Help! Cheap, enduring, pre-prepared food.

[Salt n' pepper]

Seriously, an oven opens a lot of opportunities! You can also dry food in there which will make it last longer.

 

[Ivy]

I've never made a chicken or turkey before. Worst housewife ever.

 

[rav3n]

Ivy, it's easier than making mac and cheese. Really.

 

[Magic Poriferan]

I'm liking a lot of these ideas so far. I'm thinking I'm gonna get the wraps.

I've had potato bread plenty of times, I was not aware that it never goes bad.

I like hard-boiled eggs for the most part. I've never leaned how to fry or poach an egg, I guess I could try if I felt like risking a semi-wasted egg or two.

 

[Sparrow]

mmm gyoza (aka pot stickers, aka yaki mandu)

You can buy frozen bags...they taste great steamed or fried .

 

[gromit]

I like eating things like nuts, dried fruit, cheese and crackers, carrots and hummus, etc. Some of those go bad, but I think if you get them in small quantities, then it should be okay. They require pretty much no preparation.

They also have these weird packs of Indian food at a lot of grocery stores for something like $2. If you have some rice or bread or crackers and maybe some cheese or something, each pack can last for two meals. They are sealed in like a plastic bag/container and you cut off the top. If you enjoy Indian, they're pretty good (considering they come from a sealed plastic unit, I mean)...

Do you have a Trader Joe's near you? That place is awesome in terms of prepared foods.

I don't know if somebody said this, but you can freeze half the loaf of bread and then take it out later (I usually end up toasting each slice before I eat it if I freeze it, but it's still fine).

 

[Randomnity]

why do you need to get stuff that lasts a long time? if you live in a city of any size, grocery stores should be near enough that shopping once a week shouldn't be a hardship. Many fresh things will last a week, and the ones that won't can be eaten at the start of the week. Just don't buy more than you'll eat, and EAT LEFTOVERS.

As well as leftovers, vegetables, fruit, cheese, nuts and bread are all instant. might be more expensive than ramen but you won't feel like crap all the time either. Freeze the other half of your sliced bread or bagels, it comes apart easily and when toasted tastes exactly the same (untoasted tends to be soggy unfortunately).

but I must admit, ramen+a crapload of frozen veggies (at least the same volume as the noodles) is my guilty insta-meal of choice. Cooks in <5 minutes including time to boil the water, which is most of the time needed - and I always have both stored. Not all that healthy though, despite the veggies.

 

[ceecee]

I'm liking a lot of these ideas so far. I'm thinking I'm gonna get the wraps.

I've had potato bread plenty of times, I was not aware that it never goes bad.

I like hard-boiled eggs for the most part. I've never leaned how to fry or poach an egg, I guess I could try if I felt like risking a semi-wasted egg or two.

All bread goes bad. I would freeze a loaf, take what you might need for a few days and keep that in a ziolock bag or plastic container. Wraps are good. Pita bread can be stuffed with anything too.

 

[Oberon]

Bread freezes very nicely. Buy a loaf, put 1/3rd of it in a bag in your fridge, and the rest in the freezer. The bread in the freezer will keep until you need it.

 

[Oberon]

My five-year-old makes for herself (and loves) the basic toaster-oven quesadilla. Take a flour tortilla and dust half of it with a thick layer of shredded cheese. Fold the other half over on top, and put the whole folded assembly in the oven (or toaster oven, as the case may be) on high heat just long enough to make the cheese gooey.

If you don't want to heat up an oven for this, they can also be made in under ten minutes on the stove top using a skillet. You can make two, eat one and keep one for later.