Cheap No Cooking Monthly Food List

[Countryboy]

Cans of chicken, tuna, hormel Completes, envelopes of pre cooked rice, frozen breakfast sandwiches,

Be creative, and read nutrition labels.

 

[Uncle Todo]

If your mindful of sodium, stay away from anything prepackaged.
Especially hormel completes, some of them have 100% of your daily in one "complete".

 

[LERCA]

How about those lunch packages of fresh fruit in water? They stay fresh, are not full of chemicals and are in water not syrup. Or if there’s a particular fruit you love and can eat fast I love canned pineapple. In water.

 

[Uncle Todo]

I love pineapple, I just got at WalMart 20oz can of pineapple slices in pineapple juice for $.98.
No added sugar or anything, just fruit & juice.

 

[gsfish]

I'll suggest adding a daily multivitamin to your original list.

Guy

 

[ky jr]

if you could get a toaster there are some things you could get like toaster scrambles toaster strudels i think there are some things similar in the frozen food section that you could toast, english muffins might open up the menu a little wouldn't be cooking its toasting. lol. good luck

 

[Bkwithlove]

Mayo packets and canned chicken- relish if you can squeeze that $/like it. Some gas stations have Mayo packets if you’re in luck. I only use my stove to boil water or sometimes make canned soup.

 

[sober living]

I know you don't want to cook but Bob did a great video on those Auguson Farms  30 day supply buckets. Around 100 a month for all your food, and you get your basic calories covered. I also liked the idea it lets you know how much you spend every month with no guessing. I'd also look into foraging where ever your are for some free greens...  

Great topic BTW. Following.

 

[LERCA]

I don’t know what state you’re in but if you pass a Trader Joe’s, go in.
I forgot to add seeds and nuts. Raw or roasted, salted or unsalted. You can mix with dried fruit. High in protein, keeps really well and is filling.
Our local 7-11s sell hard boiled eggs. Again, filling, high in protein etc

 

[Zmann]

Taco Bell's Cheesy bean and rice burrito..1.29 the most carbs and cal's...

 

[LERCA]

Yeah, another good idea, aside from Taco Bell every part of the Southwest has places the locals go for cheap and filling bean and cheese burritos if you want to eat out. They’re always large and like I said, cheapest thing on the menu. I’ve lived off a lot of bean and cheese burritos and Kroger brand peanut butter from Walmart which is super cheap and surprisingly healthy-almost no additives.

 

[nature lover]

I just found this, a little less than four dollars a pack. I think I’ll try it.

https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Instant-Curry-Vegetables-Chopsticks/dp/B08T7P51S3

Then add this ; https://www.amazon.com/Natures-Greatest-Foods-Organic-Resealable/dp/B07WL891D4

 

[crofter]

If that stuff is Asian hot you may need a fire extinguisher. Good find on the precooked rice.
-crofter

 

[skyl4rk]

Muesli is a good choice for nutritious no cook breakfast. Approximate recipe: Mix 4 cups rolled oats with 1 cup pressed dates, 1 cup mixed chopped nuts, 1 cup raisins and 1 cup dried shredded coconut. All you really need are the oats, a dried fruit and some mixed nuts of your choice. Keep in an airtight container.

To serve for breakfast, put 1/2 cup in a bowl and add milk or water. A chopped banana is nice to add. I like to add a big spoon of peanut butter. Thats it, just eat it cold. I have eaten this every morning for years, it is my favorite breakfast and it usually keeps me happy until dinnertime (evening).

For cheap healthy dinner, eat legumes. Find a type of canned bean that you like, pintos, black beans, garbonzos, whatever you prefer. Eat a half a can with a spoon out of the can. If you want to get fancy, put them in a bowl and add a shot or two of hot sauce. You can also cold soak couscous or instant mashed potato and eat the beans as a side or mix them in. A can of refried beans, some chopped onion, chopped cabbage and a few tortillas with hot sauce is an excellent meal.

There are lots of foil packs of chicken, tuna and other meats that you can add to instant mashed potato (cold soaked). Add a can of peas and carrots, or other canned vegetable to make it more interesting. Knorr sides are rice or noodles with a sauce that can be cold soaked, then add your foil pack of meat.

Backpackers often go "no cook" or "stoveless". There are a lot of recipes out there for cold soaking foods. Do a search on "cold soak backpacking recipes" and you will find a lot of info on what foods can be prepared without cooking. Backpackers mainly want to reduce weight, and you have an advantage that you can carry canned food. Much of the food that backpackers use for cold soaking is processed food, which is not healthy, so try to make your main diet of beans, greens, whole grains and fruit.

 

[bullfrog]

I really like bean dip and cantina chips. I usually make my own dip by using a jar of Cheez Whiz, 1 can Rosarita refried pinto beans, 2 cans of Bush’s black beans, 1 can of Ro•Tel diced tomatoes and green chilies and 1 can Ortega’s diced green chilies. It makes about 1 1/2 gallon bowl even after draining off all the fluids and you want to stir it really well until the yellow cheese has disappeared into a pinkish tan sauce. It can be served cold or hot. Invite about a half dozen friends over and you won’t have enough for leftovers.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I'm not wanting to cook in my new van life and am trying to come up with a CHEAP monthly food list that I don't have to cook. Here is my list, do you experienced van lifers think it is doable? Any advice is appreciated!

A non-cook day would look like this for me:

Breakfast:
multigrain cereal, cycle between Bob's Red Mill and Cream of the West.  Mix the night before with a can of fruit with natural juice (no water needed).  Very filling.

Lunch:
Sandwich; heavy multigrain bread, mayo or mustard, spinach or lettuce, tomato slice, onion slice, cheese slice, deli meat.

Dinner:
Large salad; spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, sweet peppers, onion, shredded carrots, radish, cucumber, etc. (any raw veggie that you like and have on hand).  Add nuts and/or seeds.   Add canned meat or beans.  Add fruit or berries.  I make my own dressing, usually an oil and vinegar with mushed fruit (usually berries) or fruit juice.

Drink:
Water; I use whatever treated water I can get and use a Britta filter for taste; I do have a 3 micron filter + charcoal filter for when I need to harvest water.
Coffee (you can make cold brewed)

Snacks:
Fruit and veggies; I cut my veggies when purchased into bite sized pieces for more compact storage.

Treats:
Ice cream, chocolate milk (rare treat, the pup gets more treats than me!).

Last year I averaged $58/week to eat.  I will not scrimp on my body fuel.

 

[highdesertranger]

"the pup gets more treats than me!"

As it should be, LOL

highdesertranger

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Spoiled rotten

 

[gsfish]

Raw Vegan?

Guy

 

[CosmickGold]

MAYO AND MORE​

My diet requires no refrigeration as well as no stove. I've been eating the below meal three times a day for over two years, and still never tire of it.

1. I use a measuring spoon to scoop up about 18 tablets that are 50% Spirulina and 50% Chlorella and drink them down with water. (I read that these tablets are one of the few foods you can live on and stay healthy, as they contain everything your body needs, including a lot of complete protein.) But I take a variety of other vitamin, mineral, enzime tablets/capsules as well, and do so before eating the below foods because I want all "pills" to reach my stomach rather than melt in my throat (which could cause irritation).

2. In a small cereal bowl, I measure 1/4 level cup of dried milk, 1/4 heaping cup of oatmeal, 1/3 teaspoon of powdered cocoa, and a very heaping teaspoon of broken Pecan pieces. If I'm using 1-minute oatmeal, I add cold water last and stir, because adding water sooner would make the oatmeal too soggy to taste good. But if using regular oatmeal, I first stir just the oatmeal and cold water together before adding the other ingredients; because otherwise, the oatmeal does not soften enough for easy chewing.

3. Then, with a tablespoon right out of the jar, I eat about two tablespoons of Kraft Olive Oil Mayonaise, alternating with two matching spoons of smooth peanut butter. ONLY Kraft Olive Oil Mayonaise works for me. Other brands are mostly soybean oil, which is hard for our bodies to digest. Even other so-called Olive Oil Mayo brands tasted strange and made me feel sick, partly because the label shows they are mostly soybean oil even though they are labeled Mayo with Olive Oil. An important reason for alternating spoons of Mayo with spoons of Peanut Butter, is that the Peanut Butter gets stuck in your throat if it doesn't have the Mayo to make it glide down smoothly. Alternating them together works great. Also, Peanut butter doesn't grow germs in the jar because it doesn't contain water, and Mayo -- by itself -- doesn't grow germs in the jar because of its high vinegar content.

4. Finally, I eat one or two dried dates. And I spray inside their zip bag with water after fetching one, because they become too hard from additional drying out, if I do not.

That's what I eat three times a day. But once a week, I also eat a can of sardines, to make sure I'm not missing anything my body needs from meat.