I've been living on my own without a meal plan, and started trying to cook something simple once a week that can be eaten every day for every meal. I don't care so much about variety of food, so I came up with this simple mixture:
Rice (cheapest 50-pound bag) cooked in a pot, dried beans (whatever is cheapest), ground beef at $2/lb bought in bulk, and onions.
I just soak the beans, then cook the rice, and mix everything together in a large pan (ground beef goes in first) plus some chili garlic sauce from a bulk container, then split into 1-pint screwtop jars (former gelato containers). The only downside is this takes 3 sessions to make, like the beans need to be soaked overnight, the rice takes 45 minutes (to let it rest after boiling), and then there's the pan work.
I've been doing this for one month, and it turns out to be $0.70/meal so $2.10/day (though some days I skip a meal or eat free food at work). If I add an egg while in the pan, it's $0.80/meal and technically a bit more filling but I don't notice it.
Am I okay doing this for the long term, like no missing nutrients? I only have one source of fat (the beef), and no salt besides what's in the garlic chili. Do I need iodine from table salt, or monounsaturated fats, or leafy green vegetables for anything? Is there any potential problem with eating so much of these 5 ingredients?
July 27, 2019 at 08:38PM
