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Ask HN: got any food hacks?

133 points by johnswamps 17y ago

I'm having trouble finding a way of consuming food that has an optimal balance of being healthy, cheap, quick, and tasty. I don't want to eat ramen (or most processed foods), but I don't want to spend an hour every day preparing, cooking, and cleaning. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions to share (tips, recipes, whatever). I'm a single grad student, but advice for others is also appreciated. For example, I remember an HN submission where the writer talked about paying someone who lived nearby and cooked well to drop off leftovers most evenings. Someone else talked about preparing a whole bunch of meals the first weekend of the month then freezing them (this probably requires a second fridge). From the body building community I picked up the idea to drink a lot of milk, because it's a great source of cheap good calories. I'm not necessarily looking for actions so drastic and perhaps "gimmicky", simpler ideas would work just as well ("making such-and-such is really quick and makes a bunch of leftovers that taste just as good as the first time", etc.)

dnsworks 17y ago
You might follow http://www.foodhacking.com/ http://www.foodhacking.com/
shard 17y ago
In my bachelor days during my bulking phases, I'd do the following to pack in the nutrients I needed: 1. Buy several bags of chicken drumsticks (de-skin if you want to lower fat intake), poke holes with a fork, marinate with wine / vinegar / soy sauce / herbs and spices for a few hours, put into broiler. I'd cook 30 or so at a time, and it'd last me days. 2. Ham or turkey or peanut butter sandwiches. 3. bags of frozen veggies. Stir-fry if you have time, boil or microwave if you don't. 4. Peanut butter & banana & milk & protein powder drinks. I'd make a big glass every night for my snack. 5. Mixed nuts to snack on. Lots of good fats, low glycemic index carbs, and protein; inexpensive and quick.
- yesimahuman 17y ago
  Protein powder is great. It's so easy to make and filling. Add a tablespoon of natural peanut butter and you're good to go.
  - chipsy 17y ago
    I ran the numbers and found that whey protein was a little bit cheaper than milk on a protein/price basis. (And soy is even cheaper, if you prefer soy) I usually mix it up with a noncaloric sweetener now to overpower the strong taste. For a dessert you can mix the powder, peanut butter, a banana, and some dark chocolate together...microwave or blend it. I haven't really perfected that recipe though, I use a cup of protein powder and it's too much relative to the other ingredients.
    - yesimahuman 17y ago
      Not sure why we got downvoted. Protein is so easy to make. It's a hack in that it fills you up but takes a minute to make, and it's great for a lifting regimen.
- JesseAldridge 17y ago
  My list is similar. Healthy, cheap, and dead easy to prepare. 1. Cereal and milk 2. Oatmeal 3. Rice and beans - You have to soak the beans overnight before you cook them - After that, you cook them with rice in a rice cooker - After they're cooked, mix in some frozen vegetables and cook for a while longer to thaw the vegetables - Some kind of sweet and sour sauce is good with this 4. Noodles (all kinds) - You can also cook pasta in a rice cooker - Add frozen vegetables to this too - And tomato sauce (of course) 5. Chips - The baked variety are healthier and taste better (imo) 6. Fish - Buy frozen filets, cook in microwave 7. Melons - Cut off the rind with a big knife - Cut the flesh up into chunks - Stick the chunks in tupperware and refrigerate 8. Peanut Butter 9. Whole-grain bread 10. Mixed Nuts 11. Carrots - Baby carrots are good snacks 12. Apples, oranges, and bananas 13. Cookies 14. Deli cheese - My favorite is gouda Ok, those last two aren't so healthy, but they're delicious enough to be worth it imho. (Also, I'm pescatarian if you couldn't tell.)
  - jackowayed 17y ago
    You can make pasta in a rice cooker? Do you just stick the noodles and water in and check it periodically until they're done?
    - JesseAldridge 17y ago
      I use a rice cooker that you stick in the microwave. This one, to be specific: http://www.amazon.com/Maxi-Aids-Microwave-Rice-Cooker/dp/B00011R41Q http://www.amazon.com/Maxi-Aids-Microwave-Rice-Cooker/dp/B00... 13 minutes works for spaghetti in my microwave.
  - mapleoin 17y ago
    Awesome, I didn't know about pescatarianism. I wanna be a pescatarian, too!
- sp332 17y ago
  Steaming frozen veggies is faster and tastes better than boiling. You can do it in the same pot, just use about 1/4 as much water.
  - aerique 17y ago
    Is that all that needs to be done to steam them?
    - sojourner 17y ago
      Yes. I was amazed at how different mushrooms taste when steamed. Totally different animals. Same goes with a lot of veggies. You can add flavor if you want, but many times, it's unnecessary.
Frazzydee 17y ago
This is going to sound really simple, but it's what I do. Take at your own risk, because I have a strong stomach. I cook food in bulk, and just re-cook it on the stove, make a bowl of rice, and eat it over the next week. Even meat, and it tastes about as good as the first time. I usually keep it in the fridge, but I'm fine even if it's left outside and covered. Might take a bit of time to cook the first time, but you can make some healthy and nutritious food, and it'll be ready in minutes every time after the first.
- phugoid 17y ago
  You'll eventually poison yourself, Frazzydee. There are simple steps you can take to limit bacterial growth. If you have a fridge, you probably have a freezer. Invest 20$ in dollar-store tupperware, and freeze your food in single-servings. Try to keep your food either frozen or at least as hot as boiling.
  - Frazzydee 17y ago
    I do have both, although I usually use the fridge. I picked up this habit in China, where it seemed to be common to cook food and leave it out, covered with a net to keep mosquitos out. So I think whether or not you get really sick from this depends on your immune system. That being said, you're right there can still be significant bacterial growth in a fridge.
x2Opteron 17y ago
Oatmeal is healthy, cheap, quick, and add a bit of honey or brown sugar makes it super tasty. Steel cut oats take longer to cook than quick oats, but they're more satisfying IMO.
- gcv 17y ago
  Hack for making steel-cut oats quicker: soak the portion you plan to cook overnight. Cuts cooking time down to about 15 minutes. Tastes exactly the same (IMO). If you like to add cinnamon, or dried apricots, raisins, or dates or whatever, do that before actually cooking.
gte910h 17y ago
Eat lots of blueberries. Buy from vegan delivery chefs in your area. I's pretty easy, and a counterbalance to any eating out you might want to do
- endtime 17y ago
  As it stands, this is a bit of a surreal answer. Why do you advise eating lots of blueberries? And are vegan delivery chefs actually a widespread thing? Is there a central place to find local ones?
  - jws 17y ago
    I think he's trying to turn the OP blue. I checked the nutrition data at wikipedia and compared to carrots. Except for vitamin B5 and a slight advantage in vitamin C, carrots kick blueberries butt by a wide margin. (plus cost a lot less) Of course, maybe I'm trying to turn people orange.
    - gte910h 17y ago
      Blueberries are one of the cheapest foods that prevent the genesis of new blood vessels (and therefore is a good cancer fighting food). Carrots taste much less good than blueberries. Frozen blueberries are only slightly less tasty than ice cream and are nutritious as hell.
      - stck 17y ago
        Blueberries also help to fight Alzheimer's disease. You gotta start young, if you want to live long and prosper.
  - gte910h 17y ago
    I dunno, in Atlanta, I've gotten a flyer put on my car for one more than once.
sfgfdhgfdshdhhd 17y ago
Technology could certainly help with the time aspect. Rig an electric timer to your toaster or toaster oven so that it's cooking you breakfast before/as you wake up. Hack together a device to do the stirring for you for foods that need to just be stirred over heat for a long time. Just be wary of fire hazards.
anateus 17y ago
I've found fish tacos to be a fantastic food, I try to eat them for breakfast as often as I can. -------------- Ingredients: * Frozen tilapia fillets (probably the healthiest fish you can buy, not as high in Omega-3 as larger ocean fish, but it's super low in mercury). * Yellow corn tortillas (much lower in fat and sodium than the wheat or white corn ones). * Salsa (I buy Herdez brand, it's basically Pico De Gallo with no additives. I can't stand tomatoes in any other form. Red vegetables are good for you, and it's the one way I can get some) * Queso Fresco or some other cheese (not too much) Procedure: The tilapia you can just stick in a toaster oven (or a full on oven) under broil for 15-20mins, with some salt and pepper, and whatever other spices you feel like that day. Put tortillas on ungreased skillet (or hot plate) for 10-15 secs each side. Take off, add your cheese, put in fish (slice the fillet as you see fit), and add salsa and whatever other vegetables (some chopped lettuce, and sometimes even cabbage works). EAT! -------------- 1 tilapia fillet is very filling and makes 2-3 tacos. In conclusion: fast, easy, delicious, and very healthy. The frozen tilapia fillets keep in the freezer for quite a while. Trader Joe's sells panko-crusted ones that you can substitute once in a for some extra fun.
- anateus 17y ago
  I should mention that I'm plagued for a huuuuge amount of taste aversions. I disliked most cooked fish as well as tomatoes. But in this quick and easy combination, it becomes a delicious meal that's quick to make, and quick to eat :)
araneae 17y ago
http://hackerhousewife.wordpress.com/2010/02/21/hack-shredded-chicken-for-quick-easy-healthy-meals/ http://hackerhousewife.wordpress.com/2010/02/21/hack-shredde...
ableal 17y ago
Beans. They have protein and fiber, no sugar. Canned pre-cooked red or brown beans. (In the U.S., buy chili beans - they don't have sugar added, the others do.) Add a little meat for flavor. I'm partial to a small chunk of sausage/chorizo/pepperoni, diced in small bits. Plus tomato paste (not ketchup - sugar again) and paprika. Spice up at will, but I find Tabasco too vinegary. Add water to make it soupy, boil for 10 minutes, eat with bread. Microwave in a bowl if you're lazy (er, efficient) like me, or are re-heating a leftover portion. Tossing a portion of chicken breast, in a dry non-stick frying pan, into the oven for 20 or 30 minutes (?), while doing something else, was also a favorite in my grad student days.
punkrockgeekboy 17y ago
My favorite vegetarian food hacks are Quinoa and Peanut Butter Oatmeal. Both are great sources of protein. When I want to spend a weekend hacking, and don't want to be bothered, I'll cook a big batch of steel cut oats in the slow cooker, starting it on a Friday night. Then I know I can just mix in a few table spoon of the good "grind it yourself" peanut butter with a cup or two of oatmeal. It leaves me feeling satiated, and is rather healthy with lots of fiber and protein without much fat, and without sugar.
- ramidarigaz 17y ago
  Quinoa is great. I have two primary recipes: Breakfast: cook with cinnamon, apples, raisins and honey (and any other dried fruit you care to add). Serve with pecans/walnuts/your favorite nut to add an extra protein boost. Lunch/dinner: cook and cool, add onions, cilantro, black beans, a little tomato, a bit of crushed garlic. Basically a fresh salsa that is mostly quinoa.
  - dnsworks 17y ago
    Quinoa FTW! My girlfriend likes to make Quinoa salads .. She'll just make a basic quinoa pilaf style, but without the sauteed onions, then add corn, spinach greens, heirloom tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, the super crunchy japanese cucumbers, some apple or jicama slices, and some blood orange (or regular orange). Quinoa also makes a good porridge. I've mixed a cup of cooked qunoa cookd porridge style with a cup of softly cooked (and drained and rinsed) black beans with hot milk and a TBsp of agave syrup for a super awesome breakfast.
    - sojourner 17y ago
      I love quinoa tabouli. Tabouli is a Middle Eastern salad. You'll find various recipes on the web. I like to use cilantro in place of the usual parsley & mint, scallions, cucumbers, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and a dressing of fresh lemon juice, garlic, salt and extra virgin olive oil. I make a huge batch of that and snack on it for a couple of days.
Raphael 17y ago
Hard-boiled eggs.
byrneseyeview 17y ago
I've recently switched to a fairly paleo diet; I enjoy it. My first step was to start every day with scrambled eggs. There are infinite variations (you can mix in about a quarter of a pound of arugula or spinach, or a couple sliced mushrooms--or you can pour some salsa on it when you're done). Takes about fifteen minutes to cook, consume, and clean, and you'll simply have a better day once you do it. I've found that a protein-and-fat breakfast at seven means I can decide whether I want to eat again at noon or at three, which is nice.
samdk 17y ago
Couscous. It's cheap, cooks really quickly (about 6-7 minutes), makes no mess, and requires no dishes other than the pot it's cooked in. It's also really versatile. I often use it instead of rice in simple rice dishes (rice and beans, etc.), and it can substitute for pasta too.
- jsonscripter 17y ago
  I've also found that you don't even need the pot. If you prepare an excess of boiling water and use some to pre-heat your bowl and cover, it's possible to actually cook the couscous sufficiently.
- sojourner 17y ago
  Yeah, I have to third the couscous option. It's great for tight schedules.
- huhtenberg 17y ago
  The absolute best couscous recipe is the one from Jamie Oliver. Basically throw in some shallots, garlic, spices and a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. It is mind-bogglingly good. http://www.lovelyrecipes.com/recipe.php?recipeid=3460 http://www.lovelyrecipes.com/recipe.php?recipeid=3460 - the recipe
- mhb 17y ago
  it can substitute for pasta too Since it is pasta.
PostOnce 17y ago
Spend money to save time, or spend time to save money. There aren't a whole lot of ways around it. There are some tricks, but it boils down to either you spend the time or the money, or you're going to end up with unhealthy/bland/repetitive food. If it's fast, cheap, and healthy, then it's one of the few meals in that category and will therefore become repetitive. You see where I'm going.
thomasthornton 17y ago
At least once a week I microwave a sweet potato (10 minutes or so). Then microwave black beans and mix in a little salsa. Serve the potato with the bean mixture as a topping. The result is a healthy dinner in about 15 minutes with almost no work. You can also add cumin and ground corriander to give it more flavor.
- chadaustin 17y ago
  Amen to that! Few people realize how easy it is to make a sweet potato in the microwave. They cost a dollar or two each. Poke a couple holes, nuke on high for 8 minutes, slice open and eat. Lots of calories and vitamins. Add butter and brown sugar if you want. Or salt.
bmj 17y ago
A quick favorite in my house is lentil-rice casserole. Basic recipe is here: http://www.gettingfreedom.net/2009/02/lentil-brown-rice-casserole-my-way.html http://www.gettingfreedom.net/2009/02/lentil-brown-rice-cass... Very easy, and can produce several days of leftovers. Another variation on the easy burritos is simply taking a can or two of beans, mashing them with a jar salsa, and adding some rice. Quinoa is another option for cheap, healthy food. It cooks relatively quickly and is purported to have one of the most complete types of protein. Also, to spice up rice, couscous, or quinoa, cook it with vegetable broth instead of plain water.
gcv 17y ago
Learn to make stews in a Dutch oven. The cooking process takes about 2-3 hours, but prep only requires about 20 minutes. Just learn to use a chef's knife efficiently. Easy, efficient, and produces several days' worth of delicious dinners. Eat with raw vegetables. PS: If you drink whole milk in large quantities, make sure you do the weight training to compensate. Otherwise, you'll just get fat.
mattmaroon 17y ago
What you just asked for is a full-sized SUV that costs $10,000, rides like a Lexus, gets 45mpg city, and never loses the new car smell. If you don't want to cook or clean, that means someone has to cook/package for you. If you don't want processed food (and I don't blame you) where this is done by machine, then you have to pay for something done by real people. This will by-definition be not cheap, since labor is relatively expensive in food prep. You could just snack on raw veggies but I'm guessing you wouldn't consider that tasty for long. Much better would be to structure your life in such a way that you can spare the hour. Go read In Defense of Food as to why, then ask yourself about your priorities. To do otherwise is to put work/school above your health which makes no sense at all.
- phugoid 17y ago
  Amen. Cooking is an investment. The more you cook, the better you get at it; the faster and tastier the results. And the more you cook, the healthier you will eat overall (at least if you're living in North America). As for hacks, here's one. Take semi-prepared food, like macaroni & cheese in-the-box-with-the-faux-cheese-powder-in-the-paper-pouch, and augment it. The basic recipe is written on the box and fool-proof. Add something else to it like chopped-up left-over chicken that you warm up in the oven until sizzling.
  - PostOnce 17y ago
    Isn't it strange to talk about cooking being an investment, and healthier eating in one sentence, and then recommend a way to prepare mac & cheese in the next?
    - mattmaroon 17y ago
      Especially the kind made out of cheese-tasting chemicals.
    - phugoid 17y ago
      I'm suggesting to start small. Hello World small. It's easier to build on successes than failures.
rjett 17y ago
Breakfast: Some sort of cereal; for mornings that I have more time, I might make an omelet and toast. Snacks: Peanut Butter Sandwiches Lunch: Turkey, cheese, lettuce, condiment on wheat, apple, cottage cheese Dinner: I usually get home late so I don't have the energy to cook. I love to cook though so I do all my cooking on the weekends and store it for the week. Spaghetti with Italian sausage is cheap to make and lasts 3-4 meals. Stir Fry using frozen chicken breasts, rice, and frozen stir-fry vegetables is also cheap and lasts for a few meals. For my "nice" meal, I usually buy a manager's special (a couple days from being unsaleable) London Broil or a pot roast and have that with potatos and peas. Then there's always the old constant of beans and rice any of the 5000 ways you want to prepare it. I'm not a ramen fan btw. There are plenty of healthy, cheap alternatives. In Sacramento, this diet costs about $45/week.
SlyShy 17y ago
Ramen noodles don't have to be unhealthy, if you add a tiny bit more expense. Start cooking ramen like normal. When it starts to boil, crack and egg in and stir. The soup will cook the egg, of course. Also peel a few leafs off a head of lettuce, cut them to your preference, and toss those in too. When you are done you've got a meal that has protean and fiber, in addition to your loads of gluten. ;)
pingswept 17y ago
A few suggestions: 1. Fresh pasta cooks faster than dry pasta, is still pretty cheap, and it tastes better too. Definitely an improved taste/time ratio. 2. If you can find a place that sells enormous sandwiches, you can make each half a meal. I often eat half a sandwich at 11 AM and the second half around 3 PM. 3. I think a rice cooker is a worthwhile investment (google Zojirushi).
thunk 17y ago
Rice cooker. Rice-to-water ratio 1:1.5 for white and 1:2 for brown. 15-20 minutes for white and 30-40 minutes for brown. Throw in vegetables and/or fish for the last 7-10 minutes to steam. Season to taste. I like teriyaki sauce (with tons of garlic and ginger) on it. Corn starch is the key to a thick, shiny sauce.
- Batsu 17y ago
  There are rice cookers you can purchase which will finish the rice according to a schedule. They're more expensive than the the average, but if you're going to use it frequently and you want rice ready when you get home, it's top notch. Essentially, you measure you rice, clean it (as always) then add the water, leave it in the cooker, the the timer you want it to finished, and the cooker does the rest. Edit: A thought on top of this: Sushi is often a mix of rice, vinegar, salt and sugar, then seaweed and a meat. If you have the rice cooker, most of the time for prep is taken out.
  - jseliger 17y ago
    What exactly does cleaning rice consist of? I thought that just meant "run some water over it."
    - chadaustin 17y ago
      Put it in a bowl. Cover with water. Swish it around until the water is cloudy. Drain. Add more water. Repeat until water stays clear. On the other hand, I kind of like all of that excess starch or whatever.
    - philwelch 17y ago
      There's the bowl method, or you can use a strainer. I often do a combination of the two. Instead of getting a separate bowl dirty I just rinse it in the rice cooker pan itself and do a final rinse through the strainer.
  - iamwil 17y ago
    Tip: Don't put vinegar in your rice cooker if it's got a metal pot. The vinegar will take the metal off the pot and into your rice and make it taste metallic.
ramidarigaz 17y ago
Rice and dal is excellent, and if you invest in a rice cooker, you can make pretty much the entire dinner without thinking about it. The lentils are apparently pretty good protein. I posted a recipe a while back, and it's still one of my favorites. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=726619 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=726619 Edit: Rice and lentils are both quite inexpensive if you buy bulk, and they both keep for a long time. The spices are initially more expensive, but they last for a long time as well.
edj 17y ago
A few of things I do: 1) Leftovers. I often cook chili, dal, chana masala, or soups in large quantities. I eat them fresh, then from the fridge for a day or two, then freeze the rest. Anything flavorful and goopy works (since textures degrade with freezing and reheating). 2) Rice cooker. Most useful kitchen appliance I've ever owned. They really are fire and forget. I bought mine for $13 at target. It only has one button (maybe Apple should get into this market?). It's pretty forgiving--I don't even measure the water anymore. 3) Whole pre-cooked chickens. They can cost as little as $3 or as much as $10 (for the organic ones). I get 2-4 meals from one chicken depending on its size and what I eat with it. Then I throw the carcass in a pot of water with onions and celery and make soup stock. (Throw away the bones, onions, and celery before making soup). 4) Instant oatmeal is the cheapest good breakfast I know of. I use fancy steel cut organic instant oats with organic milk and the cost is around $0.50 per meal. Adding fresh berries brings it to around $1.50. (That said, my current favorite breakfast is whole wheat bread, scrambled eggs, and sauteed kale or spinach.)
- rjett 17y ago
  Regarding #3: I've found that blending the boiled down onions, celery, [and carrots] into your stock after boiling it makes a much better base.
  - Batsu 17y ago
    Regarding your comment: Don't be afraid to try this. Those who don't cook often tend to see items like this as a little gross... but just consider how often you ask a chef how your meal is prepared.
  - edj 17y ago
    If you like a thicker broth, go for it. My preference is to consider that first round of veggies as flavor enhancers. When I cook thicker soups I blend, e.g. with butternut squash soup, I always blend the sauteed onions and garlic, as well as a portion of the squash.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
pgbovine 17y ago
subway sandwiches are probably the cheapest, quickest, and healthiest 'fast food' that you might tolerate eating on a daily basis. you can get a decent sandwich for ~$4.
- spahl 17y ago
  Without the cheese, bacon and sauce... But even then, there is way too much sugar in the bread.
  - lpolovets 17y ago
    You can ask the person behind the counter to scrape some of the bread out from the middle before they start adding meats and veggies. I do it all the time and it makes the sandwich taste better too (due to the higher flavor-to-bread ratio)
dnsworks 17y ago
Also, if you're not vegan & can stomach it, Cottage Cheese is a fantastic source of protein. It's also cheap and really simple.
lotharbot 17y ago
1) get a rice cooker, preferably one with a top basket that lets it double as a veggie steamer. Rice with some veggies and lean meat is fairly healthy, tasty, inexpensive, and requires little active prep time (which is what I assume you mean by "quick".) You may have to cook the meat separately, depending on the type. 2) get a slow cooker. Much of the same applies, only instead of a rice base, use potatoes and/or beans. This works pretty well with larger portions of meat (chicken is cheap.) IIRC you can do some pasta dishes in a slow cooker as well. 3) For variety, change up the specific mix of veggies, the type of meat (may need to be cooked separately), and the spices in both of the above. You'd be amazed how different rice with chicken, carrots, onions and potatoes tastes when you spice it with oregano vs. curry powder vs. garlic and ginger. 4) Hit up the day-old bread rack, the reduced-price meat section, and so on. It's a good way to add occasional bits of variety at a low cost. I also get most of my produce from a small neighborhood produce stand, rather than the big grocery store. 5) [EDIT]: one simple dish I've started making on the stovetop recently: Throw some pasta, canned/frozen/fresh-cut veggies, and a can of concentrated soup (tomato, cream of chicken, etc.) in a saucepan with the appropriate amount of water. Cook it just like you would cook plain pasta. Again, you can add a bit of meat and change up the spices, veggies, or soup type and have a totally different meal.
pgbovine 17y ago
iirc, pg mentioned something about cooking rice and beans or some other cheap but healthy food during his startup hacking days ... could somebody post a link if you remember it?
- johnswamps 17y ago
  This is kind of random, but I recognized your username and I think your office is 2-3 rooms away from mine (gates 3rd floor)
- matthew-wegner 17y ago
  Bottom of http://www.paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html http://www.paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html
RevRal 17y ago
Get potstickers, use ~5 for every bowl of ramen. Eat the raman, then a carrot. I am highly anticipating Roger Ebert's book "The Pot And How To Use It." A rice cooker pot, not marijuana -- I got excited, too. The book sounds like it'll be a compilation of the best food hacks ever.
mprovost 17y ago
The ultimate food hack is the pressure cooker. You can cook things much quicker than usual by changing the rules (ie raising the boiling point of water). They're really good for making basics like rice and quinoa very quickly and you can turn something like boiling potatoes from a 20 minute exercise into about 7 minutes. Another good one is using an electric kettle/jug to boil water. It's the fastest way (obviously immersing the heating element directly in the water is going to be more efficient than going through a pan). Lots of people use them for tea etc but I use mine to boil water for pasta.
cynicalkane 17y ago
Problem: Vegetables are gross, and hard to prepare such that they taste good. Solution: vegetable smoothie. Ice, a banana, yogurt, milk, and a whole bunch of spinach, in proportions according to taste. This sounds disgusting, but it actually tastes really good. Make sure you have a banana though. Otherwise it will tastes like spinach, and that's not the goal here. After trying to report my discovery to the world, it seems I'm the only person who thinks spinach smoothies are a good idea. For some reason, everyone thinks it's disgusting to fill a blender with spinach and other things and then drink it. I can't imagine why.
- limist 17y ago
  I echo your choice of "green smoothies" - they're an outstanding solution to the cheap, fast, and healthy requirements. Though like you, the reactions I get from people generally involve disgust, even when those same people will happily pay $4 or $5 for essentially the same concept/drink at a health food store, for a quarter of the quantity and quality. Hell, half the drink may be ground-up ice and they only get half a banana too. Most people are not rational, especially when it comes to food.
  - sojourner 17y ago
    I love green smoothies. I use other fruit in addition to bananas, also use collards, kale, dandelion and other dark leafy greens, and I don't skip the dairy. They are delicious and very filling.
- dpapathanasiou 17y ago
  Vegetables are gross What kind of bizarro, fast food nation, high fructose syrup environment did you grow up in to make a statement like that? Visit a farmer's market and check out the vegetables on sale there; almost all are edible raw, and all are terrific.
aheilbut 17y ago
Greek yogurt is tasty (especially if you add some fresh fruit and honey to it...) and has lots of protein.
limist 17y ago
Cheap, fast, and potentially very healthy: smoothies. One basic recipe: 2 cups fruit juice, e.g. orange juice or apple juice 2-3 tablespoons ground flax seed (omega-3, trace minerals, fiber) 2-3 tablespoons protein powder (soy, hemp, whatever) 2 bananas 2-3 cups of greens: kale, frozen spinach (organic, conventional has too much pesticides), collard greens; frozen means no washing, so it's faster 1 cup frozen mango, blueberries, etc. 1 kiwi spices (cinnamon, etc.) Obviously, you can mix and experiment and find what you like. You can also include a lot more greens than you'd ever eat in one salad, and thanks to the blender, not spend time chewing, nor get sated with the (sometimes bitter) taste of greens. Enjoy!
dood 17y ago
The best trick is to batch it. Fill your freezer with tasty, quality foods which can be made in nice big batches: stew, casserole, bolognaise (which can be quickly converted to chilli), curry, dal, etc. All of the above foods can be reheated quickly, can be eaten in a variety of ways (various carb-staples & veg), and you can tweak the recipe each time if you like. If you don't have much money, or don't want to eat much meat, you can add as much beans/potatoes to the basic dish as you like, and/or eat small portions combined with whatever staples you prefer. Every week cook a big batch of something. Soon you'll have a freezer full of a variety of tasty, nurtitious goodness.
davidedicillo 17y ago
My mom would cry if she could read english... Cheap and fast: PASTA Base for the pasta: - boil the water and salt it - add pasta (but please, don't overcook it, just stick to the box instruction. Barilla is an excellent brand and decently priced) Sauces for the pasta Tuna Pasta - In a small pot add a spoon of olive oil and diced onion, crushed red pepper, and stir-fry it. - When the onion looks "gold" add a can of tuna (drain the water from the can first) and a can of tomato sauce. - let cook for 15 minutes medium heat Pasta Carbonara - on a small pan stir-fry some cured bacon - in a bowl beat 1 egg, a spoon of heavy cream and 1/4 cup of parmigiano cheese. - when the pasta is ready add first the bacon with its oil and then the mix from the bowl
- enjo 17y ago
  I don't want to get too pendantic, but the main thing I developed while living in Italy is a carbonara fetish. What you describe is most definitely not Carbonara... Carbonara: 4 eggs 1 lb spaghetti 1/2 lb Pancetta 1/2 cup Parmesan Reggiano (although I often use asiago as it's far cheaper) 1 onion chopped Combine the eggs and 1/2 of the cheese in a large bowl, stirring to break the egg yolks. Cook the pasta. Cook the pancetta and onion together. When the pancetta/onion is done pour it into the bowl with eggs and cheese and mix. When the pasta is done add it to the bowl as well and combine quickly to mix. Pour the rest of the cheese into the bowl (it's important that it's still hot) and mix. Your left with this beautiful creamy mixture. Most importantly there is no cream involved:)
  - tomsaffell 17y ago
    +1 for the lack of cream -1 for the inclusion of onion and the exclusion of garlic..
  - davidedicillo 17y ago
    I actually don't use cream, but I noticed american people like it better. I usually do one yolk per person plus a full egg.
ubergeekchick 17y ago
Learn to Bake Required Hardware: The best food hack ever is as older than the origins of the word "hack" and almost every one has one: its called an oven. The best part of baking is all the wonderful things that can be hacked together to improve your daily caffeine supply. From biscuits/cookies, cakes, coffee cake, yummy biscotties, and so so much more. --BAKING HACK README-- Dependencies: Than on to ready-to-raise flour, eggs, water, and butter. With those four ingredients you can begin an template for many baking projects. Recommended Ingredients: Sugar, Salt, Cinnamon, and Milk. Optional Ingredients: Fruits, Veggies, Meats, and just about about any thing. Optional Hardware: Aluminum foil and any of many various baking pans, e.g.: Cookie Sheets, Pie pans, Muffin pans, Bread pans, Pie pans, and etc. To prove your "leet skillz": try replacing any said pan with an aluminum foil struct of a similar thickness & shape. Though for reasons of taste & safety this may also prove your absolute stupidity as well. But who care's cause you're leet: right? :-) Now: go get baked!
tjr 17y ago
I've consistently enjoyed a can of fat-free refried beans, salsa, corn or flour tortillas, and (optionally) some shredded cheese.
reasonattlm 17y ago
Alternate day fasting. Cut your work in half, drop your food budget by 2/3 or so. Cook lentil + onion + carrot + split pea soup in a pot on the weekend, then freeze it in portion sized boxes for the coming week. Buy bread with very high fiber content to go with it. That makes for one meal a day that's so easy no-one can mess it up, and doesn't take more than two hours a week to arrange in advance.
dlevine 17y ago
A friend of mine runs a blog called BrokeAss Gourmet, which focuses on cheap and easy to make meals http://www.brokeassgourmet.com/ http://www.brokeassgourmet.com/ It's not exactly $1 per meal cooking, but you can make a good meal for not all that much (especially because, if you're single, one recipe will yield multiple servings)
renesugar 17y ago
Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, has a video titled 'Sugar: The Bitter Truth' where he talks about how fructose (sucrose is broken down into glucose and fructose via sucrase) shuts down the signal to stop eating. If you eat a diet with less fructose, you will eat less. You can do a search on 'fructose intolerance diet' which is used by people who cannot metabolize fructose. It shows you how to reduce the amount of fructose you consume. To make bread without using sugar, you can do a search on 'The Minimalist' and 'no knead bread'. Making bread yourself is cheaper than buying it.
phillaf 17y ago
Bach student here. here is the best ratio health/$ that I've found. Hard boiled eggs (the white part only) Canned Tuna oatmeal Bananas Frozen vegetables
nhebb 17y ago
I thought "sudo make me a sandwich" was the ultimate food hack: http://xkcd.com/149/ http://xkcd.com/149/
- dasil003 17y ago
  Dustin's totally got this covered at Hacker Dojo in Mountain View http://breakfast.agileordering.com/ http://breakfast.agileordering.com/
stck 17y ago
I'm somewhat surprised no-one has mentioned just plain fruit. Often times I eat nothing but apples, oranges, avocados, kiwis, pineapples and bananas after work. Doesn't get much healthier than that.
NZ_Matt 17y ago
I make a big batch of 30 - 40 wraps (burritos or kebabs) and freeze them. After a 60 second nuke they are good to go. I'm also a student and have found that carrying a water bottle everywhere stops me from buying sodas. It saves me money and of course is a lot healthier.
mmaunder 17y ago
You need the Julia Child Omlette! All you need are eggs, water, butter and a hot pan and it takes 3 minutes and tastes awesome! The water is the trick. When you whisk water and eggs together, as they hit the hot pan the water turns to steam and fluffs the eggs up. I've made this many times and once you get the pan shaking and timing right, you will impress the hell out of your friends every time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWmvfUKwBrg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWmvfUKwBrg Get a dozen eggs and some friends over and practice making this. Then start throwing in pre-cooked items like bacon bits etc. The possibilities are endless. Once you've got it down, make this for breakfast for a date one morning and you won't be single long.
- dilap 17y ago
  Wow, I just made the best omelette of my life. Thanks!
  - bretthoerner 17y ago
    Man, I came here to post the same thing. So delicious.
- aw3c2 17y ago
  I use a drop of milk for my delicious omelette. Maybe it's the same effect. Add a bit of rosemary and curry and it tastes even better.
  - huhtenberg 17y ago
    It is hard to beat a Gruyere and thinly sliced ham combination :-P
- nosse 17y ago
  I once made scrambled eggs just of curiosity, the recipe has deciliter of milk against every egg you put in. It takes long time to cook, but beats any omelet. Because I usually don't have the patience to do scrambled eggs, I just do an omelet with approximately ass much milk than eggs. Paprika is my favorite add on, and pretty much any meat is fine.
askar_yu 17y ago
does not really apply to you... but those living with roommates could cook alternately throughout the week. A duty cooks and cleans everything up for everybody in house - so you get to cook fewer times than everyday but eat healthy dinner everyday. not sure if it's common thing in here, but I remember being surprised (when I first came to US) seeing Americans (students sharing house/dorm) eating dinners separately. of course, it only applies to dinner, but that's the most time consuming one I guess.
Flemlord 17y ago
I consider this as a hack--I never was able to consistently cook/grill meat until I got a good instant-read thermometer. Now it's embarrassingly easy. Char the meat on the stove or grill for a couple minutes, then throw it in the oven on low heat until it hits the right temperature. It comes out perfectly every time and there's very little effort involved.
awongh 17y ago
I think the ultimate time saver for cooking good tasting food with little effort is a crock pot. Anything that cooks food over low heat over a long period of time. This method always seems to produce food that has that special "something" where all the ingredients meld into something magic. It's virtually impossible to mess up and it's good for getting rid of odd bits left in your fridge. It can also be easily adopted to your nutritional requirements, and to any type of cuisine. Basically every single culture on earth has a version of stuff-thrown-in-pot-and-cooked-for-a-long-time. The secret to success is to begin with similar ingredients. Usually onions and carrots and garlic- then celery for something european, bell pepper for something south american, maybe ginger for something asian. Then you add some kind of cheap cut of meat, chicken, pork, beef, it doesn't matter, (sausage or ham, leftover meats- doesn't matter if they've been cooked already) then some other appropriate long cooking vegetable (potatoes, corn, anything that won't fall apart during cooking, an hour before eating, you can put in the more delicate vegetables). Then some water. Cover and leave it for like 4 or 5 hours and when you come back it'll be amazing. If it's appropriate, you can also add any kind of dried beans. Prep is also easy, because you dont really have to worry about cutting the vegetables carefully. Just cut them any way you like and dump them in. You can make rice or cous cous or quinoa (starch) to go along with it, or you can have it with bread or crackers. Some specific examples: osso bucco, coq au vin (adding alcohol in really helps make it good) cassoulet, chili, goulash, tangine, gumbo, indian-style curries, etc., you can see how versatile this method is.....
- mbenjaminsmith 17y ago
  +1 for the slow cooker. I cook 25% of the time with a slow cooker. There is magic to it and it's fast for prep. Recommendations: - Buy a decent pair of kitchen scissors. I cut up almost everything directly into the slow cooker with a pair. It's very fast. - Load up on fresh veggies (a local farmer's market would be ideal). If you make something like chili, cut in 2 - 3 extra bunches of greens like parsley, coriander, young celery, etc. - Buy an extra large cooker and always make enough to have leftovers. I usually plan on getting a solid lunch out of it the next day. - You can make noodle dishes right in the pot if you have access to fresh (refrigerated) noodles. Fresh spaghetti or udon work well. Just rinse and throw them in the pot 5 - 10 minutes before you eat. They soak up sauce and are great.
garply 17y ago
In terms of preparation speed - there's a reason we Americans like sandwiches - if you're preparing food for yourself, a sandwich is about as fast to produce as you can get. Also, can be made just about as healthy as you want, depending on what you put in. For example, buy a chunk of deli meat, a block of cheese, some lettuce, some tomatoes, and various sauces (mustard, mayo), and you can slice them up and have a meal in about 5-10 minutes. You can do that all week, alternating condiments, meats, and cheeses for variation.
grandalf 17y ago
Check out this great blog dedicated to exactly the purpose you describe: http://vegstrong.org http://vegstrong.org edit: this is one of my favs: http://vegstrong.org/post/422370700/tasty-breakfast-scramble http://vegstrong.org/post/422370700/tasty-breakfast-scramble
jseifer 17y ago
You just can't have all those at the same time. Healthy and cheap almost never go together though healthy and quick can if you prepare for a few days. That said, the best source for cheap healthy food is usually farmer's markets. I get fruits, veggies, meats, cheeses, butter, and milk from a couple of different local farmers markets. Fruits are usually much cheaper ($5-$8 for 2 dozen oranges) but meat is usually more expensive because it's much better quality. Get your ingredients and figure out two days to cook. I do the bulk of everything Wednesday and Sunday. This is a good balance for me with freshness of food and cooking frequency. Also fresh OJ only last 2 to 3 days. Whole milk (preferably raw if you can find good stuff) is a good balanced snack, so is fruit and cheese. If you're really wanting to be healthy and cheap, and can stomach it, animal parts that people don't usually want are priced pretty well. The Whole Foods here sells grass-fed beef liver at $4/lb and it's incredibly good for you though it tastes terrible (email me for a recipe that makes it tolerable if you're interested). Make broth out of beef ox tails and marrow bones or chicken feet. Eat every 2-3 hours. Eat shellfish once a week. Anyway, as another poster here said, it's worth it to spend the time on your food. You'll be surprised how much better you feel and work when you're healthy.
bhseo 17y ago
You can use miracle fruit (or miracle berry) to make sour/bitter things taste sweet. It binds to your tastebuds for about half an hour, during which sour things will taste quite sweet. You could suck on a lemon and it will feel like sweet lemonade. It's a good way to cut down on sugar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_fruit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_fruit
btilly 17y ago
The trick is called advance planning. Similar to the "whole bunch of meals" I remember a fellow grad student who would cook a large dish every Sunday, then parcel it out into meal sized portions which he would then freeze. He always had meals from multiple weeks in there, so he could microwave chili, lasagna, stew, etc, whatever he felt like. He did this with a normal sized freezer, but it was a well organized one. Personally I'm fond of pancakes. I always cook more than I need, put the excess in the fridge, then microwave one when I want a pancake. See http://www.recipefiles.org/view_user.php?user=ben_tilly http://www.recipefiles.org/view_user.php?user=ben_tilly for some of the pancake recipes I make. Particularly with the buttermilk, I find that the pan gets hot in the same time it takes me to make the batter, and cooking from scratch tastes a lot better. You'll also find there something called "Daddy's chicken". I do that as a marinade in the fridge. Many marinades are surprisingly fast to cook. You just prepare them, let them sit in the fridge, then the next day pop them into an oven and come back when they are done. Sure, it takes 40 minutes to an hour of cooking time. But that is wall time, not your time.
armandososa 17y ago
Well, I think I'm going to advocate tacos. The best thing about tacos is: they are easy to make and can be filled with just about anything. Take one or two hours off the weekend you can cook nice meals for the rest of the week. Cook some meat wit tomato sauce, fry little potato squares with some olive oil, grill some chicken steaks. Also grab a can of beans, some cheese (mozzarella or oaxaca for better results) and of course good tortillas. That's it. You can have an infinite variety of tacos for each day of the week. Dude, this thread made me hungry.
bluesmoon 17y ago
I'm a geek living alone and working long hours. I like to eat healthy. I treat cooking the same way I treat website optimisation... iterate till I get it right, and I blog about my cooking experiences (at least the ones that work) at http://food.bluesmoon.info/ http://food.bluesmoon.info/ The food's good enough that I can invite people over for dinner every now and then. Some of it takes time, but my stirfrys and salads are all under 10 minutes preparation time. I went from being 20Kg overweight to 8Kg overweight.
fbailey 17y ago
oh god, don't hack food... it's not worth the saved time. Just learn to cook, good food is cheap. I make dinner for friends all the time 5 courses and the cost per person is 5€ if I want. Preparing good pasta never takes an hour, a simple rice dish is fast, you can cook nearly everything with very little preparation time, it's just a matter of training. So don't hack food hack your food preparation skills. It's like buying something like this http://www.stimrx.com/instead http://www.stimrx.com/instead of finding a a better way to exercise. If you learn to cook well, you will be able to do it without concentrating on it, so it's not lost time. Now imagine how long you are going to eat.. 60 years for every day? What would you do with every other kind of work you have to do for that amount of time? How long did you need to learn driving? Or to learn to programm? And don't believe anybody who tells you with some kind of powder and some nutrients you will be perfectly healthy, if the research into nutrition has shown anything it's that the system is pretty complex and the only safe bet is a mixed traditional diet.
- rokhayakebe 17y ago
  5 courses? Do you have room for a new friend?
cianestro 17y ago
http://www.dollaradaybook.com/kitchen http://www.dollaradaybook.com/kitchen or Costco food.
sketerpot 17y ago
Chili. Make it in a slow cooker in a large batch, and refrigerate most of it for later meals. Here's what you do: Brown these in a pan: 1 pound cheapest ground beef 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped some thyme, salt, pepper, any other spices you think are cool soy sauce Put the contents of the pan into the slow cooker. Then stick this stuff in the cooker after it: 1 Anaheim pepper, chopped 4 pods okra, chopped 1 can kidney beans 1 can black-eyed peas 1 can diced tomatoes 1 can tomato sauce some salt 1 tblsp cumin chili powder, liberally sprinkled on top enough habanero sauce to make it spicy. This is important. a dash of fish sauce. Also important. a dash of vigegar (optional). Be sure to drain the beans first. Add a bit of water if it seems too thick. Add any other spices you think are nice. Stir and let it cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. Eat some, refrigerate the rest. Takes maybe 40 minutes to prepare, but it lasts for a while.
chunkyslink 17y ago
Shameless self promotion. Our startup (coming soon) helps solve exactly the problem you are having. In fact, one of the reasons we started building it was to solve the problems you describe, which we also suffer from. http://delicioustasty.com http://delicioustasty.com It will be free and as a tool, does some things we haven't seen done (very well) on the web before.
- nickpp 17y ago
  Delicious & Tasty = Repetitive Redundancy.
pmccool 17y ago
Yeah, cooking can be difficult when you're time poor. I've found that: A dishwasher helps. Razor sharp knives that are properly cared for help. Blunt knives waste a lot of time when cooking. Putting a bit of time into mastering quick recipes (e.g. stir fries) helps.
macco 17y ago
My personal favorites are frozen veggies and pre-washed salad. For a simple salad you don't need no time. Put the salad in a bowl add tuna (best cheap protein source), onions, corn or what to like; then add vinegar, oil, salt - then you are finished. Frozen veggies are great if you have a microwave - put it in, 5 to 10 minutes and they are ready to eat - they have more vitamins than fresh veggies. Frozen stuff is also good for meat and fish, but you have to cook it in a pan, so you need about 10 minutes. Often I would prepare things in the evening so you have to cook only once a day. This way you can have healthy food that is tasty and prepared in 15 minutes per day.
deleted 17y ago
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herdrick 17y ago
Dried lentils are really cheap, wonderfully healthful, and much faster to cook than dried beans. Peanut butter is already ready to eat, and pretty cheap. Eggs are cheap protein. You can pour milk right over uncooked, raw rolled oats and eat it immediately. (This is Quaker's (or store brand) traditional oatmeal or old fashioned oats or something like that. It's the kind that comes in a big cardboard cylinder.) Very cheap and it is delicious and takes only seconds to "prepare".
cool-RR 17y ago
Fish fillets. Specifically Perch. I buy them frozen. Defrost in 20 minutes by putting in a bag (or box) of tap water. Put oven (or toaster-oven) on high heat so it'll be already hot when you need it. Put a bunch of butter on a porcelain/ceramic plate. Put in microwave for a minute to make it melt and cover the plate. Put the fish on the plate. Turn it over so it'll have butter all over it. Pour lemon juice on it. (Can use store-bought lemon juice from a bottle.) Put salt on it. Put it in the oven. Come back after 7-10 minutes. Ready to it. Healthiness: Awesome. (You can use less butter.) Price: Awesome. Where I live the whole deal is $4-$5. Quickness: Mediocre. Total time is ~30 minutes, but most of it you can be away. No need to stir like in cooking. Also, no pots or pans to watch! You make it straight in the plate! Tastiness: Awesome, assuming you love fish. (And I do, so that's good for me.)
FreeRadical 17y ago
For breakfast - instant porridge! Simple, quick, high protein and good for you. You can always vary it slightly by throwing in other things like raisins.
inevaexisted 17y ago
1/2 cup cous cous 1/2 cup chicken/beef stock + shallots (chopped finely) + any vege's you want + curried meat ( you can make this in a batch for the week and dish out as required or resort to chinese/indian take out - just a box of curry make the rice yourself..you might as well) It takes 5min for the cous cous and about 1min to reheat the curry. This meal gets me by when I need something in a rush.. If its winter a pot of chicken soup goes down well too.. add rice for more 'substance' when required..
iamelgringo 17y ago
I wrote this post a while back: http://iamelgringo.blogspot.com/2008/12/hacking-your-food-supply-perennial.html http://iamelgringo.blogspot.com/2008/12/hacking-your-food-su... I think that's one of the posts you were referring to. We haven't done once a month cooking for a while, though. We've actually outsourced a lot of our meal prep to Dream Dinners now. Link: http://www.dreamdinners.com/main.php?static=index http://www.dreamdinners.com/main.php?static=index You can either go there and prep the meals in a two hour period, or for an extra $20, they will actually prep the food for you. It's not really grad school budget, but we figure it saves us around 40-60 hours a month of cooking prep time. So, to us, the extra time is worth the expense. That takes care of our main courses and every weekend, we go to the local farmer's market, and get our produce for the week. We also stop by the local deli, and pick up some fresh bread. And, we recently discovered Trader Joe's wine selection. They have a bunch of wines for less than $10. A lot of them are undrinkable, but we've found a couple of $4 bottles of wine that we love, and we tend to buy several cases of them at the same time. That helps us keep the Mediterranean diet going. For a long time, we also went to Costco or Sam's club. We'd buy a whole bunch of food in bulk and then wrap it up into smaller portions and save it. I hate grocery shopping, and it really helped to only have to do it once every couple of months. The $200 mini freezer also helped a lot. It's move from Chicago, to New England, to the Bay Area with us. We love it. We also love SafeWay's grocery delivery. It's $10, or $8 if your order is over $100. It really helps cut down on spending time dealing with buying groceries. They keep track of the products that you buy and like, and it's really easy to reorder stuff. The prices are exactly the same as in store, too, so you're not paying hidden fees. I don't know why more people don't do that. We've been trying http://Alice.com http://Alice.com, too for non-grocery items. It's a pain to tell them what you purchase up front, but over all, after the initial hour of setting up the account and preferences, it makes recurring purchases of TP, deodorant, toothpaste, etc.. a cinch.
plaes 17y ago
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/ http://www.cookingforengineers.com/ This guy even "invented" his own style recipe card.
- warfangle 17y ago
  This seems like a valuable resource - so I'm bookmarking it for later reference.. however, I have no idea where to start with it. I'm a complete cooking neophyte - so I'm guessing 'recommended reading's is where I should start. Wish the site was both accessible to newcomers and returning gastrohackers both.
wazoox 17y ago
Soup. 3 potatoes, 5 leeks, 2 carrots, 2 turnips, 2 parsnips, some celery, parsley, one onion. Peel them, throw them in 3 liters of cold salted water, boil for 20 minutes in a pressure cooker, then mix. In one hour you have soup for 1 week for 4 persons. You may freeze it and keep it for later, too.
wazoox 17y ago
Risotto. A pack of rice, an onion, some garlic, two carrots, two tomatoes, some spices (saffron or curcuma, pepper, cumin, clove), some oil, two chicken breasts. Cut the chicken and vegetables in small cubes, pour oil in the cooker, fry the onion, then add the chicken; add the rice, wait for a minute until the rice becomes translucid; cover with boiling water, add the garlic, vegetables and spice as wished. Boils gently 10 minutes, et voilà.
grendel 17y ago
Pre-washed baby spinach, baby tomatoes, bacon or leftover meat (like steak, hamburger). Top with two fried eggs and cheese. I tend to eat it for breakfast.
adam-_- 17y ago
Make things like stew, soup or chilli in large quantities and freeze individual portions for later. For a quick meal, try stir fry: quick, tasty and nutritious: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pork-recipes/oriental-pork-with-noodles http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pork-recipes/oriental-por... More importantly, learn to embrace/enjoy cooking. I love taking half an hour to unwind and cook something really fresh and tasty (and I'm a student). I'd recommend Jamie Oliver's website for recipe inspiration... Cooking with fresh ingredients ticks all the priorities and doesn't need to be slow, there are plenty of "20/30 minute meal" type books, might I suggest something by Nigel Slater: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Real-Fast-Food-Nigel-Slater/dp/0141029501/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270303569&sr=8-2 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Real-Fast-Food-Nigel-Slater/dp/01410...
waivej 17y ago
I like making pots of rice and beans. It's really cheap and you can add just about anything. A pot should last a few days and supply good nutrition. I like to start with a good rice, add some veggies, a fat source, and a salt source. Fish sauce is nice. Cheese works well. Crack an egg or two for variety. If you use canned beans, rinse them well and add at the end. Water should be 2.5 the volume of the rice. You get one pot for several days of food and don't even need dishes. No need for anything but a $0.33 can of beans and part of a $2 box of rice and a pan. It is a bit extreme, but I lived on $12/week when I started my company and just ate beans and rice.
daniel-cussen 17y ago
I just bought a 55 pound bag of dextrose. I mix it with mineral water so I can drink a solution containing it (the carbonation inhibits fermentation, too). It's not very labor intensive, very healthy, and it tastes like what it is: rocket fuel. It is very, very good for your brain. I have yet to ask a doctor about this though. And it's bad for teeth, like normal soda.
- jackowayed 17y ago
  Isn't dextrose just glucose? That doesn't seem healthy at all. In moderation to give you a boost, it would probably be fine, but you definitely shouldn't get a significant amount of calories from straight sugar. As a vegetarian who has to worry about protein, I think about that a lot. Basically, the more crap you eat with no nutritional value, the more nutrient-dense the rest of your food has to be. So if I got all my calories from rice, I'd be fine protein-wise. But if I eat 500+ calories of various things-that-are-just-fat-and-sugar, I need to eat more protein-dense food, like lentils. (Not that just eating rice would be healthy anyway. That's just an example of how the more nutritionally-useless calories you get, the healthier the rest of your food needs to be.)
  - daniel-cussen 17y ago
    Dextrose is glucose. It is not sugar; it has no fructose. Glucose is that stuff that goes into mitochondria to make energy; it is the food of life. They give it intravenously to patients who can't eat. It's pretty healthy, believe me. I still eat other stuff.
peter_severin 17y ago
I use Niçoise salad as a starting point for many salads: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ni%C3%A7oise_salad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ni%C3%A7oise_salad I don't bother with aesthetics and just mix everything. A usually add a boiled potato, chopped bacon along with the egg to make the salad more consistent. This makes the salad a main dish of its own. I use other ingredients like beans, peas, spinach, boiled beet, salmon, tuna, cheese, avocado, various herbs etc. Quite often I put a shredded carrot in the mix. The salad is pretty quick to make. I cook an egg and a potato in the same pot. I take the egg out after 5 minutes of boiling and leave the potato a bit more. Meantime I wash and chop the greens, tomatoes any other ingredients that I have. I add the egg and the potato, put some balsamic vinegar and olive oil and it's good to go. I make a point to buy the best vegetables and greens I can. This means that I always try to get them from the market, directly from people that produce them. It's not always easy when you are living in a big city.
keefe 17y ago
This will probably get lost in the sea of messages, but this is a topic I spend a lot of time on. First off, http://nutritiondata.com http://nutritiondata.com is a valuable resource - I treat the body as a machine with certain fuel requirements. The key ones are fiber, protein and calories. You need to know your input profile or you're just guessing. Next, pick a few dishes that satisfy this profile. I eat a bowl of carrots a whole can of corn (canned corn is a GREAT fiber per $ ratio if you buy it in bulk) and a large protein shake. Next up is a vitamin, which is absolutely crucial for micronutrients. If you let veggies + protein be the centerpiece of your diet (that is my breakfast) then the rest of the day tends to fall around it, because the bulk makes you less hungry and your body has what it needs. I'd also recommend you workout at least 3 days a week if you don't already - body maintenance is not optional for optimum performance. If you honestly are saying ONE hour is too much time for a full day of quality cooking? You're dreaming to some extent.
- TheSOB88 17y ago
  How do you compute an input profile? I thought this would be on the site you referenced, but I couldn't find it.
  - keefe 17y ago
    The keywords are "daily needs calculator" it's under tools on that site. The #s vary, but after researching I found their #s reasonable.
pasbesoin 17y ago
There have been some previous threads on this topic. Search will probably turn them up. My recurring suggestion: Microwave a sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are much more nutritious than white potatos; currently, the popular press has taken to labeling them a "superfood" (insert skepticism here). Wash it Poke it (deeply) in a few places to vent steam My vintage microwave takes approximately 8 - 10 minutes, depending on size. If your microwave does not have a carousel, flip and rotate the sweet potato halfway through. They can cook somewhat unevenly, so let it stand for a couple of minutes after cooking, while the heat continues to disperse and cooking completes. Season and eat. I cut mine in half, sprinkle each half with a bit of (raw) sugar, and dust liberally with cinnamon (also now being shown to have health benefits). P.S. I went to check the manufacturing tag: It was made in 1977! How's that for durability? No explicit statement of wattage, but 13 A at 120 V, 1 (of 3) phase (sorry, I'm not sure what to assume for the power factor).
Mark_B 17y ago
I always end up getting extra sauces from Arby's. I end up making egg sandwiches with the Horsey Sauce. Awesome + Super Cheap!
nate 17y ago
I have a book called The Best 1001 Short, Easy Recipes. I brought this with me when we started Y Combinator. Each recipe has at most usually 4-5 ingredients that are often very easy and cheap to get. I don't think anything in that book would take over 30 minutes to prepare and cook. http://www.amazon.com/Best-1001-Short-Easy-Recipes/dp/193129478X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270313186&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Best-1001-Short-Easy-Recipes/dp/193129... I'm sure there's some other books of this same ilk that are filled with good ideas that just take a few things to put together. Also my wife just got a groupon to this http://thescramble.com/ http://thescramble.com/ We've made about 5 meals so far, and they've all been awesome and pretty healthy and easy to make. Even has a handy grocery store list aggregator thing for the recipes you decide to make that week.
wesley 17y ago
You could try the morphy richards steamer: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Morphy-Richards-48780-Intellisteam-Steamer/dp/B001CDKL62/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1270315834&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Morphy-Richards-48780-Intellisteam-S... It has several different compartments that can each have an individual timer. So just put the food in and wait for the alarm to ring. Voila!
adw 17y ago
"Real Fast Food" by Nigel Slater. Brilliant cookbook.
dylanz 17y ago
Bulk Nori, 50lb's Sushi Rice, Bulk Tamari, Bulk Rice Wine Vinegar, Bulk Hot Pepper Sesame Oil, Bulk Avocados. Cheap, relatively healthy, and delicious!
dkarl 17y ago
The first hack is practice. (I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you aren't very experienced; otherwise, you would have told us how experienced you are.) In this way, cooking is like programming. As with a programming task, a recipe that takes an hour of attention now may take half an hour of your attention next year, and there's no way to enumerate the difference as a handful of tips and tricks. The biggest difference between a beginner and an expert is that the expert executes the fundamentals quickly and sparely while the beginner gets bogged down in uncertainty. "The recipe doesn't specify what kind of oil to use. Does it matter? How big is a pinch of salt? What size and shape am I supposed to cut the asparagus into? The way I'm holding the knife is giving me a blister. The dishwasher is running and all the cup measures are inside -- how do I measure a quarter cup? Do I have to get it exactly right for this recipe? I forgot to buy carrots. Do I have to drive back to the grocery store, or will the recipe be fine without them?" None of the answers to those questions could be called "hacks," but the experienced cook saves a lot of time by knowing the answers right away and proceeding without thinking about them. Luckily, expertise is context-specific, and you can develop narrow yet valuable expertise by making the same recipe several times. You'll become experienced at that recipe quickly. If you've made a recipe six times, you can make it in your sleep. Learn ten recipes and you're set for life, at least for the days when you want cooking to be quick and cheap and predictable. Just because a dish takes you an hour doesn't mean it won't work for you; it only means you're slow because it's your first time making that dish. Repetition is also the key to improvisation. With a little experience, you can browse through the grocery store (or your refrigerator) thinking about how your favorite recipes might accommodate the attractively-priced (or about-to-go-bad) ingredients that are available to you. Of course, you need recipes to get started. Here are two books that have been extremely useful to me. (My bookshelf looks much more interesting and sophisticated than this, but like you, I need healthy, quick, and cheap more often than I need a cultural or historical adventure.) Kimiko Barber's The Chopsticks Diet http://www.amazon.com/Chopsticks-Diet-Japanese-inspired-Recipes-Weight-Loss/dp/1904920985 http://www.amazon.com/Chopsticks-Diet-Japanese-inspired-Reci... This book has the kind of gimmicky title I would normally pass over in a bookstore, but I went looking for Kimiko Barber's books after reading some articles by her in the Financial Times. Fast, simple, probably dumbed-down Japanese cooking. You won't have to adjust the portion sizes. Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Heaven http://www.amazon.com/Mollie-Katzens-Vegetable-Heaven-Uncommon/dp/0786862688/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_11 http://www.amazon.com/Mollie-Katzens-Vegetable-Heaven-Uncomm... Not exciting, but more of my quicky standards come from this book than from any other. If you want particular recipe recommendations, I would say: Bean stews and chili are great for freezing in large quantities. When you freeze food, remember to store it in quantities that are convenient to reheat later. Miso soup is ridiculously easy. Here's a relatively complex variation, still ridiculously easy, that is a complete meal thanks to the addition of soba noodles: http://kitchenoperas.com/2010/01/11/miso-soup-with-soba-noodles-and-greens/ http://kitchenoperas.com/2010/01/11/miso-soup-with-soba-nood... Salads and raw veggies are great. You can skip the bowl and just shovel them into your mouth. They're great for snacking on at the office, especially since packing them just means rinsing, patting dry, and putting them into a Tupperware container. Expand your idea of what's great for snacking: the older you get, the more asparagus and green beans taste like candy. There are a lot of ways to consume wilted, sad-looking greens that you can't afford to throw away: learn them and don't forget them! Miso soup, pasta puttanesca, stir-fries, perhaps anything with a sauce with a strong flavor. If you like kimchi, there's nothing that can brighten a cold lunch or add flavor to a boring dish of rice and lentils better than a few pieces of kimchi! P.S. Final edit, I swear: Sharpen your knives! Using a very sharp knife instead of a very dull one cuts your vegetable prep time in half. The easy way is to take your knives to a professional. The geekier, cheaper, but much more time-consuming alternative is to get a sharpening stone and learn to do it yourself.
tcc619 17y ago
a simple recipe for my tofu soup: 1. boil a can of (chicken/veggie) broth soup for 3-5 mins 2. while boiling, chop up tofu, broccoli, green onions 3. toss in that order once the broth is boiled. 4. stir for 3-4 mins on medium heat eat with brown rice and sriracha. Serves 2-3, under $4 and done in less than 10 min. - my fast cooked meal is a permutation of: - brown rice - meat or protein: eggs, chicken, tofu - veggies: broccoli, carrots, onions other random food tips: - a 20 lb bag of brown rice costs $20 and will last you 1-2 months - wheat > white - olive oil > butter - don't eat microwaved packaged foods if you care for your health
tptacek 17y ago
You don't want to spend an hour cooking... have you considered 72 of them, instead? It's easier when it's unattended. Check out sous vide cooking: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1093433 SV is to crock pot cooking as Google is to Archie.
vishaldpatel 17y ago
I have a small blog here: www.seevishal.com. In it I keep a log of what I've eaten for the past week. Many of the things I make take 15-20 minutes to prepare, taste pretty damn good and are good for you.
rjb 17y ago
I usually overbuy bananas since they are so easy to eat on the go, but can also be quickly turned into the most amazing vegan ice-cream. 1. Freeze ripe bananas 2. Mash with strawberries/blueberries/mangos/etc. 3. (optional) Add agave nectar and coconut milk to taste
dnsworks 17y ago
I'msurprised nobody else mentioned this, but in the past decade there's ben quite a growth in chains that prepare home-cooked meals for you. I know people who buy 7 of these at a time, and freeze them. Then you just mix the ingredients together, and bake or fry it. No thought has to go into it, but where's the fun in that?
cakesy 17y ago
Brown rice. Simple, soak it in water for 24 hours before you cook it, tastes great. I add soy sauce, and chillies for taste.
themullet 17y ago
Personally do mass cooking, picking up ingredients either from a farm shop or if I'm short on time from one of the veggie box schemes. Started off with big chillis and curries, making 6 times the amount I would normally do and freezing the rest. Now also do pastas and soups. I make sure to give some extra sauce as well as try not to use a microwave for the reheating. A meal is as simple as getting out of the freeze the night before and reheating whilst I surf the web. Breakfast:have scrambled eggs on brown toast with an orange. Snacks: fruit or peanuts. Healthy food every day and it's quicker and cheaper then cooking properly every day.
samratjp 17y ago
If you like milk - make chai (indian tea) Also, to get in some veggies with some taste, try some curries (you can learn to make a decent potato curry and save leftovers - you can get some ready to make mixes at your local asian grocery store). Also, cauliflower curry is pretty good tasting yet economical and lots of leftover. With curries, indian flat bread (naan) is pretty good. As about Ramen, you can make that better by getting better flavored ones (again, hit the asian groceries). A crazy cool trick - make ramen stove top; but first, fry some onions and w/e veggies then set it aside. Do your ramen with water thing, then throw in the veggies and your local asian grocery curry mix. As about eggs - a bagel and omelette in the middle is a pretty decent breakfast. Throw in some fried onions and some basil flavored pasta sauce (try the pasta sauce section) in the omelette and you have a winner.
Mz 17y ago
It can be done. I and my kids cook from scratch daily because of health issues in the family. Those same health issues means none of us can afford to be chained to the stove. We shop carefully for wholesome ingredients, we are picky about some things we won't eat, and we follow the KISS philosophy. Some tricks: Bake something. Buy frozen chicken or cornish hen, clean it, toss on some spices and organic butter, put a little water in the bottom of the pan so it doesn't spatter grease everywhere and stick it in the oven. If you want, you can toss in some potatoes and veggies. New potatoes don't have to be peeled, just washed and cut to smaller sizes. If you aren't handy with a knife, some veggies can be bought already peeled, chopped, etc. Prep work should be under 20 minutes after you get the hang of it. Quesadillas (or other similar "traditional" foods which involve some sort of flat bread) are quick and versatile. Toss in a little cheese and other ingredients of your choosing (like frozen mixed veggies) and fry for a few minutes on each side. Homemade soup for one doesn't haven't to take long. Potato soup can be made quickly with just 2 to 4 potatoes. Or you can beef up cup-a-soup or ramen noodles with an egg swirled into the boiling water and/or a few carrots or other veggies cooked for a few minutes in the water. (You may need to add some salt if you add a lot of other stuff.) Pick up beef that is cut thin or sliced up like stir fry or ask the butcher to cut a London broil into a bunch of "breakfast steaks". Thinly cut beef cooks rapidly. If you aren't handy with a fry pan, get a George Foreman grill. Actually, if you do that, you can also put thick slices of onion, yam and fresh pineapple on the grill with some eye of round steaks. Voila, meat with sides. Stick to "one dish" meals and add easy things on the side to keep it from getting boring. The practice of making a main dish and a whole bunch of side dishes "with all the fixins" basically requires servants to keep up if you are ever going to get anything else done other than eating. Now that I am no longer a homemaker, I no longer cook that way but because we are picky about buying wholesome ingredients and making things fresh, we eat a lot healthier than we used to.
roundsquare 17y ago
One "dish" I used to eat was was canned mixed vegetables mixed with salsa. Eat with chips or tortillas, whatever. Enough vegetables to make it fairly healthy, if you get salsa you like it tastes good (you can even add a little cheese) and if you use multi-grain tortillas, it gets pretty healthy.
vahakota 17y ago
With similiar goals as the OP this fine-tuned protein shake has become the cornerstone of my food intake: 3 dl of non-fat milk (taste & liquid) 1 dl of ice cream (taste & carbs) 1 dl of whey protein powder (taste & protein) 5 ml of dry-pressed sunflower oil (omega-6 fats) 5 ml of dry-pressed flax oil (omega-3 fats) 1 cl of ispaghula husk (fiber) 1 cl of freeze dried fruit powder (antioxidants) The energy intake is divided quite evenly among carbs, protein and fats. It provides 1) the essential fats in a decent ratio, 2) a good dose of varying amino acids, 3) enough fiber for the digestive system to function and 4) a good dose of antioxidants. With a quick preparation now and then it is super fast to produce, takes almost no cleaning afterwards and the taste can be varied with different ice cream flavours. It might take a few drinks to get used to the taste if you have never consumed protein supplements but if you pick the right protein powder, use milk instead of water and get good ice cream, this tastes very good. And for some reason I haven't gotten bored with this even after months of almost daily use (on several meals). For fast consumption buy a big bowl (with a lid as ispaghula reacts with moisture without it) and mix 10-20 portions of protein, ispaghula husk and dried fruits in the correct ratio. Store a dedicated 1 dl cup in the bowl. Prepare a ready mix of flax and sunflower oil in the correct ratio and keep it in the fridge with the milk - you can learn to pour about 10ml of it by hand fast. Cut a whole pack of ice cream in small (about 2cl) bits in advance and store it in the original pack in the freezer. For mixing I use a protein shaker which can be flushed with water after use. I get my protein powder, fruit powder and the shaker from http://myprotein.co.uk/ http://myprotein.co.uk/ in bulk, which makes this one of the cheapest healthy snacks (below 1$ per serving of about 400kcal). My preferred protein taste is Chocolate Smooth. Ispaghula seeds I get in the form of Pfizers laxative medicine (which is nothing but ispaghula husks and a bit of added sweetener) which goes by the name of Vi-Siblin in the nordics. You might find it with the brand Isogel. I prefer Vi-Siblin S which is sweetened with sorbitol instead of sugar. Don't let the "unnatural protein shake" scare get you. This is a balanced and healthy choice proven by active athletes around the world and it provides your essential macronutritients in easy form. You should still make sure you get enough micronutrients elsewhere as the dried fruid powder is in the mix mainly for it's antioxaditive qualities, but also on that front I would not shy away from the vitamin supplements as this drink provides a good essential fat balance which helps the intake of fat soluble micronutrients also in that form. For those who are trying to get leaner, the drink works pretty well also without the ice cream. This shifts the calorie balance heavily on protein and good fats which keeps you fed for long and provides pretty much all you need to sustain muscle mass while losing fat.
radu_floricica 17y ago
Liver. If there's just one diet hack, this should be it: eat liver once or twice a month. It'll make up for the most atrocious junk food diets, and supplement nicely pretty much anything. If you're vegetatian the alternatives would be spinach and beans.
caseycrites 17y ago
I'm a 24 year old bachelor and have been looking for these kind of tips as well. These are the things I've found and used. Cooking utensils: -George Foreman -A bunch of those throw away plastic containers Breakfast (Takes 2-3 minutes): -Get the All Whites egg whites and pour some of it in a small plastic container and throw it in the microwave for a minute and a half -Throw that egg on a wheat tortilla with some salsa and spinach and you have a breakfast burrito. Lunch (~3 minutes to prepare, ~3 minute to cook): -Black beans + Chunk chicken + spinach + salsa + guacamole + hot sauce + (whatever else you want for flavor) all into a bowl and toss it in the microwave. Quick and tasty. Dinner (~10 minutes to prepare, ~5 minutes to cook): -Chicken breasts grilled on the George Foreman. I generally cook a bunch at a time, store the rest in the fridge and then heat them up at a later date. Throw whatever you want on top of them for added flavor. -Boil broccoli or some other bagged vegetable in a plastic container in the microwave -Black beans, pinto beans, some other good beans. Snacks: -Nothing beats baby carrots for me. Grab some hummus for some extra flavor. -Bananas, Apples, Oranges. If you're dieting try to avoid too much fruit, but don't neglect it either. Notes: -This is for a super healthy diet, so if you're not looking for really healthy switch some of these things out. However, I generally split my lunch into two meals making all 4 meals about 4 hours apart a piece and I never get hungry between them, even with exercise. Not being hungry definitely helps kill cravings. -This follows the slow-carb diet, all except for the wheat tortilla in the morning

christefano 17y ago
I agree 100% about using sharp knives. The Kiwi knives from Wok Shop are fantastic and incredibly cheap: The Wok Shop: Kiwi Brand Knives from Thailand http://knurl.us/url/acefb63 There are plenty of reviews: Cool Tools: Kiwi Knives http://knurl.us/url/6xx9oac Pattio Daddio BBQ: Discovery: Kiwi Knives http://knurl.us/url/vz75rau Pattio Daddio BBQ: Follow Up: Kiwi Knives http://knurl.us/url/e1f9etx Tactical-Life.com » Credible Cutters on the Cheap http://knurl.us/url/1rykse5 I'm considering getting a few Wok Shop chopping blocks, too. Has anyone used them? The Wok Shop: Chinese Chopping Blocks http://knurl.us/url/mvhaa45 The Wok Shop: Chinese Ironwood Round Chopping Boards http://knurl.us/url/1xj0ufu
dkarl 17y ago
P.P.S. One more quick meal formula. This one is actually my favorite in terms of time, nutrition, and budget: brown rice and lentils with roasted vegetables. Rice and lentils can be stored dry for months, and lentils (unlike other beans) can be cooked without soaking them first. If you always have rice and lentils on hand, you're always halfway to a decent meal. Cook the rice and lentils however you like; there are a million ways to do it. You can even just cook the rice and lentils together in a pot and rely on the roasted vegetables to provide all the flavor. Roasting vegetables is extremely fun and satisfying for two reasons: 1) It's by far the simplest and laziest way to prepare vegetables. Roasting makes stir-frying look like railroad chain gang work. 2) You can roast damn near anything. Potatoes, carrots, onions, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, garlic, Brussels sprouts, fennel, endives.... Here's a short (2:25) video telling you absolutely everything you need to know to start roasting vegetables: http://www.chow.com/videos/show/all/12072/how-to-roast-vegetables-with-lisa-jervis http://www.chow.com/videos/show/all/12072/how-to-roast-veget... You can get fancier than that, but you might never want to.