Eating Healthy on a Very Small Budget

[CuriousNdenver]

Some people may cut out fat and replace it with poor carb choices, leading to blood sugar spikes. It seems like making wise choices from all food groups is a better approach. Complex carbohydrates take longer to digest, many are high in fiber and do not adversely affect blood sugar.

Bryan, as others have suggested, a crock pot or slow cooker would be a good investment.

I am also a college student struggling to eat both cheaply and healthily, though I do have a kitchen full of utensils. I like to build one pot meals around bean and rice dishes and add whatever is on hand to spice it up.

I try to take advantage of sales on staples like beans, brown rice, canned vegetables etc. I also carry granola bars with me so I can get a bite between classes. I make coffee at home and bring it with me in a thermal cup and carry water also as opposed to buying it on campus.

Another suggestion if you are near grocery stores is to go on Saturday mornings when they often have vendors offering free samples of food. Our campus has some events that have snacks or even meals for attendees; many students frequent these especially for the free food!

 

[jgilberAZ]

Complex carbohydrates take longer to digest, many are high in fiber and do not adversely affect blood sugar.

Low carb eating means low NET carb eating, not complete avoidance of all carbs.

Net Carbs = Carbs - Fiber

The carbs in fiber are "trapped" in the fiber and pass through without affected blood sugar levels.

So, keep NET carbs low.

This does point out something that people don't know or recognize ... blood sugar increases with carb consumption only (or almost only).

Fat and protein do not affect blood sugar levels. (disclaimer ... if you eat a TON of protein, it will affect blood sugar a TINY amount).

That said, for the American Diabetes Association to be pushing carbs to people with blood sugar control issues is criminal.

The Cure for Diabetes

 

[O'GodHowGreatThouArt]

Just to clear up the circumstances, I'm in a dorm so slow cookers and Foreman grills are out of the question unfortunately.

 

[CuriousNdenver]

Just to clear up the circumstances, I'm in a dorm so slow cookers and Foreman grills are out of the question unfortunately.

Will they allow you to have a toaster oven? You can make some tasty sandwiches using bread or english muffins, cheese, tuna etc.

What is your electric kettle? Can you cook with it, or is it just for heating water for coffee or tea?

 

[DeniseM]

Not that I saw. The closest I saw was over 20 miles away (Since the college is on the far side of Carrollton, more likely 25+). You are probably looking at $7-8 dollars worth of gas round trip.

I guess that would be a bit far for a college student to travel for groceries. I didn't think 20-25 miles was such a distance to go, since I grew up in the country and we always had to travel that far to get to any grocery store.

As a note though, if you get a hold of an Aldi sales ad, you can take it in to Walmart and they will match the prices in the ad on their own products. Example, Aldi has strawberries on sale for $1 per 1# container. You could take the ad to Walmart, get 1# of strawberries and only pay $1 for them, even if Walmart has them marked for $2 that week.

https://moneysavingmom.com/2012/03/supermarket-savings-tip-14-price-match-at-walmart.html

 

[JoannaV]

Oh yeeeah, the Walmart price-match thingy. So you just need to find all the best advertised prices for stuff

I think you should just use your kettle to boil a lot of water and drink tea all the time

 

[JennyG]

you have hot water - get a jumbo economy size tub of vegetable bouillon powder and you have unlimited instant clear soup, which you can fortify with store brand wholewheat bread and the cheapest cheese you can find

 

[O'GodHowGreatThouArt]

Oh yeeeah, the Walmart price-match thingy. So you just need to find all the best advertised prices for stuff

I think you should just use your kettle to boil a lot of water and drink tea all the time

That's what I do lol. I brew enough tea for my mug and refrigerate it overnight.

There's a Food Depot about 3 minutes from campus (driving, not walking) that has some really dirt cheap prices on stuff. I actually went there last night on an impromptu visit to get some stuff (had to go off memory of what people said here and improvise in a few cases). Still need to get some more, but I say 10 pounds of rice is a good place to start.

Just to clear up the circumstances, I'm in a dorm so slow cookers and Foreman grills are out of the question unfortunately.

Will they allow you to have a toaster oven? You can make some tasty sandwiches using bread or english muffins, cheese, tuna etc.

What is your electric kettle? Can you cook with it, or is it just for heating water for coffee or tea?

No toaster ovens allowed either. The kettle I have is really just for heating liquids up. I hate the microwave too, but the dorm polices are really putting me in a corner so far as options are concerned.

If I didn't know better, I'd say the eating areas on campus paid them off to do that so they would get more business from those of us who aren't bright enough to figure out ways to eat without them.

 

[OPC'n]

no bread no cheese no milk???

 

[OPC'n]

Maybe I should try it for a month....

 

[CuriousNdenver]

If I didn't know better, I'd say the eating areas on campus paid them off to do that so they would get more business from those of us who aren't bright enough to figure out ways to eat without them.

You are probably correct that there may be some agreement with the food vendors that the dorms may not have certain cooking appliances! But, there is also a safety factor that they have to consider.

Maybe you can make some friends with off-campus apartments and have a cooking party every now and then!