What's the cleanest, cheapest, most minimal eating I can do?

[Cammalu]

I know that ramen is a total no no for most but I have a friend that does something interesting with it. He buys those frozen packages of cut mixed veges and dehydrates them. He packages the dried veges up then uses them in Ramen or other soups.

I think that when I have electricity this summer I’m going to get fresh veges and start chopping and drying. Not for ramen but for soups.

 

[vanbrat]

I know that ramen is a total no no for most but I have a friend that does something interesting with it. He buys those frozen packages of cut mixed veges and dehydrates them. He packages the dried veges up then uses them in Ramen or other soups.

I think that when I have electricity this summer I’m going to get fresh veges and start chopping and drying. Not for ramen but for soups.

Ramen isn't totally a no no. For me it is the vehicle that can get tiny chopped up veggies that otherwise would not go in to the kidos. I found that they will eat almost anything as long as it is in Ramen noodles. If they are chopped small enough. Even super pick hubby will eat noodles...
I saw something on here what everyone did with their ramens.... About half the time I don't put in the little seasoning packet though cause waaaaay to much salt.
Good with veggies and ham and shrimp big or small and chicken and and and....

 

[blueridge]

What's the cleanest, cheapest, most minimal eating I can do?

Fast on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Cut your food costs by 42%



First couple of times will be harder, but it becomes surprisingly easy as you repeat.

Our bodies are designed to work this way, from our days as hunter gatherers.

After a several times of fasting, you'll find you feel better on the days you don't eat.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

What's the cleanest, cheapest, most minimal eating I can do?
Fast on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Cut your food costs by 42%

I disagree.
One needs a certain number of calories to survive and additional calories for energy to do stuff. Unless you change your diet, activity level, or loose weight, the cost of those calories will be the same no matter how you schedule ingesting them.

 

[rruff]

What's the cleanest, cheapest, most minimal eating I can do?
Fast on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Cut your food costs by 42%

While it's true that many of us would do better eating less... not everyone would! Those hunter gatherers tended to pig out whenever they did catch something to eat. Fasting is supposed to be good for you according to research, and it makes sense... our distant ancestors needed to thrive in those conditions.

I disagree.
One needs a certain number of calories to survive and additional calories for energy to do stuff. Unless you change your diet, activity level, or loose weight, the cost of those calories will be the same no matter how you schedule ingesting them.

I wouldn't be surprised if the average person in the US eats nearly double the calories they need. The metabolic rate slows down when you eat less. And reduced calorie consumption tends to improve health and longevity.

 

[NomadCat]

I use Huel (huel.com) as my default food source, plus a lot of raw almonds and apples and a few greens on occasion. Huel is supposed to be nutritionally complete, and it is dry, so doesn’t need refrigeration. There’s a cold shake version that’s mixed with cold water, and a hot version (such as chili) that’s mixed with boiling water and takes a few minutes to rehydrate. Several different flavors of each (hot and cold) available. It runs about 2.5 to 3 dollars per serving; I have about one serving per day. I take it with generic Beano because I have a sensitive GI tract. It’s vegan. I feel it helps my diet be healthier than it would be otherwise. When I get a meat craving, I get a burger or whatnot.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I wouldn't be surprised if the average person in the US eats nearly double the calories they need. The metabolic rate slows down when you eat less. And reduced calorie consumption tends to improve health and longevity.

That's why we have an obesity epidemic in this country, along with bad food choices to begin with. Alternate day fasting is very good for weight loss but you must be careful that you don't loose weight too fast, which is bad for your health. You're food budget generally goes up as you now should be buying better quality foods to keep (or get) into nutritional balance.

I would be very worried if my metabolic rate slowed more than 5-10% from change in diet. I can make my heart and lungs more efficient by exercise. I can make my kidneys and liver function better by not introducing so many toxins into my system. But eliminating calories does nothing to improve these functions. And your non-exercise body functions are the biggest consumer of calories.

If you are not averaging about 2000 calories a day (varies by person), your body will get them from somewhere internal to keep the brain functioning. If you are a healthy ~20% body fat, that is not healthy.

 

[WanderingRose]

We’re digressing a bit, but I’ll jump in here.

Many if not all of us were raised to believe we needed to eat three meals a day, for whatever reason, but as we get older unless burning a lot of calories in high intensity workouts, we really don’t.

Not much for the rabbit food and lean protein diets, I have found that eating a main dish mid-day-ish and then something light in the evening works best for me.

Intermittent fasting, my way, and when not needing to feed others and/or traveling by myself, that’s what I do.

Keeps costs in line, also the most important for me, my weight,

 

[RonDean]

We’re digressing a bit, but I’ll jump in here.

Many if not all of us were raised to believe we needed to eat three meals a day, for whatever reason, but as we get older unless burning a lot of calories in high intensity workouts, we really don’t.

Not much for the rabbit food and lean protein diets, I have found that eating a main dish mid-day-ish and then something light in the evening works best for me.

Intermittent fasting, my way, and when not needing to feed others and/or traveling by myself, that’s what I do.

Keeps costs in line, also the most important for me, my weight,

What helped me was getting past the idea that I needed meat at every meal - or at all. Then, be willing to spend a little time actually preparing food rather than buying fast food or highly prepared food. A huge part of the Mexican or Asian diets are beans and/or rice that can be stored dry and purchased in bulk. Add local raw veggies that are in season and spices and you have a cheap and nutritious meal plan. Learn to cook the way our grandmothers did or the way many other countries still do.

 

[CosmickGold]

I have no kitchen in my van at all; no stove or food cooler. Instead, I put a clothes washer/spiner where a frig/stove would go (but that's another story). Straight out of the bottle I eat peanut butter (germs won't grow in it because of no water) and mayonnaise (germs won't grow in it because of high vinegar content). I eat a bunch of Chlorella-Spirulina tablets every day, it being the perfect food balance, one of the very few foods one could eat exclusively and stay healthy. Separately, I mix ground pecans, fat-free powdered milk, and oats together in water as a kind of delicious cereal. In addition, I take several kinds of vitamins, including Nucific BIO-X4 which keeps me feeling full of energy and wonderful all day! And I never tire of my complete diet, month after month, because it all agrees with my body's needs so perfectly.

 

[Thomas]

I have a fantastic menu that I developed with the help of a nutritionist at the VA. Plenty of produce, plenty of birds and fish, 45 carbs per meal and 30 more between, almost no sugar. I eat about 2,000 calories per day. Produce lasts around 10 days, so that's a constraint. I recommend consulting with a nutritionist who has access to one's blood data to develop a menu. And then check blood data after 90 days with the new menu and make adjustments. I first experimented on my own, and my blood data was tending towards pre-diabetes or heart disease, (even though I had lost weight). Truly, I could have gotten really sick. Food is medicine. Ask a doctor about it.

I understand from the History channel that Mayan warriors subsisted on ancient grains - chia seeds, quinoa, etc - for weeks at a time when on the move. They are on my menu.

How about Soylent Green (it's people). I told my nutritionist that if she could formulate a nutritionally complete biscuit or shake or powder for me, I'd be happy to tear out my kitchen and put in a pool table.

 

[bagabum]

"Cheap" & "Clean" ------You can eat very well on a $5 a day but you will have to do the work, not McDonalds or Taqueria #750. Be imaginative. A baked potato with butter is a meal. A pot of homemade beans is several meals. Some things are out; ribeye's, bacon, red snapper, shrimp, deli meats, etc. they will break your budget at the end of the month, heck, a hotdog is a meal with home sliced fries. No store-bought potato chips, they are $15 a pound etc. Soup is a great meal, not by the can, that's convenient but expensive and your buying water, get the dry soup ingredients in a package that makes a large pot for several meals, you add the water and a little pork or chicken which is far cheaper than beef. Eat a PJ sandwich if you're hungry between meals. A big pot of spaghetti and sauce will make 6 meals for 3 bucks, and so on. Now target $4 a day since you have disciplined yourself to new ways of satisfying the stomach, after a few months' target $3.50 a day!

 

[bagabum]

I disagree.
One needs a certain number of calories to survive and additional calories for energy to do stuff. Unless you change your diet, activity level, or loose weight, the cost of those calories will be the same no matter how you schedule ingesting them.

"The cost of calories is the same" no, you can eat the same amount of calories in a $50 meal or a 50 cent meal, it depends on what you're eating, a pound of caviar is more expensive than a hotdog.

 

[wanderlust]

Intermittent fasting , like 16/8 or 5/2 fasting are popular ways to do calorie restriction . It was proven to have many benefits (mice looked younger and improved memory), just hard to do when only your willpower prevents you to eat, and wide availability of food. Most of it is regulation of insulin, and **** diet (low carbs) is one popular way to do it. But don't do your research on FB, use evidence-based sites like WebMD or DietDoctor (I especially liked DD, because for each claim they link to published, peer-reviewed scientific articles)

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I disagree.
One needs a certain number of calories to survive and additional calories for energy to do stuff. Unless you change your diet, activity level, or loose weight, the cost of those calories will be the same no matter how you schedule ingesting them.

"The cost of calories is the same" no, you can eat the same amount of calories in a $50 meal or a 50 cent meal, it depends on what you're eating, a pound of caviar is more expensive than a hotdog.

I covered for that. Keep your diet the same and it doesn't make any difference how you schedule eating = the cost of said calories is the same.

I have seen no peer reviewed studies that claimed your resting metabolic energy needs change over time with any healthy fasting regimen.

 

[seal]

Carnivore diet + batch cooking. While eating primarily meat may sound expensive you tend to require less. One you get over the carb withdrawal you realize that you often mistake cravings for hunger.

 

[SLB_SA]

I'm curious about the "cleanest, cheapest, most minimal eating" when a person is gluten intolerant or gluten allergic. Gluten Free food seems to be quite expensive; even GF oatmeal and GF bread are more expensive than ordinary oatmeal and bread. Of course, eggs, rice, potatoes, raw veggies, cheese, etc. are not a problem. GF tortillas do not seem to be more expensive.

 

[Morgana]

To keep it really "clean/cheap/minimal" you'd probably have to stick to foods that are naturally gluten free, rather than foods that are processed to get the gluten out. And you might have to eat fewer processed foods, since gluten can slip in during processing. Another reason to read labels!

Oats and corn do not contain gluten, right? (Sing out if I'm wrong; I'm no expert.) So you could probably get corn tortillas and made-from-scratch oatmeal that are gluten free.

Corn tortillas go with all sorts of things besides Mexican food. I <3 them with peanut butter and jalapeños. or PB, honey, and poppy seeds. There you have it -- gluten-free potato chips and cupcakes!

 

[wanderlust]

Gluten Free food seems to be quite expensive

Only if gluten was removed. If there was no gluten in it from the start, price is the same.

Eggs, veggies, olive oil, rice. **** food is naturally low on carbs and grains. You will need to learn to cook it yourself. Google "**** recipes" and watch for gluten in any ingredients. Or Indian/east asian cuisine.

 

[SLB_SA]

Oaks should be gluten free. However this is often not true; "Quaker Oats ... buys regular oats (which generally are quite cross-contaminated with gluten grains"

Link for the following
Here's the statement from Quaker Oats regarding this problem: "Yes, oats are naturally gluten-free. However, during farming, transportation, and storage, gluten-containing grains like wheat, rye, barley, and spelt may be unintentionally introduced."

Quaker sells gluten-free oatmeal in four varieties: old-fashioned oats, quick one-minute oats, instant plain oatmeal, and instant maple and brown sugar oatmeal. This brand is the one you're most likely to find in your local grocery store, right alongside Quaker's regular oatmeal (look for the words "Gluten Free" in bold).

However, you should note that Quaker Oats doesn't source oats that have been grown away from gluten grains. Instead, the company buys regular oats (which generally are quite cross-contaminated with gluten grains) and then uses a controversial sorting technique that it says discards the gluten grains but keeps the oats.

Quaker Oats tests its products to ensure they contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten (the minimum Food and Drug Administration standard). However, if you're particularly sensitive to trace gluten, you may want to consider a brand with more stringent testing standards.