Eat Cheap and Healthy

Make a breakfast sandwich! (eggs, cheese, meat)

whtgg

Tomato sauce and cheese. Baby pizzas.

nerbovig

Peanut butter

MysteriousMuffins

Butter and honey

Frequent-Pea

Cream cheese and jelly. Don’t knock till you try.

JahBoiFloyd

Read that as spicy sesame street potato bowl

cvtphila225

This looks yummy! I am going to try it out! I would recommend adding some tofu for protein so you stay fuller for longer. Tofu isn’t too expensive for what it can add to a meal.

Melanie8740

This reminds me of a Korean sweet potato recipe. You should try gochujang (Korean chili paste) instead. It has a unique spicy flavor that would go well with this!

iimanateaii

looks delicious

cicelai

Finally someone’s gonna tell me how to get to Sesame Sweet.

TallowSpectre

Yesterday I was gonna buy some ham bones to make ham bean soup. It was 3 hocks for $5. Seemed expensive for, literally, BONES. scraps. So I had myself a think, and I stepped literally 5 feet to the left and looked at butt hams. A whole big ham for $12. Probably almost as much bone, (or at least, ALL the bone I needed) plus about 8 lbs of well-preserved meat.

Iatroblast

Is it just me or does $100 a week seem kinda high for just two people? My girlfriend and I spend maybe $250-300 a month on food between both of us. And we’re by no means working on a very strict budget either

ChuggingDadsCum

This is incredible. I’m new to this and trying my best for my family of four. I definitely took notes off of this! Happy holidays ❤️

Beekerboogirl

I wish I was this organized in anything

amklep

Honest question, how early do you get up and what time does your work begin to be able to make bacon and eggs for breakfast during the week?

univ3rsalmind

Ooo we call this Egg Bhurji!

You can also replace the egg with cottage cheese, and eat it with Naan.

vidushi31

Reminds me of being in college when I would go to as many events as I could that offered free food. So many people were vegetarian, this was one of the dishes made at an international food festival. Blew my mind!

throwmeawaytoothanks

Grew up with this with roti in the side! Go to for Punjabi moms lol

fallenstar311

I call those taco eggs

quirkychameleons

You guys may want to look up “egg bhurji” recipes.

rick2882

I’ve been doing this too! Lentil Dal should be the quintessential cheap and healthy meal. It’s cheap, filling, healthy by itself (and easily allows you to add vegetables like peppers or spinach)

mleibowitz97

I love throwing some lentils in a pot of rice with turmeric, sometimes a few other spices. Then I use that to meal prep with whatever meat i’m using that week. The extra protein, fiber and vitamins from the lentils are a great addition to a healthy meal plan. Especially since I am really bad with eating my vegetables, I try to get my nutrition in as many ways as possible.

aftalifex

A really good advice from a few of my south-asian friends – boil the lentils separately with some garlic, veggie broth and ginger until most of the water is absorbed. Fry up the onion, a tomato and all spices in around 3-4 tbsp of oil separately and when done, stir it into the boiled lentils. The flavours are a lot stronger and it tastes like youre eating a more authentic indian dish!!! Its life changing!

stanislava_kh

Here’s a tip:

If you have access to dried mango powder (locally known as amchur powder if you visit an Indian grocery store), use about 2ish pinches right before taking it off the flame. The dried mango powder + chickpea combination is insane.

Also for anyone looking to make this a cheap meal, this goes great with rice as well. In terms of flavour, you can experiment with the rice however you want – a dollop of ghee, maybe some frozen peas, a dash of turmeric, bay leaves, etc.

sinistadilly

could i just throw this stuff in a regular pot and make?

LongWalksOnThe

I’d buy way more fruit, especially avocados and berries. And maybe some fancy bread. And those fancy pastas that are made of veggies, and beans, and such.

Pengaween

Oh man, I played this game SO MUCH as a grad student. For me it always comes down to: smoked salmon, local humanely raised meats, wild caught fresh fish, fresh blackberries & raspberries, and fancy yogurts and cheeses.

I’m now able to spend more on groceries, and the biggest difference between now and then is the quality of foods I can buy – my produce, meat, and dairy are as a whole more local and fresher. Fancy cheese, fresh seafood, berries, etc. are still a special treat!

pope_pancakes

I’d get real wild and buy saffron

rahnster_wright

A personal chef to make delicious and healthy meals – I wouldn’t have to shop for food or clean up…. sigh…. one day maybe 🙂

FlappyMcBeakbag

Fruits for dayz! I love fresh fruit, but to keep things like mangoes, some varieties of apples, and berries consistently stocked adds up really quick.

Macaroonsarepretty

Thank you for this! We also bought the 10 lb bag for $2 and make mostly roasted or baked potatoes, so I’ll keep your recipe on hand to mix it up!

astrokey

Your microwave has a potato setting???

ktlovless

Potatoes are great. I’ve always been a pasta over potatoes person but they are just so versatile and better for you. My son is 9 and loves baked potatoes with cheese and sour cream. It’s such a quick meal and we always have the ingredients on hand so quick and easy, especially for busy weeknight meals. I have taken to making home fries as a side with dinner, but making extra. Then I’ll use them for egg and cheese burritos. So tasty and the best breakfast!

LauraChristine1982

What is a potato setting on microwave?

Complete-Apathy

Highly recommend adding sour cream or plain/greek yogurt to this recipe.

BassweightVibes

If you can get ahold of the back catalog, I recommend an older cooking show called “Good Eats”. The host goes over a lot of the internal logic of cooking and why things are done the way they are. Eventually you start learning how to put together recipes yourself instead of relying on other people’s instructions so much.

Sagasujin

I cannot recommend Budget Bytes enough. The epitome of East Cheap and Healthy plus very simple recipes. I learned to cook in college from this blog.

ProfChubChub

I really like Skinnytaste’s recipes. They’re easy to follow and always turn out tasty. More generally, I would look for “one pot”, sheet pan, or crockpot recipes. Those are usually straightforward, and consist of a lot of soups and pastas that allow for a huge margin of error. I mostly used those in college when I was first experimenting with cooking.

nightmareinsouffle

Got one for ya: parmesan chicken, only 4 ingredients. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a bowl in the microwave. Be careful, it melts fast. Dip skinless boneless chicken breasts or strips in the butter, then into a bowl that has 2 parts bread crumbs (comes in a cardboard cylinder) mixed with one part grated parmesan cheese (the butter is just to help the breadcrumbs and cheese stick). Put in a baking dish, salt and pepper if you like, bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken. You can tell when the chicken is cooked thoroughly when you stick a fork in, take it out, and then clear liquid will come out of the fork holes. One of my faves, hope you like it!

IHeldADandelion

Learn some basics, one by one:

– how to cook pasta
— top tips: use more water than you think you need, put more salt in the water than you think you need, taste the pasta every 30 sec after the first 8 min until you like the texture, save the last little bit of the pasta water to use in your sauce

– how to cook rice
— top tips: find a rice variety you like and cook with it consistently, try a few different cooking methods to find one that works for you (open pan/closed pan/microwave)

– how to cook eggs (scrambled, boiled, fried)
– how to cook vegetables (sautéed, roasted)
– how to cook protein (meat and substitutes)
– how to cook bases for sauces (white, red)

From these basics you can make essentially infinite combinations of quick and cheap meals.

Learn some principles:

– prepping/cutting
— cut things into equal sizes if you want it all to cook at the same rate
— cut things into different sizes for variation and texture (you’ll have to play with your timing and temperature control)

– timing and temperature control
— cooking things at a low temperature for a long time will tend to make things rich and mushy (think stews, roasted vegetables)
— cooking things at a high temperature for a short time will tend to make things light and crispy (think steaks, stir fried vegetables)
— use your sense organs: eyes, ears and nose to help you keep on top of timing and temperature control (and avoid burning things)

– seasoning
— taste, taste, taste! You’ll know your food is seasoned correctly when you taste it and feel your mouth juices running. If they’re not, add a little salt/pepper/lemon juice/vinegar/sugar/spice and taste again.

breathingcarbon

Growing up in the Philippines my family had a “rice safe” which was a bin with a well fitting lid that held 50? 100? lbs of rice – a lot of rice. And that would last us the year. You don’t need to eat it all at once, just make sure to store it well and you have the comfort of one food that you don’t need to buy for a very long time.

Seawolfe665

You can have rice as a side dish to normal meals. Cook it with stock for flavor. Have a stir fry over top of it. It doesn’t always have to be the main course. And the good thing is, uncooked rice can last over a year when stored in the fridge, so you don’t need to feel pressured into eating it all right away.

nahyatx

Think of Forrest Gump’s friend Bubba, talking about Shrimp.

U_feel_Me

I bought a 20 lbs bag of rice when I went off to college thinking I would eat it, It lasted me 3 years.

MrDiabl0

You can make sweet rice and eat it as dessert! There’s tonnes of rice dessert recipes online (I’ve never made any but I’ve heard of it)

Loesje2303