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

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

#91

Post by hs »

streety wrote: post #81
hs wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1 for freshness 'real' food has 'bio-sensor' ... you can tell just by looking, that a fruit/veggie is bad it's much harder to 'sense' that in processed food i find that fruit/veg is harder to fool with, maybe having to do with its low price (not much incentive to cheat) in my country we got rotten meats cleaned with formaldehyde and then soaked in fresh blood to be sold along with fresh meats ... such thing is unhea…

Having worked with formaldehyde I expect that is a horrific practice for all concerned. Very shocking. I'm not sure why, as a vegetarian, you feel you don't need to worry about avian flu. You catch it by being in close proximity to live poultry, not by eating it. As you've already said that your meat is dead when you buy it I don't see how your risk is any less than mine.

well, here resto and kfc seem to emphasize that they cook chicken at 350 deg C (or some high number like that), ensuring 'avian flu free'

i don't have direct experience with avian flu (I was in Taiwan during SARS, wearing masks, but didn't catch the flu) so i assume i can get it from eating ... well maybe it's just a marketing tactic from kfc and others

but still the peace of mind is there :D not having to worry about some stuffs is great

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

#92

Post by albertcardona »

kingkongrevenge wrote: post #72
pg wrote: post #4

Rice and beans. There are 1000 variations.

> Rice and beans. I wouldn't aspire to a Hispanic diet. They're mostly short and chubby as far as I can see.

Living on a dry, high-altitude altiplan or on a humid low-land makes a hell of a difference. The diet has something to do, but heat management affects human body growth far more, considering a baseline amount of ingested calories. Hence the children of Mexican immigrants living in California are way taller and have longer arms. That, on top of the genetic selection for individuals with big chest and short arms, as a positive adaptation to high altitude (and thin bodies and long arms for coast lands --the micronesian being the exception, since they were selected for long periods of food deprivation, while sailing from island to island). Go study anthropology before making stupid comments.

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

#93

Post by corentin »

sage_joch wrote: post #71
sidsavara wrote: post #13

I recommend finding someone on craig's list to cook for you, so you don't have to worry about it. Time is at such a premium when you are trying to launch your own business, and if they're shopping for a family, they are probably better at bargain hunting and coupon clipping than you are. I did just that, and I discuss it in this post. Wasn't sure if HN would appreciate it, so I haven't submitted it here: http://sidsa…

Time is at such a premium no matter what your goals are. And since this is HN, I should mention that this seems like a great idea for a startup.

Yeah, there's probably a huge market for places where people could go to eat meals someone else cooked for them!

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

#94

Post by truebosko »

Some of the cheapest meals you can make will be pasta, stew, or chili type dishes.

For example, a great tasting pasta dish I made last night contained the following: (prices are approximate and based from a Canadian's standpoint)

- 1lb of Bacon: $4.50 (Yes, it's not GREAT for you but in moderation it's ok and it's easily substituted with another meat) - One onion, one head of Garlic: $1.50 - 1lb of Pasta: $2.50 - Parmesian, Some Butter, Parsley: $2.00 (plus you most likely already have this)

That creates 4 servings of a fabulous restaurant quality pasta (This is the actual recipe: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/09/cooking-with-ryan...)

I made it last night, girlfriend and I have left overs for today. Super cheap, delicious, and healthy enough considering most of the stuff we eat is pretty healthy ( see : moderation!)

You will save a ton of money making food yourself but there's the whole issue of it being time consuming which makes sense in a time = money world. In my scenario, cooking is a hobby and I want to improve it so it's a bit different, maybe you are the same!

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

#95

Post by jonknee »

hs wrote: post #91
streety wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having worked with formaldehyde I expect that is a horrific practice for all concerned. Very shocking. I'm not sure why, as a vegetarian, you feel you don't need to worry about avian flu. You catch it by being in close proximity to live poultry, not by eating it. As you've already said that your meat is dead when you buy it I don't see how your risk is any less than mine.

well, here resto and kfc seem to emphasize that they cook chicken at 350 deg C (or some high number like that), ensuring 'avian flu free' i don't have direct experience with avian flu (I was in Taiwan during SARS, wearing masks, but didn't catch the flu) so i assume i can get it from eating ... well maybe it's just a marketing tactic from kfc and others but still the peace of mind is there :D not having to worry abou…

You can't get avian flu from eating an infected bird. You can't get avian flu from an infected person. You can only get it from a live bird (and even then it's rare). The hysteria was preliminary--on the off chance that it mutates for person-to-person infections.

Cooking chicken to 350C will result in charcoal, but will have done nothing to prevent avian flu as it was not a risk before. Just marketing.

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

#96

Post by enra »

ichverstehe wrote: post #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…

I'm a undergrad student in Finland and trying to manage relatively cheap aswell.

I try to live by low-carb, high protein, high natural fat and fresh and natural foods, which atleast doesn't make it any easier. I have found out that most fatty foods are inexpensive relatively to their calories. Where as things like bread are actually quite expensive if you measure their calorie contents and other nutrients.

So my advice is to eat more natural fat, even to point that you get like 30% daily calories from fat. Generally I try to choose products with high or normal fat. For example full milk over fat-free and unsweetened Turkish yogurt(with 10% fat) over fat-free and high-sugar.

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

#97

Post by khafra »

Meta-tip: Don't forget to do the math. I like making my own chili, and it's healthier and tastier than pre-packaged fare, but after adding everything up (15oz each red, black, and pinto beans, 28oz diced tomatoes, a few fresh habaneros, ~1lb ground turkey, one onion, chili powder), it's slightly more per meal than if I'd bought a small fast-food chili or can of Hormel's

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

#99

Post by icey »

kingkongrevenge wrote: post #72
pg wrote: post #4

Rice and beans. There are 1000 variations.

> Rice and beans. I wouldn't aspire to a Hispanic diet. They're mostly short and chubby as far as I can see.

In that case, could you let us know what you eat so we can avoid being bigoted morons?

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

#100

Post by jjburka »

DabAsteroid wrote: post #89
jjburka wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your whole foods has a bulk section its rather economical to shop there for that. But on the topic of cheap/good for you eats: Can't go wrong with burritos made with beans,corn and rice.

If your whole foods has a bulk section its rather economical to shop there for that. Indeed. However, the bulk spices are even cheaper online, if one knows at which websites to shop. http://www.herbalcom.com ($6.25 to ship any size order) http://www.herbco.com (free shipping for orders over $250)

Wow thanks man. I generally go to ethic stores for spices which is really cheap compared to conventional grocery stores. But not as cheap as that.
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