Help! Cheap, enduring, pre-prepared food.

[Magic Poriferan]

So, I've been getting used to this whole thing with living on my own. Regarding food, it's not hard to find cooking ingredients that are cheap, and last a long time (and are even nutritious). Canned beans is a good example. A giant bag of rice is another. And fortunately I know how to cook.

But as happy as I am with my ability to cook stuff, and proud as I am to shirk convenience, I'm finding that having no readily edible food is wearing on me. I don't really feel like cooking a lot of stuff and cleaning a lot of pots when I'm really hungry because the only thing to eat is what I'm preparing at that moment.

So, I want stuff I can eat right away, but I want to save money. What's ready-made stuff I can buy cheap but will last me a while?

For example, I have peanut butter, and I bought bread, but it went moldy on me before I even got half-way through it. I'm going to give bread another chance, but I want other ideas. What else should I consider getting?

 

[miss fortune]

pasta and sauce? tuna? frozen stir fry vegetables and sauce and instant rice? (thinking through things that I've thrown together for super quick dinners after a long day)

 

[Salt n' pepper]

One thing you could do is cook up a storm while you're on it and put it in the freezer. And you could just throw that in the microwave when you're hungry.
Same thing with bread, especially if you own a toaster. You can just toss the loaf in the freezer, and take out as many as you'd like to eat and put them in the toaster to heat them up.

If you don't want anything heated up, or would like for it to go even faster, I recommend buying crisp bread or rye bread. Those will last a long time! And you can eat them with your peanut butter.

Wait..
*pokes around in the fridge*

Back. Instant mashed potatoes! And as for veggies, I've found that carrots lasts pretty long.

 

[Domino]

How about pretzels? If you just want something to crunch on that isn't cooked, pretzels come in giant bags. I know that chips et al can be pricey no matter what.

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

Oatmeal is the first thing I thought of. It's cheap and takes only as long to cook as it takes to boil water. You could also use crackers instead of bread for peanut butter, crackers keep a nice long time. Canned tuna is another good idea (if not especially cheap), and something else that goes well on crackers. Eggs are pretty cheap, very nutritious and also easy to cook quickly.

 

[cafe]

Hard boiled eggs, cook a bunch of them and grab one from the fridge when you want a snack.

 

[Ivy]

Many good suggestions so far. Boiled eggs, if you like them, are terrific self-contained snacks. Do you have a microwave? That opens up your choices considerably. I agree with Salt & Pepper that keeping your bread in the freezer is a good solution for the mold problem. If you can't microwave thaw it a slice or two at a time as needed, then you could just take out a handful of slices before bed and then they'll be there for you for the next few days, then when they're gone, grab another handful. Freezing individual portions of meals when you cook is a good idea too. Just make it a habit to cook more than you actually want, and freeze the remainders for later.

You can do the same thing with frozen burritos- if you don't like or don't want to rely on the premade kind, just whip up a bunch of tortillas stuffed with refried beans, and freeze individually for reheating later. They'll need other toppings (cheese, salsa, etc) but those are fairly easy to keep around.

 

[Magic Poriferan]

Ah, I've been reminded. It's probably important for you to know that I don't have a microwave.

 

[Salt n' pepper]

Ah, I've been reminded. It's probably important for you to know that I don't have a microwave.

Oven?

 

[Magic Poriferan]

Oven?

Yes, oven.

 

[JocktheMotie]

Potato bread lasts forever.

Same with some tortillas, just toss them in the fridge and make wraps. Grill/cook about a weeks worth of chicken breast and toss those in the fridge for salads/wraps/sammiches.

That's what I do. I hate cooking so much. Bring on the food pills.

 

[Salt n' pepper]

Yes, oven.

That should work too! Although it might take a while longer to heat it up. Also, with an oven you could make some awesome garlic bread! Take the bread out of the freezer, smear some garlic on it and drizzle some olive oil on it. Yummy!

I really love ovens because you can prepare a lot of food in there using only one pan.

 

[Tiltyred]

With no microwave, you need to invest in, like, pyrex containers to freeze your food in. Take your homemade frozen dinner out of the freezer and put it in the lowest part of the refrigerator while you're gone, and then put it in the oven when you come back, and it shouldn't take more than about 20 minutes to heat up.

Do you object to microwaves?

 

[Domino]

We could just eat Jock.

 

[JocktheMotie]

Now that's just mean!

I'd be way too stringy anyways.

 

[Sparrow]

Fruit!

Mac n Cheese or other pre made dinners by Stouffers -all natural (i think)

Cereal

Pre packaged smoked salmon

Pre cooked & packaged rotisserie chicken

 

[Kingfisher]

i used to live off canned chili, straight from the can.

 

[Tiltyred]

You can get SO MUCH out of a rotisserie chicken. You can have open face hot chicken sandwiches, cold chicken salad with raisins and grapes and scallions and celery, with Triscuits, then throw the carcass into a pot of water and boil all the meat off, to make stock. From the stock, you can make tortilla soup, chicken noodle, chicken & rice, etc.

 

[Ivy]

Very true. I just made chicken & dumplings with the remains of a rotisserie chicken we tucked into a couple days ago.

 

[rav3n]

Better yet, roast your own chicken. Sooooo easy. Wash chicken under tap water, then pat dry. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and rub some garlic on it. Melt a little butter in a sauce pan with a small amount of olive oil. Rub all over the chicken.

Roast in a preheated 325 degree oven breast side up, until the juices run clear when you slice between the thigh and the body. If it's a fryer chicken which are smaller than a roaster, around an hour.

Now you have meat for any number of days depending on how much you eat. I like to slice the meat into thin slices, package in portions and freeze for sandwiches at any time.

The bones you can simmer into soup stock which can also be frozen for future consumption.