Cheap & Healthy: The College Way

Originally Posted by horseman85

Alright then, a good suggestion along those lines is the vegetarian stir-fry. Get some chopped veggies (and meat if you have the money) into the pan. Add some sauce (soy, teriyaki, louisiana, anything goes really). Cook on medium until veggies are soft/meat cooked. Cook up some rice to go along with the stir-fry.

I couldn't agree more. You can also use a slightly different cooking method with this to go with either pasta or curry. Instead of stir-frying, just put things in a saucepan with a tiny bit of oil and the turn the heat to low and let them simmer until they look edible. You can get pasta/curry sauces in pretty much any store, although you can also make your own.

I do suggest that the first thing you put in should be your onions and spices. There should always be lots of chopped onion. If you're cooking stir-fry, the essential spice is ginger, for curry it's chili and for pasta, garlic. You can add others to your taste, of couse. After that, it's root vegetables next, and then others in the order according to how soft they are. Soft things take less time to cook. Mushrooms and salad peppers barely need cooking at all.

That's all there is to the cheap (and tasty) eating for students. If you're not getting any/enough meat, please be sure to include veggies that contain iron and some cheap form of protein in your diet. I'd suggest tofu but that's pointless because for one thing it's not cheap and for another, only vegetarians really enjoy it.

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Originally Posted by DeLorean

This post was extremely helpful, since I've never really made a stir-fry before. It makes sense that you put the softer things in last, but I had just never thought about it. What kind of vegetables contain iron? My grandma sends me homemade beef jerky... but I certainly don't get enough of it to fulfill my iron needs.

Anything that has dark green leaves has a decent amount of iron, I suppose. I often use savoy cabbage and spinach to make up a decent iron content in my food. Various kinds of beans, peas, and lentils are good for iron. If you have a taste for them, all that sort of thing are great nutrition on the cheap. Lentils are also a good source of protein, and can be used to add thickness and bulk to any sauces or casseroles you make. you can usually find dried lentils very cheap if you're willing to buy in bulk.

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Originally Posted by Zephyrin

Don't buy a bunch of lunch items, cuz you'll be eating your leftovers for lunch. You can get a really good Rubbermaid tupperware set at Target for really cheap, last I checked.

So very, very true. I always end up making enough for two meals, even when I'm cooking for two. It can be easier to make large quantities anyway, and the leftovers save me buying an expensive sandwich of questionable nutritional value for lunch the next day.

This is a key to thrifty eating, and I'm vaguely ashamed I didn't mention it.

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