My taste buds don't appear to be maturing...

lifeisbetterwithketchup · Sat Oct 18, 2008 4:18 pm

Electric Rain wrote:Let's take this one step at a time. Breakfast... I'm getting sick of Pop-Tarts anyway, but they're cheap and quick. So tell me, what can I eat for breakfast that still cheap and quick, but also healthy?

Cheerios!

Negative_Creep · Post by **Negative_Creep** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 4:36 pm

Special K for breakfast.

All the time.

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 4:46 pm

Yeah, I guess I could just resort back to cereal. Depending on the kind, that's also "grown-up" food, so...

Cookie Crisp used to be my favorite cereal, but I'm very glad to say I've grown out of it now and there certainly are better tasting kinds.

Special K is boring, though... Cheerios are good... What about Honey Bunches of Oats? I really like those. BTW, if anyone was wondering, Just Bunches is NOT that good. I thought I loved the bunches in Honey Bunches of Oats, but when you're eating a bowl full of them, it gets old quick. They're way too heavy and dense, IMO. I need a certain level of light/fluffy/airiness to my cereal.

My step-father compared them to Grape Nuts, but I can't comment here because I've never had them.

Okay, so that takes care of breakfast... I have no problem with healthy cereals as long as they actually have flavor.

Dinner is going to be much harder. Help me out, guys. Cheap, fast, good-tasting and healthy... whatdaya got?

Ramen takes care of cheap and fast very well, and it's pretty good tasting, but it's certainly not healthy at all...

Post by **Skyone** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 5:46 pm

Frosted Mini-Wheats are great. They aren't my favorite cereal, but they are definitely up there. Other than that, you can offset the routine with some waffles/pancakes/bacon, as long as you don't over-do it.

As for me, I eat fruit, vegetables, white meat, and tons of water and grape juice. Luckily, my taste buds have always suggested healthy foods to me.

Negative_Creep · Post by **Negative_Creep** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 6:23 pm

Electric Rain wrote:Special K is boring, though...

But extremely healthy

weaponepsilon · Post by **weaponepsilon** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:55 am

Heh, kids...

My diet consists of beer, meat, cheese, pickles, and occasional chocolate. Once in a fine while I'll hammer down some chinese. I can't stand mcdonalds. And I love eating noodles... Slim N trim at 175 lbs...

Rekarp · Post by **Rekarp** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 1:14 am

Electric Rain wrote:...You had to bring up Bagle Bites... I didn't know what they were, actually... then I looked them up, and now I want them.

Let's take this one step at a time. Breakfast... I'm getting sick of Pop-Tarts anyway, but they're cheap and quick. So tell me, what can I eat for breakfast that still cheap and quick, but also healthy?

You could get up a little earlier and cook some eggs and sausage with a side of toast and OJ. Seriously it takes like less that 10 minutes to make a great breakfast.

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 1:56 am

While that is a tasty meal, I prefer a cold breakfast. But, I SHOULD learn how to cook at least a few basic things.

Negative_Creep · Post by **Negative_Creep** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 6:12 am

Rekarp wrote:
Electric Rain wrote:...You had to bring up Bagle Bites... I didn't know what they were, actually... then I looked them up, and now I want them.

Let's take this one step at a time. Breakfast... I'm getting sick of Pop-Tarts anyway, but they're cheap and quick. So tell me, what can I eat for breakfast that still cheap and quick, but also healthy?
You could get up a little earlier and cook some eggs and sausage with a side of toast and OJ. Seriously it takes like less that 10 minutes to make a great breakfast.

Fried food for breakfast makes me throw up =/

Limewater · Post by **Limewater** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 9:38 am

Electric Rain wrote:While that is a tasty meal, I prefer a cold breakfast. But, I SHOULD learn how to cook at least a few basic things.

Then eat cold cereal for breakfast and cook what Rekarp suggested for dinner. It's quick, hot and good. There's no reason to only eat it in the morning.

I'm 26 now, but I ate pretty crappy all through college before really starting to eat right. I ate tons of sugar.

If your body is used to eating crap, it will crave more crap. If you cut that stuff out of your diet, you'll miss it for a while, but then you will stop craving it nearly as much and can indulge in moderation.

For example, I used to drink a half-gallon of Kool-Aid a day. I decided that I was consuming too much sugar, so I cut it in half. Instead of making a half-gallon with a packet and a cup of sugar, I made a full gallon every two days. At first it did not seem as good, but then I got used to it and when I tried regular Kool-Aid again, it was unpleasantly sweet. Eventually I cut my sugar down even farther and now just buy tap water.

Another suggestion: Don't drink diet drinks/ eat things with artificial sweeteners. Your body will become convinced that it needs sweet things all the time, so you'll wind up eating something else bad for you. This is apart from the questionable health effects of consuming lots of artificial sweeteners.

Also, if you don't like fruits and vegetables, try getting really good ones. I used to hate most fruit because I couldn't stand bruised fruit and that seemed to be all my mom bought. Look for what's in season (fortunately, it's usually the cheap stuff), and get a couple of whatever is cheap. Apples are coming into season. My favorites are granny smith, jonagold, and gala. Then, next time you have a sweet tooth, cut one up and try it. Just pick really good ones, with no bruises.

Your tastes will change if you stretch yourself a little.

Easy dinner suggestions:

1) Put a chicken breast (bonus points for skinless) in a plastic bag with some Italian dressing for a while. Heat the oven up to about 425 degrees F. Put the chicken breast in a baking pan and then cook for about 20-25 minutes until it is not pink in the middle. Serve it with either a fruit or vegetable that you have come to enjoy (corn, cooked carrots, etc...).

2) Breakfast for dinner as Rekarp suggested above.

3) Lentils and rice. Cook rice according to instructions on bag, it may take some practice, but it's way better than the boil-in-bag stuff. While doing this, cook lentils according to instructions on the bag, but add in just a little cumin, a couple of beef boullion cubes, and a little salt before the water starts boiling. The rice and lentils should finish around the same time. Drain the lentils and serve some over the rice.

If you're willing to do a little more work cooking, you can get a whole lot fancier and more interesting.

Someone suggested that eating healthy was very expensive in the U.S. It's only expensive if you aren't willing to cook. My wife and I eat for around $50 a week for the two of us on a very healthy diet with lots of variety, and we live in big city, so groceries are on the high side where we live. Cooking makes a huge difference.

Rekarp · Post by **Rekarp** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 11:59 am

Limewater wrote: Someone suggested that eating healthy was very expensive in the U.S. It's only expensive if you aren't willing to cook. My wife and I eat for around $50 a week for the two of us on a very healthy diet with lots of variety, and we live in big city, so groceries are on the high side where we live. Cooking makes a huge difference.

Yep. On a college budget cooking is the only way to go!

Oh Try making tacos to. Not the healthiest thing but its a lot better then other things and they taste GOOD. Spaghetti is also really good and cheap. Hell Original Mac and cheese (the kind you cook not crappy easy mac) aint that bad either (Pro Tip: Slice a hotdog and toss it in with the noodles when cooking mac and cheese).

Fried food for breakfast makes me throw up =/

Nothing in that breakfast is fried. Cooking in a skillet != fried.

Negative_Creep · Post by **Negative_Creep** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:01 pm

Rekarp wrote:Nothing in that breakfast is fried. Cooking in a skillet != fried.

Sausages and bacon makes me want to be sick anyway.

Especially when i'm cooking it.

Rekarp · Post by **Rekarp** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:25 pm

Bacon is probably the best smelling food when you are cooking it. Tastes awesome to tho is a bit on the fat side. If you want to eat bacon but not have the fat try Turkey Bacon its pretty tasty but I prefer the old ole pig bacon. I like mine extra crispy anyways so most of the fat is gone.

Post by **SpongeBuell** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:45 pm

Rekarp wrote:Nothing in that breakfast is fried. Cooking in a skillet != fried.

It is frying, just not deep frying (like what they do for french fries in restaurants). Haven't you heard of pan frying?

Rekarp · Post by **Rekarp** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 1:15 pm

SpongeBuell wrote:
Rekarp wrote:Nothing in that breakfast is fried. Cooking in a skillet != fried.
It is frying, just not deep frying (like what they do for french fries in restaurants). Haven't you heard of pan frying?

Frying to a Texan involves breading of the said item of food. And don't even pull out a dictionary cause as a Texan we don't believe in those.