cheap lunches and dinners

[aveareya]

Hi Guys - looking for cheap lunch and dinner options. Of course the tried and true ramen- recently figured out how to nuke it which helps.  Bags of fruit that I can munch on - cheaper than potato chips if I cut up apples and have them by my desk. A few things like stroganoff and sketti - but really don't have many really cheap things for food. Got

Comments

[pipistrella]

I'm with lili there - pasta is your friend. So is rice. You can mix anything with rice.

I do think, however, that food might not be the best place to start cutting your budget. Eating out gets crazy expensive, I know, but you do need to eat enough. Could you maybe cut the air conditioner and use fans instead for a couple of weeks? You already carpool to work, right?

[touchstone]

In general, it's probably safe to assume that the less preparation has already been done, the cheaper the food will be

[outlawcoon]

Veggies can be more hit and miss than you might expect, on price. However, a lot of the non-exotics are fairly cheap and they certainly stretch food out.

Starches are actually cheaper but have a lot less nutrition. Carbs are fuel but still make sure that you're eating enough other stuff to not suffer College Freshman Scurvy(tm).

[technoir]

pick up a beef jerky drier. Make jerky at home and take it as well as dried fruit. Jerky has less fat than chips, more protien, and really has more energy and nutrition to it than pasta.

Also I have to admit I like the 100 calorie snack bags and and slim fast. They are realatively cheap filling things to help you not so hungery till you get home and can get a real meal.

I also drink enough water to help me fill full even when I am not.

[outlawcoon]

Oh, and specifically, Kroger has a '13 bean soup' dried bean mix which is cheap and filling. I ate it all the time in college. I'd eat it now but sulleniguana is allergic to lentils. Silly iguana.

Casseroles also help stretch out meat and many are pretty easy.