#i dont want to make pancakes out of egg whites and protein powder because that would suck and taste bad but. but. yeah anyway

[thejugheadparadox]

there is so much good food in this beautiful world and yet humans invented intermittent fasting and calorie counting and protein powder and artificial sweeteners. fucking bullshit man.

[cassoroll]

Are you broke and need advice on how to cook and eat on the cheap? I use to be super broke and working 60 hours a week just like you guys. Now I'm only mostly broke and working 50 hours a week 10 years really makes a difference. These are some tips to help you get by when times are tough.

First tip is avoid meat, I'm not vegetarian and I've never been by choice but I was an economic vegetarian for about 6 months during one of my tight spells. Beans and eggs have a ton more bang for your buck when it comes to protein. When you do buy meat get chicken and turkey, when turkey goes on sale around holidays you can get a ton of meat for not much money. Cook it piece it out and freeze any leftovers you don't use within 3 days of cooking.

Tip 2 eat lots of rice. There is a reason that rice is one of the staples in diets across the world. Its cheap and filling, at this point I'm not going to steer you to any particular type brown had more fiber but if you only like white right now whats important is you eat it. Combine rice with beans and have an apple as a side.

Tip 3 you are going to be eating left overs a lot. If you are like me you would go to work at 7 am and get home at 6 pm or later starving and beat. Even if your days aren't that long and your tired thats all good too because this tip will help you too. Make a dish you can vary a little every day. I would do a huge pot of beans and rice on Sunday and then Monday through Friday I'd add a few different ingredients to keep it interesting. One day I'd add soy sauce and a fried egg and another id add some seasoned turkey i pulled from the freezer and chilli powder.

Tip 4 don't skip breakfast. I know its tempting to skip meals when you are broke because the less you eat the less you spend. This is bad for your body and will make you binge come dinner time. Small meals all day can help you stay in control and spend less money in the long run. Pancakes from scratch are cheap and so is plain oatmeal.

Tip 6 look at traditional ethnic foods. Whatever you are look up ethnic foods from your culture and if you dont know your family history your a part of my family now. if you want my pasta recipe that will feed a family of 4 for 4 days let me know and I'll give it to you.

Tip 7 look in into local food banks or gardeners clubs. Year around food banks will help you if your down on your luck and during the summer many many gardeners have more fruits and veggies then they know what to do with and will give you fresh organic fruits and veggies for free.

Tip 8 for Christmas and birthdays and friends and coworkers for pantry staples (tomato sauce, pasta, beans, rice) many times they will get you a comically large amount because they think the whole thing is a joke but the jokes on them because that 25 pound bag of jasmine rice from Costco will feed you for weeks

Tip 9 is dont buy fruits and veggies in bulk. Some fruits and veggies to avoid are lettuce, tomatoes and bananas they go bad quickly and its going to be hard to eat a large quantity before they expire. For leefy greens turnip greens and kale stay fresh for way longer and are packed with good stuff to power you so you can cry yourself to sleep because you gotta work again tomorrow. Like who the fuck decided that we gotta work so much to scrape by this is insane. Apples and oranges last a long time and I'm not talking cuties I'm talking about naval oranges.

Tip 10 is dont feel ashamed if you splurge. If you buy 3 avocados and some fancy ass bread to eat avocado toast thats awesome that you can do that for yourself. If you buy cake mix and frosting to make your friend a birthday cake I'm proud of you for being so considerate. And if you eat a half a pint of ice cream in a sitting thing of all that nutritious delicious cream you took in thats fuel for your system. I might update this if people actually want more tips because its hard to really dig into this on a quick text post. I have more recipes now than I did when I was struggling and I'm better at meal prepping. You don't need to figure it out alone because we've all been there.