Mission Impossible: [food on low budget + limited effort- potentially ED triggering]

[yiff]

Your mission should you choose to accept it: Identify a single food item that can be consumed accounting for at least 90% of total diet. This item must require no cooking (heat) and have a daily cost of less than $9. Bonus: The item must require no refrigeration.

I am sick of stressing over food. Please help me out.

Is there anything wrong with eating raw eggs as a protein supplement? I have 5 pet chickens in my back yard and I can't be bothered to dirty dishes cooking the eggs.

Thanks for your advice!

[penny79]

Bananas. That's an easy one!

[penny79]

(eat 20-30/day)

[yiff]

Are you suggesting bananas are quite possibly the world's most perfect food?

[penny79]

For humans, yes. Add some other fruits, LOTs of greens, and other vegetables, and you're good to go.

I personally would not eat raw eggs but it's your choice.

[hoodedclawjen]

you can't just eat one thing and thats it. very unhealthy. you'll end up getting rickets or scurvy or something. quinoa and buckwheat are both complete proteins, but you need fibre, plus all different coloured veggies, grains, pulses, , nuts and seeds, all your vitamins and minerals like sources of calcium, iron, b12, etc, and its inpractical to try and get it all in one place.

i wouldn't eat raw eggs. firstly, you may barf. secondly, salmonella. :worried:

why don't you put together a menu instead of stressing. you can totally live on less than $9 a day and not have the hassle of faffing about in the kitchen, but eating more than one thing. you need suggestions? what kitchen stuff do you have access to?

[penny79]

She said 90%, not 100%, though.

[yiff]

2 meals a day I am at work and have no access to the kitchen. For dinner I will likely sitting at the computer and not wanting to be in the kitchen.

[hoodedclawjen]

She said 90%, not 100%, though.

oh well that makes a huge difference. eating 25 bananas, plus 5 peanuts, half of a brussels sprout, and 10 grains of rice would definately be a wickedly well balanced diet. or not. :dizzy:

[penny79]

oh well that makes a huge difference. eating 25 bananas, plus 5 peanuts, half of a brussels sprout, and 10 grains of rice would definately be a wickedly well balanced diet. or not. :dizzy:

I definitely would leave the peanuts and rice out.

If you eat 2,000 calories worth of bananas and 200 calories worth of spinach, that's another thing. Spinach and other green vegetable calories don't really add up fast.

[penny79]

Yep, if you eat 20 bananas and 30 c. of spinach, you exceed your RDAs for everything except selenium. Eat a couple Brazil nuts per week.

(I'm just saying for the RDAs which some people think are gospel or a daily checkpoint. I don't follow the RDAs myself and think more variety of fruits and vegetables is good and if you use a checkpoint it should be weekly, not daily).

(I also don't count B12 or Vitamin D as those should come sublingually for B12 and D from sun exposure).

Make sure you exercise, too!

[hoodedclawjen]

2 meals a day I am at work and have no access to the kitchen. For dinner I will likely sitting at the computer and not wanting to be in the kitchen.

why don't you make something and take it to work with you, or even eat it on the way. a peanut butter and banana sandwich or smoothie isn't labour intensive, and is better than no breakfast.

you could take some bagged salad and a handful of fruit (fresh or dried)... trail mix, a little applesauce tub and spoon, some crackers etc, with you for lunch, and when you get home just nuke something- 3 minute spagetti with a tomato and veggie sauce and some beans in it, baked potato and hummus, canned beans on toast, a can of amys chilli and some chips...etc.

if you don't work every single day for like 18 hours straight, you could get on a one hour mission once a week, make a big vat of soup, curry, chilli or stew, and chuck it in the freezer in little tubs. then just put one in the fridge every morning, and nuke it for dinner when you get home. serve with a roll and a bit of salad, and you're done in under 5 minutes.

[penny79]

I'm wondering if part of her limitation is price, though, for some things you mentioned?

[hoodedclawjen]

Yep, if you eat 20 bananas and 30 c. of spinach, you exceed your RDAs for everything except selenium. Eat a couple Brazil nuts per week.

(I'm just saying for the RDAs which some people think are gospel or a daily checkpoint. I don't follow the RDAs myself and think more variety of fruits and vegetables is good and if you use a checkpoint it should be weekly, not daily).

(I also don't count B12 or Vitamin D as those should come sublingually for B12 and D from sun exposure).

Make sure you exercise, too!

you'll not get enough vitamin d from sunlight unless you live in the right place and have the right skin type. thats a hit and miss strategy.

and would 30 bananas and 30 cups(!?) of spinach cost under $9 a day? :think:

[yiff]

Are you serious about the 30 cups per day?

[penny79]

oh, that was just an example to try to equal out the calories you wanted. you could do less and still meet rda.

it's actually cheaper to get a few things in bulk and order cases and you could switch up what you order per week. you'd have to check on the prices and such, though.

not sure why the snarky replies. i have no desire to argue with anyone, and people's responses will not change my opinion/answer to the question.

[hoodedclawjen]

I'm wondering if part of her limitation is price, though, for some things you mentioned?

shouldn't have to be. basics aren't that expensive if you make your own and/or do it in bulk.

[penny79]

shouldn't have to be. basics aren't that expensive if you make your own and/or do it in bulk.

yeah, i was thinking of that for bread and stuff when you mentioned sandwiches but it sounds like the OP doesn't want to heat anything at all.

it's a tough situation regardless of the choices. :/

[penny79]

i think the going rate for a case of about 100 bananas is $36-40. and those are fair trade and organics. imagine if you found a distributor for cheaper! that's 40 lb. per case.

i tear about 20 c. of greens in one sitting easily (no dressing or other fillers)! if they were cooked, maybe about 6-12 cups. i bet kale and collards and maybe broccoli would be cheap but not sure you'd want to eat all of those raw.

[hoodedclawjen]

... i doubt the lunchbreak at work would be long enough to eat all that either... plus you gotta schlep all that to work and back, or scoff it all before or after work... that can't be good.

[yiff]

Thank you for these replies! I was afraid I would not be taken seriously. Even 20 cups seems like a gigantic amount of salad to me though >.< Also, any other comments on the egg idea? I am wondering if that salamonella thing is just an old wives tale or something. I mean every baby chicken would be sick right?

[penny79]

I think the salmonella risk is real. And E.coli if there is feces on the shell.

I don't think taking a bag with 10-15 bananas to work for part of the day would be hard. If you do this, though, and previously ate a processed diet, you may notice your body uhm, cleaning out a little bit. :)

Sorry if the calorie numbers caused a problem with this thread now - I can try to reword if that's easier.

[SomebodyElse]

Salmonella is not an old wives' tale. It is caused by modern chicken husbandry though. If you care properly for your hens, it should not be an issue. However, raw egg white inhibits biotin absorption, so you would be in trouble there.

[Skylark]

Sweet potatoes. My grandmother says if she were on a desert island with no other food, she would wants sweet potatoes.

[penny79]

I don't like raw sweet potatoes! I wonder if the OP has access to baking some, a lot at a time, though.