Eating on the cheap

sinkoman

sinkoman

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Looking for meal ideas on the cheap for my lunch and 15 min breaks at work. Ideally something that doesn't require much if any heating, can be prepared and eaten within 15 minutes, is highly tasty, and not overly greasy or sugary. Filling too, that's a biggy.

Been surviving on power bars during my breaks at work for the past few days, can't stand it any more. I need real food, but well, that's hard to do on minimum wage and minimal work breaks :/
 
The night before work, boil some penne pasta. At the same time, cook some diced/chopped chicken and mushrooms in a pan with vegetable/olive oil.

When the pasta is cooked (15-20 mins), drain it and add it to the chicken and mushrooms.

The next part can be done either way: add a jar of pasta sauce or make your own sauce*.

Mix it all in, put it in a dish to cool, then cover it and put it in the fridge. Next morning, put some in a tub and there's a nice, nutritious lunch. It can be eaten cold or microwaved. This is a cheap method depending on what you buy, and if you get your quantities right then the ingredients can last a few days.

* - Don't ask me on this, last time I tried it, it consisted of canned tomatos, garlic, salt and pepper. It was shit.

As for 15 minute break snacks, in all seriousness take fresh fruit. A banana, an apple and a handful of grapes will do the job.
 
Mandarins are good too, if they sell those over there. (Honestly, I have no idea)
 
I used to take a few packs of 2min noodles to work when in need of a feed during smoko. Only thing found it lacking in was protein and fruit, but usually packed a decent lunch the night before. Used to have about four of them to fill me up, cos there's **** all in a packet.

Is your crib only 15mins mate?
 
2 minute noodles and an apple. Apples are ****ing awesome.

I really want some noodles now.
 
go to deli, get deli meat ..150grams should last you the week, go to cheese section, buy a block of cheese (dont get sliced crap, it's crap and expensive compared to a block), buy 5 buns ..buy a half dozen apples and some bananas, get a bag of trail mix from bulk area buy a case of water ..there you go enough food for the entire week for less than $20
 
I used to just take the time to make something the night before, or the day of. I always woke up at 3 oclock AM and had to be at work at 5 AM, with about a 15 minute drive, so I had plenty of time to make myself something to eat.

If you're looking for deli meat and want something tasty... we've had this Jenny-O Turkey Pastrami, which is only like 5 bucks for 2 pounds, and it tastes amazingly like the real thing. Nice dark meat turkey prepared in the same way real pastrami is.
 
dont get the pre-packaged shit, there's a ton of perservatives in their not too mention tons of sodium ..why do you need added sodium in deli meat that's already loaded with sodium ..get the fresh slicced stuff from an actual deli ...far far cheaper too


anyways if I dont make my lunch and just buy it more than once a week I feel like crap ..bad heartburn and if I eat out often enough I'll get a zit or two ..not too mention it's expensive to eat out every day
 
CptStern said:
dont get the pre-packaged shit, there's a ton of perservatives in their not too mention tons of sodium ..why do you need added sodium in deli meat that's already loaded with sodium ..get the fresh slicced stuff from an actual deli ...far far cheaper too


anyways if I dont make my lunch and just buy it more than once a week I feel like crap ..bad heartburn and if I eat out often enough I'll get a zit or two ..not too mention it's expensive to eat out every day
Click to expand...

Well no duh, but not everybody can get the stuff from an actual deli all the time.

Besides... Pastrami is cured with salt... tons of salt. It's an old method of preserving it, and is only still around because of the unique flavor it is. The sodium levels are astronomical either way and I challenge the claim that they add even more salt other than what was added to it in the preservation process.

On the preservative front, I'm all with you. Things like sodium nitrites and stuff are definitely not good for you. But then again, many things we eat aren't good for me.

With the salt though, I don't care about the salt. I eat nothing else that has salt anymore, and so I have to get my sodium by adding it in my oatmeal and on my steamed vegetables and lentils.
 
Raziaar said:
Besides... Pastrami is cured with salt... tons of salt. It's an old method of preserving it, and is only still around because of the unique flavor it is. The sodium levels are astronomical either way and I challenge the claim that they add even more salt other than what was added to it in the preservation process.
Click to expand...

Well, I had this packaged meat once, and each slice of meat had something like 40-50% of the daily sodium need, it was ****ing gross. Eatting straight salt wouldn't have been as salty.

Deli meat is definately the way to go, I also believe it's cheaper to get isn't it? That, and it's much healthier then packaged salt with some meat on the side.
 
Raziaar said:
Well no duh, but not everybody can get the stuff from an actual deli all the time.
Click to expand...

why not? every grocery store has a deli, it's far cheaper than the processed crap so I dont see what's stopping people from going to the deli instead of the aisle with the processed packaged meat.

Raziaar said:
Besides... Pastrami is cured with salt... tons of salt. It's an old method of preserving it, and is only still around because of the unique flavor it is. The sodium levels are astronomical either way and I challenge the claim that they add even more salt other than what was added to it in the preservation process.
Click to expand...

you can eat baloney or you can eat porscuitto, both are perserved with salt except one is heavily processed using meat by products that also includes entrail and bone/cartilage while the other isnt processed ...there's a world of difference ..even in things like say Salami ..a good italian salami will actualy have less fat than say Oscar Myer salami. italian salami is often made from good cuts of meat with no meat by products ..everytrhing Oscar mere makes is a by product
 
CptStern said:
you can eat baloney or you can eat porscuitto, both are perserved with salt except one is heavily processed using meat by products that also includes entrail and bone/cartilage while the other isnt processed ...there's a world of difference ..even in things like say Salami ..a good italian salami will actualy have less fat than say Oscar Myer salami. italian salami is often made from good cuts of meat with no meat by products ..everytrhing Oscar mere makes is a by product
Click to expand...

Bologna is not a meat that was traditionally preserved with salt to actually preserve it. Bologna has salt in it to mask and enhance flavors. Any preservation is an afterthought. Big difference there. You cannot compare something like bologna to pastrami and prosciutto.

Prosciutto are cured with salt, and os NOT cooked. Bologna is flavored with salt, and is cooked. Different ballparks my friend.
 
Raziaar said:
Bologna is not a meat that was traditionally preserved with salt to actually preserve it. Bologna has salt in it to mask and enhance flavors. Any preservation is an afterthought. Big difference there. You cannot compare something like bologna to pastrami and prosciutto.

Prosciutto are cured with salt, and os NOT cooked. Bologna is flavored with salt, and is cooked. Different ballparks my friend.
Click to expand...

you missed my point entirely ..it's not the level of salt but rather what goes into it ..even with twice the salt of baloney, prosciutto is still better for you because it's not processed like baloney is

wiki said:
Bologna sausage is generally made from low quality scraps of meat cuts. Such may be the origin of the slang word baloney, meaning "nonsense". However, US Government regulations define what meats and byproducts can be legally included in bologna. No more than 3.5% non-meat binders and extenders (such as nonfat dry milk, cereal, or dried whole milk) or 2% isolated soy protein may be used, and they must be listed in the ingredients statement on the product label by their common names
Click to expand...
 
CptStern said:
you missed my point entirely ..it's not the level of salt but rather what goes into it ..even with twice the salt of baloney, prosciutto is still better for you because it's not processed like baloney is
Click to expand...

Uhh... I know that. Why don't you think I know that? This conversation wasn't about bologna, it was about pastrami. Yes, packaged pastrami, but still, pastrami.

You can't ****ing nitpick about everything... people eat unhealthy things to indulge from time to time, and when I eat pastrami I don't care if it's from a deli or a package personally... the taste is roughly the same to me as I'm not an expert aficionado, and the nitrites and shit that's in it... oh well, it's not like I eat it frequently.


Anyways, back to the topic on hand...

my favorite food lately is 100% old fashioned oatmeal. This stuff is ****ing fantastic. I can eat it plain, with a bit of salt, or with a teaspoon of sugar and some salt for my 1/2 cup servings. Unbelievably good... it's like candy to me and it only takes me one and a half minutes in the microwave with water. It's not quick oatmeal or flavored oatmeal, just quaker's 100% old fashioned rolled oats.
 
I havent touched pastrami in years and even i know there's a world of difference between oscar meyer pastrami and pastrami cured at a deli, there is no comparison ..that's all I saying; prepackaged deli meat< deli meat cured/prepared on the premises
 
Well I doubt your average deli is going to prepare turkey pastrami. Jenny-O does have turkey pastrami... and I enjoy it. And it tastes ****ing fantastic for the occasional treat.
 
your average deli cures almost all of it's meat or they buy it already cured. the big grocery store chains that have delis outsource everything


btw you need to go to Montreal if you want good pastrami ..Schwartz's deli world famous for it's pastrami on rye (montreal smoked meat)
 
Raziaar, I'm not sure what you are trying to argue here.

Deli meat is not only a lot better than prepackaged shit as far as taste goes but as Stern pointed out it's a lot more healthy and usually quite a bit cheaper. So why in the world you be arguing against this? I know for a fact every grocery store I've been to has had turkey pastrami (which is nasty btw).

And I loled at 150 grams of deli meat, sounds like you are buying drugs with your fancy metric system.

To the OP. What kind of food are you looking for specifically? Just snack food? For what purpose?

I've been trying to eat small snacks at work every 2 hours to get my metabolism going. Here is the list of what I usually eat:

Snacks
- Gronola bars are cheap (store brand) and work great, try to find ones with high protein. I personally love nature valley but they get a little expensive, I buy mine on sale.
- Fresh fruit as has already been mentioned. It seems like there are endless fruit snacks, but fruit does have a bit of sugar.
- Wheat thins.
- Tortilla chips and salsa.

Lunch Food
- flour tortilla, butter, and green chile (hopefully you have a microwave)
- Sandwitches are always cheap, easy, and quick.
- Grilled chicken from the night before
- Pasta

The key is to make up a grocery list that will last you about a week. Once you get used to cooking at home it's really not that hard to keep at it. I don't eat out more than once a week.
 
I bought about 30 servings of ramen for $1.50, so that has the cost part down
 
I'm being VERY serious right nao.

lololol

Seriously CHICKEN SOUP is extraordinarily good for you, delicious and filling. You can make TONNES at a time and freeze/refrigerate it, and heat it up whenever. You could take it to work or whatever with you in a thermos. And it lasts for a long time too, if you store it right.

I made some tonight! Here's what I did, ready?

Ingredients
- One chicken carcass (With some meat left on it)
- Chicken scraps or a chicken breast (cooked)
- Two chicken stock cubes
- One large potato
- One medium carrot
- One leek (if you like leeks, you don't have to put this in however)
- A little cornflour if you like it thick but I prefer it without
- Salt and pepper

Mmk cook nao
1. Boil the chicken carcass for 2-3 hours. After 1 hour of this add the first stock cube
2. Add a little pepper and salt
3. Strain the water through a colander into a bowl, put it back into the saucepan and put onto boil. Throw the carcass out.
4. Chop the potato ,carrot and leek however you like, I diced them but you can roughly chop them if you like and boil until cooked, about 20-30 minutes usually. Add the other stock cube during this time. (cornflour goes in now if you want it)
5. Salt and pepper to taste.

6. VOILA. For like 8 servings of chicken soup it cost me under two quid.
 
water with a few noodles and bits of chicken wont satisfy Sinkoman's appetite, he's a growing boy flavoured water isnt going to cut it, you silly little girl with your dietary chicken soup


hmmm chicken soup ..hold the chicken please
 
No, chicken soup is lovely! You can put noodles in it and have CHICKEN NOODLE soup! It's filling, srsly.

Also you can have big thick bread (try baguette) which is cheap, and butter with it. It's not diet or anything, just cheap. I myself am EXTREMELY poor at the moment.
 
but girls feel full after eating a crouton, men need more than just soup

as much as I'm a fan of soup it cant be all you eat, at least not for men because then we would die ..horrible deaths where our stomachs just cave in on themselves from just eating soup
 
An extremely poor mans diet. Rice(brown or white), lentils, and oatmeal.

That's the bulk of my diet right now. There's other stuff in this house, but it's mostly super processed nasty shit. The only processed food I'm allowing myself to eat is the aforementioned turkey pastrami which is delicious.

Also eating frozen vegetables, steamed, but I wouldn't consider that a poor man's food.
 
Phobie said:
No, chicken soup is lovely! You can put noodles in it and have CHICKEN NOODLE soup! It's filling, srsly.

Also you can have big thick bread (try baguette) which is cheap, and butter with it. It's not diet or anything, just cheap. I myself am EXTREMELY poor at the moment.
Click to expand...

Jew! ;p

:E
 
Cormeh said:
The night before work, boil some penne pasta. At the same time, cook some diced/chopped chicken and mushrooms in a pan with vegetable/olive oil.

When the pasta is cooked (15-20 mins), drain it and add it to the chicken and mushrooms.

The next part can be done either way: add a jar of pasta sauce or make your own sauce*.

Mix it all in, put it in a dish to cool, then cover it and put it in the fridge. Next morning, put some in a tub and there's a nice, nutritious lunch. It can be eaten cold or microwaved. This is a cheap method depending on what you buy, and if you get your quantities right then the ingredients can last a few days.

* - Don't ask me on this, last time I tried it, it consisted of canned tomatos, garlic, salt and pepper. It was shit.

As for 15 minute break snacks, in all seriousness take fresh fruit. A banana, an apple and a handful of grapes will do the job.
Click to expand...

Are you trying to kill him? D:

Cheapest thing I eat is banana sandwiches. It's what, 15p for a banananana and 49p for a loaf. And if you want butter you can get a whole slab for 36p. If I wanted to each lunch on the cheap every day and get lotsa good stuff, that's what I would do. It would be like ?2 a week.
 
"Stern: He'll argue about everything from international Genocide to balogna."

Or

"Stern: Only cares about deli meats and America's stupidity."

:cheese:

All in good fun.
 
Reginald said:
Cheapest thing I eat is banana sandwiches. It's what, 15p for a banananana and 49p for a loaf. And if you want butter you can get a whole slab for 36p. If I wanted to each lunch on the cheap every day and get lotsa good stuff, that's what I would do. It would be like ?2 a week.
Click to expand...

I started making peanut butter and banana sandwiches after I got tired of the normal sliced meat and cheese sandwiches. They're pretty good.
 
Lean pockets if you want something good and not so unhealthy. Assuming you have a freezer at work to keep it in. Don't know how a small cooler would do.
 
Reginald said:
Are you trying to kill him? D:
Click to expand...
Wut? You blast a pre-cooked meal in the microwave to add heat if you so wish, if it's been properly prepared and stored there's no problems.

I do this all the time... you... why I oughta...

/shakes fist
 
Boiling anything for an extended period of time destroys much of its nutritional value.

IT ARE A FACT
 
Stigmata said:
Boiling anything for an extended period of time destroys much of its nutritional value.

IT ARE A FACT
Click to expand...

NO

You've been hot for as long as long as I've known you, and you're still goddamn delicious.
 
Only because you're considerate enough to keep the hot tub at a habitable temperature :3
 
Dave's sure right about that for vegetables. If you boil veg, you basically cook out all of the goodness into the water and get horribly bland and soggy veg. Steaming is the way forward for veg.

Mmmmm, asparagus.
 
What? Steamed veg? It's actually rather pleasant. Also tasty. Try some.
 
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