College Struggle Food

[Anonymous No.17226603]

What's extremely cheap & bulky food? I can't afford to eat everyday at University with their meal plan ($2,500) or even afford to eat only once every 2 days ($850) so I'm trying to find the cheapest quantities of food possible.
I want to atleast eat 2x a day for 111 days.
What I'm thinking is 1x Instant Oatmeal for Breakfast and 1x Noodles for Dinner. Each come in bulk in around 10 packs for $2.50. For 11 boxes of each, that's enough for 2 meals a day and comes to a total of $54.
What's some other extremely cheap bulk food?

[Anonymous No.17226619]

>>17226603
any combination of rice and beans can sustain you for a long time, add chopped veggies, do mexican (add taco season) or cajun (old bay), or whatever else you think of. add ground beef or pork occasionally and keep your leftovers frozen, waste nothing. a whole rice cooker pot of the stuff with some chopped capsicum and onion, with ground beef, might run you $10 and it'll make like 10 meals worth.

also I like to make kluski a lot, it's an egg/flour dumpling you can cook in soup broth. eggs and flour is as cheap as it gets and also if you make them good it's fucking delicious. just need some stock cubes. 3 eggs worth will make a normal meal for like 3 people or one gigantic meal for one.

[Anonymous No.17226623]

>>17226603
Just go to the grocery store and buy fatty steak cuts, potatoes and onions.

[Anonymous No.17226633]

Do American students not get a version of student welfare?

[Anonymous No.17226643]

>>17226633
No, University is about stealing as much money from students for four years.

[Anonymous No.17226645]

>>17226633
We can get loans and scholarships, however all my scholarships went towards tuition and the other fees, it's just meal plans holding me back. I don't feel like taking out a $2,000 loan just to eat decent

[Anonymous No.17226651]

>>17226603
Dried Beans and/or rice (buy them from a Mexican store, it'll be cheaper).
It's so tired a of a suggestion, but it's true. Get brown rice or white,
Help get at least a little bit more nutrition into you.

[Anonymous No.17226658]

>>17226651
>>17226603
Over* white

[Anonymous No.17226659]

>>17226603
For some ideas - http://libgen.lc/ads.php?md5=EE5B88E684E6186AE4778367AE9FCE2F

But for seriously cheap, you are looking at rice and beans with the occasional meat that is on sale. If you must have bread, it's usually worth it to make it yourself at least it was when I was dirt poor.

[Anonymous No.17226662]

>>17226633
Uh... No? Universities are EXTREMELY expensive here. A 4 year tuition to a decent in-state school is usually about $80,000, all taken out as a loan. It's predatory as fuck.

[Anonymous No.17226669]

If you cook from basic ingredients you will save a lot of money. Please eat eggs and meat and do spend enough money for nutrition. You are what you eat and if you don't eat well you won't feel well and you won't perform well in school.

[Anonymous No.17226673]

>not making stews with cheap cuts of meat
>not utilizing critical thinking to forward plan limited resources to sustain oneself
>not dumpster diving fresh resources
>not being a parasitic fuck and mooching off others
>not exploiting family for your selfish needs
>ngmi

[Anonymous No.17226681]

Lentil and potato stew.

You can make that shit CHEAP and in bulk and it will last forever in your fridge and freezer.

I use the Rancho Gordo lentil stew recipe. I can make 10 servings for like 10 bucks. Top with some bacon bits and a soft boiled egg and you can eat a really good meal for like $1.50 a serving.

[Anonymous No.17226685]

>>17226603
Yo, building off this again >>17226651,
If you somehow have access to a costco membership, pick up their $5 chickens (of not, it's still like only $7 for a rotisserieat a store). Eat the meat, use the remainder for stock (just whateveryou have left and water. Don'twaste your limitedmoney to huy vegis with it). You can use that stock fortify flavor in the grains and legumes you'll be having

The real answer to all this is to really just actually learn how to cook, read price tags, and buy shit on sale.

[Anonymous No.17226701]

>>17226685
You're drunk...go home...your intentions are pure...but you're drunk...thus invalidated

[Anonymous No.17226703]

>>17226603
Make sure you know how to creatively prepare so you don't get bored shitless with the same meal every day

[Anonymous No.17226720]

>>17226701
Fair :(

[Anonymous No.17226735]

>>17226603
TLMSR

[Anonymous No.17227228]

>>17226673
/thread

[Anonymous No.17227241]

>>17226603
shin ramen. Also the bulk bags of these since they contain lots of meat, are rather delicious, and if you can find the giant bags are like 60-70 pieces for 12 bucks.

[Anonymous No.17227245]

>>17227241
also buy and grow green onions to grow for the ramen, as you only have to buy them once and then put in some water and they grow forever. They also go well in omelettes since eggs are cheap.

[Anonymous No.17227323]

>>17226603
I was going to suggest filling up on vegetables because they're cheap and you should aim for at least 500g a day. But I was looking at Krogers website and uh...
>32 ounces broccoli in America
>$4.99
>32 ounces broccoli in England
>$0.72

How do you put up with this shit?

[Anonymous No.17227332]

>>17226673
Hard to cook food in bulk when you don't have a fridge sister

[Anonymous No.17227334]

i used to like replying to these threads but now it's all just so tiresome

if you do oatmeal, get some quality butter and melt that shit on top until it looks like olive oil on hummus. sprinkle brown sugar on top too. then take a piece of toast and eat it like hummus. it's pretty rad and the only dishes to wash are a bowl.

rice and beans
ramen and eggs
crackers and peanut butter
baked potatoes
hotdogs
egg salad sandwiches
crackers and tuna
bagels and cream cheese
vegetable soup

for the soup, all you need is a bouillon cube and tomato juice to make the broth. spicy V8 works particularly well. if you get it in cans, it will be a lot more expensive, but you will only need to open the one can and the rest are shelf stable for basically ever. or you can just buy the kroger jug for $1.79 for 46 fluid ounces

then, at a bare minimum, you need a can or frozen bag of mixed vegetables. the kroger brand (in a can) is 85 cents and contains: Carrots, Potatoes, Peas, Corn, Green Beans, Celery, Lima Beans

not a bad fucking ensemble, if you ask me. for extra flavor, dried italian seasoning and black pepper.

meanwhile, their "hearty vegetable soup" is $1.59

why not just do that? well, the tomato juice makes a fine drink from time to time. you can use the bouillon cubes in your ramen and beans. you'll learn to cook and it will give you something to do when you're bored. you might also decide to mix things up and toss in a small amount ground beef that's been browned. save yourself a couple ounces from a package and use the rest to make hamburger patties with ketchup. baked/roasted potatoes make good sides with those.

[Anonymous No.17227340]

>>17226603
if you are at a university, the cheapest way to eat is to find catered events. they are going on all around you.

[Anonymous No.17227543]

>>17226603
It's like 400 calories a day you're going to die

[Anonymous No.17227551]

this board really needs a sticky cope survival list for poorshits

[Anonymous No.17227559]

>>17226603
Noodles are such a dumb fucking meme, they're expensive for the amount of calories they got plus there's zero actual nutrients in them.
Get eggs and potatoes and rice and thos beans and some multivitamins.

[Anonymous No.17227592]

>>17226673
>cheap cut of meat
Even eye of round costs like 4$ a pound now. If there is a cheaper cut of meat still out there then please name it.

[Anonymous No.17227595]

>>17226603
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKfmRhfuI8g

[Anonymous No.17227600]

>>17226603
check food banks if you have them in your area, what you are describing is food insecurity and you shouldn't feel bad about taking advantage of resources designed for people like you.

[Anonymous No.17227613]

>>17226603
Rice, potatoes, most root vegtables. You can make granola for cheap and mix it with yogurt for easy breakfasts. Buy it unsweetened, and add honey or other too-sweet-for-microbes sugars that you can buy in large amounts yourself. Also, splurge on seasoning and herbs if you can,so that you dont go insane eating the same potatoes all day.

[Anonymous No.17227617]

>>17226603
The once a day every two days doesn't sound like a bad supplement plan. Normally eat cheap like rice, beans, eggs, etc. but then take advantage of that every other day deal. They might stack too. Though it depends how you're living and if you'll even have access to a kitchen and people who won't still your food.
Also sell your soul(data) to your regional grocery store giant by using their app and getting points to get stuff a little bit cheaper.

[Anonymous No.17227636]

the hardest part is psychological
you can get all your calories from oatmeal and noodles, but it will wear a toll on your mental health

[Anonymous No.17227643]

>>17227636
Meant to say this when saying get the cheaper plan. Maybe it's just how I've grown up though, but I can't eat the same thing every day. I don't know how some people eat rice every day.

[Anonymous No.17227651]

>>17227643
>how some people eat rice every day
that's easy for me, it's the protein and vegetables that needs to change

[Anonymous No.17228398]

>>17227323
we ignore veggies

[Anonymous No.17228416]

What is the setup of your university dining stations? Mine had a massive dining hall that required a meal pass to enter, but we also had several smaller canteen-style areas that offered a la cart options. I would steal at least 3x a week from the chick FIL a or another hot sandwich stop.

I always went at the busiest times of day with longest lines to blend in the most. The place was also staffed with student workers who were preoccupied thinking about their next test or getting laid at Saturdays party. You waited in one long line to pick up the prewrapped sandwich from one station, then had to walk to a different line to enter the pay station. I would always grab the loot, meander very slowly as if I was heading to the second line, and then just kinda keep slowly walking past the end of it. No one ever noticed. I stole thousands of dollars worth of free food that way during college. Don't starve yourself, your brain doesn't work as well undernourished and then you will get shit grades and flunk out, at which point it would be better not to have gone at all. Keep scoping your options anon.

[Anonymous No.17228589]

>>17226603
You can get a sack of potatoes for cheap, they are also the most satiating food. Stab some holes in them and microwave them. You can probably steal salt and pepper packets from your school cafeteria, you may even be able to snag some butter packets from your classmates left overs.

Eggs are pretty cheap and you can do a lot with them. Add to ramen, have with breakfast, hard boil them, egg salad sandwiches, the list goes on.

A box of noodles and a can of crushed tomatoes is cheap, just be sure to cook the tomatoes for a bit to get the flavor not as acidic. You might add some sugar packets you steal from cafeteria as well to kill the acid in the sauce.

Pasta salads are generally cheap as well, you can make those with noodles and various other left over veggies and meats.

[Anonymous No.17228600]

>>17226603
Bulk by dry ingredients like pasta, beans, lentils, rice, and shelf-safe wet goods like tomato paste, chicken broth, etc. Buy the cheapest meat you can find in the morning on the day you intend to make and leave to thaw on your kitchen counter. Learn how to cook. Don't resort to cheap meals, or you'll be a malnourished pile of cartilage before graduation.

[Anonymous No.17228612]

>>17226633
Welcome to America where hospital visits routinely cost you thousands and higher education loans are the only debts you cannot escape from by declaring bankruptcy. Even if you die, student loan debt collectors will find a way to squeeze money outta your corpse.

[Anonymous No.17228680]

>>17226603
You cooking in a microwave or do you have access to a stove? That’ll have a huge impact on what you can make. I highly suggest investing in a tub of protein for when things get really tight

[Anonymous No.17229093]

>>17226603
if its a buffet style meal hall just buy some tupperware and sneak out 3-4 meals in a bag

[Anonymous No.17230529]

>>17226603
Search "chicken thigh recipes"

[Anonymous No.17230570]

>>17226603
$2500 is not a lot of money anon. If you took a part time job after work you'd earn that in 2 weeks. Probably worth it if we are talking about an Aramark food court type deal with all you can eat food. You can also just do the every other day thing and steal food

[Anonymous No.17230587]

go to the store, probably walmart.
buy TWO potatoes
buy TWO onions
buy ONE head of garlic
buy a HALF pound of meat from the butcher, whole.
That costs me maybe $5, lasts me an entire week. Grate the shit into a pan, fry it. If you have it on hand, add in flour for texture. You're welcome.
Rice and beans are great but they make me want to kill myself just like ramen does. There's literally nothing stopping you from getting a single potato, a single onion, single mushroom, etc etc.

[Anonymous No.17230624]

>>17226603
just don't eat, you fat slut

[Anonymous No.17231352]

>>17230587
That's like maybe a pound of food. How does that last you 7 days?

[Anonymous No.17231368]

[Anonymous No.17231530]

Get food stamps. Its free money

[Anonymous No.17231542]

>>17230587
bulk taters and onions are cheap
you don't need to pay loose prices

[Anonymous No.17231617]

Knorr bullion and white rice. Voila

[Anonymous No.17231637]

>>17226603
I ate a lot of bean burgers in college. Drain off two cans of black beans and mash them with a potato masher or fork and then place them in a bowl (I prefer to mash the beans on a pie plate because of the high walls and flat bottom but a regular plate works, too). Try to keep some of the liquid in with the beans, though, as it can keep the burgers from being brittle.
Dice a jalapeño and half an onion and add them to the bowl along with any spices of your choice (I use salt, pepper, chili powder, and cumin). Finally, add half a cup of bread crumbs.
Mix all of the ingredients together with your hands until it becomes a homogeneous loaf. Then, break off bits and roll into balls before forming them into patties. It makes 7-8 burgers. I've grilled, fried, and baked them with good results.
Should cost around $3-$4 for a batch, a little more if you put them on rolls.

[Anonymous No.17231647]

>>17231637
You pick up any dumb granola whores by saying you did it to save Bambi or whatever

[Anonymous No.17231695]

>>17230587
>TWO potatoes
>TWO onions
>ONE head of garlic
>a HALF pound of meat
>lasts me an entire week
This anon is clearly a skeleton, and doesn't into sustenance OP

[Anonymous No.17232191]

>>17226603
get a cheap rice cooker and bags of white rice. if you have money left over, buy some cheap meat like spam. if you can't figure out how to feed yourself, you have no business being in university.

[Anonymous No.17233125]

>Buy family pack of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (or quarters, those are usually cheaper)
>Buy frozen broccoli
>Buy rice, doctor up with some butter, sliced garlic, salt and pepper (stir fry it similar to making fried rice)
Wa-la. A balanced meal that ends up being like <$2 per serving. Bake a chicken thigh in some neutral oil (or olive oil) with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and really whatever you want. Soften broccoli in the microwave and then sautee in neutral oil with salt, pepper and garlic powder.