[passinthru]

okay food gurus.

I'm a student, on a limited budget for food. I can and do eat red meat, but I'm looking for something else to change things up but that won't blow the budget on me. Chicken is not an option. A small amout of egg is fine, though no quiche, boiled eggs, French toast etc.

Right now, I eat more carbs than I should be, not enough protein, though I'm getting better with the fruits and veggies, though it's hard to do that, cause it's just me and I don't want to be running out to the grocery store every couple of days to get fresh fruits/veggies, so that they don't go bad on me before I can use them.

[FTS]

Frozen veggies. Everyone always says "fresh is best", but if you can't do it, frozen veggies are just as good.

Canned food is always good Beans have a fair bit of protein in them. Dairy products have protein in them. Fish is always good. I can't remember if I'm remembering this right, but apparently pork tenderloin is supposed to be as lean as chicken breasts, so that might be another option.

What exactly are you after?

[passinthru]

Up here, chicken is not expensive at all, which is great, if you can eat it. I"m looking for some ideas, something that won't kill my budget, like fish or good cuts of red meat.

I know that I need more protein as there are often days when I have none at all. Peanut butter is an option, but that is higher in fat/oil as well.

I had forgotten about beans though. Green beans are something I can get fresh now too, snap and freeze and cook up later on. Or I can get cans of navy beans or chickpeas.

[H.M. Murdock]

Pork tenderloin is as lean as chicken, yes, but only if you trim off all the fat surrounding the cut. Don't be afraid to take a bit of the meat off when you do this.
See, mom? Queer Eye isn't evil. It learns me some stuff.

Peanut butter is very high in fat in terms of the amount of nutrition it offers versus the damage of nutrition it does. You can eat foods that are good for you that aren't healthy foods, after all. Like blueberry cobbler. *wink*

You can do a lot of creative things with frozen vegetables. You can also flavor rice just by pouring in a bit of orange juice, cranberry juice, etc. and steaming it on a stovetop. It's okay to be pre-prepped food on a low budget. But here are a few things to remember:
Fresh is best... if you're going to chuck it back raw, or are very picky. Frozen fruits and vegetables be a'ight.
Keep variety. Keep the seasons. *wink* If you're going to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, buy with the seasons. It will insure peak nutrition, flavor, and cost.
Give World's Healthiest Foods a gander. They have amazing, creative ideas that can be adapted to a low budget. They even have a list of foods you can look at to find different foods that provide what you're looking for.

For good cuts of red meat... hamburger. Seriously. You can do a lot with it. Plus it's made from what doesn't go into the best cuts- basically anything that makes it less than perfect. One would imagine that this is fat, bone, etc., which would make hamburger the spam of the beef world, and a laughing stock as well. But it's pretty lean, and is made up of all the best cuts. And so cheap!
If you've got the stomach for it, though, organs are cheap. Liver, heart, tongue, etc.