What is the best food for a runner on a budget?

If you have acess to Costco, Aldi, etc buy in bulk a bunch of canned veggies and soups. If you can get low sodium varities then you can mix the veggies with the soups and sprinkle on table salt for flavor. I do this twice a day with the low sodium products and it's healthy, cheap, and filling. Low sodium split pea with a can of mixed veggies isn't half bad.

ps, the low sodium is important because the canned products can put you way over the daily limit of about 2500mg.

pss, fresh veggies require toooooo much work to prepare, but they might be cheaper, and they're certainly low sodium. Good luck

Ramen!

Unprocessed bulk foods are cheaper. Rice, other cooked grains (barley, quinoa, oatmeal, etc.), fresh fruit, nuts, beans, fresh veggies, tuna, cheese, smaller meat portions. Rule of thumb: The more removed processed food is from its original state, the worse it is for you, and you end up paying more for the cost of processing the food into something that is crappy for you

I'm a fan of chili and curry: meatless chili, in particular, made from dried pink beans (pinto would work), and lentil or potato curry. You can use two bags of pink beans and make enough chili to live on for a week and a half. Pour it over rice, if you want. Dirt cheap. Lentil soup and potato curry: see THE VEGETARIAN EPICURE for recipes. See LAUREL'S KITCHEN for other cheap vegetarian recipes.

Here's another cool idea: Kroger sells ready-to-eat oven-roasted chickens for $5.99. As the evening progresses, they slap $1.00 off stickers on them. They do this every half hour to hour. If I go to the Kroger in my town around 9 PM, I can get a whole roast chicken for $1.99 because they've slapped four stickers on it. Ridiculously good deal.

Here's my cheap chili recipe, since you're a kid in need and I was one of those once, out in Berkeley:

Empty two one-pound (or standard size) bags of dried pink beans into a big chili pot. Cover with water, rinse, agitating them with your hand, until the water runs clean. Drain. Then put in 8-10 cups of fresh water. Bring to a boil. Simmer gently for about two hours. Add water as needed (and you will probably need to). Keep them covered with liquid. Don't let 'em burn.

When they're starting to get soft, stir in one full tablespoon of salt. Simmer 'em another half hour.

At this point, chop up a couple of cloves of garlic and a big onion or two. Fry in olive oil, without burning, until they're soft.

Dump onions and garlic into beans. Add one big (10-14 ounce) can of crushed tomatoes, a couple of tablespoons of chili powder, one tablespoon of cumin. Stir.

Then partially cover the chili and simmer for another hour or two.

You'll need to make the initial investment in spices. Chili and cumin can both be purchased in large cheap bottles in the Mexican section of larger supermarkets--NOT in the spice-rack section.

Serve over rice or not; grated cheddar cheese or jack are also good on top. Serve with cornbread, if you want. There are cheap prefab mixes that only require water and maybe one egg.

You will fart a lot but you'll be living on next to nothing. Corn and beans are a complete protein, which is why cornbread is my fave side dish with this.

Tuna

ugali with tea or japote with cabbage. both under 10 cents a serving and full of carbs.

I would consider eating more pussy.

Well according to Anthony Famiglietti it's Pop Tarts.

potatos

slice'em, dip'em in vegetable oil & seasoning & put them in the oven for 30 or so minutes

KudzuRunner wrote:You will fart a lot

Really?

I can't wait to try that chili recipe!

More advice. I need more recipes. I am leaving home in less than 2 weeks.

I am in my twenties, does anyone have any experience panhandling or getting things for free? Like free shoes or running shorts?

Poptarts! I never would have thought of that! So smart.

Recipes? Search the web.

Panhandling? Make a clever cardboard sign, and maybe even have a dog or a musical instrument (that you can play) for a prop.

Getting shorts and shoes for free? Steal.

Ramen & Poptarts=extremely unhealthy.

Potatoes, oats, eggs, tuna, bulk chicken, large bags of apples, etc.

Cajun shrimp flavor wrote:

Ramen!

"Ramen noodles unfortunately are not very good for you. Each package contains about 1560 mg of sodium. To remove the water and form them into blocks, they are deep fried in palm oil which is about the most saturated fat there is."

--SDSTAFF JillGat

Straight Dope Science Advisory Board

You are in your twenties and "running away"? Aren't you a bit old for that? I think once you are in your twenties, it is called "being an adult and taking care of yourself". Stealing from your Mom? C'mon, that's really sad and immature.

Why don't you get a job before you head out on your own instead of stealing from your parents, which is pretty despicable, even if they haven't been your best friends over the years. Try bagging groceries or something or wait tables if you really want to know how to get food for free and/or cheap.

This whole post is totally bizarre - you are heading out on your own and instead of wondering how to support yourself, you are busy trying to figure out how to beg and panhandle, and to top it all off, you want recipies? Where are you cooking them - over the fire you make beneath the underpass, where you'll be living with the other bums while wearing your stolen free shorts? How Martha Stewart!

This is just silly. Grow up and get a job!

Gatorade and powerbars.

It is the 21st century and you're running away from home...ok, sure.

Good luck.

I can't believe it took 17 posts until someone finally pointed out the absurdity of the original post...