cheap eats?

[lisasimpson87]

damn, that title was definitely supposed to be "cheap" not "cheat" but i cant edit it....it's probably more interesting this way anyway..
hey guys, ill be living in a dorm this summer and will be really busy interning and stuff and won't have time to cook (not that i know how, anyway). ill also be living on a budget so i can't eat out all the time, other than mcdonald's or something, but i'd rather not. i was in the same situation last summer, and i did something like: piece of fruit for breakfast, peanut butter sandwich for lunch with a different piece of fruit, cereal for dinner (oh, plus i took a vitamin)
i really can't imagine doing another summer of that and was hoping you guys would have some quick meal ideas for me. anyone? is there any way to eat a well-balanced diet like this? thanks

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[SB100]

Cereal

BTW, where are you interning?

 

[bawer234]

Food brands will depend on the area you live in but an I tip i can give you is to buy the cheaper "store" brand. For example, I love spagetio's(spelling?). Instead of buying the expensive name brand (around $1.50/can), I look for the cheaper "Kroger" store brand which is just $0.80/can. The food tastes very similar and saves you a ton of money.

 

[surfstarj]

pasta. as long as you don't use oversweetened, store-bought sauce. i can give you a few good recipes if you're interested.

 

[moe_4eva]

My advice is to build up a stock up spices and essential supplies like flour, olive oil, etc. now while you still have money. Try out different recipes that are quick and easy, as these are typically cheap as well. For example, my fiancee loves when I cook a simple grilled cheese sandwich using potato bread, store brand american cheese (from the butcher's block), and a bit of butter melted into the pan. I can usually get 3-4 meals of this for 2 people for around $15 if you include a can of soup. That's about $2.50 a meal for each of us.

Another one of my favorites is to make pizza, since all that essentially entails is mixing flour, yeast, water, honey, and olive oil along with whatever toppings you enjoy. I can make around 5-10 12" for about $30-$40 including toppings. At a max, I'm spending $8 a pizza, but those can feed me for about 2 days, so about $4 a meal.

Think outside the box. What do you enjoy eating at restaurants? Try to bring that into what you make at home, although you can skimp on some of the more expensive ingredients usually.

 

[kami333]

Get a crock pot, set it up before you go to work, dinner will be ready in the evening. Eat dinner, then portion into servings and freeze. Unfreeze and eat throughout the week as necessary.

Spaghetti sauce. Make a huge pot of it on the weekend (just stew a couple cans of tomatoes with some mushrooms for the whole day), as the week goes on add different meats and spices, you can make it curry-like, into chili, etc and have it with spaghetti/pasta, on pita bread, on rice, etc.

 

[redlight]

would frozen tv dinners be out of the question? or stuff like lunchables?
or something like subway/quiznos for $5 foot longs? that can be split into two meals

 

[ohhowiwish]

Two words: forman Grill

worth the investment IMO and your stomach will thank you esp after your experiences last summer

edit : SORRY! WRONG BOXER BEFORE

 

[BluePhoenix]

You could always get one of those forman grills. They're pretty cheap and make dinner a touch better when you can have something hot or "grilled" every now and then. I used one for about a year and just made various hot sandwiches with deli meat and cheese and whatnot. You can also do grilled fruit or veggies on them. If you don't have a kitchen or a meal plan though, it can be helpful. Also, try out the ziplock steam baggies...they work great and you can steam meat and veggies and stuff in just the microwave. You can even add spices and whatnot. They're pretty cheap too, especially compared to the prepackages steam-in-the-bag veggies.

 

[chad5871]

Make a huge thing of green-bean casserole and stick it in the fridge. Then just eat portions of it re-heated with other vegetables and meat, etc.

Don't rely too much on Ramen noodles - the high sodium content is not good for you (although I'm sure you already know this).

 

[Jolie South]

Don't rely too much on Ramen noodles - the high sodium content is not good for you (although I'm sure you already know this).

. . not to mention the complete lack of nutritive value.

 

[87138]

Buy bulk brown rice and skinless boneless chicken breast (in bulk if you can). Cook up a big pot of rice and a bunch of the chicken breasts on a Sunday. If you invest in a few tupperware containers, you now have extremely healthy and extremely cheap meals for much of the week.