of tuna
eggs

Post: #34

I don't know if you are just trying to get healthy but IMO you should be lifting so focus on protein based foods as well. Eggs, Cheese, Milk, and Peanut butter. For greens, eat spinach salads.

Post: #35

Lot's of great advice. Two points I don't think were mentioned:

1) Look for unpopular or "icky" cuts of meat. Lot's of organ meats are quite cheap. Also things like animals heads, which will creep a lot of people out can be good value. Sheeps head, for example is actually very good, and much cheaper than regular lamb, which I love but find expensive. There's even a fast food based on sheeps heads caled a "smiley":

http://www.google.co.za/search?q=smiley+...66&bih=618

2) Reconsider cans as a budget option. I recently calculated what I was paying per kg drained weight for cheap store brand canned tuna. It was slightly more/kg than a mid-range cut of AAA steak! I'm not kidding. Maybe it's different in the US, but you may be surprised how much you are paying for the convenience of canned tuna. Probably better to buy a whole chicken, cook it and then dice it up for sandwiches, or whatever.

Post: #36

Get oats! Cheap and healthy. Best breakfast ever.

As for meats, go to the Turkish butchers and get it there. Way cheaper than regular places and the quality is usually good.

Post: #37

buy frozen veggies.. they're cheaper and they last a lot longer.

Post: #38

(10-31-2012 05:44 AM)BoiBoi Wrote:  Get oats! Cheap and healthy. Best breakfast ever.

As for meats, go to the Turkish butchers and get it there. Way cheaper than regular places and the quality is usually good.

I got on an oatmeal regiment earlier this year and saw a big difference. I'd eat with with a couple boiled eggs for protein. It is cheap and can be bought in bulk. To break up the monotonous flavor sweeten with brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins, honey, ect.

A bowl of oatmeal and two boiled is a good breakfast and will cost you virtually nothing.

Post: #39

Pork Shoulder is usually 99c/lb

Make Pulled Pork

Shit is delicious and cheap, totally college friendly.

Post: #40

November is here, time to go grocery shopping. Thanks all of you guys for the great tips, they really helped me a lot.

Post: #41

(11-01-2012 08:00 AM)le prince perdu Wrote:  November is here, time to go grocery shopping. Thanks all of you guys for the great tips, they really helped me a lot.

Well? How did it work out? Damn I forgot about how cheap food can be in Texas. HEB is the place to shop. Check out the sale ads:


http://heb.inserts2online.com/customer_F...toreID=267


I've been broke as shit the last month. When I go to the store what I buy is based on price per lb/oz. Been on a steady diet of pinto beans, cornbread, maters, ect. The grocery store I go to has discount 5 lb bags of chicken legs on the cheap. I put all of them in a ceramic coated cast iron pot and simmered with Carolina Treet BBQ sauce, with an onion sliced up in it. Just boiled a dozen eggs and deviled. Super cheap. They really rock with smoked paprika.

Chicken livers, gizzards, hearts, and buttholes have been on the menu. Luckily I like this, and my grocery bill is really low. Eggs and oatmeal for breakfast. The other day I had to cook off some veggies that were going bad, and made a huge minestrone soup:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Minestrone-...etail.aspx

Don't know what the cost was but it was cheap. I doubled the recipe and froze some.

Also, just discovered Aldi's. German owned, and they are cheap as hell on some stuff. I did read somewhere they use horse meat.

Post: #42

Chicken Breast
Turkey Burgers
Veggies
Dried fruit(lasts longer)
Raw Oats
Wheat bread
Almond Milk
Almonds
Almond/Natty Peanut Butter
Swiss Cheese

I used to spend 200 dollars every 2 weeks on food...I ate so damn much processed food back in the day I did spend too much....Now that I eat mainly whole foods my grocery bill is much cheaper

Post: #43

There's a lot of stuff you can buy in bulk at costco.

Buy the whole chicken. It's usually cheaper than buying separate pieces.

Robb Wolff did a post on his website about eating clean on the cheap.

I did a local food share last year. Once a week I would go to some hippie store and get like 6 pounds of grass fed ground beef for like 5 bucks a pound.

Olive oil is a cheap and effective way to get calories. Take a couple swigs in the morning and you are good to go.

If you really want to eat on the cheap you can get a 50 pound bag of rice and like a 5 gallon jug of coconut oil. Prob gotta get the coconut oil off the internet.

Post: #44

I go self checkout and get organic apples, put them thru as regular ones.. scan half of the shit I get. Honour system is awesome.. Fuck corporations.

Another thing is price matching if the place allows it.. I had a lady in front of me take an extra ten minutes because she was price matching everything. It was more interesting then anything to see her get twice as much food as me for the same price. Worth the hassle for sure. Even if you have the $$ to blow there's still no excuse not to price match if you can. Some even allow you to do it off of your smart phone, don't even need the physical flyers.

Post: #45

I wanted to bump this thread so some of the newer members might see it, and so I can share this delicious Italian recipe I just gave to 2_Wycked in chat.

Ingredients: Spaghetti, Fresh Broccoli, Olive Oil, Peppers, Garlic, Parmesan Cheese

Bring water to a boil, add spaghetti. You can either boil or steam the broccoli - your choice.

In a small pan, add olive oil, chopped pepper and minced garlic. Over a medium heat, let the peppers and garlic infuse the olive oil with flavor.

When spaghetti and broccoli are done, drain, then toss with olive oil concoction. Top with fresh parmesan. Mangia!

Post: #46

I'd suggest buy some pasta and pasta sauces along with vegetables like bell pepper, mushrooms and tomatoes. Easy to make.
Get some eggs and milk along with loaves of multi grain bread. Cooking omlette and scrambled eggs is easy. Just look up on youtube. That's how I learned. You can use the veggies in the scrambled eggs and put it on a toast.

Post: #47

^^^Simple staples and simple recipes are where you appreciate the flavors of the food. I made two cakes of cornbread today by family request. In two months learned to make it better than my mom or grandmother. I built on theirs and now I'm the bread maker. Its an honor. They've made it their whole lives.

2 cups of cornmeal, 1 cup buttermilk, and a spoon of lard cost virtually nothing, but makes a full 12" skillet of bread, that can last all week. Better for you than wheat based products too. You guys want I'll throw down detailed recipe advice with pics.

Post: #48

(01-26-2014 12:46 AM)Aliblahba Wrote:  ^^^Simple staples and simple recipes are where you appreciate the flavors of the food. I made two cakes of cornbread today by family request. In two months learned to make it better than my mom or grandmother. I built on theirs and now I'm the bread maker. Its an honor. They've made it their whole lives.

2 cups of cornmeal, 1 cup buttermilk, and a spoon of lard cost virtually nothing, but makes a full 12" skillet of bread, that can last all week. Better for you than wheat based products too. You guys want I'll throw down detailed recipe advice with pics.

I'd like to see a southern cookin' thread written by yourself. I know several great cooks from your neck of the woods.

Post: #49

My shopping list at the moment:

Rice
Virgin Coconut Oil
Sardines
Ground beef or lamb
Eggs
Cheddar cheese
Vegetables: kale, spinach, carrots, onions, sweet potatoes, avocados
72% Cacao chocolate
Coffee
Green tea

No sugar, no wheat, no dairy, no alcohol.
Keep the carbs (rice and sweet potatoes) around 200g per day.
Per day works out about 2000-2400 calories (25% from carbs), 100g protein, cost about AUD$10.

Post: #50

Whatever meat is on sale, usually chicken breasts or thighs and pork loins. I try not to spend much more than 2 dollars a pound. Occasionally I will "splurge" and buy nicer cuts of meat.

Rice, potatoes, and onions are the majority of my carb groups. I love onions and I will throw them in just about anything. Bananas if I want a quick snack and I don't feel like cooking anything.

Eggs are cheap and good for shaking things up when you get bored of crockpot stew. Additionally, you can fry up some potatoes, throw in some onions and scramble eggs on top of them and make a tasty and simple eggbake type meal. You can blend 2 relatively green bananas and 3 eggs with some cinammon and it will, I shit you not, make a serviceable pancake batter.

I also try to get some sort of cruciferous vegetable in my diet so I don't die of malnutrition. I'm no pro chef and I have never been one to make real fancy salads, generally just eat the vegetables raw after washing them. I might spend 100-150 dollars a month on groceries; everyone else I know spends 2-300 a month on their overprocessed cheetos and coca-cola and shit. Fuck all that noise, it tastes like garbage and it turns you into garbage. You don't save time by eating that shit.

All a bachelor really needs is a crockpot and a cast iron frying pan, maybe a microwave if you'd rather not reheat stew on the stove. A crockpot will turn a shitty piece of meat into something edible and delicious, throw some potatoes in there and you're golden. I might eat 5 dollars worth of food a day, generally about a pound to two pounds of meat and a heaping portion of potatoes or rice with a token vegetable, and some eggs or bananas if I feel like a quick snack. If you don't count cooking time for the crockpot (8 hours on low, give or take), cooking might take 30 minutes out of my day, less if I make batch meals for the rest of the week. I never liked babysitting an oven; living overseas for half a year with nothing but a stovetop broke any habit I had for using an oven.

I would definitely like to learn that cornbread recipe though.