I am, as many people are, a poor college student. So one of my biggest struggles is buying inexpensive food that also won't go back quickly, while avoiding fatty, highly processed items. Does anyone have any suggestions on things I could fill the pantry with that will help keep me on track???
I am not a starving student anymore, but I am a mom of four teenagers, so now I am a starving mom! HAHA.
Anyway, in all seriousness. I get a lot of produce. I was finding that it was going bad if I bought more than a week at a time, and it went bad faster if I got it from the grocery store. If you have a Farmers Market near you, I suggest that. Most produce in the fridge lasts about a week for me.
I also buy dried beans and bulk oatmeal and soften them up in a small crock pot. I buy bulk a lot actually. You can get some fairly cheap storage tupperware stuff at Walmart or something and stock up.
i have a million ideas, but i'm short on time. yes beans. even canned beans are great. super filling. check out the super foods list. many of them can be found for cheap. frozen veggies can be really cheap, collard greens, spinach any others you like. in season is always cheaper than out of season. yes, i've heard great things about farmers markets too. also, certain fruits veggies last a long time naturally. winter squash, cabbage, oranges. tangerines i think might be in season now. not sure. carrots are always cheap. i eat alot of carrots lol. generic brown rice flavored with chicken broth or boulion cubes, bay leaf, garlic, seasonings. good in soup or as side dish. fresh sweet potatoes are often on sale this time of year too. just bake in the oven. gets all carmelized and yummy.
Fresh fruit and veg! I know people complain about the cost but they must be off their rocker really. For me and my boyfriend, I buy about NZ$20 of fruit and veg for the week (i think thats around US$15) and it will last at least 7 days, usually with bits left over. I go to a cheap Asian veg and fruit place rather than a big chain supermarket which would up the price considerably.
When I was in college I only had time to go to the grocery store every couple of weeks or so (we lived far away and it was like a 2-hour round trip taking the bus), so I feel your pain.
I agree with previous posters about fresh produce and canned things that you can keep around. I got into the habit of buying enough ingredients when I did go out shopping to cook multiple servings of one dish, so I could come home and cook on (for example) Monday and then have enough leftovers to eat for dinner all week. I know some people hate eating the same things all the time but I never minded much. Find recipes that are healthy, tasty, and relatively cheap on ingredients, and then you can eat those a lot, if that's your kind of thing.
You can also refrigerate or freeze some stuff and have it keep longer. I always refrigerate my bread because I don't use it fast enough for it to not go bad out on the counter (usually I make 5 sandwiches a week for lunch at work, so a loaf has to last me 2-3 weeks). This also works for things like meat, some produce, etc.
And I know it isn't the healthiest thing, but I always keep a box of whole-grain pasta on hand in case I run out of fresh stuff and don't have time to shop. It keeps for a long time.
I hope that helps. Play around with different options and see what works for you best. Good luck!
Eggs! There are so many things to do with eggs and they're a great source of protein. You can always skip on a couple of the yolks if you wanted to. My favorite way to have them is hardboiled or as deviled eggs made with miracle whip light. If you do hardboil them you can make a bunch ahead of time and have them peeled in the fridge for quick snacks.
Eggs, canned tuna, oats, canned beans, dried beans, bulk nuts, bulk flax (for the oats!), get in season fruits and vegetables (great this time of year!), dried grains (bulgar, millet, quinoa, brown rice, etc), popcorn kernels are great for a quick snack, and you can pop them in a microwave inside of a brown lunch sack and season it with whatever you want. Don't toss anything!! There's tons of creative ideas online about what you can do with leftovers.
Produce! Cheap, healthy, and yummy. Also, if you're worried about it going bad, there are things you can do with overripe fruit/veg that you might not want to eat plain by itself. You can make quick breads (like banana bread, but most other fruits work as well), cobblers, blend it up and mix with olive oil for a salad dressing, or mash it up and put it in pancakes. Even if it looks a little wilted, there are still things you can do with it. I like to take wilted veggies and boil them down with water and spices to make vegetable broth to use in soups, rice, etc.
I always make a food sheet of what I'm planning to eat for the week, because I'm vegetarian and very limited on my diet program. But it's a good idea to write down the things you think you'll eat every day then go grocery shopping for just enough to get you through that week! I make Mondays after my Spanish class my "Whole Foods" grocery day! Works for me! And as for saving money, It's easier to do if you cut back on waste and look for sales/coupons! I have an App on my droid that gives me coupons for like... everywhere! It's great!
Yes! Use a meal plan! Every Saturday I spend an hour figuring out what's in the pantry, fridge, and freezer and what we're going to eat the next week. I make a chart and hang it on the fridge.
Down one side of the page, I put days of the week.
Across the top: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks (2), and Prep for tomorrow
The prep for tomorrow part has helped me save $$ more than anything else because I know what I need to do the night before. Otherwise, I get lazy, do nothing, and then have to buy lunch or dinner the next day.
Cheap foods:
beans and legumes: you can't go wrong with beans, lentils, and chickpeas, and you can make them in large batches. If you don't have a fridge, just reheat the pot every morning when you get up. It'll still last 3-4 days.
tex-mex/mexican food: homemade tortillas cost virtually nothing, and it doesn't take alot of beans (and/or meat), lettuce, and tomatoes to fill them. quesadeillas, enchilladas, and tacos are all cheap cheap cheap. So's chili (even cheaper if you make it w/o meat).
indian food: also cheap AFTER you've made the initial investment on spices (if you don't keep cumin, tumeric, and garam marsala in your home, then that's an up front cost you'll have to calculate)
If you have access to a freezer, cook in large batches. Someone mentioned this up thread and it's important. Buying and cooking in bulk saves SO MUCH MONEY, especially if you catch canned veggies, beans, rice, or whatever on sale. I wish I had a crockpot because it would be such a time saver when cooking in bulk.
Cheap Healthy Foods!
