So, we cook once every 4-8 weeks. We purchased a freezer that we put in the garage for $3-400, and we do all of our meal prep at once. We buy all of our ingredients in bulk at Costco or the local Farmer's market, and then we prep 30-40 meals in one day. So, all we have to do for each meal, is thaw the package the day before, throw it in the oven or in a pan the following day, add a salad, and you're done.

It takes a lot of planning, and it takes a while before find a set of recipes that freeze well, but after a year or so of doing this, we pretty much have the list. We're at the point now, that my wife pulls 8 or 10 recipes from the database, she puts the ingredient list together, we go shopping on one day, and asssemble and freeze meals the second day. It's about 8-10 hours work for both of us, and it cuts down 1-1/2 hours of meal prep and planning every day for 4-6 weeks. Along with the recipe in the database is a label with cooking instructions that gets printed out and saran wrapped to the package.

If you Google for this, it's called "Once a month cooking".

I did just that, and I discuss it in this post. Wasn't sure if HN would appreciate it, so I haven't submitted it here:

http://sidsavara.com/personal-productivity/the-price-of-my-d...

I agree man, I enjoy cooking but it takes soo much time. So, for people still working a day-job, contracting your cooking is a great time saver. Fortunately, my gf is my life manager in the evening and takes care of me. :)

I live in Honolulu, HI =)

One of them is baking your own bread! I have an electric mixer with some special tools for dough, so I spend 15 minutes every two days and have pretty good and cheap bread.

Soups are another nice one, forget about the advanced ones, go with something simple, yet good, e.g. potato-leek-soup. Make big portions, put it in the freezer.

Basic courses such as pasta can be pretty good if you spice it up a little. Forget about the ketchup, mix up a simple tomato sauce.

And a little gem from The Silver Spoon: Some oil on a pan, put on a whole garlic clove untill it's brown, get it off the pan. Add a can of tuna, and some tomato puree that has been mixed with a bit of water. Turn down the heat, give it some fifteen minutes and add to your pasta. Inexpensive, easy and surprisingly good if you spice it up a bit.

Basically anything that you can make in big portions and freeze is a bargain.

It's not the right season at the moment, but you could also consider growing your own stuff in the garden. Fresh herbs from the grocers are $$$, and don't taste/smell as good as what you pull and carry to your stove.

Commercial tomatoes breeds are optimized to have a tough skin, so that they can be thrown into large containers while green and hauled to the grocery store while ripening. None of this has anything to do with tasty or healthy. Growing your own tomatoes is also easy if you have a sunny spot, and you can pick varieties that taste better than what you'll end up with from the store.

None of these are cost-optimizing in a large way, but if you're going to be cooking anyway, you might as well enjoy better taste and the satisfaction of producing something physical and tangible.

Although I have the acreage to grow pretty much whatever I want, you can grow lots of stuff in a small apartment as long as you have a window that gets enough light. Herbs don't take up much room, esp. if you use a strawberry pot and plant multiple types in the same pot. You can also grow tomatoes, etc. in pots

I try to live by low-carb, high protein, high natural fat and fresh and natural foods, which atleast doesn't make it any easier. I have found out that most fatty foods are inexpensive relatively to their calories. Where as things like bread are actually quite expensive if you measure their calorie contents and other nutrients.

So my advice is to eat more natural fat, even to point that you get like 30% daily calories from fat. Generally I try to choose products with high or normal fat. For example full milk over fat-free and unsweetened Turkish yogurt(with 10% fat) over fat-free and high-sugar.

Read Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food": http://www.amazon.com/dp/1594201455/

It's a whole different model from the shifting "red meat is bad" "no, carbs are bad" "avoid fat" "eat omega-3 fat!" madness that has ruled eating for decades.

http://www.michaelpollan.com/article.php?id=87

Get a 5oz tuna steak of sushi-quality, marinade it with some soy sauce and sesame oil, sprinkle on some seasoning and sesame seed and just sear it on the pan for 2 minutes each side. Delicious, healthy, and fast.

Same goes for chicken. Blackened chicken, easy, done. The cast iron skillet goes from stove top to oven. God I love this thing.

The easiest way to clean them is with a little kosher salt. It's quite abrasive.

See also: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/08mini.html?_r=2...

Also, I use corn meal on the bottom of the crust so it slides nicely from my cutting board to the pan. Other than that I think it's pretty hard to screw up.

12oz yellowfin tuna fillet

Whole Foods: $14

Safeway: $9

Lucky's: $8

Costco: $6

12oz is good for 2-3 servings. Plus the $3 for a bundle of asparagus or $2 for a bag of broccoli. I've gotten the meal down to $5 per plate, which is what I usually shoot for in terms of cooking. For me, I think this is a good trade off between tasty, healthy, fast, and cheap.

To the OP: I find making pizza is really cheap and versatile (i.e., it can take you awhile to get sick of it). Most supermarkets sell premade dough for $1 or so. Then just get some sauce and cheese and any other toppings you might like (I love making a pizza with butternut squash, garlic, shallots, scallions, olive oil, mozarella, salt and pepper -- no red sauce).

The whole thing is done in a half hour and for half the price -- or less -- of a take out pizza.

Salads are good to... veggies get a little pricier, especially out of season... but a hearty salad with nuts and cheese is great for you and not _that_ expensive.

Same with soups, which can made pretty easily and cheaply with pretty much anything you have lying around. :)

It's really just a plastic, microwave safe pot.

1) Dump in ~5 handfulls of raw beans, fill the pot up with water, leave them to soak overnight overnight.

2) Dump the water. Add ~6 handfulls of rice. Fill it with water again.

3) Stick it in the microwave for 30 minutes.

4) Dump out the water. Add 2 cans of vegetables and some kind of sauce.

5) Bam, done. The pot should keep you fed for the entire day.

If you want to mix it up, you can also cook noodles in the thing. That's even easier cuz you don't need to soak the noodles. Just drop in some noodles, add water, and microwave for 15 minutes. Done! Real noodles are a lot healthier than that Ramen crap.

The pot only costs 10 bucks. I've been using it for about a year now and it still works great.

Then theres always top ramen, but its not exactly on that healthy list, haha.

Throw some salsa in the beans and eat it over brown rice. Healthy and tasty.

Good point. You can get probably 1/2 your dietary fibre with a cup of green frozen peas, heated & mushed ~ http://www.opensourcefood.com/people/bootload/recipes/mushy-...

You assert that Hispanics are short and chubby. And you claim this is because they eat rice and beans. I'm not going to argue whether or not you're bigoted, but I'm happy to inject a few facts into this train wreck of a thread.

Googling around, I found the following quote from http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/meetings/workshops/hispanic.htm:

"Obesity in Hispanic populations, as in all other ethnic groups in the U.S., is increasing and worsening as a significant health problem. In 2002, the age-adjusted prevalence of obesity among adults age 20 or more in men was 26% for Mexican Americans and 24% for non-Hispanic whites. For women the comparable percentages were 26% and 21%. In children from NHANES III, Mexican American boys had a higher prevalence of obesity that either non-Hispanic whites or non-Hispanic blacks. In girls, the prevalence of obesity in Hispanics was higher than that in non-Hispanic whites, but less than that in non-Hispanic blacks. The highest prevalence rates in all these groups was among Hispanic boys, age 6-11 years old, with 17.4% in the obese classification. "

Although the numbers show that the Hispanic population has a larger percentage of obesity compared to whites, I doubt that this difference is large enough to be noticeable in day to day observation (eg, I would have a hard time drawing a conclusion that Hispanic male adults aged 20 or more are chubbier than their white counterparts based on this data from my day to day interactions).

And the article notes that diets are quite varied, and makes no mention of intake of fast food. So it seems that Hispanics eat food other than just rice and beans.

Since the data doesn't show that Hispanic populations are significantly different from whites in terms of obesity, and their diets vary beyond rice and beans, your original argument is baseless.

B) Rice and beans isn't only eaten by Hispanics; maybe you should turn off the Lou Dobbs and pay a little attention.

And you are quite wrong about low income "universally" meaning poor health. There are poor populations all over the world with good health from good diets. The healthiest sub-population in the US, and possibly the healthiest group in the industrialized world, are working class whites in the upper mid-west, in states like Minnesota. They eat a lot of meat.

Diet determines build and height in a population. I stand by my assertion. The Dutch have gone from the shortest people in Europe to the tallest and among the healthiest because now they eat lots of meat and cheese. The Sikhs are ethnically identical to neighboring muslims and hindus but are much taller and leaner because they eat a dairy heavy diet. Hispanics are relatively short and chubby because they eat cheap starchy food.

- rice - beans - soy - potatoes - fish - veggies (anything dark but not too expensive)

The real key to a good-tasting meal is freshness, even with simple foods. Seasoning is like makeup for food.

'real' food has 'bio-sensor' ... you can tell just by looking, that a fruit/veggie is bad

it's much harder to 'sense' that in processed food

i find that fruit/veg is harder to fool with, maybe having to do with its low price (not much incentive to cheat)

in my country we got rotten meats cleaned with formaldehyde and then soaked in fresh blood to be sold along with fresh meats ... such thing is unheard of in veg/fruit (groceries can wax to prevent, but once fruit/veg is rotten, it's hard to 'rejuvinate')

being vegetarian leads to simpler life, no worries about mad cow, avian flu, etc

I'm not sure why, as a vegetarian, you feel you don't need to worry about avian flu. You catch it by being in close proximity to live poultry, not by eating it. As you've already said that your meat is dead when you buy it I don't see how your risk is any less than mine.

i don't have direct experience with avian flu (I was in Taiwan during SARS, wearing masks, but didn't catch the flu) so i assume i can get it from eating ... well maybe it's just a marketing tactic from kfc and others

but still the peace of mind is there :D not having to worry about some stuffs is great

Cooking chicken to 350C will result in charcoal, but will have done nothing to prevent avian flu as it was not a risk before. Just marketing.

This one line could be sold for a few dollars.

Nope. Culinary herbs and spices contain antioxidative and anti-glycative chemicals that in many cases also improve insulin sensitivity (e.g. they are anti-diabetic).

http://news.google.com/news?q=diabetes%20spices

Yeah, and those poor people grow up short with bad teeth and don't live very long. If you can afford good meat and fish you should eat it and avoid starch.

Soy is pretty much toxic. Do some research.

Resist the temptation to subsist on potatoes, pasta, and some of the other cheap, often high carb, low nutrition stuff.

Variations: add sundried tomato to mushrooms.

Pasta with red sauce. Red sauce: saute garlic and a small onion. Add tomato puree (2 big cans), fresh basil (1 plant, break leaves off, wash, chop), garlic (saute first, then add tomato), oregano, parsley, salt and pepper (to taste).

Variations: add some cream and vodka to red sauce, gets you pink sauce.

Another good pasta sauce: saute garlic and onion in butter, then add heavy cream. When that heats up, add grated cheese (parmesan or swiss), salt and pepper (to taste), and possibly 1-2 tablespoons of flour (to thicken). You can also add sun dried tomato (saute it with the garlic), or cherry tomato (add it at the very end).

This video changed my life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU_B3QNu_Ks

In fact, just youtube Gordon Ramsey, Alton Brown, Jamie Oliver, etc, for good ideas.

Lentils with onions, potatoes, and/or ham. Chop, put in saucepan with water. Salt.

Chili with rice. Fry hamburger and onion. Add canned kidney beans, tomato sauce, chopped habanero, and chili powder. Salt. I highly recommend a ricemaker.

I also like Thai curry with rice, but it'd be too much hassle if it weren't for the basil plants I grow. Fry chicken or fish with curry paste; add other stuff, like potato and peanut with red curry or eggplant or bamboo shoots with green curry. Add basil and habanero at the very end.

I keep some beans, tortillas, and cheese on hand for when I'm too lazy to actually cook, and lots of fruit for snacks.

Instead of making rotis (which mess up the kitchen and take a while to make, and really only taste good fresh), we just get low carb whole wheat tortillas.

Buy some cheap soup in a tin. I recommend Cream of Chicken because it's quite nice and usually available. Go to the bakers or supermarket shortly before they close and buy a cheap crusty round bread loaf on discount. You could use a square loaf but that's just stupid. Warm up the soup. Whilst the soup is warming up, butter the underside of the bread and put it in the oven, medium heat for no more than 10 minutes. You ideally want it crusty and solid on the outside but not burnt. When the bread is done, slice off the top of the bread. Scoop out the insides, tearing them up into little pieces.

Here comes the science bit, watch carefully now:

Pour the soup into the empty bread, use the torn up bits of the inside to bulk it up a little or leave them to dip into it. Add salt and pepper to suit and enjoy not having to wash a bowl afterwards. I defy anyone to eat a whole one including the bread.

It won't leak because you baked the bread hard. The butter stops it from getting stuck to the bottom of the tray in the oven.

There, soup hacked :)

- chili and soup. you can make a ton at once and then keep it in the freezer for meals the rest of the week.

Used as a replacement for meats in most dishes. Ideal cooking temperature is 145 F.

Warning: Be wary of dirty looking eggs; cook throughly; each egg contains around 75% Daily Value of cholesterol, so you may want to remove yellows post boiling or pre-scrambling.

Adding PG's comment: Beans and rice can get boring, but do serve well as a backup when nothing else is working.

Is there something wrong with eating cholesterol?

Spaghetti bolognese - make a big serving and freeze it in portions.

For example, a great tasting pasta dish I made last night contained the following: (prices are approximate and based from a Canadian's standpoint)

- 1lb of Bacon: $4.50 (Yes, it's not GREAT for you but in moderation it's ok and it's easily substituted with another meat) - One onion, one head of Garlic: $1.50 - 1lb of Pasta: $2.50 - Parmesian, Some Butter, Parsley: $2.00 (plus you most likely already have this)

That creates 4 servings of a fabulous restaurant quality pasta (This is the actual recipe: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/09/cooking-with-ryan...)

I made it last night, girlfriend and I have left overs for today. Super cheap, delicious, and healthy enough considering most of the stuff we eat is pretty healthy ( see : moderation!)

You will save a ton of money making food yourself but there's the whole issue of it being time consuming which makes sense in a time = money world. In my scenario, cooking is a hobby and I want to improve it so it's a bit different, maybe you are the same!

CHEAP DINNER: Because I have no patience and often forget to eat, I've figured out a cheap, filling lasagna-type

1) Prepare favorite pasta (penne works well) 2)Heat some marinara sauce, can or jar is fine. 3)Once the sauce starts to boil, reduce heat and add 1/2 C to 3/4 C cottage cheese to sauce (works like ricotta). 4)If you prefer, spoon cottage cheese over hot pasta and cover with heated marinara, then microwave or bake briefly to warm cheese. This adds a nice layer of melty cheese.

(Cover plate of pasta, cheese and marinara with shredded mozzarella and bake at 425 for 9-12 min. if you want to be fancy and cheap.)

This leads to lots of frozen steam-able veggies, fruit whenever we get around to going to the store, lots of yogurt, bagged salad... but also a ton of noodles.

I have to agree with you on yogurt and frozen veggies.

Great easy sauces include:

-Chicken stock, soy sauce, and a little cornstarch

-Heated oil mixed with minced scallions, ginger and a little salt

-Chicken stock, pan drippings, savory and a little flour for thickening.

If you want to get more sauce ideas, I highly recommend the cookbook "Sauces." Filled with tons of awesome sauces and a great basis for learning about sauce making to create your own!

Cheap cooking and healthy cooking go hand-in-hand if you know what to do!

Would be cool if you could actually create something that would sustain a family - it will be difficult to find produce that will yield well for many conditions without expending a ton of energy to control its environment though.

I used to have those grand plans of automated gardens until I realized that 90% of the problem is solved by a small greenhouse you can build for $10 in Home Depot materials.

It doesn't control atmosphere, but it doesn't need to.

For dinners I've been having a bit of meat over a large salad.

Last night:

1) half a bag of mixed lettuces 2) a diced tomato 3) 6-8 oz of frozen shrimp, thawed, pan fried in a dab of oil and a big heap of cajun spices 4) some home made dressing from acquaintances who run a local pizzeria and bottle their own dressing.

Other variants: * replace cajun shrimp with chicken breasts ground and cooked up taco-style, and throw some thin-sliced red onion and thick-cut avacado in there * ...or a steak, marinated for a few hrs in fresh squeezed lime juice and soy sauce, then quickly seared on a grill.

When you're eating a lot of bulk veggies, a little premium priced meat goes a long way.

When you're eating mos

Fresh ginger and garlic, along with some soy and sweet chili sauce, is really all you need for seasoning; protein can come from tofu, chicken, or really any meat or seafood item; carbs come from rice or ramen noodles that are boiled and then tossed in to sautee once all the veggies are done.

Here's mine: hit the grocery store and pick up some freezer ziplock bags and some family-size packs of meat (whatever's on sale). Individually bag and freeze them. With some veggies and sauce (A1 goes well with a lot), you've got some good options.

Also, pasta. Mix in some chicken.

1. boneless, skinless chicken breast

2. mixed frozen veggies

3. rice or bread (rice keeps a lot longer...)

4. Misc seasonings (salt, pepper, chili powder, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, etc)

You can buy these things in bulk and they will last forever. Combine to make whatever dish you like. One of my favorites when I was working out a lot:

1. Season chicken breast teriyaki sauce

2. Wash rice and put in rice cooker

3. Steam veggies along with the rice

4. Cook chicken on foreman grill

5. Pull out veggies, season with salt and pepper

6. You're done!

You could do a stir fry dish just as easily.

Enjoy.

Total: $3.50 for two people. You could probably feed three with it, the servings are huge.

Trick is to make sure its ready to eat - even if its a little more expensive, that keeps me from eating out. Also, going every 3-4 days means that I eat everything, no waste.

But on the topic of cheap/good for you eats: Can't go wrong with burritos made with beans,corn and rice.

Indeed. However, the bulk spices are even cheaper online, if one knows at which websites to shop.

http://www.herbalcom.com ($6.25 to ship any size order)

http://www.herbco.com (free shipping for orders over $250)

You supply the ingredients, OpenSourceFoods for recipes (with pictures) ~ http://www.opensourcefood.com

Grits are awesome to start the day with because they are not lying heavy in your stomach but the energy lasts long.

as a bonus, the waste is bio-degradable

also, living in sf, burritos are the cheapest and most filling (not to mention tasty) takeout you can get hands down.

I am going to switch it up and try oatmeal + a flax/fish oil