Not exactly on topic, but... one of my future startup ideas is a robotic garden: basically, some kind of a transparent container with a controlled atmosphere and temprature, watering system, and nutrient supply that would produce a supply of fruits/vegetables year-round in any location.
Someone's beat you to it: http://visualrecipes.com/51/aerogrow-aerogarden-review-read-... It doesn't control atmosphere, but it doesn't need to.
Ask HN: Hack a healthy, yet not expensive, meal.
111–119 of 119 posts
Re: Ask HN: Hack a healthy, yet not expensive, meal.
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
A) You said nothing about economic status, which makes all the difference in the world. Poorer people universally have worse health than middle-income or wealthy people. B) Rice and beans isn't only eaten by Hispanics; maybe you should turn off the Lou Dobbs and pay a little attention.
Poorer people can't afford good food and have to eat mostly starchy staples. That's why their health is generally worse. And you are quite wrong about low income "universally" meaning poor health. There are poor populations all over the world with good health from good diets. The healthiest sub-population in the US, and possibly the healthiest group in the industrialized world, are working class whites in the upper m…
You may want to submit your theories there.
http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.951947/k.11B4/R...
Re: Ask HN: Hack a healthy, yet not expensive, meal.
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Poorer people can't afford good food and have to eat mostly starchy staples. That's why their health is generally worse. And you are quite wrong about low income "universally" meaning poor health. There are poor populations all over the world with good health from good diets. The healthiest sub-population in the US, and possibly the healthiest group in the industrialized world, are working class whites in the upper m…
I guess those nuts over at the MacArthur foundation have no idea what they're talking about. You may want to submit your theories there. http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.951947/k.11B4/R...
Re: Ask HN: Hack a healthy, yet not expensive, meal.
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
In that case, could you let us know what you eat so we can avoid being bigoted morons?
How exactly is it bigoted to notice that poor hispanics, who subsist largely on starch, have poor health and builds?
You assert that Hispanics are short and chubby. And you claim this is because they eat rice and beans. I'm not going to argue whether or not you're bigoted, but I'm happy to inject a few facts into this train wreck of a thread.
Googling around, I found the following quote from http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/meetings/workshops/hispanic.htm:
"Obesity in Hispanic populations, as in all other ethnic groups in the U.S., is increasing and worsening as a significant health problem. In 2002, the age-adjusted prevalence of obesity among adults age 20 or more in men was 26% for Mexican Americans and 24% for non-Hispanic whites. For women the comparable percentages were 26% and 21%. In children from NHANES III, Mexican American boys had a higher prevalence of obesity that either non-Hispanic whites or non-Hispanic blacks. In girls, the prevalence of obesity in Hispanics was higher than that in non-Hispanic whites, but less than that in non-Hispanic blacks. The highest prevalence rates in all these groups was among Hispanic boys, age 6-11 years old, with 17.4% in the obese classification. "
Although the numbers show that the Hispanic population has a larger percentage of obesity compared to whites, I doubt that this difference is large enough to be noticeable in day to day observation (eg, I would have a hard time drawing a conclusion that Hispanic male adults aged 20 or more are chubbier than their white counterparts based on this data from my day to day interactions).
And the article notes that diets are quite varied, and makes no mention of intake of fast food. So it seems that Hispanics eat food other than just rice and beans.
Since the data doesn't show that Hispanic populations are significantly different from whites in terms of obesity, and their diets vary beyond rice and beans, your original argument is baseless.
Re: Ask HN: Hack a healthy, yet not expensive, meal.
#115For dinners I've been having a bit of meat over a large salad.
Last night:
1) half a bag of mixed lettuces 2) a diced tomato 3) 6-8 oz of frozen shrimp, thawed, pan fried in a dab of oil and a big heap of cajun spices 4) some home made dressing from acquaintances who run a local pizzeria and bottle their own dressing.
Other variants: * replace cajun shrimp with chicken breasts ground and cooked up taco-style, and throw some thin-sliced red onion and thick-cut avacado in there * ...or a steak, marinated for a few hrs in fresh squeezed lime juice and soy sauce, then quickly seared on a grill.
When you're eating a lot of bulk veggies, a little premium priced meat goes a long way.
When you're eating mos
Re: Ask HN: Hack a healthy, yet not expensive, meal.
#116- eggs are cheap. egg white omelets and frittatas are reasonably healthy. - chili and soup. you can make a ton at once and then keep it in the freezer for meals the rest of the week.
Eggs. Used as a replacement for meats in most dishes. Ideal cooking temperature is 145 F. Warning: Be wary of dirty looking eggs; cook throughly; each egg contains around 75% Daily Value of cholesterol, so you may want to remove yellows post boiling or pre-scrambling. Adding PG's comment: Beans and rice can get boring, but do serve well as a backup when nothing else is working.
Is there something wrong with eating cholesterol?
Re: Ask HN: Hack a healthy, yet not expensive, meal.
#117Spinach - lots of spinach. Popeye had it right.
Spinach is great, but if you're on a tight budget, and therefore not getting a lot of trace minerals, the oxalic acid content can actually mess you up pretty badly. (Oxalic acid binds to calcium, iron, etc. to form an indigestible chelate.)
Re: Ask HN: Hack a healthy, yet not expensive, meal.
#118Wait until you get to the point where you want it healthy, cheap, and made for the super lazy. It gets even harder. Pans, ingredients, seasonings NNOOOoooo . If it's more complicated than PB&J I just can't bring myself to make it. This leads to lots of frozen steam-able veggies, fruit whenever we get around to going to the store, lots of yogurt, bagged salad... but also a ton of noodles.
It might be different where you shop, but I generally found bagged and pre-made salads to be expensive and bland, and not last long. Salad is among the easier foods to make. I have to agree with you on yogurt and frozen veggies.
Re: Ask HN: Hack a healthy, yet not expensive, meal.
#119Rice and beans. There are 1000 variations.
Or take some black beans, jack cheese, a tortilla and some salsa and make a quesadilla. To the OP: I find making pizza is really cheap and versatile (i.e., it can take you awhile to get sick of it). Most supermarkets sell premade dough for $1 or so. Then just get some sauce and cheese and any other toppings you might like (I love making a pizza with butternut squash, garlic, shallots, scallions, olive oil, mozarella,…