A New Twist on Cheap Food

Recent global events have sent world food prices soaring.  I suspect that speculation is having an impact on those prices as well, as is the increasing cost of a barrel of oil.  Whatever the reason it has thrust the problem of high food prices back into the news, so this might be a good time to talk about some new ideas related to eating on the cheap.

Let’s start with some specifics.  There are still some foods that are cheap, easy to prepare in many different ways, and most of which store easily.

Brown rice. When it’s on sale you can get a bag for a couple of dollars, and it will make quite a few servings.  Lots of nutrients, lots of ways to change it up.

Whole Wheat bread.  Look for the phrase “100% Whole Wheat” to be sure that it really is.  A loaf of Whole Wheat bread is still something that you can get on sale and, even at full price you can get several meals from a loaf costing between $2 and $3.  Speaking of things whole grain, Costco sells these large bags of tortilla chips that are 100% Whole Grain for less than $5.  Once you find your favorite way to eat them (dipped in refried beans or chili, for instance) they can get a lot of meals from one bag.

Whole grain or multi-grain pasta. Look for boxes or bags on special at your local grocery store.  Hot or cold pasta dishes have many variations, or use it to make homemade Minestroni soup. For a decent pasta sauce, warm up some simple tomato sauce and add garlic, chopped onions, sliced olives, rosemary, basil… get creative. You’ll come up with some wonderful sauces.  Sauces based on condensed soups (cream of mushroom, celery, chicken or tomato) can also work well, and these soups are available at low-cost grocery stores for about 50 cents a can or less.

Potatoes. A 5 lbs. bag will give you lots to work with. Baked, boiled or fried (but boiled is probably better for you).

Tuna.  Still quite inexpensive and works in all kinds of situations.

Eggs.  Ditto. Eggs and tuna are a great way to add protein to your meals.

Beans. Kidney, pinto, black, garbonzo… and don’t forget lentils. They are good sources of fiber and protein.  Canned they are cheap.  Dry, they are cheaper. Save money and buy them dry and in bulk and learn to soak them yourself.  Pinto beans mashed up become refried beans.  Add them to soups, stews, mix with pasta dishes or create your own bean salads.

Oatmeal (rolled oats). An excellent bracer for the day, and there are innumerable mix-ins if you use your imagination.  Microwave with a handful of frozen berries, honey, or a dollop of organic peanut butter.

Now, you may be wondering at this point, where’s the “twist”?

It turns out that many of these foods also have the property of helping you feel full longer, so you don’t need to eat as much.  There is a metric called the “satiety index” that measures how well foods satisfy.  The index is given as a percentage where “100%” is a slice of white bread.  Here are some examples:

Food	Satiety
Cake	65%
Doughnuts	68%
Yogurt	88%
Jellybeans	118%
White pasta	119%
Brown rice	132%
White rice	138%
Grain bread	154%
Wholemeal bread	157%
Brown pasta	188%
Potatoes, boiled	323%
Lentils	133%
Eggs	150%
Apples	197%
Oranges	202%

Interesting stuff here. One thing you should take away from this is that many of the foods that are inexpensive also score well on the Satiety Index, which means you need less of it to keep you from feeling hungry. Time does not allow for a proper discussion of the Satiety Index, but this link will take you to an excellent page that will give you a good explanation of it.