Cheap food list

Hey guys, so I'm in college now and prety much scraping by with my scholarship and job money, any cheap foods you can tell me I can get? I would prefer something healthy above anything else, but just plain cheap nourishment works. Maybe meal ideas, stuff like that. Here are some cheap foods I can (and already) have right now:

Top Ramen- $0.15 per packet

Vienna sausages- $0.50 per can

Bananas- $0.69 per ounce

Mio- $4.00 for 24 servings

Kraft Mac n Cheese- $1.00 per box

I also dish out extra for necessities like milk and cereal, but mainly I'm looking for cheap food, so I don't have to go looking all over the store. Hopefully more then mainly pastas, but I don't want to use the same standbys and hopefully branch out into some nice recipes or at least somewhat healthy meals.

I know you are in college, I went to college too a decade ago. But trust me, eating that crap will lead to health problems when you get older. Here is what I recommend:

Chili- Ground meat, tomato sauce, kidney beans, onions and chili seasoning. You can easily make this for under $5 for a medium batch, and a large batch will feed you for several days.

Spaghetti- Ground meat, tomato sauce, pasta, onions, garlic, oregano, basil. You can make a medium batch for around $6, and a large batch will feed you for several days.

Chicken Caesar Salad- a head of Romaine lettuce, a pound or two of chicken, a little Mozerella cheese, some Caeser dressing. Can make a very large salad for about $4, will feed you for a couple of days. Helps your digestive system.

Homemade pizza-Crust-1.5 cups of flour, cup of water, pack of dry yeast, 2tsp olive or canola oil, 1tsp salt, seasoning to taste. Blend and let rise for one hour. Then spread on an oiled pan. Sauce- 15oz tomato sauce, oregano, basil, garlic powder, black pepper. Season to taste. Can be heated in the microwave for 2 minutes. Spread lightly over the crust, if the sauce is soaking into the crust drizzle some oil onto the crust. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and whatever toppings you want. Bake at 500F for about 14 minutes. You can make a decent-sized pizza for about $4-$5, depending on your toppings. This can feed you for at least two meals, unless you are a really big eater.

Roast Chicken Sub- Roll of french bread, some boneless chicken breasts, whatever seasoning or barbecue sauce you like, lettuce, cheese, tomato. Roast the chicken in the oven at 400F for about 20 minutes with whatever sauce you want. Then toast the bread for about 10 minutes. Cut the bread open and stuff it with the chicken, sauce, cheese, lettuce and tomato. Makes a very large sandwich for $4 or $5, will feed you for at least two meals.

You would do good by getting a cookbook. They have cookbooks all over for cheaper meals. A good pressure cooker would be a good investment. You can get something like a beef roast, throw in some vegetables and let it cook while you are in class. Roasts are not that expensive, and are very filling and tasty. A good set of tupperware would also be a really great investment.

Think about things like this, your body will thank you for it when you get older.

Totinos party pizza. They sell for only 1$ and they're actually pretty big for being cheap. They're yummy too..

It's hard to say exactly because prices for food can vary depending on what grocery stores you have access to. I think you can eat a little better than what you have listed. Assuming you have a fridge and a stove/oven, chicken is cheap, easy to cook, and can be prepared probably a hundred different ways. Thigh meat is usually cheaper and I think also tastes better. You can buy in bulk and freeze them. Oatmeal as someone mentioned. Fruit. Potatoes. Canned veggies. Eggs can be bought in bulk for pretty cheap. Bread and materials for samiches can go a long way. I love peanut butter and jelly. A head of lettuce, dressing and some croutons.

If you don't know how to cook I would suggest learning and if you have a Walmart that has a grocery store in it nearby that would be a good place for you to shop.

Get some of them microwave burritos!

Oatmeal.Lonelynight

I often go to Wal-Mart to do my shopping, and sometimes at Sweetbay or Publix.

These are great, I am looking to keep my meals under $5 so I don't spend hundreds a month on excess groceries. Right now my diet of tuna, ramen and crackers isn't too healthy so I made this thread to make a little healthy (but still affordable) change to that.

I'll still eat some Ramen now and then and Tuna is definitely still healthy and great, but I know excessively eating these things isn't great for my body, and I definitely want to eat things that go well with working out so I'm not counteracting what I do at the gym with what I eat at home.

I definitely could use some cheap recipes and prices for ingredients and where I could buy them. My limit of "$5 or less" per dinner is what I want to stick with, but if its a little over I can dig it.

i'm 10 years out of college and one of my staple meals still is ramen noodles. My wife and I found that a good way to save on the food bill is to plan out your menu for the week and then shop for that. Going to the store with no clue of what you plan to eat leads to buying excess or food that you didn't need.wolfbm

[QUOTE="wolfbm"]i'm 10 years out of college and one of my staple meals still is ramen noodles. My wife and I found that a good way to save on the food bill is to plan out your menu for the week and then shop for that. Going to the store with no clue of what you plan to eat leads to buying excess or food that you didn't need.hippiesanta

Hey, if you eat a lot of Ramen it doesn't mean you are unhealthy. Maybe he's got great genes, works out a lot and eats other things.

Heck, a close buddy of mine is 150 with great muscles and his main meal is Ramen.

Oatmeal.Lonelynight

Yes, you can have cheap foods without loads of salt like Ramen noodles and vienna sausage. Ham and beans comes to mind also.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Grilled cheese.

Just make sure you have bread, pasta, and rice because from there you have a base to have healthy and cheap meals all the time.

Eggs are fairly cheap.

throw in some cheese and you have an omellete and add a little basil for some extra flavor.

Also rice (not sure how cheap it is) is a food that expands as you cook and thus a bag of it goes a long way.

Ramen noodles are your best bet for sure, I see you have that on your list. You can't really get better food than that within that price range.