How can i spend the least amount of money possible on food

how do u cook rice, just add water?

 

1 cup water per 1/2 cup rice...bring to boil and let sit

 

buy stuff on sale when you can. stock up on non-perishables, but ONLY ones you will eat. it doesnt help you to be up to your eyeballs in brussel sprouts if you dont like them.

frozen vegetables are easier to keep on hand in your freezer, pick up fresh when you can, or grow a small garden for things you use, particularly herbs.

and learn the skills of cooking. how to make bread (i buy yeast in bulk and keep it in a jar in the fridge. lasts damn near forever.) how to make things from scratch.

if you eat meat, use this rule: only buy what is $2 or less per pound for regular eating. its ok to buy steak or crab legs for a special occasion, but you dont want to shell out for that all the time.

beans are good, kidney beans have to be cooked thouroughly...
"In raw form, kidney beans can contain excessively high amounts of a potentially toxic substance called phytohemagglutinin. This substance is classified as a lectin glycoprotein, and in sufficiently high amounts it has been shown to disrupt cellular metabolism. The amount of this toxin in beans is usually measured in terms of hemagglutinating units, or hau. In their raw form, red kidney beans can contain 20,000 to 70,000 hau. This number drops down to 200 to 400 hau with fully cooked red beans. White kidney beans start off with about 1/3rd less hemagglutinin than red ones."

beans should ALWAYS be soaked. it might be my altitude, but i find that "quick soak" instructions just dont cut it. no less than 4 hours in my house, i usually start them soaking the night before, after dinner. change the water befoe i go to bed, then start cooking them in the morning, with fresh water. DO NOT SALT BEANS until they are done cooking.
great northern, white navy, pintos. and cowpeas (black-eye peas) are our favorites around here, but we keep a lot of backup and variety. dont overlook split peas and lentils either, lentils cook fast for something dry, and they dont have to be soaked. they are really good for you too.

for rice i do 1 cup rice to 2 cups water. pinch of salt. little butter. everything goes in a small saucepan, bring to a boil. boil at a medium temperature until the water is JUST at the level of the rice, turn down to a simmer, cover, and continue cooking for 15-20 minutes. for more flavor you can use chicken broth in place of all or some of the water. which brings us to....

chicken/ beef soup base. find someone who has access to sams club or costco, and get some. keep it in the fridge, and you can make stock at your convenience, and to whatever concentration you desire. also, if you do any large roasts (say thanksgiving turkey, for example) you can take the bones and scraps, and some veggies (carrots, celery, onion) and make your own stock. just cover with water and simmer until everything is limp and valling apart, then strain. reduce to a concentration you are happy with, and pour off into containers. i usually keep one in the fridge and the backup in the freezer. i will be getting silicone ice cube trays soon, and will freeze stock in them, then pop them out into a baggie.

the best way to save money on food is to spend time on it instead.

 

Brown rice and lentils. Cook them together in the same pot... they have the same cooking time. You'll never starve and they can be quite good with some salsa and cheese. Or what ever else you want.

 

perhaps you could explain where you live and what exactly your budgetary constraints are

you may be able to get government assistance with food (food stamps in the us) or food from a community pantry charity

growing your own might be good, if you have the skill for it, though I'm skeptical that an indoor food growing operation would be cost effective

as was mentioned above, adjusting your budget in other ways might be better

 

get on the EBT ...

 

if you buy everything we recommending you will be broke

 

load up a cart full of stuff. have a pick up truck waiting outside and a friend to help u lift it. ... dont stop at the check out.. just roll on out. if you fill up the cart with shrimp and lobster. youll create suspicion. so just get normal food. and remember cases of soda are heavy when you have 10 of them.

 

I think she,s after the cheapest food that isnt shit. Are actually nutritious are going fill you up andnot make you hungry

Bananas would top the list, depending where you are, how much they cost

White rice, potatoes anything with a lot of starch would be a no no even though thery do fill you up

Lentils, beans, noodles, cabbage, pumpkin all dirt cheap just add soy sauce

For meat, blade steak is usually the cheapest, crap on its own, but after a couple hours in a casserole in a slow cooker is yum, and you can do a couple kgs at a time and freeze it. A dozen meals or so for like $15

Or big cans of tuna, as you should eat lots of fish, thats the cheapest source of fish

 

You can also get really cheap 50lb sacks of beans. At least, you can here. I don't know how much they cost, but not lots. You do have to soak them and such, but ehh...

Of course, living on rice and beans, without the backbreaking work to accompany it, you will be a grade-a fatass.

 

You could scope out the rear of the store, find the employee cigarette break door for the general direction you want to go, dump some pudding all over the bathroom and tell an employee you REALLY need to go, and the bathroom's a mess, and can you use the employee one.... use that to check out the back. (Or, just make friends with an employee).

Then, next time when you're there (ideally slow staff time, fast customer time) take your shit out the back, to similarly waiting truck.

 

I knew this crackhead that worked for family dollar. hed steal soap and stupid stuff, once you have some, you dont need again kinda shit. Suave shampoo, linen, the socks were nice to get all the time. but he was stupid and tried to steal electronics, you know the stuff they really keep track off. how many dvd players do I need, player?

 

Going to jail in order to cut your food budget is extreme.....

Learn how to cook with things like a slow cooker as you can cook cheaper cuts of meat and have them turn out really great.

Also make things that you can use to make another meal, a whole chicken can be roasted for dinner, sandwiches for lunch, a casserole another night and the bones can be made into soup.

Watch store flyers for specials and plan meals around what is available at a good price.

Cook from scratch as it not only tastes better but it is healthier and cheaper than prepared foods.

 

Hoppin' john is a good cheap one pot meal. Equal parts black eyed peas and brown rice with chopped garlic, green onions, salt & pepper, etc to taste.

The ultimate is wild crafting.......this is a good reference or a similar ref for your area...http://northernbushcraft.com/index.htm

 

reconsider dumpster diving, it's a noble pursuit :2thumbsup:

 

i'm not destitute or anything. i'm just feeling overwhelmed by grocery shopping. i live in an apt. building and i don't have a car and i'm allergic to wheat and dairy. so, ok, i just got back from buying 19 dollars worth of peanut butter, hot dogs, carrots and bananas. there's a dollar store nearby that sells milk substitutes so i could buy that there and make banana milk and peanut butter shakes. those will def fill me up. prolly shouldn't have bought the hot dogs tho. sometimes i shoplift a bag of corn chips but i prolly shouldn't do that. i totally appreciate all of the suggestions.

 

Well now I wouldn't say that. You don't have to pay for your food when in jail.

 

I always feel that way after getting hotdogs too lol but warm meat is nice on occasion and it's cheap. otherwise go for the sardines! Or tuna and some club crackers bam $1 meal.
Also those pasta side things in the bag for like a dollar rock! Chicken fettuccini is really good

 

some cheap foods and simple cooking methods
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if you have a microwave-safe dish, cutting board, a knife, and maybe a vegetable peeler, you can cook foods just fine

to cook carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes

the carrots should probably be peeled, but not the potatoes. chop them up with a knife, put them in the microwave-safe dish. cook on high for 5 minutes

oatmeal

get a container of generic rolled oats. put some in a microwave-safe dish with a little water. cook for 2 minutes

(please note, too much oatmeal can be a problem if you have low hdl cholesterol)

frozen peas and other frozen vegetables

put some in the dish with some water. the rest in the bag that you don't use can be closed and put in a freezer

cook for 5 minutes

a pressure cooker is useful for cooking dried beans. dried beans are cheap and very nutritious.

directions on a cooker will tell you how long to cook the beans and with how much water

you can also cook rice in a pressure cooker, but you have to be careful because rice can foam up and clog the pressure regulator vent

fresh cooked whole foods are generally better for you than processed foods, as well as being cheaper typically

hot dogs are convenient, but for the price and nutritional value, there are better options

from the perspective of traditional chinese dietary therapy, too many bananas may make you feel lethargic

 

oh yeah, i forgot about tuna. canned tuna is great! i usually wait until it's on sale and buy 5 or 6 cans.