How can I eat for cheap as a broke grad student?

[Geechee Girl]

Tomorrow I'll put down my thoughts on a pantry. You definitely have a start. You'll need some things like low sodium low fat chicken broth, some canned tuna or salmon, whole canned tomatoes, things like that can be spun into meals. It's best to aquire them slowly on sale.

Believe it or not, with the holidays coming up a lot of staples go on sale, like broth, flour, sugar, canned tomatoes, etc.

Building upon this excellent advice, bulk nuts, spices, and dried fruit are also discounted around the holidays. Stock up, and freeze the nuts. Store dried fruit in glass jars. Homemade trail mix is more budget-friendly than store-bought.

I also start to hoard canned pumpkin when it goes on sale in the fall. I use it throughout the ear for pancakes and quick breads. The leftovers freeze well in ice cube trays or freezer bags.

+1 evaporated milk!

[Arete]

OK, some ideas for a non perishables pantry. This is opened ended, so we should all kick in ideas for lll to choose from. Here are some of mine:

1. At least 3 boxes of low sodium, fat free chicks broth. I can recommend Swansons. Each box would be a base for a pot of soup you can have on the table in 45 minutes max, and that is for the most complicated soup.

2. As Geeche Girl referenced, a few cans of canned pumpkin. With broth, onion, butter, evaporated milk and spices, you will have pumpkin soup. Flour, sugar, baking soda, eggs and butter, you have pumpkin bread.

3. Whole canned tomatoes. Sauté sliced garlic in olive oil until garlic starts to color. Immediately put in tomatoes you have crushed with your hands. Add dried Italian blend herbs, some pinches of sugar, a bay leaf, some crushed red pepper if you like it. Simmer about 45 min till thick. Congrats, you now have marinara sauce for pasta. Freeze leftovers in 2 cup increments. Brown chopped meat and onions in a skillet one day and add frozen sauce for meat sauce. Warm frozen sauce another day and wilt some spinach on top, then crack eggs on top of that and cook till eggs are set. serve with toast, lunch or dinner.

4. If you like curry, keep 2 cans of coconut milk. Sauté coconut milk with curry seasoning. Use only the fatty portion of the milk to "fry" the seasoning, then Add the liquid portion. Add your veggies and meat and cook till done.

5. Canned tuna for casseroles and melts. Also salad of hard boiled egg halves, boiled potato, and green beans in olive oil and lemon dressing.

6. Olive oil to dress steamed veggies and for salad dressing.

7. A box of pasting, or orzo, to cook in the chicken broth on those awful days one of you crawls home sick and you need soup in 10 minutes.

8, Cans of your favorite type of bean. Could be black, chickpea, navy, etc. open, rinse, add red onion or scallion, olive oil, vinegar, some chopped parsley. Mix and keep in fridge at least 30 minutes. Serve over hot rice.

9. Couscous or quinoa. Cook in broth. Add in panned seared chicken, a little olive oil, scallions, peas.

[Geechee Girl]

Here's my pantry staples.

Vinegar: apple cider, white distilled, rice, champagne, pomegranate, balsamic

Oils: olive, coconut, vegetable, toasted sesame

I use the above in multiple combinations for dressings and quick pickled veggies.

Flours: brown rice, sweet rice, chickpea, masa

We try to cook wheat-free. I love masa for hoecakes, tamales, and pupusas.

Grains: long grain brown rice, jasmine white rice, steel-cut & rolled oats, grits.

Tinned goods: diced, crushed & whole tomatoes, olives, chickpeas, black beans, canellini beans, artichoke hearts, pumpkin, evaporated & condensed milk, coconut milk, tuna

Tinned olives are versatile enough for olive bread, tapenades, and puttanesca.

I buy tomato & anchovy pastes in tubes so the remainder can be refrigerated.

[Reverend Ladypants]

Cabbage. Soup.

Y'all, I know that cabbage is not in the A-List of vegetables, but hear me out, this is some Serious Eats.

Saute a clove or three of garlic in a big pot with some butter and oil. The oil keeps the butter from burning- I don't know the science of it, but trust a Southerner. Add onion and whatever other aromatics you have lying around- chard stems, celery, carrots. Let them get translucent.

Then add a quart or so of chicken or veggie stock, a can of chopped tomatoes, a tsp or two of italian seasoning and A CHOPPED HEAD OF CABBAGE. Okay, maybe only half the head. Depends on how much cabbage your delicate GI tract can handle. Me? I'm fit as a fiddle. Bring it on! Soup looking not soupy? Add some water. Or more stock, if you have it. Water will suffice- the veg in there will make its own stock, just let it cook a bit.

Once the cabbage has cooked down, consider adding the following:

Slices of smoked sausage

Diced chicken, leftovers perhaps

Salt, this probably needs salt. Are you sure it's well-seasoned enough?

I like this with a bit of grated cheddar. I also like it with a dollop of leftover mashed potatoes in the bottom of the bowl. Don't knock it 'til you try it!

Listen, friends, the humble cabbage will make thy tum full and thy budget happy.

I stole my cabbage soup recipe from allrecipes so please look there for a more detailed recipe with likely better instructions.

Today in protein: THE HUMBLE PORK ROAST

Now, if you have $7 to blow on protein, your money can go pretty far with the good ole' pork shoulder.

Put that business in a crock pot, on LOW, with salt and pepper (I use cajun seasoning as well, force of habit). Wait four hours or so- smell tantalizing yet?

Then add whatever veggies you can get your hands on. Onions, carrots, mushrooms (hey, the cheap ones are just as excellent for taste and health!), potatoes!!!, cabbage... I like to nestle some at the bottom of the roast and some on top and around the sides. A veritable pillow of veg, if you will.

Let it go for another few hours until the meat falls apart and the veg are tender. With any luck, there will be a delicious, fatty broth at the bottom. This is most excellent for rounding out otherwise weakly-flavored soup broths, or lowly cans of sauerkraut, or for jazzing up canned green beans or black beans.

LOOK OUT FOR ME: CANNED GOODS THAT MAKE A PANTRY HAPPY

GREEN BEANS

I think green beans are god's gift to canned goods. Maybe it's because I grew up eating them, but I love these lil' buggers and would eat them cold out of the can. They are a great side dish heated up on the stove, but also a great addition as it, with the juice, into a soup or stew.

VEG-ALL

This canned mixed veg business used to creep me out but really, it's a beautiful time saver.

Say you have a can of chicken and can whip up some of that easy-peasy-white sauce. Do a chicken bake with a can of drained veg-all, white sauce, and maybe some cracker crumbs on top. Remember to season! This is basically chicken pot pie without the pie crust.

CANNED TOMATOES

Really, I can do just about anything with a can of tomatoes. Pasta, soup, pizza, reinvigorating a squash saute... If they are on A Good Sale, grab a few. You won't regret it. I buy a mixture of whole canned tomatoes and chopped tomatoes.

[Arete]

I I will second the recommend on the pork shoulder roast. Less than 2 dollars a pound in my neck of the woods, flavorful and easy to cook. If you Don't have a slow cooker, just pile peeled and cut root veggies in a pan. Toss with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Stick roast with salt and pepper on top. Cup of water, Cover in foil, 350 degree oven. Uncover the last 10 minutes.

[Maggie Mae]

Evaporated milk is used as a 1:1 substitution for fresh milk. The whole reason for having it is you will get the same calcium, vitamin D, and cooking use as fresh, but with the added bonus of its extremely long shelf life and pantry storage.

1. Excellent taste in mashed potatoes/

2. Excellent taste and always available for French toast

3. Make roux with butter and flour, wisk in evaporated milk over heat until thickened, and you have bechamel aka white sauce. This replaces all nasty cream of crap soups in casseroles. No msg, no additives, etc. So boil your noodles, add your tuna, frozen veggies, and white sauce you just made, mix, stick in oven for tuna noodle casserole. Use the white sauce in any casserole a can of cream of whatever is called for.

4. Keep no boil lasagne noodles in pantry. Make bechamel, add Parmesan at the end off heat. Sauté frozen or fresh veggies in a little oil or garlic. Layer dried noodles, layer of cheese sauce, layer of veggies, repeat till you end with cheese sauce on top of last set of noodles. Into the oven. Special dinner out of your freezer and pantry.

5. Rice pudding, use evaporated milk. Nice pick me up breakfast with a bannana.

The only thing I wouldn't use it for is drinking straight up cold. You can definitely use it in hot coffee.

I'm honestly surprised it's not more prevalent in your neck of the woods, Maggie Mae, because I assume all your fresh milk has to be brought in.

I think we have a creamery/dairy. Or we did. I'm not entirely sure what the status on that is right now. There was a bunch of stuff in the paper about the owner being brought up on theft/corruption charges and stealing state subsides. But other than that smallish local dairy, we do have Safeway. And the prices in my area aren't unreasonable. (but I've been to place with $32/gallon milk) It's slightly more expensive, because milk is heavier than, say lettuce. But as we get more and more people and supply chains get better, our food costs get closer to the lower 48 cost.

I think I just don't use milk very often. I rarely buy it, and all of those ideas aren't things I eat very often, although I might buy some now that I know I can use it in a 1:1 ration in recipes. Instead of buying a pint of milk when I need it. Also I love rice pudding and should make some sometimes. I've always just bought the plastic container when I want a treat.

[Maggie Mae]

Crockpots are awesome! When Partner brings hers, I'm going to try to get us a soup together. I've heard beans and rice are good too- my apartment complex had a meeting on capital improvements last night, which was tacos, so I swept in afterwards and put the rest of the beans/rice in Tupperware. Maybe beans and rice on toast, but maybe too carb-heavy? It was so great to have extra food so I could snack last night though. Also just got several Starbucks cards. So I think I'll go with one of their bistro boxes or yogurt with my coffee.

Still a little short on snacks though, since I just have carrots and granola bars (but lots of extra dry cereal). I'm having trouble finding nuts I like at a good price. Also, finally got back to working out after my sprain healed up, and now that it's been a few days, my metabolism's roared back up and I'm REALLY hungry (I run 3-6 miles a day, 6 days a week, and lift weights; keeping fit is important, but that means I get hungrier and need more than the normal small 23-year-old girl).

What do you guys recommend to eat when you're really, really hungry?

I keep tuna on hand - I buy it at costco. Mix a can with ramen noodles & (sometimes) an egg and some spices and it's... ok. (It's delicious when you are really hungry though.)

Also we buy the big bag of frozen chicken breasts and once a week cook up 3-4 of them in the oven. Chop that up, keep in fridge and put on salads all week.

One of my favorite right now is mixed lettuce, some chicken, some salsa (homemade), creamy avacado & tomatillo dressing (homemade), and some tortilla strips.

Protein powder shakes. Oatmeal. Homemade soups - I love chicken tortilla.

I'll second the cabbage soup, but I use a different recipe where the cabbage goes in last. Cabbage soup is delicious!

Also we eat a lot of nachos. Tortilla chips, cheese, pickled jalapenos, refried beans, chicken, whatever. Put it on a piece of foil, cook at 375 for about 15 minutes, turn off oven and cook for another 5. Or so. You might have to experiment based on your oven and nacho composition. It's not SUPER healthy, but it's not the absolute worst thing in the world if you have the calories available. Don't forget to spray the foil. I usually put the foil on a plate, arrange the nachos, cook it plate and all, and then just move the foil to a clean cold plate to avoid burns.

[Reverend Ladypants]

Hmmm, snacks.

Cheese makes a very good high-protein snack, and is filling, but can be pricey.

I like cottage cheese with applesauce or canned pineapple. High protein, but cottage cheese tends to be on the cheaper side.

[2xx1xy1JD]

Evaporated milk is used as a 1:1 substitution for fresh milk. The whole reason for having it is you will get the same calcium, vitamin D, and cooking use as fresh, but with the added bonus of its extremely long shelf life and pantry storage.

1. Excellent taste in mashed potatoes/

2. Excellent taste and always available for French toast

3. Make roux with butter and flour, wisk in evaporated milk over heat until thickened, and you have bechamel aka white sauce. This replaces all nasty cream of crap soups in casseroles. No msg, no additives, etc. So boil your noodles, add your tuna, frozen veggies, and white sauce you just made, mix, stick in oven for tuna noodle casserole. Use the white sauce in any casserole a can of cream of whatever is called for.

4. Keep no boil lasagne noodles in pantry. Make bechamel, add Parmesan at the end off heat. Sauté frozen or fresh veggies in a little oil or garlic. Layer dried noodles, layer of cheese sauce, layer of veggies, repeat till you end with cheese sauce on top of last set of noodles. Into the oven. Special dinner out of your freezer and pantry.

5. Rice pudding, use evaporated milk. Nice pick me up breakfast with a bannana.

The only thing I wouldn't use it for is drinking straight up cold. You can definitely use it in hot coffee.

I'm honestly surprised it's not more prevalent in your neck of the woods, Maggie Mae, because I assume all your fresh milk has to be brought in.

I love evaporated milk as a quick substitute for cream.

Recipe #1:

Open a can of salmon, remove the biggest bones. Combine in a bowl with evaporate milk, some garlic and some dill. Boil up some pasta, and saute some frozen chopped spinach in olive oil. Add some tomato paste to the spinach, along with some more garlic. When the pasta is just about ready, add the bowl of salmon to the sauteed spinach in the pan, and mix together for a minute. Add some fresh pepper if you like. You will have a very classy pasta dish that's pretty healthy (salmon, calcium, green veggie) and quite filling.

Recipe #2:

Saute frozen chopped spinach with some garlic, cayenne and curry paste or spices. Add in evaporated milk. Puree half of mixture in a blender, then add back to the pot. Add in some cubed extra-firm tofu. Add a tomato, cut into wedges. Serve over rice. Again, it feels classy, the spices give it a nice kick, it feels like really filling comfort food, and it's surprisingly healthy (calcium, protein, green veggie).

[Arete]

Another good recipe in the "I gotta fill up RIGHT NOW category is scrambled eggs. Sauté some frozen veg of your choice in butter or oil. About a 1/4 cup. Peas or spinach or chopped broccoli or whatever you have. Beat 2.eggs till frothy. Add either a tablespoon of milk or water to the eggs. Dump egg mixture in same pan as veg. Use a spatula a keep moving the outside border of the eggs toward the center until the eggs set: do not allow eggs to brown! Transfer to plate, add s&p, serve with toast or pita.

[2xx1xy1JD]

I don't know what evaporated milk is used for either! Anyway, I have now gotten my disbursement, and the first thing we did was pay rent through December (maybe not the smartest decision, but this way I know whatever's left in my account is for non-rent things), then buy books and shop.

We always have pasta and rice, and sometimes canned tomatoes (to add to jarred pasta sauce). We also got a lot of frozen food, since generally that's very easy to cook and is something to have when you're tired. Anyway, there's lots of frozen chicken and frozen bagged veggies, plus frozen pizza for a treat.

As for the fridge, we have a lot of almond/soy milk (it was on a bulk sale), two loaves of bread, a dozen bagels, cheese (both block and bagged pre-shredded,) juice, eggs, butter, turkey bacon, regular milk, yogurt, and lunch meat, assorted condiments, and half a bottle of Absolut.

Pantry-wise, there's several boxes of pasta, two boxes of brown rice, three jars of sauce plus three cans of tomatoes, flour, sugar, brown sugar, cooking oil, peanut butter, Nutella, two different cereals, instant potatoes, canned fruit, chips, honey, granola bars, and tea.

So there's lots of options right now, but I wasn't thinking ahead enough to a nonperishable pantry for lean times- definitely open to ideas besides keeping pasta and rice in the pantry (believe me, that gets very dull!)

Find your favorite spice or flavor. Garlic? Anything hot and spicy? Indian? Thai? Basic spices are relatively cheap, and they are the key to making budget food yummy. Rice and beans sounds boring. Chili sounds better, and chana masala sounds downright exotic.

Onions and potatoes will each keep for a while, but NOT TOGETHER. You need to store them separately, or they will spoil faster. Onions are healthy, and they pack a punch of flavor. Sauteed onions with a bit of garlic can taste amazing with some leftover chicken and curry spice, in pasta, or in soups. You can also combine with some potatoes for a tasty treat.

Grainy mustard is one of my secret ingredients. Add to olive and vinegar to make salad dressing, add to macaroni and cheese for some extra zip, put it on chicken to roast, smear some on stewing beef before adding to the crock pot. Use the store brand or French's, and it's pretty cheap.

Small tins of tomato paste are usually really cheap, and the flavor is very concentrated. Smear on some toast, or thin it with olive oil and water for a quick tomato sauce. You can also use tomato paste, mixed with some olive oil, garlic and a squirt of lime juice, to coat chicken.

Get some baking powder, so you can make muffins and pancakes.

[Arete]

Another snack idea is hard boiled eggs. You can boil several at.a time and store in the fridge up to 4 days. When your hungry, crack, peel, salt, eat. Pair it with a piece of fruit or cheese.