Good, Cheap, Healthy Intern food?

[cody50]

Hello all!

This summer, I will be an Intern for a tech company far from my home in Wisconsin. As most college students are, I will be strapped for cash and will need to save as much money as I can. Does anyone know of a food that they liked that was able to get them through some of the harder times? Some things that are important are taste, healthfulness, and cost. Ease of making it isnt too much of a factor.

So Lets hear it! I'm sure that I am not the only one who has ever been in this situation.

[LightB]

If you want cheap, ramen noodles. I doubt they're too healthy though. Maybe some kinds are.

[kutjara]

If you want cheap, ramen noodles. I doubt they're too healthy though. Maybe some kinds are.

Yeah, I lived on ramen during my leaner times at college. I used it to bulk-up whatever ingredients I had available (hot dogs, vegetables, tofu). I ate so much of the stuff that I never care if I see another ramen noodle this side of doomsday. But it kept me alive.

[dasunst3r]

Cereal or Pop Tarts and milk for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, and cook your own dinner. That's what I'm doing now. Eat out once a week or only with friends.

Edit: Like a few others suggested, pasta is a great "foundation" for your meal, if you will. If this doesn't work out for you, you could always go for those chunky cans of soup for dinner. ;)

[cody50]

I am pretty fond of baked potatoes (in the microwave) and peanut butter sandwiches right now. I'll have a kitchen at least this summer, though.

[mr32123]

Yes Ramen noodles are good. But not very good for your health. They are extremely high in sodium.

I honestly recommend learning to cook for yourself. Simple healthy dishes. Also, I don't think I can live anymore without my little George Foreman-like grill. I especially love the thing since it is slightly tilted so the fat drips off on the side. Great for grilled chicken or tuna.

[aimran]

Pasta :D

[az]

I'm partial to Ubuntu Bread:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=116223&postcount=27

Polenta will also keep your belly full and your wallet fat. Cabbage, rice and beans are healthy and filling. Buy a cheap slow cooker so that you can buy really cheap cuts of meat. You slow cook them in barbecue sauce and they become tender.

[zachtib]

At the beginning of this year, I switched to a vegetarian diet. If you do it right, it's very cheap, tastes good, and very healthy for you. Originally my goal was to stick to it for 6 months, but I'm now considering making it permanent.

Even some of the "fake meats" are pretty good. I've recetntly got hooked on Boca Burgers, which are resonably cheap ($2.50/box of four at Wal mart)

[Boelcke]

Pasta, pasta, pasta.

Bunch of Angel hair pasta, cooked al denta, bit of olive oil, spices (garlic powder, oregano, pepper, hot pepper), and fresh ground cheese, like a good locatelli. The cheese is the most expensive part, but it covers a LOT of pasta.

Can't go wrong, fills you up. And, if you really want to be healthy, drop a steamed vegetable or two on it.

[machoo02]

mujaddarah, a middle eastern lentil and rice dish, is tasty and filling, and you should be able to get both rice and lentils in bulk for pretty cheap.

[elmer_42]

I have to say that I am quite the fan of a peanut butter sandwich. If I'm really feeling exotic, I put honey on it.

[Curtisc]

Pasta + tuna = carbs + protein, add some veggies and you've got a complete meal.
Basically, avoid pre-packaged anything, since they are far more expensive that way. Oh yeah, and don't be tempted by the $0.25 Mr. Noodles - they're terrible for you.

To keep your sanity, don't skimp on the things that are really important to you. I'm fine with No Name pasta, but I need my all-natural "just peanuts" peanut butter. Seriously, if it's something that's going to last for months and it's a difference between $2 and $4, don't torture yourself.

[TeraDyne]

If you want something simple and quick for breakfast, just get some canned fruit or, even better, Kikkoman miso soup.

The latter is sometimes sold at Wal-Mart, and it's pretty cheap. It's not as nutritious as a full breakfast, but it'll keep you full.

The former is something I eat every morning, and at 88 cents a can, it's fairly cheap. Plus, it's healthy.

*Note: I'm not a college student, nor will I probably ever be. I'm just giving some options.

[cody50]

Thanks to everyone for their tips so far. Lots of ideas for me to try! and I'm sure I am not the only one benefiting from all this knowledge.

[cardinals_fan]

Cheap Thai/Vietnamese food. Tasty and inexpensive.

[Amstell]

Mac & Cheese with can of tuna - $1.50 @ Albertsons
Ramon of course - .10/each
Frozen TOny's Pizza - real cheap (1.00)
Learn to Make your own break, i do this a lot and saves a lot of money. Very filling.

Just some pointers. Good luck on your intern. Cheers

[macogw]

Yes Ramen noodles are good. But not very good for your health. They are extremely high in sodium.

I honestly recommend learning to cook for yourself. Simple healthy dishes. Also, I don't think I can live anymore without my little George Foreman-like grill. I especially love the thing since it is slightly tilted so the fat drips off on the side. Great for grilled chicken or tuna.
Ramen noodels are *not* high in sodium. The packets they come with are. Just don't use the packets, duh :P Ramen + real vegetables like green onions and mushrooms and a bit of tofu, maybe with some miso mixed in....healthy and delicious.

+1 on polenta suggestion

I also like microwave cheese & bean (no meat!) burritos when I'm coding....not sure that's healthy though. I always keep microwavable Thai Peanut on hand as well. If you have cheap ramen noodles and a nice selection of veggies and salad dressings (oh gosh, Chinese boyfriend would kill me for that one) on hand, you can always make a great stir fry.

[The Tronyx]

Hello all!

This summer, I will be an Intern for a tech company far from my home in Wisconsin. As most college students are, I will be strapped for cash and will need to save as much money as I can. Does anyone know of a food that they liked that was able to get them through some of the harder times? Some things that are important are taste, healthfulness, and cost. Ease of making it isnt too much of a factor.

So Lets hear it! I'm sure that I am not the only one who has ever been in this situation.

I called it beer.

[macogw]

I called it beer.
I think that fails on all three counts.
Healthy: it makes you fat
Cheap: much more expensive than soda or water
Good: if you like cat pee...

[Lux Perpetua]

Oatmeal, anyone?

(Cheap: yes; tasty: yes; healthy: yes (but don't live on it))

[greenstar]

Meals:

1. Cook-your-own tacos. Lean ground chuck makes it leaner while still affordable, Cheese & sour cream go a long way, shells & seasoning are cheap. Biggest expense is probably lettuce & tomatoes. One 'batch' of tacos makes 4-6 meals for a single person and is reasonably balanced & healthy when made with decent ingredients. Add a side of fat-free refried beans with a sprinkling of taco cheese over the top for added nutrition and, because beans are filling, reduced per-serving cost. Biggest tickets to cut fat are lean meat and lowfat/fat-free sour cream. You can cook up the taco meat ahead of time and just reheat what you need as you need it. The meat will stay good in the fridge for at least 5 days if cooked and stored properly.

2. Grilled burgers/chicken are excellent ways to eat nutritionally and cheaply without sacrificing taste. Add a beer, a potato, and a salad or veggies and you can't go wrong. Grill with sweet onions & peppers for extra flavor.

3. Pork chops fried or grilled along with mashed potatoes, carrots & broccoli or asparagus is a great option also. If you can deal with instant mashed potatoes, makes this one much easier to prepare.

I suggested these because they're tasty (imho), inexpensive, easy, nutritious, and only the meat requires actual cooking, everything else gets nuked, cold-prep, or eaten as-is.

Hints:

1. You can get a cheap, basic grill for $20 at Wally-Fart, Lowe's, etc.

2. Meat costs less if you buy the family pack and separate it into ziploc bags at home with the amount you will cook for one meal in each bag. Freeze immediately everything that you won't cook within 24 hours. Refrigerate what you won't cook immediately but will cook within 24 hours.

3. Save money and get leaner cuts of meat by having the butcher/meatcutter trim the fat off the meat and then re-weigh it. The meat dept. of your grocer will do this for free. No, you don't have to pay for the fat you have cut off. After all, why should you pay for something that you don't want *and* is bad for you? Don't forget to have them re-weigh and re-price it after trimming.

4. Beer, wine & even liquor make excellent marinades for meat, as they flavor & tenderize. Even cheap alcohol works well for cooking. Try grilling some steak and then simmer it in a foil pouch on the grill with a 1/2 to 1 cup of beer depending on quantity of steak. Simmer for 20-40 mins depending on heat & amount of meat. Dark beer, esp, Stout makes a fantastic steak. Bourbon & whiskey are also great for steak. Wine (esp. fruity, sweet wine) works magic on chicken. Just be sure you get real wine, not wine coolers or wannabe-wine like arbor mist. Kosher wines are cheap ($5-7/bottle) and great for cooking.

5. Bagged lettuce is easy and works well for salad, tacos, burgers, etc. Tomatoes should not be refrigerated, but kept at room temp. Buy whatever kind of tomatoes are on sale, or better yet, start a tomato plant this spring and have tomatoes all summer. You can even start a tomato plant in early summer, it will still fruit fairly quickly.

6. Add these meals to a healthy breakfast & lunch of mostly grains, cereals, fruit & vegetables, and moderate meat portions (cold cuts, etc) and you'll eat healthy, nutritionally and cheaply. Watch the grocery store for sales, esp. on meat because you can freeze it.

Enjoy,

Greenstar

[Ripfox]

Err...I love sandwiches. Buy french bread and lots of cheap deli meat and cheap cheese, add tomatoes, lettuce, oregano, red wine vinegar and mayo (little salt/pepper) and make a GIANT sandwich that you can live off of for months like homer simpson.

[kostkon]

What about buying a cookbook of a good (tasty and healthy) cuisine and start cooking? Home-cooked food is always much cheaper that ready one.

[BluntBox]

I think that fails on all three counts.
Healthy: it makes you fat
Cheap: much more expensive than soda or water
Good: if you like cat pee...

There was a bloke here in Aus that was on one of the evening current affairs programs for being on a beer diet. For like 2 months he had nothing to eat and only had beers to drink. He was losing lots of weight!

Side effect of death though, use with caution.

[machoo02]

Good: if you like cat pee...macogw...you've been drinking the wrong beer. A good, homebrewed stout or porter tastes nothing like the fizzy yellow water that some people would like you to think is actually beer.

[machoo02]

What about buying a cookbook of a good (tasty and healthy) cuisine and start cooking? Home-cooked food is always much cheaper that ready one.I second this....anything by Mark Bittman is worth its weight in gold.

[Ripfox]

macogw...you've been drinking the wrong beer. A good, homebrewed stout or porter tastes nothing like the fizzy yellow water that some people would like you to think is actually beer.

Yea!! :)

[funrider]

weekly breakfast

box of cereal + milk from office


lunch

some high fiber bread/bagel + peanut butter + pack of sliced cheese + some veggie <= 10 bucks from supermarket

[Tristam Green]

Suggestions from a two-year-and-counting "intern" (my title is still Intern, but my roles have greatly expanded lol).


---Snack Foods---
-- Apple chips. Slice them up before you leave, and keep them in a plastic baggie.
-- Raisins.
-- Pretzels.
-- Water
-- Water
-- Water


---Lunch---
-- Subway, or any submarine sandwich place. Get it hot, get it without oil or vinegar, and low amounts of salt. My favorite is an Italian BMT toasted with deli mustard, light mayo, and salt and pepper ONLY, on an Italian Herbs and Cheese bread (Subway).
-- Soup. You can never go wrong with Soup, and Progresso-style (single-serving) is the best for it. My choices: Vegetable, Minestrone, New England Clam Chowder.


---Breakfasts---
-- Eat before you leave the house.
-- Cereal+milk
-- Bagels (I put butter on mine)
-- Eggs if you have time!



Good luck to you and enjoy interning! It's great experience to have listed on your resume(accents).

-TG

[brokenstrides]

---Lunch---
-- Subway, or any submarine sandwich place. Get it hot, get it without oil or vinegar, and low amounts of salt. My favorite is an Italian BMT toasted with deli mustard, light mayo, and salt and pepper ONLY, on an Italian Herbs and Cheese bread (Subway).
-TG

Oooh! QFT! I'm not an intern anywhere, but frequently running across town between school and work, and it's hard to beat the Subway Daily Special for lunch. It's only $2.79. :]]]

To make it as healthy as can be, for-go cheese, and only have mustard for a condiment, all on wheat bread.

I am sure you have water bottles around the house, so keeping one frozen (then taking it with you so it defrosts through the day) will save you from having to buy a drink.

[mips]

Healthy: it makes you fat

Speak for yourself :)


Cheap: much more expensive than soda or water

Not really, where I live anyway. It is only slightly more expensive than a can of soda. That might even have changed, soda/fruit juice might be more expensive, will have to check.


Good: if you like cat pee...

Depends on what you drink, stuff like Bud, Coors etc I will not call beer at all. There is some really good stuff out there though that I will quite happily call beer.

To the OP:

Stay away from processed foods. Eat brown rice instead of white rice etc. Stay away from food with chemicals in them, try and eat mostly fresh foods. You will be a amazed how much crap they put into 'food' these days.

[chucky chuckaluck]

brown rice and beans, or lentils. they store very well (no refrigeration until cooked), lots of fiber, complete protein, filling and fairly cheap. they can be made more tasty in a variety of ways with different spices, oils and/or veggies.

[Mazza558]

Not very healthy but cheap to make is the traditional Cheese Toastie.

[macogw]

macogw...you've been drinking the wrong beer. A good, homebrewed stout or porter tastes nothing like the fizzy yellow water that some people would like you to think is actually beer.

Heh, I've never had beer. My brother warned me it tastes worse than all the other types of alcohol. Not sure it could be worse than a mojito though. Ugh. Those things taste like rubbing alcohol!

You guys never heard of a beer belly?? My dad's got one makes him fatter 'n a pregnant woman.

And aren't beers like $3 each unless you get Natty Light? Soda's $1.

I'm sticking to my stir fry recommendation.

[mips]

brown rice and beans, or lentils. they store very well (no refrigeration until cooked), lots of fiber, complete protein, filling and fairly cheap. they can be made more tasty in a variety of ways with different spices, oils and/or veggies.

Have you tried Biryani (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biryani)/Breyani before? It is really tasty and already contains the ingredients mentioned above. For some odd reason it is called Breyani (Google will even yield some recipes for the local version) over here. The other thing like you mentioned is that it stores very well and is actually tastier after a few days. I usually have either veg or chicken breyani, there are also lamb, beef & fish variaties although I do not like the fish one even though I like fish.

[tribaal]

What I love to do still, even though I'm not a student anymore is tuna rice:

1. Use a rice cooker for your rice (it's very fast, cheap usually, and stops when it's done automatically so you can... multitask).
2. One can of tuna fish
3. One or two tomatoes
4. One raw onion cut thin
5. Dressing: some mayonnaise (not too much, otherwise it's too fat), a little salt, a little pepper. Add some chilli pepper if you like it (I love it), maybe some tabasco would work too.

It's very tasty, quickly done (about 10 minutes), cheap, and most importantly for me, you can keep it in your fridge a couple of days, so I like to make a large amount and then just help myself when I feel hungry. I'm quite lazy :)

Hope you like it :)

- Trib'

[heartburnkid]

I'll definitely second the suggestions for brown rice, beans, and lentils

Another good idea is the rotisserie chickens from the deli section of your local megamart. They're not much more than uncooked chickens of the same weight, and if you're living alone, you can eat for a couple of days off of one. And then, once you've picked it clean, you can toss it into a crock pot with some water and a bag of frozen veggies, and make soup. Just be careful when you buy them, and always check when they were put out before you buy them; in stores where they're not that popular, you can sometimes find one that's spent 4-6 hours under the heatlamps, and those things are as dry and tough as shoe leather. Optimally, you want one that was cooked within the hour.

Speaking of crock pots, get one. They're very easy to use, and let you get some use out of tough (read: cheap) cuts of meat. A small, off-brand one can be had for $15-20.

Another good tip: Carnitas. My local market sells pork for carnitas for $1.20 per pound, boneless. It's a bit fatty, but it's very easy to trim the fat off before cooking, and you're left with some nice lean meat for very, very cheap.

Bakery thriftstores (or the bakery thrift rack at the megamart) are your friend, too. You can often get some very nice, whole grain breads for about the same price as the really cheap store brand loaves that are mostly air and preservatives. It's a couple of days old, but come on now: when was the last time you went through a whole loaf of bread the day you bought it, anyway?

Lastly, try to find an outlet store in your area. Excellent places to stock up on dry, frozen, and canned goods on the cheap. I used to shop these guys (http://www.groceryoutlets.com/) all the time; unfortunately, their store in my area closed down.

[Tristam Green]

haha, irony is taking healthy food advice from one whose name contains the word "heartburn"

:guitar:


just pickin' on ya

[heartburnkid]

Heh, I've never had beer. My brother warned me it tastes worse than all the other types of alcohol. Not sure it could be worse than a mojito though. Ugh. Those things taste like rubbing alcohol!

You guys never heard of a beer belly?? My dad's got one makes him fatter 'n a pregnant woman.

And aren't beers like $3 each unless you get Natty Light? Soda's $1.

I'm sticking to my stir fry recommendation.

Heh, nobody's disputing the "unhealthy" or "not cheap" bits (though you're a bit off on pricing; I can usually pick up a six-pack of Newcastle, Stone, or another decent beer for $8 or so). But trust me, once you've had a real beer, it's like the difference between night and day.

Don't get me wrong, it's still bitter, but it's a good kind of bitter, not the urine-like flavor you get from mass breweries like Bud, Miller, and Coors.

[macogw]

Heh, nobody's disputing the "unhealthy" or "not cheap" bits (though you're a bit off on pricing; I can usually pick up a six-pack of Newcastle, Stone, or another decent beer for $8 or so). But trust me, once you've had a real beer, it's like the difference between night and day.

Don't get me wrong, it's still bitter, but it's a good kind of bitter, not the urine-like flavor you get from mass breweries like Bud, Miller, and Coors.

Other people responded to those too.

I just remembered something a friend makes that's delicious. Put rice in a rice cooker. Wait til it's done, then keep the lid on while you do the rest. Heat a skillet with oil and mix a few eggs in a bowl. Mince up a *lot* (like a cup) of chives and a little thumbnail-size chunk of ginger. Throw the chives & ginger into the oil and let them sizzle a bit, then scramble in the eggs. Serve the eggs and rice in a bowl together.

[Brunellus]

Buy dry noodles--any type will do, but I prefer something wheat or buckwheat-based for this--

Boil the noodles as directed. Then, drain and toss them into a frying pan. Drizzle with a bit of sesame oil and fry VERY BRIEFLY.

Season with whatever you have at hand: soy sauce works. Curry powder is good too. Chinese 5-spice powder is also good.

chow down.

Cheap, filling, tasty.

[tashmooclam]

Long ago we had a crockpot and just did the recipes in the little booklet. Wow.
You can go to goodwill/salvation army/thrift store and find one or maybe a rice cooker. A poster already gave a recipe of rice, tuna, vegetables, onions. For meals if I am lazy, scrambled eggs and toast for dinner. I made them also "mexican style" which was first fry up a bit of onion and tomato and (optional) bit of green chile and then add eggs. Some churches give food away on certain days, like a bagful of stuff. If all else fails, find a girlfriend. Her father would never let her be hungry, so you can let her maintain you.:)

[Brunellus]

Long ago we had a crockpot and just did the recipes in the little booklet. Wow.
You can go to goodwill/salvation army/thrift store and find one or maybe a rice cooker. A poster already gave a recipe of rice, tuna, vegetables, onions. For meals if I am lazy, scrambled eggs and toast for dinner. I made them also "mexican style" which was first fry up a bit of onion and tomato and (optional) bit of green chile and then add eggs. Some churches give food away on certain days, like a bagful of stuff. If all else fails, find a girlfriend. Her father would never let her be hungry, so you can let her maintain you.:)
oh slow-cooker stuff? heck, I can rock that. Bring on the beef-and-guinness stew.

[tashmooclam]

I forgot this one. If they have a fishing contest nearby, go at the weigh-in. They don't eat their catch, and give it away sometimes. Bass is tastier than grass.

[samjh]

Hello all!

This summer, I will be an Intern for a tech company far from my home in Wisconsin. As most college students are, I will be strapped for cash and will need to save as much money as I can. Does anyone know of a food that they liked that was able to get them through some of the harder times? Some things that are important are taste, healthfulness, and cost. Ease of making it isnt too much of a factor.

So Lets hear it! I'm sure that I am not the only one who has ever been in this situation.

Simple staple foods are best. It also depends on food prices where you live. What is cheap at one location may not be so cheap at another.

When I attended university, my meals were mostly - in no particular order:

Korean instant noodles ("Ramen"... even though that's not the proper pronunciation!) for when food is short. = AUD$1.50 per packet

Steak (cheaper variety but trim off the fat bits at home) or cheap fish fillets on sale (cook thoroughly) = AUD$5 to 10 per kg

Fresh lettuce, carrots, and cucumber with mayo or salad dressing (yes, this involves washing and peeling by hand) = dirt cheap

Apples, oranges, and bananas (simple, tasty, and nutritious) = price depends on season.

Corn flakes (simple, adequate taste, and nutritious) = dirt cheap

Milk (buy them in large 2L or 3L sizes and consume regularly) = dirt cheap

Toast/Sandwich bread = AUD$1.00

Rice = less than dirt cheap and 10kg lasts for weeks!

I can pretty much cook all my meals for around AUD$40 per week if I shop at cheaper stores like Aldi or keep a keen eye for sale items.

Oh, and learn to cook rice in a pot.... and learn to like burnt meat... and wash your meat and vegies well before cooking. :D

[mips]

oh slow-cooker stuff? heck, I can rock that. Bring on the beef-and-guinness stew.

Now we are talking :) a simple hearty Irish stew comes to mind. Onion, carrot, potato, barley, stock, herbs & cheap cuts of meat + Guinness. It's like peasant food but tastes very good :) Also freezes well.

Is Oxtail expensive in other countries? It used to be a really cheap cut of meat over here many years ago, now it's like a delicacy as the price went through the roof which is a shame, makes a great stew!

Brunellus, do you like outdoor cooking? If you do then I think you will be in the market for a potjie pot ;)

[macogw]

Buy dry noodles--any type will do, but I prefer something wheat or buckwheat-based for this--

Boil the noodles as directed. Then, drain and toss them into a frying pan. Drizzle with a bit of sesame oil and fry VERY BRIEFLY.

Season with whatever you have at hand: soy sauce works. Curry powder is good too. Chinese 5-spice powder is also good.

chow down.

Cheap, filling, tasty.
I see you eat like me. I think this means you should come over my place when I move into my apartment and let me make polenta and noodles.


Korean instant noodles ("Ramen"... even though that's not the proper pronunciation!) for when food is short. = AUD$1.50 per packet
:eek: AUD and USD are very close ($1.50 AUD = $1.40 USD), and that would be *extremely* expensive here. You could get 14 packages of ramen in the US for that much! They're 10¢ each.

[Ripfox]

We have ramen for like 7 cents a pack here...

My friend and I had to live off cheap mac+cheese all year one year so we made a giant cross out of empty mac+cheese boxes and made up a song on the guitar called "cheesus christ the macaroni and cheese messiah" and recorded it on a small tape player we left at the base of the cross so people could play it when they came up to the shrine.

8-[

[samjh]

:eek: AUD and USD are very close ($1.50 AUD = $1.40 USD), and that would be *extremely* expensive here. You could get 14 packages of ramen in the US for that much! They're 10¢ each.

Considered pretty cheap over here. Even just a 600ml of Coca Cola costs AUD$2.50. A packet of corn chips is $1.60.

So a whole meal for a $1.50 is a bargain.

The alternative is to get those small non-flavoured instant noodle packets (which are even cheaper), and put some chopped vegetables in it.

[amazingtaters]

Dog food. It's got all the nutrients a growing dog needs, and dogs are man's best friends. If it's good enough for my best friend, it's good enough for me.

[Kingsley]

McDonalds

Taste: 8/10
Price: 10/10
Health: -99/10

Just make sure you only buy from the Dollar Menu.

[mips]

McDonalds

Taste: 8/10


Should have your taste buds & nose checked out :) That stuff is revolting.

[macogw]

Considered pretty cheap over here. Even just a 600ml of Coca Cola costs AUD$2.50. A packet of corn chips is $1.60.O_O a 20oz (600ml) bottle of soda here is $1 from most machines and $1.25 from the expensive ones.

[amazingtaters]

O_O a 20oz (600ml) bottle of soda here is $1 from most machines and $1.25 from the expensive ones.


Man I've seen soda go for up to $3 out of a soda machine. Granted that's at places like concert venues, where they jack up the prices and don't let you bring in your own stuff. It's hard to do a day long music festival in July with nothing to drink, and the soda companies know it man. I still think a buck 25 is expensive though.

[macogw]

Man I've seen soda go for up to $3 out of a soda machine. Granted that's at places like concert venues, where they jack up the prices and don't let you bring in your own stuff. It's hard to do a day long music festival in July with nothing to drink, and the soda companies know it man. I still think a buck 25 is expensive though.

Yeah, I've seen $3 at concerts and baseball games where they know they can price gouge, but your average vending machine? No way.

[amazingtaters]

Yeah, I've seen $3 at concerts and baseball games where they know they can price gouge, but your average vending machine? No way.

No I agree average is about a dollar or so. They get is for an extra quarter here on campus. Of course, I buy Dr. Thunder at wally world cuz it's cheap as free practically.

[finferflu]

Pasta. Cheap and healthy. I am a student myself, and I mostly eat pasta.
Of course I'm a bit biased, since I'm Italian, and that's what I've grown up with :P

[mips]

Of course I'm a bit biased, since I'm Italian, and that's what I've grown up with :P

You're not biased, just blessed ;)

[imronak]

Hi Cody,

I am a indian grad student.
And, I do suggest you to check out some indian restaurents whereever you go.
These can be pretty cheap and yes very healthy. Most of Indian recipes dont have cheese, they do have oil which is healthier. I can assure you that the food would be pretty filling. A typical place can cost you <10$, for unlimited meal. :)

We sometimes drag a day in one meal + breakfast (cereals + milk) + Ritz (this can be a pretty good option too).


I would not rely on soda and drink. Its not very healthy, if you are staying away from home. Best is use Water :)

[macogw]

No I agree average is about a dollar or so. They get is for an extra quarter here on campus. Of course, I buy Dr. Thunder at wally world cuz it's cheap as free practically.

Does your school use Blackboard? You know what their revenue model is, right?