>you're going to try and tell me you fed 4 people on $7 a day? did you grow/raise/catch/kill any of your own food? barter?

Cooking, baking, and buying in reasonable bulk. Rice, beans, pasta, frozen/canned vegetables, and a crockpot can do it. I'm not talking 500-pound bags of military surplus war beans or anything, just actually cooking them yourself. If you build a diet around cheap-to-obtain staples, the costs drop rapidly. For example:

• 15 pounds of brown rice at $16
  
• [25 pound bag of black beans at $36](http://www.amazon.com/Black-Beans-25-Lb-Bag/dp/B00J7UTDPC]
  
• [20 pounds of spaghetti at $38](http://www.amazon.com/Barilla-Thick-Spaghetti-Pasta-Ounce/dp/B00338JWL4]
  
• [50 pounds of flour at $42](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=bulk+flour]
  
  So at about $150 you have about 6 months worth of base staples. And these are just random quick Amazon searches - most of these things can be found with more variety, healthier (depending on your dietary needs), and/or cheaper if you are looking. You can hit farmer's markets, but in my area they aren't really that much better as far as deals go unless you are looking for specific foods. Food banks certainly exist, and they are pretty laid back about who gets food, but I've never hit the point of wanting to use one up here.
  
  You don't eat out, drink alcohol, and treats end up being the most cost-effective ones possible. I ended up going with the cheapest fresh stuff I could find in stores for the number of services, to supplement frozen and canned. Fresh veggies really are the cheapest way to eat healthy. Cheaper the better: my usual "spaghetti sauce" was mostly carrots. Potatoes are literally cheaper than dirt here (Washington state: less than $2 per ten pound bag, not sure if it's that way anywhere else). Homemade salsa, mustard, and cost-effective heat seasonings are the condiments of choice - they stretch the furthest.
  
  If you don't want to cook a great deal, you can live on a crock pot or rice cooker. They are essentially $10-$20 investments these days. Dump everything in before leaving, come home to cooked food. It's not amazing, but it's sustenance on days where you are too lazy to cook for yourself. You can also cook and freeze, which is cheaper than buying frozen meals. Or, cook and refrigerate if you are someone like me who can eat the same leftovers for days at a time. Crockpot also means homemade soups, another great use for cheap veggies and potatoes. And acorn squash adds a great creaminess to chili (a great penny-stretching food). Sliced bread can be purchased relatively cheap, but almost any other baked good needs to be made at home.
  
  If you are a carnivorous family then chicken and tuna are your friend, but they are still not going to be cheap enough to be eaten regularly. Chicken does well with rice and beans, making it the natural choice for crockpot meat. Pork, and even beef, can be had when really good sales roll around - but that often makes them holiday meals (which I'm okay with). Cheese and fresh dairy in my experience is never cheap enough, and the only regular dairy we did was powdered milk. The trick with all of these is creating meals that use them sparingly, such as chicken in a crockpot giving flavor to everything else.
  
  I do grow greens in the warm months here (because I've got the greatest cheap AND lazy way to ever do it), but other than that I don't hunt or garden.
  
  Ultimately, it's doable, but it requires a complete disconnection from the "Murican Diet" of fast food and brand names. You work with healthier foods, smaller portion sizes, and less pre-packaged/pre-made products.

Thanks for the sweet words! Here are the highlights of my food. Hope it helps!

Breakfast: Weekdays I eat what's below. Weekends are a toss up. If i can swing it, I just try to make it a brunch so I save breakfast calories.

• 160 calories | Premier Protein Shake - The chocolate one tastes amazing on its own. If I buy the vanilla one, I will mix it with ice and some coffee and it's the world's best venti sized Iced Vanilla Latte! Protip: buy them at Costco!
  
• 130 calories | Quaker Instant Original Oatmeal - I used to eat this every morning with 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk. It was nice when it's cold out and kept me full.
  
  Lunch/Dinner: Usually it's one of these recipes below. I try to keep meals under/around 300 calories to make room for dessert and snacks!!
  
  
• 324 calories | Baked Chicken with Dijon and Lime with a [Caprese Salad] (http://imgur.com/a/lWIyU) (spinach/arugula, 8 cherry tomatos sliced, 1 tbsp Botlhouse Farms Lite Balsamic Vinaigrette, 0.25 oz nuts, 1 oz fresh mozzarella) - best meal ever and great for meal prep.
  
• 150 calories | Shirataki Stir Fry Noodles (some combo of meat/vegetables with shirataki noodles with a sauce of 1 tsp PB2, 0.5 tbsp sriracha, 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce, garlic)
  
• 200 calories | Tomato Basil Zoodles - I replace the goat cheese with a Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge and add some chicken.
  
• 245 calories | Spicy Sesame Zoodles with Crispy Tofu - I reduce all the quantities so I can make it low calorie and use PB2 instead of real PB.
  
• 300 calories | Tom Yum Soup with Fresh Tofu and Mixed Vegetables - I love Thai food and this has been the best/low calorie dish I can find on the menu. Remember to ask for fresh tofu though and then they will charge extra for veggies but it's worth it!
  
• 300 calories | Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich (on Sara Lee bread, PB2 and jelly) with Oven Baked Chips
  
• 188 calories | Tuna Sandwich with a pickle (on Sara Lee bread with Tuna Creations and light mayo)
  
• 250 calories | Turkey Sandwich (on Sara Lee Bread with Sriracha Deli Chicken Breast and spicy brown mustard) with Special K BBQ Chips
  
• 220 calories | BBQ Seasoned Chicken Chopped Salad from Safeway - they have some great prepackaged salads if you need something quickly. I usually will add more lettuce to make it feel like I'm eating a lot!
  
  These are my go to meals but I will always venture into skinnytaste.com to find something new!
  
  Snacks/Desserts: I LOVE SNACKS. That's why I keep my meals low calorie. I eat the most snacks between lunch and dinner (usually pace myself with 1 an hour between 2pm and 4pm)
  
  
• Fruits! I eat watermelon and grapes a lot cause all the water makes me feel really full (the feeling that you miss when you start dieting). I will also eat different berries, pears, peaches, apples, etc.
  
• 140 calories | FiberOne Oats and Chocolate - I ended up buying the Costco box so I'm getting through that. Also I need fiber in my diet when i eat too much protein
  
• 80-130 calories | Dannon Light and Fit Greek yogurt - the ones with toppings are my FAVORITE. Without toppings, they're less calories but you'll get 11g-12g protein either way
  
• 180 calories | Pure Protein Chocolate Bars - best calorie/protein ratio. 21g of protein!
  
• 90 calories | Pacific Gold Beef Jerky - bought it on a whim at Costco, been good source of protein
  
• 60-280 calories | HALO TOP - needn't say much more
  
• 50 calories | Almonds - always nice when you're just dying and need something but are on the way to grocery shop for dinner
  
• 60 calories | Ghirardelli dark chocolate square - would usually have one as 'dessert' after lunch
  
• 25 calories | Marshmallow - usually curbs the late night snack craving if you pop one bad boy
  
• 50-70 calories | Fruit Roll Ups or fruit snacks - always loved them as a child so it's a nice throw back

Sounds like fun! I'll have to do this later

1.) Something that is grey: Pelican Gray Nail Polish. (on private WL)

2.) Something reminiscent of rain: Shower Curtain is a barrier between the bathroom tiles and cascading, rain-like, waterfall that flows from the showerhead. (on dream WL)

3.) Something food related that is unusual: Candy Mold. Chocolate frogs, anyone? (on under $5 WL)

4.) Something on your list that is for someone other than yourself. Tell me who it's for and why. (Yes, pets count!): Ice Cream Maker. No ice cream for me because I started keto last week. My friends and family would benefit from this when I make them some delicious ice cream. (on dream WL)

5.) A book I should read! I am an avid reader, so take your best shot and tell me why I need to read it!: The Knife of Never Letting Go. It's book one of the Chaos Walking trilogy, which has rave reviews. Apparently it's a dark, dystopian book full of suspense. (on high priority WL)

6.) An item that is less than a dollar, including shipping... that is not jewelry, nail polish, and or hair related!: Laser Finger Beams (not on WL)

7.) Something related to cats. I love cats! (keep this SFW, you know who you are...): Westside Warrior Nail Polish. Lions, which are really big cats, are warriors of the jungle. (on under $5 WL)

8.) Something that is not useful, but so beautiful you must have it: Origami Star Paper. I like folding these, but once I make them into stars, I literally have nothing to do with them. There's jars of them all across my house and all I can do is look at them (on under $5 WL)

9.) A movie everyone should watch at least once in their life. Why?: Song from Iron Man 3 Soundtrack. Everyone should see it because Iron Man + Tony Stark + RDJ = <3 (on digital WL)

10.) Something that would be useful when the zombies attack. Explain.: Spin-the-shot. If zombies attack, I would need to be drunk, so this would come in handy for some last minute fun before I turn into a brain eating zombie. Let's face it, I'm not surviving a zombie attack... (on $5-$10 WL)

11.) Something that would have a profound impact on your life and help you to achieve your current goals: Coconut Oil. Everyone on the keto subreddit raves about this stuff. Being a newbie to this lifestyle, I feel that if so many people had great results using this oil, that it would help with my goals. (on $11-$25 WL)

12.) One of those pesky Add-On items: Anti-stress face mask (not surprisingly, found on my add-on WL)

13.) The most expensive thing on your list. Your dream item. Why?: Globe Bar. I would feel like a super cool James Bond-esque spy who would have a secret room hidden behind a bookshelf. Plus I love alcohol and globes. (on dream WL)

14.) Something bigger than a bread box: Desk Easel. (on $11-25 WL)

15.) Something smaller than a golf ball: Earrings. (on private WL)

16.) Something that smells wonderful: Pink Punch Baby Lips (on add-ons WL)

17.) A (SFW) toy: Kindle. I would consider this a techie toy. (on dream WL)

18.) Something that would be helpful for going back to school: Fun Colored Pens. (on add-on WL)

19.) Something related to your current obsession, whatever that may be: Paints. My current obsession is painting! (on $11-25 WL)

20.) Something that is just so amazing and awe-inspiring that I simply must see it. Explain why it is so grand: Mug. I love love love this literature mug. I not only love the varying typography all over it, but I think that there are some really striking first lines of literature. (on $11-25 WL)

BONUS

1.) Real name: PM sent

2.) Made in Oregon: Handwarmer Mug

Edit: raffle phrase - fear cuts deeper than swords

1. A mug! How is this cake related? Because you can make microwavable cake in a mug!
   
2. So, I didn't even know who Simon Pegg was. Apparently he starred in Shaun of the Dead, which I haven't seen, but it's apparently a romantic zombie movie!
   
3. J.K. Rowling's new book. DYING TO READ IT
   
4. You could totally use the sticks from these lollipops as chopsticks!
   
5. Animal print animal costume!
   
6. Purple!
   
7. My favorite game!
   
8. Nerdy fantasy books are my guilty pleasure
   
9. Lots of tools!
   
10. The Lion King!
    
11. Cascading hangers! My closet would be so compact and organized!
    
12. Dorky as it may be, coloring is my hobby!
    
13. SO MANY OPTIONS. I'm an art history nerd, a Disney nerd, a cat lady, an X-Files nerd, and a history dork--there are so many options for nerdy hahaha.
    
14. Organic extra virgin coconut oil!
    
15. Water bottle!
    
16. You wear a necklace!
    
17. Murder by Death is hilarious!
    
18. "Pearl" beads!
    
19. Willow. Because what do you find in a garden? Plants! Trees are plants. And what is a willow? A tree! This is totally, 100% gardening related. Promise.
    
20. This isn't the thing I want the most, but it's seriously one of the coolest, dorkiest, most amazing items on my wishlist. It's something I could never justify buying for myself, but I REALLY love it--one day it will be mine!
    
    You're going to buy yourself this super interesting book!
    
    Happy happy cake day :D
    
    If I win, anything I linked OR anything from my wishlist would be an amazingggg prize :) I love everything on my wishlists!

I worked at a theaterpub and got to work on developing the popcorn process for the theater. The best theater popcorn uses a coconut oil base as the popping fat. You want to use pure coconut oil or get a product like this or this. These products are primarily coconut oil with annatto for coloring, and they are solid at room temperature. They are better than regular oils or butter flavored liquid popping oil because the coconut oil tastes richer and more unctuous.

You also want to get Flavacol popcorn salt. This is a commercial product, and I've never seen it offered in retail, but you can get it from Amazon. Flavacol is a superfine powdered salt with butter flavoring and annatto. It's a finer grind than the popcorn salt sold in grocery stores. When you make popcorn, you add the coconut oil to the pot, heat it up, then add the popcorn and the Flavacol. It sticks to the kernels as they pop, and the popcorn doesn't need to be salted after popping.

Finally, the butter. You can't use just straight melted butter, because the water fraction of the butter will soak into the popcorn and make it soggy. You need to use clarified butter. Melt a pound or so of butter in a pot on the stove, and let it simmer for awhile. You want to let the water underneath the butterfat reduce and boil away, but you don't want to let all of it boil away or the butter will burn. You want to allow the milk sugar in the water to begin to caramelize. This will flavor the butterfat with a wonderful, nutty aroma. Once that happens, let the butter cool, then pour off the fat. Use this clarified butter to butter your popcorn. It won't make the kernels soggy. You can refrigerate any leftover butter tightly sealed for next time.

Once you have butter on the popcorn, you can add flavorings. But anything you use needs to be very finely pulverized. That's why Kraft-style powdered cheese is so popular. Even powdered parmesan cheese like you get in the green can is too coarse to really stick, but you can pulverize it finer in a food processor.

One of my favorite seasonings is bacon, cheese and chive. The bacon needs to be fried crisp and drained well, then frozen before processing. You can't get it quite as fine as parmesan before it balls up, but you can get it close enough. Then pulverize some good parmesan, Reggiano or Grana Padana. Mix together the bacon and parmesan with some Kraft-style powdered cheese, dehydrated chives, black pepper, cayenne and a hint of garlic powder to taste. You can add a little cornstarch to this mixture to keep it from clumping.

---

If you like popcorn, you should try mushroom popcorn which pops up rounder. It's not my personal favorite, but it's used by lots of kettle corn companies, and the shape is distinctive.

Here's a good recipe for butter toffee popcorn. It's better than caramel corn, because butter, and the candy coating is more crispy. This recipe includes peanuts, so it's like Cracker Jack, only better. I've made this with alder smoked salt and toasted chopped almonds/pecans instead of peanuts, and it's a big hit. Sort of like smokehouse almonds with caramel corn.

I usually pre portion out all my "campus food" on Sundays so I can have it ready to go in the mornings to stay on campus all day. So, basically, tupperware. This might be way too much information...

I start my day with a shake from a powder, almond milk, and water. If I've worked out, I use this. I get the vanilla one, which I think tastes great and it's GF, SF, DF. If I don't work out I use something with soy in it that's lower cal. The shakes keep me full for about two hours.

Mid morning snack: I buy the ground turkey in tubes and make my own turkey sausage using this recipe minus the marjoram because I don't know what that is... I double the recipe and freeze most of it so I have enough for awhile.

If that seems like too much work, (it's a lot of work but hot damn, so worth it, I promise) You can just do bacon in the oven and portion it out and freeze it. Or you could hard boil eggs and portion those out too.

I do a big batch of frozen mixed veggies that I cook stove-top with some olive oil and Tony's. Gotta get those veggies in! I portion those out in baggies and freeze some.

I eat a lot of deli meat, which you can roll up and eat by itself or cut up and eat over salad.

I portion out my carrots in advance and put some store bought hummus into the tiny little tupperware. If you don't like hummus you could do salsa or peanut butter.

I personally don't eat beans. But if you do, black beans are your friend! You can flavor them with a taco seasoning packet and put them on corn tortillas with veggies. Minimal effort and delicious.

I don't eat a lot of carbs, but if you do, don't forget about rice, baked potatoes, and sweet potatoes. All are easily portable and pretty damn good. I know there are good GF breads, but all the ones I've tried have been extremely unsatisfying, so I tend to stay away from those products and try to eat less processed stuff.

I usually eat a GF protein bar too. But I guess a lot of those have soy. These are great. They're in the cereal isle for me. Lately I've been eating Quest bars like crazy.

I also end up throwing a banana and an apple in my bag too. I try to eat every two hours, so this way I have 100-200 calories every two hours. I can easily bring enough food for me to comfortably stay on campus for 12 hours.

Almost forgot! My lazy AF lunch: A packet of Starkist tuna and an avacado. Just gotta run a knife around the avacado and baggie it before you leave the house. (Slice but don't pull it apart so it won't brown) Just bring a tupperware, mash the avacado with the tuna until it looks like one nasty blob of grey, and it's honestly really really good. Tons of protein to keep you satiated. Salt and pepper makes it even better. Throw it on a corn tortilla, eat with tortilla chips, or just with a fork.

The folks at Modernist Cuisine discovered the sweetest of tricks, which is that the addition of sodium citrate to melted cheese stabilizes it and keeps it from re-hardening. This means that you can make a sauce or dip that has the consistency of alfredo or nacho cheese or Velveeta or cheese whiz, from any cheese including delicious high quality ones, and get a stable, creamy result that still maintains all the delicate nuance and strength of flavor of the good cheese you used to make it. You can also use a variant of this recipe to make American cheese style slices that melt easily but taste like, well, real, good cheese.

on Amazon:

sodium citrate, enough for a long time, $15 and free shipping

a digital scale that measures in hundredths of grams, $36.60, free shipping

immersion blender, $15.83 and free shipping.

This puts you at roughly $66. If you decide you want to throw a few more bucks into it, or he already has an immersion blender or something, get him some nice cheese to melt.

... If you wanted some non-food-related ideas, I love this product and have just been waiting for the right occasion to give this to someone.

Ramen packet.
MCD pancake butter or two.
Carrot.
Fresh greenbeans/sugar snap peas (lots of grocery stores have them in loose bulk. Enough for X meals)
Sriracha packet (panda Express has them. Just ask do t have to buy anything)

Can do this as a soup or drained noodles. Add water , boil with sliced carrots and beans/peas. Few mins depending on your taste for softness. Add noodles cook the 3 min for them.
Optional: drain water (keep for soup)
Add ramen flavor packet and butter. Mix up and eat. (Sriracha as needed)

Garlic powder (very little) is also good but not required. Can make your own seasoning as well and ditch the ramen seasoning. I'd say play around at home either way. Lots of veggie options out there that are light and will keep a day or two.

Also, there are lots of ramens out there besides the basic ones at normal grocery stores. My city has a pretty big vietnamese community and their grocery stores have some pretty fancy ones. I'll find and link some as they are on amazon as well. These have 3, 4, 5 packets of seasonings/oils/spices and are pretty dang good (I tend to add veggies to most)

Dont like/want noodles? Rice works too. I'm sure there are other options as well. Cant think of any at the moment.


Oh yeah. Dried mushrooms. The asian market or Amazon should have those too. Great to add. Add towards end. Don't need too much hydration.

https://www.amazon.com/Indomie-Instant-Noodles-Certified-Original/dp/B00HXIXWKM/



https://www.amazon.com/Mama-Tom-Yum-Flavour-Noodles/dp/B000QFOXTS/ this ones spicy!

https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Mushroom-Gourmet-European-Mushrooms/dp/B075NVDRLY/

I have to agree w/everyone on the whole Apartment being out of your budget...but you didn't ask for that advice, so I'll try to help you out as best I can.

The way I like to help is by giving you one tool. Hardest thing about eating on a budget is you often eat the same thing, so a little variety is nice. I would suggest eating this one week, and finding other recipes next week, then coming back to this when you feel it. It won't be the cheapest, but it will taste solid and fill your belly (and more importantly be in your budget).
Key is to buy in bulk.

• Rice/Beans - Go to your local grocery store or go to Amazon. Buy rice in the 15/lb [bag](https://www.amazon.com/Nishiki-Premium-Medium-Grain-15-Pound/dp/B004NRLAVY/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1500740463&sr=8-1&keywords=rice&th=1https://www.amazon.com/Nishiki-Premium-Medium-Grain-15-Pound/dp/B004NRLAVY/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1500740463&sr=8-1&keywords=rice&th=1 ex.), and it should not cost you more than $1/lb.
  
  Same thing with the beans.
  
  
• Meat - I need my meat, but this is going to be generally the most expensive. I think the best thing you can do is to wait to look for whatever is on sale and again bulk it up. So for example chicken breast in my area normally ranges from $1.50-2.50/lb. So when it hits the low range for me $1.50 i tend to buy 2/3 packs and store it in my freezer (If it every goes to .99/lb I always buy at least 2 packs). Sometimes if other meats such as pork or ground beef goes on sale you can spoil yourself a bit. Key here is to use that freezer.
  
  Also learn HOW to debone a chicken . Now you can buy the whole chicken and give me more options.
  
  
• Eggs - My local store sells Eggs for about $1.20-1.99 for a dozen and from my experience is the cheapest at trader joes. I think it's worth the buy.
  
  
• Produce - Key is to wait for the sales. It's hard to bulk up on produce cause they go bad in a few days. But I generally buy green bell peppers, onions, and whatever is on sale.
  
  
• Spices - This is a going to a cheap way to make your food taste good. Salt/Pepper is a must. Bulk red chili pepper flakes (7oz) if you like spice. Garlic Powder Bulk (I get 13oz). And other spices that you personally like. Generally I tend to spend maybe $7 a month on spices.
  
  -----
  Ok now, just gotta cook. Cook the rice and beans together. While that's cooking, cook the meat. For Chicken Breasts, depending on the thickness, I suggest cooking it 5 mins each side and then letting it sit for about 3 mins after you are done. I then cook any produce I have, then add the rice and meat. I then push all the food to the sides of the pan put some oil in the middle and drop my egg (sometimes i drop 2 if im hungry). I personally break the egg and after about 1-2 mins i then mix everything together. I add my spices. Put in soy sauce, or a bit of ketchup, or hot sauce if I have it (Cheap tip: take a lot of condiments from fastfood joints, hahaha).
  
  
  Cost (Per/Month) assuming you eat this the entire month
  
• Rice/Beans: $17-24
  
• Meat: $20-30
  
• Eggs: $6-10
  
• Produce: $15
  
• Spices: $7
  Total: $86
  
  I hope this helps a bit. I think the best thing is to learn how to cook. Utilize reddit, youtube, etc to find cheap foods that are semi-healthy and are within your budget. You don't have financial capital, but you do have your own labor and skills that you can grow to compensate for your current lack of $$$. I personally ended up loving cooking cause I went through the same thing, had no money in college and lived off Ramen, Rice, Chicken, and Beans. Slowly I learned how to cook and now although I spend a lot more on food I feel I can cook a great meal on whatever budget im on.
  
  
  
  
  
  

Wow, really disappointing that there's no where to get it here, but on the other hand, it's really not that hard to make. It's basically a pancake with tons of stuff in it. The most important part is having the proper sauce, which you can find at any decent asian market. It's helpfully called Okonomi sauce. Otafuku is the most common brand (sometimes it comes in a bag ). For bonus points, you can use Kewpie mayo from Japan, although honestly plain mayo works just fine. It's been a while since I made it, so I don't have a go-to recipe, but you can put just about anything in it, so long as you have a good base and plenty of cabbage. Here's one you could try from one of my favorite food sites. Good luck! And don't skimp on the sauce!

Just make it yourself. The cost of ingredients may feel like a hit when you buy them online (Amazon has all of them), but from those ingredients, you make TONS of kimchi. Plus, kimchi is a base for a ton of other cheap meals, so in my mind it is worth the initial cost hit for the benefit down the road.

I use Maangchi's recipe for kimchi and many other Korean recipes (http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/easy-kimchi). Harder to find ingredients include:

Sweet Rice flour -- $5 at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/GLUTINOUS-FLOUR-1x16OZ-ERAWAN-THP/dp/B005WG1VRI/ref=sr_1_6?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1451764193&sr=1-6&keywords=mochiko)

Gochugaru -- $10 for a 1 lb bag (http://www.amazon.com/Korean-Chili-Flakes-Gochugaru-Tae-kyung/dp/B005G8IDTQ)

Fish Sauce -- $13 for Red Boat fish sauce, which I recommend, but there are cheaper kinds as well (http://www.amazon.com/Red-Boat-Sauce-Fluid-Ounce/dp/B00K6ZJ1W2/ref=sr_1_2?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1451764337&sr=1-2&keywords=fish+sauce)

Maangchi uses squid to help the fermentation, but I prefer salted shrimp. Those will be the things that are a bit harder to find, so you may want to opt out of that. By poking around on Maangchi's website, you can get other ideas for things that will help the fermentation.

So this brings the initial investment of harder to find ingredients to about $30. While it seems like a lot, those ingredients will last you though multiple batches of kimchi. And each batch I make with one head of cabbage makes TONS. The kimchi is also great to add to other cheap foods (scrambled eggs with kimchi thrown in; minced and tossed in stir fry; chopped with some juice to add to instant ramen), so the initial investment will help you out later.

Hey all,

Made my first pie this weekend. Per /u/jaaypeee very simple recipe seen below. Not the prettiest pizza, but it tasted great! I'm glad it came out a little Frankenstein-ish because it leaves plenty of room for improvements! Next time I'm making a sauce, hit me up with any simple recommendations!

I bought this flour and yeast. Baked at 550F in a cast iron that I sealed with bacon grease the night before. I couldn't believe nothing stuck! It was an AWESOME experience and I already ordered a baking steel and plan to make more pies at my girlfriend's parents place this coming weekend. A special thanks to /u/jaaypeee for the post and tips!

>I used the 48-72 Hour NY Pizza Dough recipe from the book The Elements of Pizza by Ken Forkish. This was the second time using a baking steel. I heated the oven to 550 degrees fahrenheit and let the steel come to temp for about 45 mins. The pizzas took 5-6 mins to bake.

Ingredients

• Ingredient Measurment %
  
  
• Flour 500g 100%
  
  
• Water 320g 64%
  
  
• Salt 14g 2.8%
  
  
• Yeast 1.2g 0.3%
  
  Method
  
  
• Measure and combine ingredients. Water temp between 90-95 degrees fahrenheit.
  
  
• Mix the dough by hand. Target temp of 78-80 degrees fahrenheit.
  
  
• Knead the dough and let rise for two hours in a lightly oiled tub.
  
  
• Divide and shape the dough.
  
  
• Let the dough balls ferment in the fridge for 48-72 hours. (I let the dough ferment for ~60 hours)
  
  
• Take the dough balls out of the fridge 60-90 mins before baking.
  
  
• Make pizza :)

Find someone to teach you the basics of preparing food. Mom, dad, grandma whoever. Tell them you need to learn the basics. How to know when stuffs done, how to cut up the food etc.

A simple, easy meal to make is to just cut up a bunch of veggies, put them in a skillet with some meat and fry it up. Just the other day I made a meal by chopping up some potatoes, red peppers, onions and bratwurst. Seasoned it with a bit of this stuff and it came out great. Easy and fairly quick.

Another good option is eggs. I know you said you aren't in to breakfast, but there's no reason you can't have eggs for dinner. Learn to make scrambled eggs, add in some minced peppers or onions and cheese for flavor.

Canned soup is a good one too.

I will note though. Almost any time you fry something in a skillet you need to have some kind of oil on the skillet (butter, vegetable oil etc.), keeps the food from sticking and burning at the bottom.

Seasoning might seem like an unnecessary expense to someone like you with such a small budget, but trust me, a little bit of seasoning can make a mediocre meal a great one, and if you are conservative with it a small amount can last for a long time. Salt and pepper are oblivious but that stuff I linked too up there is great imo and you can put it on almost anything, Mac and cheese, burgers, eggs, pasta pretty much anything you might put salt and pepper on, it's a good option for a beginner.

Meat/Protein/Milk:
[Chicken of the Sea Chunk Light Tuna in Water, 3-Ounce Easy Open Cans (Pack of 24)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012271RA/)

[Starkist Chunk Light Tuna in Water, 5 Ounce (Pack of 10)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001IH8ERA)

[Kirkland Signature chicken breast, packed in water, premium chunk, 6 12.5-ounce cans]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YPJKBC/)

[Hormel Black Label Fully Cooked Bacon - 72 ct]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F54QG1S)

[Nestle Carnation Instant Nonfat Dry Milk, 25.6-Ounce]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004VITI0K)

Crackers/Snacks:
[Nabisco Original Premium Saltine Crackers Topped with Sea Salt, 3 Pound]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WN7DNS/)

[Pepperidge Farm Baked Goldfish Crackers - 66oz (4.1 lbs)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CBCJGE)

[Nabisco Honey Maid Graham Crackers 4-14.4oz Boxes]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001G4LRDI/)

[Snyders Mini Pretzels Tub, 40 Ounce]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MZQM6O/)

[Stauffer's Original Animal Crackers - 4lb 14oz tub]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001NC8HS6/)

Pasta/Sauce:
[Kraft Blue Box Macaroni & Cheese, 7.25-Ounce Boxes]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0019RLJV2/)

[Barilla Meat Sauce Gemelli Italian Entree, 9 Ounce Microwavable Bowls (Pack of 6)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B2JRNBM)

[Campbell's SpaghettiOs plus Calcium, 15 Ounce Cans (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004GH8IJ8)

[Chef Boyardee Big Beef Ravioli, Overstuffed, 15-Ounce Cans (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XUJ3RK/)

[Chef Boyardee Mini Ravioli, 15-Ounce Units (Pack of 24)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001BCVDXO)

[Chef Boyardee Jumbo Spaghetti and Meatballs, 14.5-Ounce Cans (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XUJ47O/)

[Campbell's Raviolios, 15 Ounce Cans (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004GH6X86/)

[Barilla Pasta Sauce Variety Pack, 24 Ounce Jars, 4 Count]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FQGP20Q/)

[Ragu America's Favorite Pasta Sauce Traditional Old World Style Sause 2 Pound 13 Ounce Value Jars (Pack of 3)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003CU5UXC)

[Barilla Spaghetti Pasta, 32 Ounce Boxes (Pack of 6)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00338DSQ4/)

Soup/Chili:
[Campbell's Chunky Classic Chicken Noodle Soup, 15.25 Ounce Microwavable Bowls (Pack of 8)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000V6L2FK/)
-This product has a drop down that has all the other campbell soups in bulk too, just make sure it still says Prime after you've selected.

[Campbell's Chunky Healthy Request Sirloin Burger with Country Vegetables Soup, 18.8 Ounce Cans (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0029TJTQG/)

[Campbell's Chunky Creamy Chicken & Dumplings Soup, 18.8 Ounce Cans (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0014EW4L4)

[Campbell's Homestyle Healthy Request Mexican-Style Chicken Tortilla Soup, 18.6 Ounce Cans (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0014EOVI8/)

[Campbell's Chunky Roadhouse Beef & Bean Chili, 19 Ounce Cans (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0014EW4N2)

[Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup, Chicken Flavor, 3 oz, 36 Packs]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CUGD9Y)

Bread/Tortillas/Stuffing:
[Stove Top Stuffing - (6) 8 oz. pouches]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004BL6ZJ4)

[Bisquick All Purpose Mix, 80 Ounce]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0028B9ZGE)

[Mestemacher Bread Whole Rye, 17.6-Ounce (Pack of 6)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00472672C/)

[Mestemacher Bread Three Grain, 17.6-Ounce (Pack of 6)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00471YHU2/)

[Jiffy, Corn Muffin Mix, 8.5oz Box (Pack of 6)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006NN0J9A)

[Ortega Flour Tortillas, 14.3 Ounce (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009GGVQFC)

[Ortega Tortillas, Whole Wheat, 16 Ounce (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F9TDJEQ)

Fruit/Veg/Beans:
[Idahoan Mashed Potatoes, Four Cheese, 1.5 Ounce (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3J98D0)

[Sun Maid Natural California Raisins, 32-Ounce (Pack of 4)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004UKJS68)

[Libby's Organic Cut Green Beans, 14.5-Ounces Cans (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040PUGZ0)

[Libby's Organic Sweet Peas, 15-Ounces Cans (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040Q0TPQ)

[Libby's Organic Whole Kernel Sweet Corn, 15-Ounce Cans (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040PWYVO/)

[Libby's Fruit Mix -chunky In Pear juices Concentrate, 15-Ounce Cans (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040PYG9W/)

[Libby's Organic Dark Red Kidney Beans, 15-Ounce Cans (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040Q0JWO/)

[Libby's Organic Pinto Beans, 15-Ounces Cans (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040PYXXG/)

[Sylvia's Collard Greens, 14.5 Ounce Packages (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002TXF62S/)

[B&G Foods Ortega Black Beans, 15-Ounce (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005D6E336/)

[Old El Paso Refried Beans, Fat Free, 16-Ounce (Pack of 12)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00374W630)

Rice:
[Nishiki Premium Rice, Medium Grain, 15-Pound Bag]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004NRLAVY/)

[Botan Musenmai Calrose Rice, 5-Pound Bags (Pack of 4)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001SAQDT8/)

[Dynasty Jasmine Rice, 20-Pound]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004NRG77Q/)

Breakfast:
[Carnation Breakfast Essentials, Rich Milk Chocolate Powder, 10-Count Envelopes (Pack of 6)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0037YXQMA)

[Quaker Instant Grits Flavor Variety 50 Pack Variety Value Box]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0027INRDA)

[Golden Grill Russet Hashbrown Potatoes(48 servings)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00470NIOO)

[Quaker Instant Oatmeal Packets Variety Pack, 52-Count]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000O9WEY2/)

[Pop-Tarts Toaster Pastries, Frosted Strawberry, 36-Count Box]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZXCA2U/)

[Kellogg's Pop-tarts Frosted Toaster Pastries, 24-Strawberries & 24-Brown Sugar Cinnamon-, 86 Ounce]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008QP5LIC/)

[Rice Krispies Toasted Rice Cereal, 18-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 4)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001E6GL66/)

[Quaker Chewy Granola Bar, Variety Pack, 8-Count (Pack of 6)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005ER1AEE)

[Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars Oats 'N Honey, 96-Count]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LTM29M)

[Nutri-Grain-Kellogg's Cereal Bars Variety Pack, 48-Count]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LTIDR2)

PB&J:
[Peter Pan Creamy Peanut Butter, 40-Ounce Jars (Pack of 3)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00295IGHS)

[Jif Creamy Peanut Butter, 48 Ounce, 2 count]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0094IN7UE)

[Planters Peanut Butter Crunchy, 28 Ounce (Pack of 4)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004R8L712)

[Planters Natural Creamy Peanut Butter, 26.5 Ounce (Pack of 4)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DDC3JK)

[Nutella Chocolate Hazelnut Spread 35.3oz Jar]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008IGB0QQ)

[Welch's Concord Grape Jelly 2 ~ 32oz Jars]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004TKZ7A0)

Other Stuff:
[Hormel Compleats Meals - VARIETY FLAVORS (6 - 10 Ounce Microwavable Bowls) - Beef Stew, Meatloaf, Roast Beef, Spaghetti, Chicken Alfredo, Turkey & Dressing]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D5WZUFA)

[Heinz Ketchup, Relish and Mustard Picnic Pack, 3 Bottles]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XLOOCS)

[Heinz Tomato Ketchup Jug, 114 Ounce]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00112AM2C)

[McCormick Taco Seasoning Mix, 24-Ounce Unit]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003OJ0MU2)

[Tone's Spices Taco Seasoning Traditional Blend for Mexican Dishes - Net Weight 23 oz]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000P00HXA)

Addon items (Free shipping with Prime for orders over $25!)
[Cheerios Cereal, 21 Ounce (Pack of 2)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L1KPV7U/)

[Honey Nut Cheerios Cereal, 21.6 Ounce (Pack of 2)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KYW1K26)

[Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal, 23.6 Ounce (Pack of 2)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KYW24WQ)

[Raisin Bran Crunch Cereal, 18.2 -Ounce Boxes (Pack of 3)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006W5WAL4)

[Planters Peanuts, Dry Roasted, Lightly Salted (Bonus Pack), 20-Ounce Packages (Pack of 2)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JD8Y2HC)

[Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise, 30oz]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LQTTVY)

[Kraft Mayonnaise, 30-Ounce Jars (Pack of 2)]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VMW0KC/)

[French's Classic Yellow Squeeze Bottle Mustard 14 oz]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00061EOP0/)

[Heinz Tomato Ketchup, 38 Ounce Bottle]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009GFW8C8)

[Planters Creamy Peanut Butter Jar, Natural, 15 Ounce]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DDC3JK)

[Domino Premium Pure Cane Granulated Sugar 4lb Bag]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LAZ8SO)

[Pillsbury Best All Purpose Flour, 5 Pound]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005EOTMA6)

[Morton Iodized Salt 26oz]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0019N87XE)

[Church & Dwight #01110 16oz Arm & Hammer Baking Soda]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001B2W09A)

[Morton's Salt, Mccormick Pepper Pack, 5.25-ounce Shakers]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0005YMEFK)

This is exactly what I do every game night! My friend and I will play a video game for almost the entire evening and I'll just make a bunch of snacks instead of us stopping for dinner.

Some of my favorites include:

• Salt and Vinegar chips with yogurt dip (Greek yogurt, cucumber, green onions, and black pepper). This is my most calorie dense snack, but I can get three chip servings (~54 chips/84g/~half a bag) for 480 calories. If I am going to eat nothing but this for dinner and before bed snack, I'm not to upset. It is game night after all... :D I'm trying to find a crunchy, salt and vinegar alternative, so if anyone has any ideas, let me know please!!!!
  
• Popcorn with Furikake and Coconut Oil (a little spray to keep the seaweed and sesame seeds attached to the popcorn). I've also made a mix of coco powder, cinnamon, and Ovaltine to sprinkle on my popcorn when I am craving something sweet.
  
• Baby carrots and Trader Joe's crunchy coconut chips. I don't know why, but I love altering each bite. One bite carrot. One bite coconut. One bite carrot. One bite coconut. One bite.... They taste delicious together and the two different types of crunchy textures drives me nuts! Also, altering the two bites will help me from eating too much of the coconut chips, which are more calorie dense than the carrots (coconut 80cal/14g vs. carrots 5cal/15g).
  
• Savory Crisps crackers (50cal for 9!) and miscellaneous toppings. Sometimes I like jalapeno mustard (0-10cal) with mixed finely diced raw veggies (peas, carrots, etc.). Other times I like to use avocado, red pepper, and salt (like it shows on the package!). A slice of apple or pear with a low cal cheese is also great! Cracker toppings are the best, because you can get a lot of variety! Variety is amenable to low calorie diets.
  
  If I am going to snack a lot, I try to focus on sating as many different needs as possible, which is why a crunchy texture is the main focus point of most of my snacks, and then taste.

Definitive research that moisturizing your skin in general will have an effect on deep skin tears such as stretch marks has not been discovered as of yet. That's the scientific consensus as far as I've been able to find.

At the same time, it is also true that keeping your skin moisturized and healthy as much possible is the best way to let it heal and stay tight and flexible. To that end I drink lots of water for internal moisture and use the best possible moisturizer on the outside. My anecdotal evidence is that I see a difference in a short time period using coconut oil. It is a healthy, natural way to keep my skin feeling amazing. I would use it even if I didn't have stretch marks.

It's best to use organic virgin non-refined coconut oil that can easily be found online.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EO5Q64/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also great for cooking! Try it and see what you think.

Do a reddit search in /r/keto for stretch marks and you can read lots of other opinions.

Congrats!

I just got word that the music director at my church wants me to sing this sunday. I'm not very prepared, but I'm excited to share what I love. I'd love to try some of this [Japanese mayo] (http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Kewpie-Mayonnaise-17-64-oz/dp/B0000WKU8K/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=216NHROI2DBI9&coliid=I2TIMGUWNXC47C), but feel free to browse!

Make yourself proud

Copying and pasting for you my recommendations to a friend the other day who is starting Keto:

Your friends:
Avocados (very good fats + potassium), eggs, butter (I think you're allowed clarified butter on Whole30), veggies, fish, coconut oil (I get this at Costco), coconut milk (the pure stuff in a box or can), macadamia nuts (in limited quantities), Swerve / erythritol, sparkling water (La croix is fantastic), decaf or herbal tea - (green tea especially is great because it helps with fat-burning, balancing blood sugar, lowering appetite, and has lots of antioxidants), Cauliflower rice - this saves me, Roasted vegetables

Suggestions/links to purchase:

Magnesium supplement I use (should also help a bit with sleep)

Potassium additive - NoSalt or NuSalt - add it to your food if you're not getting enough Potassium in your diet (most people don't) - you can probably find this in the grocery store for less $$, but I don't know for sure

Decaf green tea I drink 3 times a day - it's decaffeinated with CO2, not chemicals, and it's organic.

SWERVE erythritol sweetener - 1 pack or 2 pack

STUR water flavor drops - for keto champagne or just to add to water

Miracle noodles - they are definitely available at Whole Foods, or you can also find them at a few asian grocery stores (shiritaki noodles). These taste bland and almost gross on their own, but if you add sauce and meatballs, they do a pretty good job of passing for spaghetti if you're desperate.

Silicone candy molds for keto fudge and other keto candies - they seem superfluous, but after you try making keto fudge in a regular pan, you'll realize how much easier these are for portioning and for getting out of the pan.

And finally, the INSTANT POT - I recommend this to everyone I know. My partner and I use it multiple times a week, it is amazing, it does everything. Pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, browner, yogurt maker (also makes julienne fries!!). Seriously you cannot go wrong with this thing.

Keto Recipes:

Keto Fudge

Keto champagne

Cauliflower Rice

Maria Emmerich has an impressive collection of recipes and I've been using the sweet ones especially for a craving / fat bomb

edit - formatting

All natural as in just nuts. That's usually how it's branded. The other stuff just tastes like sweet brown lard to me.

I tour a lot in cold climates and dinner is pretty important to me. If you eat cheese, boxed mac and cheese works really well. Some nights I'd eat two entire boxes with olive oil and the cheese packets, or butter if I had it. You can add one of those Indian entree pouches (amazon.com/Tasty-Bite-Indian-Lentils-Microwaveable/dp/B0007R9L4M) to mac and cheese as well, or just to a shitload of pasta with butter/oil and chunks of cheese. As for bread, buns from grocery stores work well, they are squishy rather than crumbly like bread slices and they are scalable. Buy however many you need. Slather one with butter, peanut butter, honey and a throw in a chunk of cheddar, it's a good breakfast. Avocados are a good green to eat, they go well with cheese and bread and travel reasonably well near the top of a pannier. They also have a ton of calories. I'd get a carrot once in a while to eat raw and feel like I was getting vegetables. You can also grab some broccoli, chop it up, throw it in about halfway through your pasta/mac cooking, and you get some veggies in the meal. I'd supplement every meal with as many spoonfuls of some kind of butter/honey/peanut butter slurry as I needed to feel full.

I've been switching back and forth between a couple of meals. Pretty basic overall:

• Tuna salad on romaine lettuce wrap: Canned tuna, chopped red onion, parmesan cheese, avocado, lemon/lime juice, black pepper, parsley, plain greek yogurt, and celery. All mixed together and blopped onto lettuce.
  
  
• Chipotle chicken: This is still a work in progress.. but I used to eat Chipotle heavily so I'm trying to do my best to make something healthy that tastes like their chicken. Sliced sweet red peppers, green peppers, white onion, pan-seared chicken in chipotle peppers + adobo sauce w/ cumin, black pepper, diced garlic, oregano, and a little cayenne pepper. Served with quinoa (instead of rice) and broccoli.
  
  Other than that it has just been plain salads, greek yogurt + chocolate whey powder for a snack sometimes, Soylent, coffee, and lots and lots of water.
  
  That said, I just ordered some Shirataki Pasta and PB2 for some additional flavors in my life :) We'll see if they're any good.

Do you have a crock pot? If you don't, that's likely the best way to spend these $15 for long-term easier cheaper food. Amazon Warehouse Deals is the best place to look (imo). The Crock-Pot SCR300-SS 3-Quart Manual Slow Cooker, Silver is $15.67 right now but there are a bunch of other options too. It makes cooking dry beans a lot easier, and is just overall a great kitchen tool for spending less money on food and making cooking simpler.

If food is the thing you need most, here's what I'd buy personally (I don't live anywhere near a whole foods, and Amazon Fresh is not available in my area). I'm focusing on convenience foods for this because the real basics- rice, beans, oats, flour, are at least twice as expensive on Amazon (for me) in comparison to local options. The three items listed below are the same price or cheaper on Amazon as they are locally, and total $14.02 .

• Maruchan Instant Lunch Chicken Flavor, 2.25 Ounce (Pack of 12) $3.84
  
• Tasty Bite Indian Entree Madras Lentils 10 Ounce (Pack of 6) $9.00
  
• Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Hot Sauce, 5 fl oz $1.18
  
  ​
  
  (Those aren't referral links, I don't have that kind of thing set up cause I've got other stuff to do.)

Thank you!

This stuff is great

Choose subscribe & save (just pick deliver every 6 months) on the right and you'll get 15% off + free shipping. And it literally takes 30 seconds to go into your account options and delete the subscription if you want.

I use it now for pretty much everything I cook on the stove. It can be used in baking as a substitute for butter as well. It's supposedly amazing for your skin, hair and nails. Just google "health benefits of extra virgin coconut oil" and you'll definitely be intrigued.

You should make your own pizza. It's super easy, pretty fun and tastes amazing.

Frank Pinello pizza recipe. He owns one of the top pizza places in New York with lineage back to I think Grimaldi's which I think was the first pizza place in NY. Could be wrong but the story is something like that maybe different shop.

Also, the people hosting the video. Munchies. They have a lot of awesome videos.

Base -

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  
• 10g yeast (I got this one I think.
  
• 1.5 teaspoons of salt (it says kosher, but I don't know what that is. I used pink Himalayan salt but you could probably just use noraml)
  
• 3.5 cups of plain / all purpose flour
  
  
• 1.5 cup water
  
  Sauce -
  
  
• Tin of tomatoes
  
• salt
  
  That is it, you just mix them together.
  
  I've made 5 so far and kept the dough for up to 5 days in the fridge, it was still amazing.
  
  edit -
  
  You also need a pizza stone, or a tray but that is all in the video.
  
  r/pizza
  
  
  edit 2 -
  
  It's way cheaper than buying a pizza too.

I use this Creole Seasoning and totally love it, though it makes things a bit on the salty side unless you're careful about quantity. I usually give a generous coating on both sides of the breast, sear each breast for 6 minutes on just one side, then pop them in a baking dish in the oven. Super easy and tastes great, been doing this for a few weeks now.

Other things I've done include curry spices (you can look up recipes/rations or just do like I do and wing it and hope for the best), fresh cilantro, also cook down a bunch of onions with some garlic and then cook the chicken with the browned onions, you can also get "poultry seasoning" mixes that have various herbs with garlic and onion powder. Fresh herbs are great, they tend to be cheap at ethnic markets (hipanic, asian) when they are otherwise pretty pricey for a tiny bunch. I always go for cilantro but thyme and rosemary are amazing with chicken.

Yea, prime ship is gone on that one BUT ... a 2 LB package for $13.90 (about $0.44/ounce) is available with prime ship here

And yes! peanut flour = powdered peanut butter. to eat like peanut butter, add water salt + sweetener of your choice. Bonus? I can't go digging into these packages with a spoon like I do with regular PB

Edit to add: If you're not signed up for Amazon Smile, these links direct you to it and Amazon will automatically donate to whichever charity you choose - no additional money from you is required. Cheap way to donate!

I don't like any curry made with coconut milk or whatnot... but I absolutely ADORE Japanese curry. It's more like a spicy ginger/garlic stew. We buy these at our local Asian mart. Cook up some meat, add your choice of veggies (I like onions, carrots, and peppers, sometimes some mushrooms or broccoli depending on the day), cook that until it's all tender, then drop in the curry roux and let it melt through. It's warm and delicious. We serve it over some steamed rice and call it good. My absolute favourite meal in the world!

If you've got an Asian grocery store near you they will most likely carry hondashi, http://www.amazon.com/Ajinomoto-Dashi-Soup-Stock-5-28/dp/B0002YB40O and may have what you need to make dashi, kombu, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombu, and katsuobushi, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsuobushi (it will come pre-shredded in a bag). Dashi is one of the easiest stocks to make, only takes about 30 minutes or so, http://japanesefood.about.com/od/soup/r/konbukatsudashi.htm

The Japanese do have teir own version of curry and it is delicious. I think they got it from the British so it's a re-interpretation of a re-interpretation. It's one of the most popular foods in Japan. It's usually made with pork, but if you're going to make it with katsu, make it vegetarian. You can buy a box of curry roux at most Asian grocery stores, http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Curry-Sauce-8-4oz-pack/dp/B0011UGYLM to use. Basically, take a pot, add a bit of oil (for Asian food I like peanut), cook some white onions in the oil, I also add some sliced garlic which is not traditional, add some potato and carrots (you may want to cook them half way first), add water, simmer for about 20 minutes, add the curry roux, stir it in the simmering water and it will break down, and then continue for 5 minutes or so. The curry roux will have instructions on the back of the box, it's super easy. This is the basic version but there are all sorts of variation, some put in grated apple or even coffee in it! It's my favorite thing to eat with katsu.

What's your macros? You'll feel better by eating against your macros rather than just calories. Macros are simply a math formula (protein + carbs + fats = calories). Most people under-eat for their protein requirements & over-eat per their carb requirements, which makes a weight-loss program difficult because you won't have as much energy or feel as full as you would if you were to eating according to your individual macro numbers instead.

Have you tried Soylent (it's a meal replacement, not just a protein shake) yet? The blend-it-yourself chocolate powder is $1.83 per serving (400 calories with 20 grams of protein).

Do you like to cook, or are you willing to meal-prep? Making your own pasta is pretty fun (and easy!). You can create a huge variety of noodles with that base recipe, including stuffed raviolis. Homemade bread is also awesome. I primarily do no-knead bread (loaves, rolls, etc.) & bread-machine bread. Costco sells 25-pound sacks of flour for like $13. Depending on supply costs in your area, a typical loaf runs maybe 50 cents or so. I buy my yeast in bulk (I keep it in the freezer, to extend the shelf-life) & also make sourdough starter.

The machine isn't totally necessary unless you want it for aesthetics, or for its ability to keep popcorn warm. You can get similar results by making it homemade on the stove-top though and you'd save a lot of money. Easier clean-up, too.

That said, I'm not too sure about good popcorn machines, but here are some popular options for good popping oil, salt, and kernels:

Oil:
https://www.amazon.com/Snappy-Popcorn-Colored-Coconut-Gallon/dp/B003C4UDEY

Salt:
https://www.amazon.com/Gold-Medal-Prod-Flavacol-Seasoning/dp/B004W8LT10

Kernels:
https://www.amazon.com/Orville-Redenbacher-Popcorn-Kernel-Original/dp/B0098IOL2S

And if you're interested in the stove-top method, I wrote a blog about the technique here:

http://mycomfortfoods.blogspot.com/2016_08_01_archive.html

Happy popping!

Yes, it is a delicious soda. It is made with natural sugar, so it tastes better. The tamarind is kinda mellow sweet, and I love the lime.

And as far as the chili powder on the lollipop, in Mexico it is common to eat chili powder on fruits. It isn't hot at all, more like a paprika hot. I buy Tajin powder and use it on damned near everything. Especially grilling meats. It is designed just for fruit though. Chili, lime, and salt powder. Delicious.

>vegetarian (I could get 3x the protein for the same price through Quorn multibuys)

Oh, vegetarian food that’s rich in amino acids can be much cheaper than resorting to buying Quorn!

Buy dry pulses in bulk, they’re dirt cheap, very versatile, and they don’t spoil. Lentils, beans, peas, and chickpeas. Brown rice, wild rice, and whole wheat flour are also very cheap when bought in bulk.

They’re usually cheapest at Asian markets, but you can also get them at wholesalers (like US Foods, Sam’s Club, and Costco) or even online for delivery.

I would also recommend the following soy based products:

Nutrela soy chunks (the brand most people in India use) - 2.64 lb for $25. (That’s enough for 20 dinners) They’re soft, chewy, and juicy. You can use them in dishes that would usually call for chicken breast. Great in a curry, with sides of green peas and rice.

A recipe to get you started: http://www.bharatzkitchen.com/recipe/masala-nutri-soy-chunks-curry/

TVP (nutri keema) - 2.5 lb for $10. (again, that’s plenty for 20 dinners) Works great in any recipe that calls for minced beef, like chili, stews, and casseroles.

A recipe to get you started: https://hebbarskitchen.com/soya-keema-recipe-soybean-keema/

I'm originally from Louisiana, lol. :D Spices are a given, but I find that people tend to be locked-in on what they like! Here are my favorites (this is outside of stuff like garlic, etc), which are cajun & latino in flavor.

• Zatarain Creole
  
  
• Goya Adobo
  
  
• Slap Ya Mama!
  
  
• Goya Sazonador
  
  
• Cachere's
  
  
• I remember when this man was on TV, but I haven't tried his commercial seasoning.
  
  
• I have one large tin of Luzianne left, which isn't made any more :( I save that for special meals.
  
  
  EDIT: But yeah, I didn't mention spices because whenever I mention the ones I like it's usually ignored :D

My two favorites are, chicken thighs/breasts + cream of mushroom soup + packet of onion dip mix. Eat it over rice ( it makes a fantastic gravy ) with veggies as a side.

Chicken breasts/de boned chicken thighs + 1 can coconut milk + good drizzle of honey, + 3-4 big spoonfuls of peanut butter + 1-2 cubes of curry powder ( i like this brand, green or gold work nicely ) + a few tbsp of thai red or green curry paste ( i usually use green ). Usually had 1-2 yellow/orange peppers as well. Such a good an easy curry to make.

I posted about Sodium Citrate a while ago and I love the bejeezus out of it. I'm glad you do, too!

It turns any cheese into a creamy, velvety, sauce when used. My favorite use so far is making Queso with Pepperjack cheese. I get mine from Amazon for around $15.00 USD. https://www.amazon.com/WillPowder-Sodium-Citrate-16-Ounce-Jar/dp/B00250Y9Y6

Also, an immersion blender will be your best friend when it comes to making not just cheese sauces, yet making pureed foods (hello, creamy and cheesy cauli-mash!), custards, whipped cream, gravy, - so many possibilities.

Also, for extra flavor: I add in Seitenbacher soup mix to some cheese and vegetable dishes. Amazon link is here: https://www.amazon.com/Seitenbacher-Vegetarian-Vegetable-Seasoning-5-Ounce/dp/B000FAPM2Q

It add a whole new dynamic to one's flavor palate. I use it to take the "green" taste out of vegetables I don't care for much like green beans. It's also vegetarian-friendly. I find it amazing addition to chicken. cream, and tomato-based dishes. I started off using it sparingly due to the strong taste but love the flavor. It's a little higher in salt, but balancing out one's potassium shouldn't be an issue.

As a Wisconsinite, beer cheese soup is a must around here and this helps mimic the flavor due to having some yeast extract. I usually slip in some Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest Märzen, New Glarus Spotted Cow, or a Guinness if my macros are low for the day. :D

I think you could make cheap snack bars with things like oats, (almond) milk, pretzels, seeds (pumpkin, chia, sunflower), protein mix, chocolate, maple syrup (or honey), maybe something like cranberries. Basically mix that in a bowl and then spread it out on a pan and bake it.

also madras lentils are really tastey, though amazon is not where to buy them for cheap. just basically rice and beans that are microwavable are good choices.

personally I really like cereal (like cereals that are grains and nuts), and bananas go well with cereal.

hmm, thats all i got. But I second werewolfgirl34's like to vegan sandwiches. they all look good honestly.

The peanut flour is soooo great. I found it on Amazon, but I think it's also at vitacost (for cheaper, probably). The binder is the most interesting part actually, it's the Vitafiber syrup. It has a light sweetness and the consistency of honey. You can get it on amazon too

https://www.amazon.com/VitaFiber-IMO-Syrup-2-64-28-4/dp/B00TIX50OQ
It saves you calories because it takes the place of oil and some of the sugar. I love this stuff.

edit to add link

Hi, just wondering if anyone know the recipe to make this at home? They're delicious and I've been trying to recreate the same flavor but no luck. Why not just buy these, you ask? Because they're quite expensive, even at the local stores, $16 for a 6 pack, $25 online, but most importantly its too spicy, I'm hoping if I can make these myself, I'd just tone down the spiciness a little.

​

I can get most of the ingredient such as hot pepper paste, red pepper flakes powder, udon noodles and other stuff. I just don't know how to recreate the flavor like the premade sauce pack. Any help would be greatly appreciated.z

This is exactly what I was going to recommend. You can also pick up sodium citrate on Amazon. Works wonderfully. For years I've been on a quest for what I would consider the best melting/falvorful macaroni and cheese. Only after I found this tip, did I achieve that goal.

For me, the perfect cheese is the whole foods unaged cheddar. Several cups of this with some whole milk and sodium citrate makes perfect mac and cheese. Change ratios a bit and you'll have a slicable block of cheese that melts wonderfully.

Sodium Citrate

tried to find a link for the cheese but couldn't find it.

btw, if you can't find sodium citrate you can make it with baking soda and citric acid.

http://www.reddit.com/r/chemistry/comments/1d5z2z/food_guy_with_a_chemistry_question/

Good luck

My lifesaver has been Cindy's Balsamic Vinaigrette It is DELICIOUS and I put it everything! They also have a Vegan Thousand Island you may like too! I usually take sliced bell peppers and some Cindy's to dip it in (so you can digest all that fibrous goodness) as a quick snack. Apples and almond butter are yummy, and microwavable lentils similar to these can make for a good snack when you want a little more than just a fruit or veggie.

Wash the rice 3 times, you don't have to wash it until it's crystal clear just get most of the starch out. Make sure you drain all the water out before it goes into the pan with the added water. Then bring to just barely a rolling boil and drop the heat to low and cover. Cook for 20min, the second the timer goes off move your pan off the burner and let sit for 10min covered. I don't use a rag I just use the lid and the lid stays closed from the moment you put it on to the end of your ten min timer. I like to put foil or plastic over a sheet pan and spread my rice out on that. Using a rice paddle and cutting motions mix in about 3tbsp of seasoned rice vinegar. It's kinda hard to get used to at first but you need a fan or a stiff plastic lid and start fanning the rice with one hand while cutting and mixing the rice with the other. Continue this until the rice is basically about the same temp as your skin. I also recommend covering the rice with a damp paper towel while you're making sushi so it doesn't dry out. Hope this helps.
This is the Sushi rice that I use, it's a pretty good deal. 20$ for 15lbs.

If you don't want to use soy protein powder (Winco sells it pretty cheap), then I suggest some textured vegetable protein. If you have ever had chicken cup of noodles or other types of instant ramen, it's the "meat" in those. Textured vegetable protein is a left over product from soy products manufacturing, so it is pure soy protein. By itself, it is tasteless but the beauty is that it takes on the flavor of ANY liquid you put it in (to rehydrate it). I've mixed it into burgers and meatloaf before and you would never know it is there. Again, Winco near me sells it pretty cheaply but you can get it online too. I keep a bag on hand and usually just throw a small scoop into what ever I am making. It will bulk up a bit as it absorbs any moisture, so I suggest starting out with a small amount until you get used to it.

Theres Korean flakes cheap on amazon called Gochugaru. Should last a long time. Basically a more sophisticated version of cayenne and red pepper flakes. Less intense on the mouth. Good in anything even pizza. Using it by the cup to make stews and soups with cool color, awesome heat and flavor.

Also sounds right your your alley considering all the asian inspired ingredients you used.

https://www.amazon.com/Tae-kyung-Korean-Pepper-Flakes-Gochugaru/dp/B005G8IDTQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=korean+flakes&qid=1563135241&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Not the exact same thing, but an approxamation (or a generic Japanese-style curry) is fairly easy to do.

Just get yourself one of these.

Make a sofrito with garlic, onions, celery, carrots. Make sure you caramelize the veg. Add meat of choice, brown. Add water (or better yet some stock), and the curry roux. Stir to dissolve, and cook for 30 minutes. Add a couple teaspoons of soy sauce at the end, and you're golden.

The topping is easy too. Get a pork chop (or any other flat piece of meat). Season, coat with flour, dip in egg, coat with panko or breadcrumbs. Deep fry, and serve with the curry.

Edit : Looking around on some Japanese websites, it seems Cocoichi has this trick of adding a bit of peanut butter (like a couple of teaspoons per serving) to give the roux an added depth.

Japanese curry is INCREDIBLY easy to make. You really can’t mess it up. You can buy brands like Golden Curry at most major retailers. Just a fair warning the spice levels are very mild across the board on most Japanese curry so if you like spicy food be prepared to add your own spices. All you are doing though is chopping some veggies and meat if you like and throwing it in a pot, done and done. Delicious meal that you can pack into the fridge and have for a couple nights :)

Korean red pepper flakes (gochugaru) can be bought online for relatively cheap, such as here. Stored in the freezer it'll last for a very long time so buying in bulk is OK. It's good for use in homemade kimchi, stews, soups, and veggie side dishes.

Your small jar of Kimchi should be plenty for 4, a little goes a long way. My recommendation would be to start with a recipe for regular ramen then just use the kimchi as one of the toppings.

As for what type of ramen, a thick and rich Tonkotsu broth would be a nice pairing with the acidity of kimchi.J Kenji Lopez-Alt has a great recipe if you're down to make it from scratch.

Cavender's sounds great on popcorn. I'll have to try that. I tend to like it prepared movie theater style - coconut oil, flavacol and fake butter. Cooked in a aluminum bowl with aluminum foil over the top and holes punched in the foil to let the steam escape.

This way is pretty good too....

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/microwave-caramel-popcorn/

TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) = 80kCal with 12g of protein. Significantly more protein per calorie than chicken, it's cheaper, and it's shelf stable.

Once I hydrate it, (usually in veggie broth, because I don't eat meat, but you could use beef broth) I use it just like cooked ground beef. It makes fantastic tacos, BBQ sandwiches, salad topper, etc.

ETA: This is the kind I buy: https://www.amazon.com/Bobs-Red-Mill-TEXTURIZED-PROTEIN/dp/B002YR97J2/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1474559484&sr=8-1&keywords=tvp+bob%27s+red+mill (I wouldn't bother looking for it in the store unless you live in a large city and have a lot of free time.)

Rice is very starchy, and since its grown not made, you can't make it out of something else to make it low carb so out of luck there.

As for noodles there have been some lower carb noodles, made with not sure what but probably at least partly soy. The ones I'd tried were horrible. They simultaneously tasted on the inside like pasta that hadn't cooked long enough and on the outside like pasta that had cooked too long and they were sticky. There was dreamfields pasta that tasted just like regular pasta and had the full carbs of regular pasta but don't count these carbs for some reason that is never explained very well and I believe was proven not to actually cut the effective carbs. Recently I've heard of but not tried miracle noodles. They come in rice too, but if they're made out of something else than its not rice anymore than cauliflower is so I suppose its probably like pasta made into rice shape. They're kindof expensive and I'm a bit wary of things like this that claim to be zero calories.

Solid recipe! I'd recommend messing around with some higher temperatures, I like to do my baguettes at around 500-550. Also, buying a pound of yeast like this is generally less than $5 at a store, and will last you years if stored properly. Happy baking :)

I also eat a lot of more bland but healthy meals, and the biggest lifesaver for me recently was adding furikake (Japanese rice seasoning) to my food.

I use Nori Komi Furikake specifically and it makes a lot of bland food a lot better - it's mainly just sesame seeds and seaweed flakes, though there's other versions with different fish flavors.

Always good. If you like this type of meal, I recommend trying Japanese’s curry. It’s fucking delicious and you can make it at home easy. S&B Golden Curry Sauce Mix, Hot, 8.4-Ounce https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0011UGYLM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_2MG7BbWNPWSRK

I do not know your Chicago brands, but I do know my local Mennonites: powdered cheddar cheese. Obviously they do not source theirs, which I buy, through Amazon, but the stuff is great. There are times I do not want the smoothness of sodium citrate and instead up the cheesiness of a sauce with the powder, but mainly I make great popcorn and Tex-Mex-Chex mix. It also can be added to a bread dough without creating pockets of moisture that make hollows.

They are definitely more of a specialty item, but are gaining in popularity! I learned about them through this sub. The only place I've been able to get them are Amazon, and I buy this variety pack.

A low cal option could also be vegetable noodles, but the whole thing is honestly so low calorie as it is that regular noodles are nothing terrible

)

Quite a few of the Bob's Red Mill products are cheaper on Amazon than in stores. I get the TVP a couple times a year.
I'm not a vegetarian or anything, as a working parent TVP makes dinner faster/easier! Add a little water and seasoning and you won't be able to tell it apart from ground hamburger. I can make spaghetti with "meat" sauce, chili, tacos, sloppy joes, or hamburger helper in 10 minutes. AMAZING, I love that stuff!

I have this one in my cupboard right now. It's pretty good but I am going to pick up the spray one Trader Joe's has out next time I am there. I have also heard really good things about this brand and they sell it in bulk to like gallon buckets bulk. I wanna try a small thing of it though first before I go big. ;)

Look into TVP - Texturized Vegetable Protein. It's pre-dried soy and available in the bulk sections of some health food stores. Bulks up very nice in water, cheap too. This is just one option, some will be unbranded.

It's generally pretty bland, so do try it out at home to learn how to season it. Works best in highly seasoned things like spaghetti sauce, chili, etc.

I like to use the curry box mixes with some chicken thighs, carrots, potatoes, and tons of onions.

I'm also a pretty big fan of chicken and broccoli casseroles. Both are pretty easy to make.

There are a variety of options. Some include:

Catalina Offshore Products

Honolulu Fish Market

Fish for Sushi

Great Alaska Seafood

Personally I'd vouch for the first two. Before living somewhere with a reputable fish market not far away, I'd used Catalina with some regularity. And I know several fish markets which source stuff from Honolulu Fish and it's been quite good.

With respect to rice - have you looked at your local supermarket? Even my local mid-tier supermarket carries both Lundberg Organic and Nishiki as well. Though I feel like how you cook your rice will make a huge difference.

I've been reading up on curry for the last hour and it's truly a fascinating tale of culinary history. It's so crazy that we have this word, that everyone thinks is a word from India that refers to their food and spice, yet is actually a western word to describe said food and spice. And somehow it spread all over the world. Then we have places like Thailand where their word for curry is one thing and we call it curry, and in neighboring Indonesia they have dishes that are literally called curry/kare.

Thanks, British empire!

BTW I absolutely agree American chili could fall under curry. I guess it depends on how you define curry though. I have a friend who claims to hate Indian food, but loves chili and this stuff: https://www.amazon.com/Tasty-Bite-Indian-Lentils-Microwaveable/dp/B0007R9L4M

She actually calls it chili and I always make it a point to remind her it's Indian food. :D

Have you tried looking for some keto recipes to fulfill some of those cravings? This, for example, is my favorite single-serving bread-like item. I've put it in the bottom of a medium rectangle Tupperware to make pizza crust, sliced it and eaten it with butter, made garlic cheese bread to go with "spaghetti" (out zucchini spirals or miracle noodles, cut it in half and made a bacon egg and cheese muffin. I just make it in different size and shape tupperwares, take out the cinnamon, and add appropriate spices to match the application I am using it for.

Also, very high cocoa chocolate is an ok occasional treat. I'll get one of those big bars of 85% chocolate and just eat two squares with a cup of decaf in the evening.

I can eat so many awesome things that I always thought were off limits- butter, bacon, steak- and I can find things to mimic many of my old favorites while keeping keto. It's important not to focus on deprivation. No one can maintain a situation where they constantly feel deprived. Find new things you do love and can have, experiment with new recipes, make it fun.

They are using instant active yeast, it is used by professional bakers and in my opinion is superior to active dry.

There are a lot of manufacturers and types but in general the two most popular types are your standard red label gold label.

Red label is just standard yeast, but gold label is osmotolerant which is meant to be used in dough with high levels of sugar like brioche.

https://www.amazon.com/Saf-Instant-Yeast-Pound-Pouch/dp/B0001CXUHW/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1519920810&sr=8-2&keywords=instant%2Bactive%2Byeast&dpID=51%252ByqXLO0gL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/Lesaffre-SAF-Instant-Yeast-Vacuum-Pack/dp/B00NGEPHT6/ref=sr_1_25_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1519920810&sr=8-25&keywords=instant+active+yeast

I got you fam

Here is a stellar review if you're not convinced:

> I hadn't thought before about how important diabetes is to a growing boy. My son, ostracized from the mainstream cliques because of his working pancreas, would come home hopelessly depressed - craving some recognition for his future in the entrenched world of football scholarships. He plays well, but kids today are just too involved in their identities as victims to really accept "healthies" anymore.

> After one particular hard practice, Billy came home covered in spinach stains because the vegans decided to protest that day. I hopped onto the Internet to find the easiest way to get my son out of shape. Lo and behold, the answer was right there in our favorite morning cereals.

> A few days later the package came in and I served it to Billy in a three gallon bowl filled with heavy cream. These became his go-to meals, eating them at least six times a day along with as much frozen sausage as he could stomach to stave off malnutrition.

> Fast forward two months, Billy's up 150 lbs with no chances in sports anymore and he's never been more popular. Type-two diabetes fell on him like a linebacker on ice skates and we couldn't be prouder. Now if only Amazon had something for our daughter to grow that muffin top she's always wanted, I could rest easy and finally let them take my feet.

Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning, 8 Ounce Shakers https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00161FSZY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_XyhKAbK853KFB

I put this on everything, but I highly recommend trying it on veggies. Brussels, green beans, asparagus - all are really well complimented with it. Despite being “Cajun” it’s not as spicy as it is flavorful.


I put it on everything (instead of salt).

I have worked it out... well I googled it and now my popcorn tastes like it was fresh popped in a theater.

You need to:

1. cook in coconut oil
   
2. use Flavacol salt added to the oil before popping
   
   There is special coconut oil but I just use plain the special stuff is just colored.
   
   I use a fancy schmancy popcorn popper that lets the steam out but you should get excellent results following this advice (but still add the Flavacol to the oil with the kernels)
   

Miracle Noodle Shirataki Konjac Pasta and Rice Variety Pack, 7 oz (Pack of 6), Angel Hair, Rice, Fettucine, Zero Net Carbs, Low Calorie, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Keto Friendly https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BTMDALO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_tlcSDbK0FK0H2

I can't believe nobody has said this but Tasty Bite has a bunch of different Indian/Thai pouches that are pretty low calorie and very filling. The lentils one is my go-to but they are all pretty good of the ones I've had. I usually get a big pack at Costco. Also if you want to make it a full meal you can add rice.

https://www.amazon.com/Tasty-Bite-Indian-Lentils-Microwaveable/dp/B0007R9L4M

This isn't a slow cooker recipe, but if you have sodium citrate or have time to purchase it (I get mine on Amazon), I think the Modernist Cuisine Cheese sauce is the best. The cheese is super smooth and silky. Make sure to pick a high quality block of cheese and have a kitchen scale.

IndoMie Ramen

This is an Indonesian Ramen brand and I’ve loved every flavor I’ve tried so far. They’re way better than the usual Nissin ramen. The Mi Goreng line is actually supposed to be prepared similar to chow mein, like cooking and frying the noodles in spices provided but I’ve found luck making it normally as well.

-Mi Goreng Fried Noodles
Fried Noodles on Amazon

-Mi Goreng Satay Flavor
Satay Noodles on Amazon

-Mi Goreng Hot and Spicy Flavor
Hot and Spicy Noodles on Amazon

-Mi Goreng Fried CUP of Noodles
Fried Cup of Noodles on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Indomie-Mi-Goreng-Instant-Noodle/dp/B00HXIXWKM

These come with separate sauce / oil / seasoning packages and are fucking delicious and about 50cents (or less in bulk) in asian grocery stores around north america. I eat them pretty much every day with an egg some tofu and green onion for breakfast and/or dinner.

There's a purple version that is rare to find that is super spicy and is my favourite...

You can make your own kimchi. I know that typically requires quite a bit of advance planning, but there are, for example, quick kimchi recipes, and while they feature one major exotic ingredient -- Korean chile pepper flakes, better known as gochugaru -- you can order the stuff off Amazon. And if you don't want to make your own kimchi, substitute the kimchi juice for gochujang, which can also be purchased from Amazon, or, just as likely, you can find gochujang in a lot of grocery stores now (at least where I live, I haven't canvassed the country).

I cook everything from French food to American to African stuff. You'd be amazed what you can substitute, and how you rarely have to go to specialty stores for what you need. I have the benefit of an East Asian supermarket near me, but to be honest, nearly everything I've found there, I have later found in other grocery stores. The only exceptions have been the truly, truly obscure stuff (ever had a recipe call for a jar of tiny, pickled shrimp?), and I typically don't make those recipes again.

I do understand the frustration -- despite how much I love to cook, I hate shopping -- but there are always options, and usually they aren't very difficult ones.

Oh wow that's a tough one, I love meegoreng , potato noodle , Samyang Curry , chagang and maybe neoguri hopefully I didn't mess up any of those links.

there is a product that you can buy. it is stored in the pantry no refrigeration required. it's meatless, vegan and still really good! they are called Madras Lentils. they can be found in the grocery store. and sometimes Costco will carry them. Much cheaper at Costco. you can get a box of 9 packs for $10. Here is a link

[Madras Lentils]
(https://www.amazon.com/Tasty-Bite-Indian-Entrée-Lentils/dp/B0007R9L4M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488163873&sr=8-1&keywords=madras+lentils)

they are good as a bowl of chili, in tacos, nachos, and on hot dogs or hamburgers for chili burgers or dogs.


Another idea is when you cook to make more than you are going to eat so that you have leftovers. for instance, Rotisserie chicken. after dinner. pick the chicken clean. now you have meat for soup, casseroles, burritos, enchiladas, etc...

Ground beef, can be made into meatloaf sliced and frozen. sloppy joe sauce can be frozen, Salisbury steaks also can be made ahead and made into meals and frozen. would make great lunches or dinners.


Cooked ground beef, you can make again taco seasoned meat, for tacos nachos, burritos etc. also you can make sloppy joes, hamburger gravy etc.


[Sloppy Joes]
(https://www.copymethat.com/r/VNiVafA/ms-sloppy-joes/)

[Hamburger Gravy]
(https://www.copymethat.com/r/Ltrnn4g/hamburger-gravy/)

Thank you! It's a Westbend 4Qt Air Popper. Bought it off of Amazon and then did a little homework and found some great coconut oil and butter salt used by many commercial theaters to make my popcorn taste and smell EXACTLY like the stuff in the theater!

West Bend 4QT Popcorn Machine:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HRGJE88?ref_=hit_wr_dt_tyl&coliid=ASIN%3AB01HRGJE88|ATVPDKIKX0DER&colid=3A64PQAAYG4CI


Commercial Theater Popcorn Coconut Oil:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003C4UDEY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1



Buttersalt for Flavor:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HN5KNA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I love that 'rice seasoning' they sell at the asian supermarket. My favorite is the seaweed one, I don't like the salmon one too much.

I'll upload a pic in a sec, so OP can see what I'm talking about. I'll eat just rice with that stuff, it's great.

Edit: here it is

Alternatively you can just buy seaweed sheets and canned tuna, and mix it all up.

If you really wanted to be frugal and give yourself a bit of an ascetic test you could buy a large bag of rice and a multivitamin. You would be fine for the month, and just think how good that first real meal would be when the month is over. Plus, you'd save a lot of that card for other things. If you wanted to make it less harsh, you could buy a few splurge foods like:

Spaghetti-O's (you could actually just buy these and be fine for the month too, 5 cans a day = $5 x 30 days = $150)

Mountain House dehydrated meals

Mac and Cheese

Any number of other things, really. The rice is an absolute frugal grocery staple. Beyond that, go to Amazon and search the listings under Grocery>Packaged Meals & Side Dishes. Just don't forget a multivitamin.

Depends on what you want.


Soup based #2 for me: MARUTAI Hakata Nagahama Tonkotsu anything from MARUTAI is AMAZING


Instant Indomie #1 for me: Mi GorenG almost anything from indomie is really good.


Spice and pure sadistic heat: Samyang Extra Spicy

I hope this helps. :)

EDIT

Read your post again, i missed the mark. To import food in general from japan i use this site

Coconut Oil is nomalicious! Have you ever cooked with it? AMAZING!! 2 pack (great for bulking up) and also in my kitchen wishlist if I win :D

One of my favorite cooking items is TVP and TVP chunks. They don't taste like anything on their own, they take on the flavor of what they're cooked in. The granules are really good substitute for ground beef in taco filling, gravy, hamburger helper type recipes, anything. The chunks make a really good chicken substitute. Reconstitute some and add it to a crock pot of ranch dressing, buffalo wing sauce, and cream cheese and eat with Fritos. Holy shit it's good.

Also, of course, there's all kinds of beans, nuts, dairy if she eats that, eggs if she eats that, those sorts of things.

Iron is sometimes difficult for vegetarians too, one quick fix for that is to cook in cast iron, which increases iron content by a crazy amount.

Since I went vegetarian, my cholesterol dropped from 213 to 163 without any other changes in my diet or lifestyle. I don't get sick any more, I'm not deficient in any nutrient, I feel fantastic.

Also head over to /r/vegetarian, lots of good recipes there.

Fucking dogs right? Tokyo Beef, the last slice of Pizza? They no know mercy.

Anyhow. Never heard of Tokyo Beef before, but looking at the menu picture and description it seem like it could be a standard-ish version of this recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/tokyo-style-gyudon-japanese-beef-bowl-470602

Many asian beef recipes use some combination of those ingredients. The thing that seems to make it unique is the shot of Japanese mayo. Which is this: http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Kewpie-Mayonnaise-17-64-oz/dp/B0000WKU8K

I'd give it a try and see how it tastes and then walk it in over a couple of revisions.

When you combine the sauce with the meat, make sure you reduce the sauce. That really helps to match the flavor for asian beef dishes.

I do thin sliced avocado on top of the mayo. I always debate putting lettuce on a sandwich because of the barrier effect. Sometimes the mayo to tomato to avocado to cheese rainbow is pretty delicious.

How do you feel about multiple meats?

Also [this](http://www.amazon.com/Tajin-Fruit-Snack-Seasoning-5-7/dp/B0000GL6RK0] between mayo and tomato is delicious.

It's hard to make links at {6]

Maybe don't shop exclusively at Whole Foods if you're concerned about price? Hell, you can live off of healthy food mostly from Amazon. Start with rice: $24 for 25 days worth of food @ 1600 kCal a day. Add in dried beans - high fiber and quite tasty, for about $2 per pound.. Add frozen vegetables from your local store - and in NYC, that's not difficult at all, thanks to awesome public transportation - and you're eating healthy on way less than $40 per week.

You're looking for Furikake, rice seasoning. There are several different flavors, I usually get the fish/seaweed flavor, it's pretty good. It goes well on ramen too!

If you have an Asian/international grocery store nearby they'll have a lot more stuff like this.

If you want a formal recipe you can check out these guys.

Otherwise I'd recommend buying some thai curry paste, or Japanese curry blocks. You basically just add milk + tomato (or broth or water) and boom, you've got a sauce to simmer your veg in. This japanse stuff is at my grocer, and the thai stuff I get from amazon.

Also, you can save money if you use dried beans rather than the canned ones. You just gotta remember to throw them into water in the morning. Same thing with split peas, they cook super fast if you soak them in the morning.

Spicy tuna with cucumbers

1 large cucumber

4 oz raw sashimi grade tuna

1 tbsp Sriracha

1 tbsp ponzu sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

Furikake to taste

Peel, de-seed and chop the cucumber. Pour ponzu over cucumbers. Mash up the tuna with the Sriracha and sesame oil. Serve on top of cucumbers, top with Furikake. So delicious.

Calories: 288

Fat: 11g

Cholesterol: 44mg

Sodium: 1105mg

Carbs: 13g

Fiber: 3g

Sugar: 9g

Protein: 31g

Yes, it's high in sodium, but most of the ponzu sauce is left at the end. It's delicious.

I'm surprised on the lack of comments on this post. Your meal prep is pretty unique and is something I wish I was brave enough to attempt. I always use the same [golden curry] (https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Curry-Sauce-Medium-8-4-Ounce/dp/B0011ULFVG) brand, I cook extra extra servings and eat it for the entire week.
But to see you're brave enough to package the wet and dry ingredients in the same container, something I've been afraid to do, makes me believe the feat is actually possible. Did you have any obstacles or struggles during the meal prep process? Thanks OP.

I bought some protein plus peanut butter powder over the weekend to add to my regular chocolate keto chow.

https://www.amazon.com/Protein-Plus-Roasted-Natural-Peanut/dp/B0052OOYOW/ref=sr_ph_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1517839150&sr=sr-1&keywords=peanut+flour

I had been buying regular chocolate and adding PB2 because I like extra peanut flavor. However, when I saw Chris used peanut flour I decided to try that instead since it has less carbs and more nutritional benefits.

Whelp, it's pretty much perfect. If you're missing Chocolate PB I'd highly suggest investing in peanut flour.

Re:cost of living; currencies are either "strong" or "weak": in countries with weak currencies, cheap things necessary to live (food, place to live, etc.) tend to be a lot cheaper, while everything else (education, beds, real home, technology, etc.) is a lot more expensive. Strong currencies are the opposite.

Most African currencies (South Africa and Egypt are the notable exceptions) are very weak, meaning that basic living (eating) is very cheap, but everything else (including clean water and health care) is much more expensive.

On top of that, variety is practically nonexistent. Eating beans and rice (which is minimally healthy, but sufficient) is very cheap: pinto beans are .04 cents/calorie, and rice is .07 cents/calorie; and that's off Amazon, not generic product from a bulk wholesaler. Eating 3000 calories/day of beans and rice (1500 calories each) would cost $1.60/day of food.

You also don't need any oil (sub korean chilli pepper flakes) and it will come out just as good. Sub sugar for maple syrup works great too :)

At home I do magic noodles.

Better Than Noodles, Organic, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Non-GMO, Konjac, Shirataki Noodles 11oz. (6 pack/66 oz.) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DAKN9SG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_kZpwCbY9K2ABG

Or: Miracle Noodle Zero Carb, Gluten Free Shirataki Pasta and Rice, 6 bag Variety Pack, 44 ounces (Includes: 2 Shirataki Angel Hair, 2 Shirataki Rice and 2 Shirataki Fettuccini) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BTMDALO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_L0pwCbG6MHM00

I just use a tiny dot of coconut oil and rub it on my fingers until they are just barely shiny, then once my ends are dry, I lightly toss around my ends in my fingers. It's soooo easy to go overboard with coconut oil. And yea, what Mechiko said, you will want to cry trying to get the stuff out with traditional no-poo techniques. :/

Also, this is the oil I use, I usually use 1 tub for cooking and 1 tub for beauty reasons. I've gone through 3 tubs for cooking so far, but my beauty tub is still 90% full and I've been using it for almost a year now. Totally worth the buy! http://www.amazon.com/Nutiva-Organic-Virgin-Coconut-15-Ounce/dp/B001EO5Q64/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1368810656&sr=8-2&keywords=coconut+oil

Ooh, so the bowl kind actually comes with the toppings on the label? I've been buying the packets, which have soup base and some kimchi (I think?) flakes.

My current fave is this mi goreng There's like 5 separate sauce packets, and I love opening and combining all of them

Have you tried coconut oil? I love it for my popcorn, especially if you get the made-for-popcorn kind. Also you shouldn't use Olive Oil... it burns faster. If you're gonna use anything use Canola Oil.

Coconut Oil is really awesome tho.
$20 coconut oil from Amazon

For one person? Pick up 5lbs of live crawfish from Dekalb or Buford Hwy Farmers Market.

Use whatever butter you prefer, but keep in mind this will be intense so if you're looking for accent flavors, they may not show up as desired.

• 4-6oz of powder crab boil
  
• 3oz of liquid crab boil
  
• 1 tea bag crab boil
  
• 1 head scored/salted garlic w/ tip cut off (save tips and throw into boil)
  
• 1/2 head of celery
  
• 1-2 onions quartered
  
• Bottle of beer
  
• 3 bay leaves
  
• 1/2 stick butter
  
• Kosher salt
  
  As much veggies as you want.
  
  
  You can use pink salt, but it'll be rather expensive and there will be so much flavor in here that it really won't stand out.
  
  You can steam or dunk in reserved boil liquid to reheat the crawfish the following day provided you keep them covered during refrigeration overnight.
  
  Tony Chachere's is our NOLA equivalent to Old Bay, but it is a little saltier (to me at least)
  
  Fried oysters:
  
  
• 1 cup corn flour or finer grain cornmeal. some people like to add italian bread crumbs into the mix.
  
• 1 1/2 tsp of salt, but omit if you're using salty gulf/apalachicola oysters
  
• 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper. 1tsp Tony Cacheres, sweet or smoked paprika will also work.
  
• 2 tsp of black pepper
  
• peanut oil (frying)
  
• 2 eggs
  
• milk (or plain greek yogurt cut with some water)
  
  Make a bath out of the milk and eggs, blend lightly.
  
  Add oysters, then bread them with the remainder of the ingredients.
  
  Fry at 350F for about 3-4 minutes. Add Crystal hot sauce and/or fresh lemon juice.
  
  
  EDIT: save the shells and fat, then use similar recipe but without as much salt for stock. Use stock in pastas, gumbo, etouffe, bloody Mary Mix, jambalaya, soup base, etc..

I agree that this seems like a bad idea, and depending on your guest it could be taken as disrespectful. If you are set on doing it, definitely try to practice your meal before she arrives so you don't have a disaster on your hands!

I recommend making boxed curry. It's a good, filling winter meal and you can customize it with the protein and veggies of your choice. I usually go for Golden Curry, you can order it online or find it in the "ethnic" aisle of a regular supermarket, since you said there are no Asian markets near you. In addition to being tasty and easy to put together, it's a casual meal so it will be lower-pressure.

This ish right here.


Important though:

1. Specifically this flavor. I've tried a few others and eh.
   
   
   
2. Drain the water after microwaving/boiling, it's definitely a fried noodle dish rather than noodle soup.
   
   
   I'm in love with these things oh my god.

If you want to try a premix of spice- Golden Curry Sauce mix works great in a slow cooker.
https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Curry-Sauce-Mix-8-4-Ounce/dp/B0011UGYLM?th=1

Link just for reference, you can find it at the supermarket probably cheaper.

Also don't forget to check out /r/slowcooking for great crockpot recipes.

http://www.amazon.com/Bobs-Red-Mill-Textured-Vegetable/dp/B002YR97J2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311113151&sr=8-1

Subscribe and Save and you will receive free shipping for slightly over $2 per package. It is usually $3+ per package where I live. Best part is that you can cancel the subscription anytime.

The only thing that's truly necessary that you might have trouble finding is the Korean chili pepper flakes, but you can get those on Amazon. Some recipes call for salted shrimp, but you can leave that out and still get good kimchi out of it-- I didn't have any for the first batch I made and it turned out delicious.

Darn it, you beat me to it. Coconut oil is the best. The best deal I have found on it is this from somebody in another sub. I use it for a million other things, too!

Thai style omelet: 2 eggs mixed with a slice of lime, a tsp of corn starch, and a splash of fish sauce. I had that with steamed rice sprinkled with this crack and kimchi. It's delicious and my favorite easy go-to meals.

Have you considered using tvp instead of tofu? Even full carnivores usually like tvp, as it has a similar texture to meat and it soaks up the flavor of whatever you cook it in.

Edit: this is tvp, textured vegetable protein.

Bob's Red Mill TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein), 10-Ounce Bags (Pack of 4) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002YR97J2/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_9G8Uub185X17F

You can probably find it in a decent grocery store. You would basically take whatever taco seasonings you're using, add water, and then add the tvp and simmer until it's fully hydrated. The tvp will soak up the water and the flavor of the seasonings. Then use it exactly as you would beef in the recipe.

It's super good, I've used it in vegetarian chili and not told people it was full veg. They never noticed!

Well, just through a cursory Google search, it seems the suggestion is 1c rice : 2c water for Jasmine. However, I never use it so I can't say for certain. Maybe try increasing your water?

Here's the rice I use: rice. I always use a 1:1 ratio, and it comes out perfectly anywhere down to 1 cup. Hope some of this helps!

Awesome, I just ordered this! Happy Birthday to me!

OK, scrolled about half way down, and...

1. Sugar doesn't cause diabetes. Being overweight causes diabetes. So, eat these in moderation with exercise, and you're going to be just fine.
   
   
2. The "sugar high" is a myth.
   
   
3. These get super stale within a few days.
   
   
4. Amazon listing ($163)

I tried real butter just the other day on my popcorn and still felt it was missing something. Some people search out that movie theater taste and prefer it to real ingredients.

For those people, beta carotene colored coconut oil, Flavacol salt, and butter topping is all it is. Flavacol has the added benefit of being super finely milled salt, it doesn't have the problem sticking to popcorn like normal salt does.

First off, the type of Ramen you get makes a difference. If all I have access to is a standard grocery store, I'll go for the chili, oriental or roast chicken flavor. But most of the time I get my ramen at the asian market where they have way more brands/flavors to chose from than Maruchan. My fav is Indomie Mi Goreng Instant Noodle which has 2 sets of flavor packets in it: one that's the seasoning powder and fried onions, the second is a 3 pack of seasoning oil, sweet soy sauce, and chili sauce.

Second, I typically keep little homemade frozen packages of chopped veggies on hand for throwing into omelets or ramen, so I'll usually add that and a soft boiled egg. Ramen is mostly a soft boiled egg delivery device for me.

Yup, I do it often now. It's hard to combine this stuff with usual American food in a meaningful way. Here's an easy beginner's route:

Get one of these. This is a really good brand. Follow the instructions and put the ingredients you want into a pot. Then add the mix in at the end. Poor it over rice you had cooking in a rice cooker and wa-la.

It's filling, nutritious and quick. But most importantly, it solves my cravings. You can add salt, sugar, sauces and oils to modify the taste a bit. Or you can try other flavors and brands.

I like the America's Test Kitchen gumbo recipe. You can also add a bag of frozen cut okra near the end of cooking. This freezes quite well too.

Lidia's Italian Wedding Soup. Don't actually use 7 quarts of cold water, you'll overflow the pot. Just fill with water until your pot is 3/4 full. You can always add more later if you need. You also don't need to poach the meatballs separately, works fine just dropping them straight into the soup (probably adds more flavor to the soup itself). I actually use italian chicken sausage instead of pork, and I also add about 4 oz of tiny pasta (pastina or stelline) at the end. I grew up eating Progresso Chickarina soup, so chicken meatballs and pasta in the soup.

If you want a braised meat sort of thing, I like braised short ribs served over polenta with some broccoli rabe slowly sauteed with garlic and olive oil. Or either of the Taiwanese national dishes, beef noodle soup and braised pork belly (lu rou fan).

Or if you're feeling lazy, some standard Japanese curry from a box. I make it with onions, carrots, potatoes, and chicken and serve with rice. This is one that gets better the longer it sits. Some people just let it on the stove for a few days and reheat as needed (the food safety police do not endorse this practice).

I think they sell it on amazon. Yep

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008DJR6HU/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_n6xwyb7TRXYBT

Edit: someone also asked if they can be individually wrapped. LMAO.

The reviews are kind of funny too.

Couch to 5k is awesome. I've been running it with a friend that has asthma. If he can do it, you can do it.

Plan your meals in advance. Try to cook twice a week.

Cut out calories at breakfast. Only eat enough to get you to lunch.

Cut out calories at lunch, only eat enough to get you to dinner.

Dinner is for eating a banquet of meat and veggies.

Buy this. It makes chicken, pork, lambchop, and eggs taste amazing.

In saucy or stew-y dishes, I like to use textured vegetable protein. To prepare, I put it in a microwave-safe bowl, pour in about a 1:1 ratio of stock (with a little more stock than TVP), cover with plastic wrap and microwave. I think the microwave time is on the package. Could easily be done with water or vegetable stock for lent.

I then use it like I would ground beef or pork. The texture is wonderful, but also distinguishable from real meat. I wouldn't put it in an enchilada by itself though; try mixing it with some sauteed veggies like zucchini, onions, mushroom etc. and then stuff the tortilla.

I use it a lot in chili and vegitarian spring rolls.

Amazon has Bob's pretty cheap as well, though I think I want to try the site the OP linked too now.

Thanks for the cooking tips, OP!

If you can get your hands on Japanese curry cubes (Amazon sells it too but at a high markup https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Curry-Sauce-Mix-8-4-Ounce/dp/B0011UGYLM ,) this particular type of curry goes really nicely with apples!

Saute onions with butter in a pot, add potato and carrot chunks (optional) along with cubed apples, then add water and let it simmer for half an hour before adding the curry. Let it cool for another 10 minutes, then eat with rice and broccoli!

Lots of good answers so far but check this out: Sodium Citrate is now known to be an excellent emulsifying aid for cheese based sauces. Here's a similar recipe. Stirring in about a teaspoon or so before you add the fromage should go a long way towards keeping your sauce properly emulsified.

Prima Taste's Laksa: https://www.amazon.com/Prima-Taste-Laksa-Mian-185g/dp/B00B5NOPT8/
is one of my favorite. It's like curry ramen, so delicious and flavorful!

Also, if you're not feeling broth-y, try Indomie's Mi Goreng https://www.amazon.com/Indomie-Mi-Goreng-Instant-Noodle/dp/B00HXIXWKM/ Another one of of my favorite

people all over this thread have said butter, normally i'd agree. i mean it's butter, what could be better than butter? fake butter.

hear me out. right next to the popcorn were bottles of orville redenbacher popcorn butter flavoring. i did a 1 to 1 taste test. one batch made with vegetable oil and melted butter poured on after completion, one batch made with half vegetable oil and the butter flavoring.

the butter flavoring one was much more butter flavored. i will be using that flavoring stuff every time.

a while back someone posted these as great for making "movie theater popcorn"

http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Medal-Prod-Flavacol-Seasoning/dp/B004W8LT10/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418010489&sr=8-1&keywords=flavacol

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003C4UDEY/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1WDE09HYJVHMP&coliid=I1SA77W3SBQNC0

i have not tried them yet, but i hope to.

I'm in Canada so I always check amazon.ca and amazon.com. In this case the Canadian one is usually better for me to order from and it's always been in stock at the amazon warehouse.

The Canadian listing

Murica!

Edit --> I always get 2 orders so the shipping is free.

Either Netrition or Amazon (whichever is cheapest)

https://www.netrition.com/protein_plus_peanut_flour.html


https://www.amazon.com/Protein-Plus-Roasted-Natural-Peanut/dp/B0052OOYOW

Love this product! It's 110 calories & 16g protein for 1/4 cup. You have to add your own salt and sweetener like I did. Sometimes I mix in low calorie pancake syrup with warm water to get a peanut butter type consistency. Try it with graham crackers as a dip.

Most long term bulk storage lists suggest rice. I suppose options for cooking are the one you have prepared and defended.

I was just looking at the list and can not imagine having time to cook with flour every day. I bake edible bread, but I am not a pastry chef. This recipe seems a simpler option to make a sandwich from scratch.

My partner really enjoyed Onigiri when he visited Japan. He bugged me to learn how to make them. You really don't need the Nori, furikake is all you need to make them taste good. I even got a mold to make them faster.

For people who have a stockpile of Spam, try it the Hawaiian way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eYyAmrqUoA&t=566s

Edit : Fixed Links

This was mentioned in another keto post: Cocoa Almonds. Awesome

My local market carries Atkins Advantage Bars link to some examples. They come in many flavors. They're a bit pricey, but I have a sweet tooth so I indulge myself sometimes.

Have you checked out the shirataki noodles? They're pretty good. A little slimy with a texture similar to Ramen Noodles, but pretty awesome for how low in calories and carbs they are. And don't let the naysayers scare you away talking about the smell. A quick rinse and it's gone.

I love sweets, I have responded with this combatant.

http://www.amazon.com/Emerald-Cocoa-Almonds-Chocolate-Canister/dp/B001EQ55RW

Textured Vegetable Protein, great for vegans and vegetarians and even if you're not it's a super cheap meat substitute that's great for chili and sloppy joes. One case lasts SO LONG.

I would like to chime in that the Emerald Dark Chocolate almonds are also GREAT and only have 1g sugar instead of 4g sugar in Blue Diamond's.

Emerald's do cost about 2x's as much as these ($.50/oz instead of $.25/oz). Amazon Emerald Dark Chocolate Roasted Almonds

Curry?

Don't need to watch a rice cooker.

Cooking takes as long as it takes to cook some choice meat and veggies in a large pan, plus five or so minutes of simmering in a break off of this plus some milk to make a sauce. Pepper and hot sauce to taste.

For meats I've done fish balls, pork, chicken, or sausage.

Veggies I've done combinations of spinach, baby bok choy, cabbage, bell pepper, onion, carrot. Traditionally I think potato works too but I have a thing of rice and potato in the same meal, though I could make an exception for sweet potato.

I'm sure someone can chime in for a healthier way to do curry sauce.

Found them on amazon!

I got them from a local store earlier today and they have been among the most delicious things I've eaten recently. These will satisfy my occasional chocolate cravings

Gross, Mustard doesn't sound good period. Japanese Mayo or Kewpie Mayo is a little tangier and creamier than the American ones and is well known to be one of the best mayos in the world. I'm not a huge Mayo fan myself but love the taste of Kewpie Mayo.

https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Kewpie-Mayonnaise-17-64-oz/dp/B0000WKU8K

Ok...I have a feeling this will make you laugh!

Your own pet
These won't poop on the floor
Keep those footsies warm
If you've got the time....I've got the place baby!

🎂🎂🎂Happity Birdday /u/neongreenpurple!!!

I've been lurking on this sub for a while. I bet you guys would love Japanese curry. Japanese curry is dead easy, and delicious. Just boil some meat and veg (carrots, celery, potatoes, apples for me) and add a block of S&B curry roux. I'd go for the hot, which isn't hot at all. (BTW that price is steep) Bulk it out with rice. It's great.

you might try a local bakery if you're looking for fresh yeast; I and many others use instant yeast, which lasts a very long time in the fridge freezer and works great; a pound (which is a lot) can be had on Amazon for about $8 (https://smile.amazon.com/Saf-Instant-Yeast-Pound-Pouch/dp/B0001CXUHW?sa-no-redirect=1)

You can order them on Amazon!

Oh, and for extra bonus fun: the cheese powder from Kraft Mac and Cheese. JUST THE POWDER.

yes they're all in the fridge, the best by date isnt until next May --- think I'll add the one that's already open and give it a trial run, I can always experiment later

looks like enough to do all 10 containers right here lol

and I keep kosher so not sure I would trust most fish sauce, I've been to some oriental markets near me and wasn't confident enough they weren't made from krill

These are my favorite ramen noodles. Perhaps not the healthiest, but they're delicious

https://www.amazon.com/Indomie-Mi-Goreng-Instant-Noodle/dp/B00HXIXWKM

I'm Chinese and have been eating rice pretty much since I was born. We've ordered online before, from Walmart and amazon, but usually get a huge bag at the Asian market that lasts a couple of months. I've yet to find a single bug/worm/creepy crawly in any of the rice I've purchased.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004NRLAVY?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd&th=1 this is a pretty good deal on amazon. I prefer rice from Thailand (the texture is similar to sushi rice) but the prices are ridic on amazon.

I'd skip Walmart though. 3 out of the 4 times we've ordered from them, the bags arrived damaged and we had to reorder. Also, the brands they carry are meh. But I'm Asian so we tend to be picky with our rice.

I just picked up the dark chocolate cocoa flavour in eastern Canada yesterday but did not see this flavour. They are absolutely delicious!!

Refrence link

> What do you love the most about your new home?

Snow and Climate

I came from a tropical country, passed by the Equator, day/night cycle is always stable, there's only 2 season : dry & rainy season. Average temperature around 27-30 Celsius.

Enter UK, 4 seasons, different day/night cycle each season, and Daylight Savings Time. First winter was rough, I had to wear a quad layer clothing in order to survive the near-zero temperature outside. Now it's spring and I'm sweating on 15 degree Celsius (that's already freezing in Indonesia).

 

> Favourite indonesian and british dish?

Indonesian dish? Top pick :

• Sauteed Kale (local name Kangkung, also called water spinach, swamp cabbage, or morning glory)
  
• Fried Tempeh
  
• Sambal Terasi (Fishcake hot sauce)
  
  Put three of them in front of me and I'm a happy man. Total cost of that food should be around 4 Pounds for 1 servings here in UK, in Indonesia its MUCH cheaper, less than 1 Pounds for 4 servings.
  
  As for one thats easily available worldwide, I think it's Indomie Goreng. IMO, that's the best Instant Noodle in my Country.
  
  As for British Dish, I can't say much, haven't found any british-specific dish here. And if there's any, I doubt I can eat it since I only eat halal meat and can't consume any alcohols (you can call it inconvenient but I've lived with it since I was born, so no big deal xD)

aiight

Rice Eating Meetup on Friday, somewhere in Cobo: Be nice 4 free rice. Y'all better bring some furikake to that meetup bc eating with only soy sauce is kinda boring imo

Whatever you do you can get more cheddar and sour cream pretty easily. Best use for powdered cheese is making a bechemel based mac and cheese more cheesy, but really anything you're doing cheese can be made more cheesy. Also sprinkle on snacks. I'll lightly oil some rice cakes and shake it with cheese powder in a bag, like disks of pirates booty.

As several others have mentioned, oils are not safe with condoms. If this is not a problem for you, then I recommend coconut oil. We got two 15oz tubs for $18 on Amazon and it's absolutely the best thing we've ever used - and the least expensive, too.

Learning is fun

• Furikake
  
  
• Bonito Flakes aka Katsuobushi
  
  
• Kewpie Mayo
  
  So, while this is not actually tater tots with fish food sprinkled on them, I still got a laugh out of that and I learned something new.
  
  

Thanks! It was delicious. I used Caputo "00" Chefs Flour (red bag) and Saf Instant Yeast

Buy a scale - use it for most measuring, especially flour.

Buy 2 thermometers - one to leave in the oven and one instant read for testing done-ness.

Use Instant yeast.

Besides that - read alot about baking then practice and experiment. Try adjusting the water/flour amounts and see what works best for you.

Baking is an art... but it helps if you also know the science.

Sodium Citrate would be a great addition - it would help keep the cheese emulsified and the queso smooth. When I make mac'n' cheese I usually follow the modernist mac and cheese recipe from modernist cooking, which recommends about 4% of the weight of the cheese worth of CS to be added, e.g. 4g for every 100g of cheese. Looks like their queso recipe uses the same scaling.

I'd also recommend possibly simmering the cheese / milk in a separate pan and adding the sauteed veggies later, so you can run it through a blender or use an immersion blender to smooth the mixture further, but if you whisk briskly this might not be an issue.

Hells yes. I had one final canister of this stuff hoarded in the freezer from before they discontinued it, and went through quite a bit of it while pregnant. My grandmother always had a can of "Grated American Cheese Food" around, which is long gone, and I can't even find a pic of it on the Internets. Luckily this stuff is a fine replacement -- allegedly, it's actually Kraft powdered cheese.

Breakfast and dinner can both be fairly simple meat/veggie/beans. If you're staying at a single campsite and have coolers to store your food, anyways. Beans can be come from cans or you can pack them dry and soak them the night before somewhere at your site and cooked in a pot over the fire. Carrots, zucchini, broccoli, and other veggies can be stored and kept fresh and are easy enough to grill. The carrots and zucchini can also be used in kebabs with sweet peppers and chicken or steak.

Lunch isn't as easy in my head. An insulated lunch bag with deli meat or cold, cooked chicken and snacking veggies like carrot sticks, cucumber, etc tossed with Tajin or something similar.

Never heard of Old Bay, thanks I'll check it out. If you haven't heard of it, try Tajin seasoning on your fruits/vegs to make them amazing.

These glorious things taste like candy.

Sodium Citrate

Magnesium Citrate

Potassium Citrate

am pretty sure any decent vitamin shop (not GNC) will have most if not all of this.

If you want to try Japanese curry, there's lots of premade curry cubes you can buy and thin out with water that are actually really good!

This one (https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Curry-Sauce-Mix-8-4-Ounce/dp/B0011UGYLM) is supposed to be good. I have different ones here in Taiwan. Just check the heat and match it to your preference.

I can make popcorn that tastes just like the movie theater stuff. The main secret is just to use what the theaters use. I know, not very amazing, but it works!

First, use popcorn colored coconut oil like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003C4UDEY/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
You want to use just enough to coat the bottom of your pan and half way up the popcorn kernels (amount depends on how big the pot is and how much popcorn you put in. For me its a couple of tablespoons. I just eyeball it.

Before you put the kernels in, put in 1/2 to 3/4 tsp of Flavcol: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004W8LT10/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&th=1 Nothing else really works. Its got to be this brand. It is super-fine flavored salt and it is yummy. I use 3/4 of a tsp but that is too salty for most people.


If I am really lazy, I make home made microwave popcorn, too. I just put some kernels and oil and the salt in a bag, shake it up and staple it. Pop in the microwave. The staples do not seem to hurt the microwave.

Gonna throw in a plug for almonds here. Particularly the Emerald Cocoa Roast variety. Filling, tasty, few net carbs, and a super food.

Also, try the Greek people method for broccoli and cauliflower. Extra virgin olive oil, squeeze of lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. For me, I also add some cinnamon, cumin, and Mrs. Dash, for the thermogenic boost.

Careful when you're eating that flavor, they have a few more carbs per serving. For chocolate almonds I like these, they're pretty tasty!

This is what I buy to stay away from the sugar in pb2. Tastes natural and delicious!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0052OOYOW/ref=mp_s_a_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1536394459&sr=8-3&keywords=peanut+flour

Some quick thoughts:

• It gets easier, by week 5 or 6 you'll probably stop craving the taste of meat.
  
  
• Taking a supplement isn't a bad idea, it'll ensure you get all the proper vitamins and minerals.
  
  
• TVP is cheap, filling, nutritious and delicious.
  
  
• Don't expect to eat a lot of the fake meats, they're super expensive and not that good for you.
  
  
• Learn to make hummus: Blend together: chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, hot-sauce, salt, pepper, etc.
  
  
• Don't take crap from people that want to harass you for your vegetarianism. Stand up for yourself.
  
  
• Remember the difference between advocacy and preachy-ness. Be kind, firm, and non-judgmental.
  
  
  
  

This was my first time trying them and I only tried the rice version. As far as I know they’re keto friendly. They’re pretty much pure fiber. I can’t say the added much in the way of flavor, they were there basically to soak up the sauce on my plate.

I bought these.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BTMDALO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Sounds tasty!

I got a hold of these asian rice seasoning spices http://www.amazon.com/JFC-Nori-Fumi-Furikake-Seasoning/dp/B0006G5KEY

They are pretty good

If you like spicy things; me and a buddy this over the weekend, was amazing 10/10. equal parts Kewpie Mayo and Sambal

0 carbs.

I eat these and they fucking rock, plus they are a good source of fat
http://www.amazon.com/Emerald-Cocoa-Almonds-Chocolate-Canister/dp/B001EQ55RW

if i am seriously wanting sugar, i eat some sugar free jello with some whipped cream on top.

http://www.amazon.com/Emerald-Cocoa-Almonds-Chocolate-Canister/dp/B001EQ55RW

If you can find something like these cocoa dusted almonds in bulk, I can attest to how delightful they are when intoxicated.

I have this Korean red pepper powder (like this) and sprinkling that on gives it an awesome kick!

I also grate gouda into it. I have a little fox grater and I just buy some smoked gouda from the fancy cheese section, cut off the rind, and grate some of it right into the eggs. The fox makes me happy in the morning ^ . ^

If I'm feeling even more gourmet, I'll chop up some green onions to stir in.

It honestly only takes a few minutes, but makes my morning so much better.

Amazon sells a 40lb bag of lucky charm marshmallows. It's life changing. And by life changing I mean you'll probably get the diabetes. But it will be the most flavorful journey

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008DJR6HU/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_tai_dqgMxbMHHA2EF

10 or under! I know this is weird but I'm craving the taste of Lucas like crazy - Item - but they don't sell it anymore because apparantly it contained large amounts of lead! This is my alternative. Huehuehue! And it's cheap enough you can gift more than one person!

TVP is a great meat substitute. Not WTF material in the slightest.

http://www.amazon.com/Bobs-Red-Mill-Textured-Vegetable/dp/B002YR97J2

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NRLAVY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Literally the base of every single meal I eat. Add canned chicken, Rotel, and Valentina hot sauce and you have a Mexican meal. Do tuna, kimchi, and sriracha and you have a Southeast Asian meal.

Both options are a million times better if you already have a spice stash handy. If not, you can buy those premade seasoning packets on Amazon in something like taco or chow mein flavor or something.

Stuff labeled as "peanut butter powder" such as this are generally pretty expensive. I try to look for "peanut flour" like this. They are the same thing just the flour doesn't have salt or sugar and isnt labeled as a specialty product, it's just a flour replacement. Both can be reconstituted with milk or water to make peanut butter and be added to smoothies and baked goods.

While /u/stakesandwich 's method is really good, if you're counting calories, definitely consider investing in an air popper. They're like $30 or less on Amazon. 2-6tbs of coconut oil is 240-720 extra calories of fat!

I would air pop the corn and maybe get something like this cheese powder @70cal/serving. After you pop the kernels, add some Frank's hot sauce, then toss with the cheese. Voila!

Alternatively, you could just make a big bowl of plain salted air popped corn, then add a measured amount of the Cheetos in, so as you eat it you get the taste. Hell, maybe you could even crush them in and use in place of the cheese powder?

Also consider using cayenne powder with either of these.

I'm with the substitutes idea.

For pasta, besides spaghetti squash, you can also get a zoodle maker and make zucchini and other vegetable noodles (let them dry out a bit was a tip I came across).

Recently I tried out Shiritaki noodles, made from seaweed glucomannen (seaweed ones are Seatangle). They had a nice little crunch when not heated up, and hot spaghetti sauce was enough to soften them for eating. I'm ordering more; they can be used for pasta salads as well as hot meals. Not sure how those will fit your macros and budget, though.

Edit to clarify noodle types

OK so this one is a little more complicated. I use the same chicken as the curry.

1. Heat up butter in a pan, add diced mushrooms (baby bellas), garlic and red peppers.
   
2. When mushrooms are near done, add onions - season.
   
3. Add chicken, cook until warm.
   
4. remove food into a bowl - reserve the liquid.
   
5. add a little more butter (we use butter twice, so be careful how much you use.)
   
6. You need to make a roux
   

• and some chicken stock in another pan.
  
• melt the new butter in the old pan then sprinkle flour a little bit at a time, stirring it in before adding more.
  
• stir and heat until the roux turns brown. When it starts to turn brown, it will turn dark VERY FAST - you need to pay attention here.
  
• add the chicken stock (should be around a slow boil now) a little bit at a time, stirring into the butter/four mixture. (if you have a stainless steel pan, or coated wisk, use the wisk). The more chicken stock you add, the thinner the sauce - I like it somewhat thick.
  

7. Add the chicken/mushroom/onion mixture back in, season, stir and simmer for 1-2 mins.
   
   It's hard to see, but I like to put it on a bed of brown rice and lentils (I use half a package per tray). I also usually eat it with some laughing cow cheese.
   
   
   As for amounts, I believe it was 1200g of chicken, 350g of baby bellas, 142g of onions, 3 tsp of butter.
   
   ~490 calories per serving with 54g of protein

That's good, but I've ordered stuff back in the more broke days from Amazon that was better.

Like this: https://www.amazon.com/Indomie-Goreng-Instant-Noodle-Packaging/dp/B00HXIXWKM

You use curry cubes as a pre-made roux that forms the base of the curry. S&B is pretty popular in the states, so I guess this

When you do a search on Amazon for "lucky charms marshmallows" and navigate to the link for the 40 lb bag, it will automatically toss a "ref" link onto the address for Amazon's tracking purposes. He found the product, and just copied the whole link from the address bar. Here is my "ref" link. I highly doubt the guy has a referral code set up for himself, since I'm guessing you need some pretty decent credentials to even apply. I usually remove all the extra garbage from the link when sharing, but not everybody is aware that they can do that.

Calm your tits.

The Tasty Bites meals are good, you can reheat them on a stove without adding water. My favorite is the Madras Lentils.

http://www.amazon.com/Tasty-Bite-Madras-Lentils-10-Ounce/dp/B0007R9L4M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453392134&sr=8-1&keywords=tasty+bite

I'm not in the Houston, but Amazon has always been good for my molecular gastronomy needs. $15 for a 16-oz container, and 2-day shipping with prime.

http://www.amazon.com/WillPowder-Sodium-Citrate-16-Ounce-Jar/dp/B00250Y9Y6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1418410594&sr=8-3&keywords=sodium+citrate

Instead of large amounts of velveeta, I'll add to try using white american cheese in combination with some cream cheese and a good cheese. If using a lot of good cheese (like half or so, use sodium citrate to ensure you won't get an oily mess www.amazon.com/WillPowder-Sodium-Citrate-16-Ounce-Jar/dp/B00250Y9Y6

I'm guessing the grainy texture comes from the fats separating when you melt the cheese. If you want to improve the texture of this sauce I would try adding some Sodium Citrate. Sodium Citrate is a salt that will help maintain your emulsion when making a cheese sauce.

It's definitely a thing, here's a link to a good protein flour product on amazon. In fact, I use it almost every day!

This stuff. ("Ground chile peppers, salt and dehydrated lime juice.") They were offering sample packs of it yesterday in Adventureland, and I always get a giant pickle while I'm there, so the woman was like "Trust me. Put the chili mix on the pickle."

Oh my god it's so fucking delicious I could cry. I immediately bought a huge thing of it at our grocery store this morning, along with two massive jars of pickles, and let's be real they'll be gone by tonight.