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Ask HN: Hack a healthy, yet not expensive, meal.

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Ask HN: Hack a healthy, yet not expensive, meal.

#1
Hack a healthy, yet not expensive, meal. I know most entrepreneurs are money-constrained, but I believe that an entrepreneur should eat healthy meals. It affects your brain over the long term. So can you advise healthy meals that are still within the 2-guy-in-a-garage budget? Thanks.

Re: Ask HN: Hack a healthy, yet not expensive, meal.

#2
I bought a cast iron skillet for 10 bucks (http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Logic-4-Inch-Pre-Seasoned-Skille...) and it's the best thing ever. Fast to heat up and start cooking and easy clean up. Best thing to make for me is pan-seared yellowfin tuna steaks over veggies like asparagus or broccoli.

Get a 5oz tuna steak of sushi-quality, marinade it with some soy sauce and sesame oil, sprinkle on some seasoning and sesame seed and just sear it on the pan for 2 minutes each side. Delicious, healthy, and fast.

Same goes for chicken. Blackened chicken, easy, done. The cast iron skillet goes from stove top to oven. God I love this thing.

Re: Ask HN: Hack a healthy, yet not expensive, meal.

#3
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.

Re: Ask HN: Hack a healthy, yet not expensive, meal.

#6
I have no idea about food prices in your part of the world, but being a high school student living on a very small budget (think $200/month for food expenses, and this is Denmark which is relatively expensive) I have learnt a few tricks.

One of them is baking your own bread! I have an electric mixer with some special tools for dough, so I spend 15 minutes every two days and have pretty good and cheap bread.

Soups are another nice one, forget about the advanced ones, go with something simple, yet good, e.g. potato-leek-soup. Make big portions, put it in the freezer.

Basic courses such as pasta can be pretty good if you spice it up a little. Forget about the ketchup, mix up a simple tomato sauce.

And a little gem from The Silver Spoon: Some oil on a pan, put on a whole garlic clove untill it's brown, get it off the pan. Add a can of tuna, and some tomato puree that has been mixed with a bit of water. Turn down the heat, give it some fifteen minutes and add to your pasta. Inexpensive, easy and surprisingly good if you spice it up a bit.

Basically anything that you can make in big portions and freeze is a bargain.

Re: Ask HN: Hack a healthy, yet not expensive, meal.

#8
Saute mushrooms, with rosemary, garlic, onion, red pepper, salt and black pepper (to taste). Serve over couscous with yogurt (I recommend full fat stonyfield farms yogurt).

Variations: add sundried tomato to mushrooms.

Pasta with red sauce. Red sauce: saute garlic and a small onion. Add tomato puree (2 big cans), fresh basil (1 plant, break leaves off, wash, chop), garlic (saute first, then add tomato), oregano, parsley, salt and pepper (to taste).

Variations: add some cream and vodka to red sauce, gets you pink sauce.

Another good pasta sauce: saute garlic and onion in butter, then add heavy cream. When that heats up, add grated cheese (parmesan or swiss), salt and pepper (to taste), and possibly 1-2 tablespoons of flour (to thicken). You can also add sun dried tomato (saute it with the garlic), or cherry tomato (add it at the very end).

This video changed my life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU_B3QNu_Ks

In fact, just youtube Gordon Ramsey, Alton Brown, Jamie Oliver, etc, for good ideas.

Re: Ask HN: Hack a healthy, yet not expensive, meal.

#10
I go to whole foods every 3-4 days. Pick up just enough: - Tuna salad, Turkey, Pre-sliced peppers, Broccoli, Yogurt, walnuts, Green / white tea, prepped salads, walnuts, etc

Trick is to make sure its ready to eat - even if its a little more expensive, that keeps me from eating out. Also, going every 3-4 days means that I eat everything, no waste.

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