Grad School Diet

[jeenyus]

Thought it would be interesting to see what kind of foods fellow grad students are preparing/eating. Maybe a place to swap budget-friendly recipes for those who want to keep up healthy eating habits.

What do you typically eat in during a work day? The ramen noodle diet is totally a stereotype, right? Do you indulge occasionally?

[Eigen]

I did ramen noodels in undergrad, but I try to avoid them now. I actually find that I've got more flexible time and a larger budget now, so eating well works out OK most of the time. Some of this also depends on what's available to you at work- I've got a mid-sized refrigerator (7 cf) and a microwave in one of our offices, so it's easy to keep stock food as well as bring leftovers. Food is one of the things I try not to budget too stringently, as eating consistently and well is important- there are a lot of other things I'll bare-bone before I significantly cut down on food.

Most of the time, I actually go with sandwiches for lunch- a bagel, some avacado/tomato/sprouts/greens and a few slices of red onions is really, really good. Non-lettuce based salads are nice too, I'm a big fan of a cottage cheese, tomato, bell pepper, cucumber and celery salad in the summer when I can get them all fresh, and they also last a day or so from when I make them, so I can take a couple and leave them in the fridge in my office.

The rest of the time, I go with leftovers. There are three of us sharing a house, and all of us are pretty decent cooks, so we each try to cook a meal a week- and then we have some leftovers, as well. I can roast a couple of chickens on a Sunday, have them for dinner, slice up the breast meat for sandwiches the next couple of days, shred the dark meat for stir-fries/rice/noodle dishes, and then cook the rest down to make a broth for soup later in the week. Lots of meals for not a lot of money. I do the same thing with pot roast- buy a couple of nice sized roasts when they're half off, cook them on a weekend or early in the week, and then use the meat for sandwiches and the drippings for a nice rich beef broth. I also like doing roasts and roasted chicken because it's a great chance to roast a huge variety of vegetables along with them for the coming week.

Pan dishes like Lasagna are also great for taking as leftovers. When eggplant is on sale, I'll slice, salt, drain and then roast eggplant rounds. They reheat surprisingly well, and are actually pretty good cold as well.

I'll also direct you to this thread on the CHE forums for several delicious years of backlogged recipe sharing.

For breakfasts, I try to come up with something that is easily portable so I can eat it on the way in in the morning- I long ago gave up on trying to get up early enough to cook and eat in the morning. I've finally perfected my scone recipe, so I'll make at least a couple of batches of that during the week, and they're great to grab in the morning for a quick breakfast. A fried egg and a nice slice of havarti or gouda on a toasted bagel also makes a really quick morning breakfast, once you get used to cooking them fast, as does cottage cheese mixed with applesauce.

[ktel]

Food is also not an area where I scrimp, I budget $320 a month for groceries and eating out. My boyfriend is the cook in our house, and he makes great meals and lots of leftovers. I have leftovers almost every day for lunch but I notice a lot of students in my office don't actually eat lunch at all. I tend to eat very frequently so I bring lots of snacks as well. We have two fridges for the whole department to share, although some offices have their own fridge. Lots of microwaves and a cafeteria/student lounge to eat.

I've learned most of my bf's money-saving tricks when it comes to food. He will never buy anything that's been too processed to save money. For example, instead of buying chicken breasts specifically, he'll buy a whole chicken and butcher it himself. You get a lot of meals out of it for very little money and some of your time.

[Eigen]

Buying larger cuts of meat and cutting them down is a great tip- you can do this for all kinds of meat, and it's really not hard to cut them down if you have a decent knife and a bit of practice.

Skinless, boneless chicken breasts are expensive- and by contrast, a whole chicken can often be had fairly cheaply. And it doesn't take a lot of time to skin and debone the chicken, and you can keep the scraps and use them to make a really nice broth.

If you actually go to a butcher, you can do the same thing with beef- getting a whole ribeye and then cutting it down to steaks yourself can save you 50% or more per pound. Similarly, learning how to cook less common/expensivecuts of meat is also good- things that are generally tougher and harder to cook can still come out great if you know how to marinate and cook them.

The other big way I've found to save money is to cook based off of what I can get on sale, rather than trying to buy stuff at the store to fill up particular recipes. We've got a couple of grocery stores around, and I just look up their weekly ads and sales before I go shopping- depending on what meats and vegetables are on sale, I'll decide which stores to go to, what to get each place, as well as what I'll be cooking that week. If bell peppers and eggplant is on sale, I'll probably be making a lot of dishes centering around those. If it's okra and tomatoes, I'll do the same. And usually most stores have a good sale on chicken, pork or beef, but rarely on all three. So being able to cook whatever you can get cheaply is a real boon.

[long_time_lurker]

Dunkin Donuts' 6 for 3.99 deal right now has been great for breakfast and lunch the past week! I guess that doesn't quite qualify as healthy though!

Levity aside, even though if you're only going to be living on a stipend that's not a lot of money to live on, not eating out and food preparation tricks (like using a slow cooker with cheaper cuts of meat) go a long way. Even eating out - including at nice places - is doable with Groupon or if you just budget wisely (like not blowing $6 at Dunkin Donuts in the morning). Hell you can get the tasting menu at Per Se if you just avoid eating lunch out every day (though I'd rather spend the $300 saved elsewhere).

[long_time_lurker]

Buying larger cuts of meat and cutting them down is a great tip- you can do this for all kinds of meat, and it's really not hard to cut them down if you have a decent knife and a bit of practice.

Skinless, boneless chicken breasts are expensive- and by contrast, a whole chicken can often be had fairly cheaply. And it doesn't take a lot of time to skin and debone the chicken, and you can keep the scraps and use them to make a really nice broth.

If you actually go to a butcher, you can do the same thing with beef- getting a whole ribeye and then cutting it down to steaks yourself can save you 50% or more per pound. Similarly, learning how to cook less common/expensivecuts of meat is also good- things that are generally tougher and harder to cook can still come out great if you know how to marinate and cook them.

The other big way I've found to save money is to cook based off of what I can get on sale, rather than trying to buy stuff at the store to fill up particular recipes. We've got a couple of grocery stores around, and I just look up their weekly ads and sales before I go shopping- depending on what meats and vegetables are on sale, I'll decide which stores to go to, what to get each place, as well as what I'll be cooking that week. If bell peppers and eggplant is on sale, I'll probably be making a lot of dishes centering around those. If it's okra and tomatoes, I'll do the same. And usually most stores have a good sale on chicken, pork or beef, but rarely on all three. So being able to cook whatever you can get cheaply is a real boon.

Big +1 (+1)

Also they're not as easy to find these days but if you make nice with the meat guys at the supermarket or if you're lucky and still have a neighborhood pork store or butcher shop they will usually cut up a chicken or steak for you for free.

[SapperDaddy]

Big +1 (+1)

Also they're not as easy to find these days but if you make nice with the meat guys at the supermarket or if you're lucky and still have a neighborhood pork store or butcher shop they will usually cut up a chicken or steak for you for free.

Costco carries a lot of the bigger cuts. I hate going there though, you can't get out of that store without spending $200.

[jeenyus]

Awesome! Getting some sweet ideas over here.

Something I will add: slow-cookers rock!

Seriously, as some others mentioned you can get really cheap cuts of meat and in-season veggies on sale. You can then turn them into delicious and tender roasts, stews, soups, sauces and chili. You can make giant batches and freeze portions for lunches and dinners on the fly. God I love my slow-cooker. Saves me money and time.

[eco_env]

Peanut butter sandwich, crackers, and fruit for lunch. cereal and orange juice for breakfast. Dinner is where I get more fancy. I make big recipes (often 3-6 servings), so one dish lasts a while. That's my main time-saving tip. I save money by making my own food, for the most part. Other than the lunch/breakfast items that I buy prepared, I tend to buy minimally prepared ingredients: vegetables, rice, pasta, beans (but sometimes canned). This week, for example, I'm having dinner from food I prepared last week (2 dinners), cooking rice tonight, ahead of time, and preparing a stir fry of broccoli and tofu to go with it tommorrow (2-3 dinners), and might have the leftover rice with leftover tomato sauce and cheese if I need it later in the week.

[Behavioral]

I usually cook a whole bunch of meat on the weekend and save them in individual containers for repurposing later on (like cooking a Costco bag of boneless skinless chicken breasts by grilling or poaching them in broth).

Costco rotisserie chickens are cheap ($4 for a 3lb bird) and after you're done picking off the meat, you can dumb the carcass into a pot of boiling water and mirepoix and make a broth as flavored as you want.

If I'm under a lot of time constraints, my go-to dish is Pasta a la Carbonara. It's just a pasta with an egg yolk/parmesan coat, with pancetta and pepper (lots of it). I just default to Chef John's (http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2010/06/spaghetti-alla-carbonara-for-real.html) recipe, but it's hard to really make it wrong.

Besides that, I eat really well out in the city of Chicago. I'm lucky to be in a well-funded program with a fellowship, and I don't have to live off ramen like I though I would when I first started considering grad school 3-4 years ago.

[eco_env]

I also look at the price/unit when I'm shopping, which means that I often buy store brands or larger packages, as long as it won't spoil before I finish it, and if it's not too big to carry home on the bus along with all of my other groceries. The problem is, I find that cheaper brands are often cheaper for a reason (terrible quality), so I'm starting to switch to more expensive products for some stuff (coffee, for ex).

[wildviolet]

I actually plan on having ramen as a backup meal. But, I like to doctor it with eggs (add one or two eggs when the water is boiling, after you've already added the noodles), various thin slices of meat, sliced green onions, or cubes of tofu. My favorite ramen is actually any Korean brand (I'm not Korean, by the way) because they're usually spicy, and I like spicy. To cut down on the sodium, I add only half the seasoning packet (but sometimes I add oyster sauce, so it kind of cancels out subtracting the salt). Anyway, on days I don't feel like cooking much, this is a simple and filling alternative.

Ditto on the rest of the advice here... buying in bulk and on sale and cooking for multiple days. Some things, like chili and almost any Indian curry, actually taste better the next day. I got myself a great (i.e., heavy) enameled cast iron dutch oven--it helps brown things like onions, garlic, spices, and meat, which makes for yummy flavor. I don't cook much now because I can afford to eat out (way too much). But, once I'm in grad school, I plan on cooking more often using fresh and, if I can find it, organic ingredients.

Edited February 8, 2012 by wildviolet

[ktel]

I also look at the price/unit when I'm shopping, which means that I often buy store brands or larger packages, as long as it won't spoil before I finish it, and if it's not too big to carry home on the bus along with all of my other groceries. The problem is, I find that cheaper brands are often cheaper for a reason (terrible quality), so I'm starting to switch to more expensive products for some stuff (coffee, for ex).

Yes you definitely need to navigate which no-name brands are the best for which products. For example a lot of the no-name Ziplocs are terrible. Here in Canada President's Choice brand is fabulous and getting better everyday. I never hesitate to go with them for the no-name cheaper version

[Mal83]

I discovered ordering food online...you can buy in bulk and cheaply from websites like Amazon.com and Walmart.com...non-perishables of course. For example, granola bars are a staple for me so I can save about 5 dollars if I buy a large box from Amazon.com over buying the same amount in smaller boxes from my regular grocery store. Every little bit helps especially in high costs of living areas. I'm big on cereal but any name brand is ridiculously expensive, especially the grownup cereals so I bought a package of 6 Go-Lean granola for quite a bit cheaper than 6 individual boxes at the grocery store from Walmart.com. I don't have a car so getting to a walmart is a hassle for me so I get what I can from their website, which I will say is not the most convenient and a lot of items have to be bought in serious bulk...like 24 packs of this or that, which I don't really like to do since I'm by myself and there's nothing I like quite that much to buy that much of it at once. But Walmart and Amazon are good places to get toiletries too for cheaper than in the average grocery store.

I second the whole chicken thing! I'm such a fan of roasting and slow-cooking. It's the easiest thing, for the whole chicken take a few tablespoons of softened butter, chop up some fresh garlic (use a press if you have it, better distribution), and spread it all over the bird generously and get some underneath the skin without taring too much. Throw on some salt, pepper, paprika, a little cumin, and splash with fresh lemon juice...pop it in the oven...easy and yum!

[msafiri]

There's definitely no ramen in my diet unless I'm hungover, in which case I totally crave it. Anyway, typical workday food varies a great deal. I currently live outside the USA doing fieldwork, so I'll describe both situations to you.

USA:

- Breakfast at home, which can vary. Favorites include oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins (made from buying regular oats in bulk at the store) served alongside two scrambled eggs, or a three egg omelet. Sometimes, I switch the oatmeal for granola (again, bought in bulk) that I eat either warm or cold depending on the weather. If I'm in a hurry, I'll grab an Odwalla bar, which I keep around for precisely that reason.

- Lunch tends to be leftovers from dinner. Failing that, any variety of bean salad or beans and rice or pasta salad with beans and veggies. Exactly which of these depends on my mood and what's available and other factors like how hot it will be at lunch time. The hotter it is, the less likely I am to eat dinner leftovers and go instead with something like a garbanzo bean salad over whole wheat couscous.

- Dinner tends to fall into either the slow cooker category or be something that I can make fairly quickly. I tend not to fuss over dinner too much as I have nighttime commitments two evenings per week, which almost always falls on the same days I teach meaning that I have very little time in the evening to cook and eat. I've got a set of staples I'll cook though: spaghetti; chili; chicken sausages cooked with onions and other veggies; pot roast; and a few more.

I tend to shop sales and buy in bulk where I can. For example, when strawberries were $1/pint, I bought 5 pints and ate them all. I have this mild obsession with fresh fruit and tend to eat it with every meal and as dessert. I also try very hard not to let anything go to waste. My biggest way to save is to shop at the discount grocery store (Grocery Outlet in my case) and use that to buy things I might otherwise go without, like fancy cheese, organic dairy products, and various organic shelf-stable stuff.

Life Abroad:

- Breakfast: two eggs scrambled with tortillas and beans. Sometimes I switch it up and have yogurt with cereal and fruit.

- Lunch: I buy this every day. I can't help myself! It's cheap and delicious and helps the local economy. I spent about $4/day on lunch, which I never did back in the USA. But, when you're working on an independent project in a foreign country, sometimes you just have to get out of the house.

- Dinner: I'll cook something usually, but end up eating out 1-3 times per week.

There aren't really sales here on anything ever. The trick is knowing where something is cheaper since all the stores carry pretty much all of the same stuff. For example, I can save ~$0.50 US by buying cheddar cheese at the store to the left of my house rather than the one to the right. It may not seem like a lot, but it does add up eventually. I sometimes get caught up doing fieldwork in the evening so, on those days, it's likely that I'll go to dinner with other people. I've been trying to reign in the eating out though.

[Redsuedeshoes]

For dinners, I like to cook family-sized batches and freeze them in portions for two. Over time, a variety of dinner options are available in the freezer for weekday dinners. Breads are really good if you freeze them when they are fresh and reheat them in the toaster oven. The bread makes the whole kitchen smell delicious and tastes so good.

I am not much of a morning person, so breakfast is usually a bowl of cereal and coffee. But if I am in a rush, slim fast works in a pinch and keeps me full until lunch. (Dont judge me!) Mix it with coffee and it tastes like a mocha! My husband and I also have containers of almonds and dried apricots (bought in bulk at costco) at our desk for between-meal snacks.

[getonget]

To cope with the stress of grad school, I follow an extremely strict workout/diet schedule... I feel like it's the one thing I have complete control over. Plus, the endorphins put me in a great mood. I spend a lot of money on food because I eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, but it's worth it!

Breakfast: Half cup oats w/a little bit of honey and cinnamon, fruit smoothie (I bought a personal blender and smoothies = awesome meal replacement. Usually I throw in a banana, some frozen berries, half cup fat free yogurt, skim milk, honey, cinnamon. You can experiment for days with these things.)

Lunch: salad concoction, just whatever I have in the fridge. Peppers, red onion, beans, corn, gouda, avocado, and some balsamic vinegar.

Dinner: smoothie, sauteed veggies, approx 4 oz lean meat

Snacks: fruit (usually grapefruit because it's filling), nuts, etc.

Once or twice a month I'll allow myself some indulgent dessert or a hamburger or something. But I'm training for a half marathon now so I pretty much stick to the above.

[alphaproton]

To cope with the stress of grad school, I follow an extremely strict workout/diet schedule... I feel like it's the one thing I have complete control over. Plus, the endorphins put me in a great mood. I spend a lot of money on food because I eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, but it's worth it!

Breakfast: Half cup oats w/a little bit of honey and cinnamon, fruit smoothie (I bought a personal blender and smoothies = awesome meal replacement. Usually I throw in a banana, some frozen berries, half cup fat free yogurt, skim milk, honey, cinnamon. You can experiment for days with these things.)

Lunch: salad concoction, just whatever I have in the fridge. Peppers, red onion, beans, corn, gouda, avocado, and some balsamic vinegar.

Dinner: smoothie, sauteed veggies, approx 4 oz lean meat

Snacks: fruit (usually grapefruit because it's filling), nuts, etc.

Once or twice a month I'll allow myself some indulgent dessert or a hamburger or something. But I'm training for a half marathon now so I pretty much stick to the above.

Not bad but if your training for a half marathon you might want to consider more carbs in your diet so have energy for those long distance training runs. Got to have those glycogen stores plentiful! (i.e personal experience and my marathon training diet )

[mandabeth]

But if I am in a rush, slim fast works in a pinch and keeps me full until lunch. (Dont judge me!) Mix it with coffee and it tastes like a mocha!

I do this too. I have classes over lunch, so if I put a slim fast (or other protein shake...but slim fast is cheap) in a travel mug I can discretely "eat" during lectures.

[antecedent]

To cope with the stress of grad school, I follow an extremely strict workout/diet schedule... I feel like it's the one thing I have complete control over. Plus, the endorphins put me in a great mood. I spend a lot of money on food because I eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, but it's worth it!

Breakfast: Half cup oats w/a little bit of honey and cinnamon, fruit smoothie (I bought a personal blender and smoothies = awesome meal replacement. Usually I throw in a banana, some frozen berries, half cup fat free yogurt, skim milk, honey, cinnamon. You can experiment for days with these things.)

Lunch: salad concoction, just whatever I have in the fridge. Peppers, red onion, beans, corn, gouda, avocado, and some balsamic vinegar.

Dinner: smoothie, sauteed veggies, approx 4 oz lean meat

Snacks: fruit (usually grapefruit because it's filling), nuts, etc.

Once or twice a month I'll allow myself some indulgent dessert or a hamburger or something. But I'm training for a half marathon now so I pretty much stick to the above.

I'm training for a half marathon too! I made the huge mistake of doing an elimination diet at the same time (to target food allergies/intolerances) so I am somewhat my accident eating on a very restricted menu right now.

Is this your first race? It's definitely my first time racing as an adult, and I basically just signed up to stave of the waiting crazies. It's been nice to see so many runners on the forum. Are you racing a local race or a destination race? I'm just doing the Vancouver half/marathon, but I have a few friends who have qualified for big exciting races, which is cool and super inspiring.

Edited February 13, 2012 by antecedant

[GreenePony]

I'm lucky in that we live off my husband's salary (thank God, one of us went into a field where you actually get paid) but even then I like to keep on a budget.

For lunches I've taken to making smoothies so I can doctor them with whatever supplements I want (ie need a lot of fiber in diet thanks to the wreck field school left my system). My grocery store has really cheap bags of frozen cut up fruit that I dump in with whatever almond milk is on sale that week (can't have most cow's milk products) with baby spinach, yogurt, and sometimes a little peanut butter for flavor. It's delicious and filling, and best of all, really cheap. it also keeps in thermos. You can add tofu to it is as well.

Shakshuka is fairly cheap, and my husband and I make a large batch so that we can have it two nights in a row. Some of skinnytaste's recipes are pretty cheap or can be altered to be cheaper like the Chicken, Shitake and Rice Soup (use cheaper mushrooms), and that lasts us like 3-5 days.

[booksnlooks]

Budget Bytes is my go-to for delicious & inexpensive recipes. The author costs out each item so you know if it fits in your budget, plus the instructions are nicely detailed with step-by-step pictures. My favourite is the Breakfast Burrito recipe (I add any veggies I have hanging around).

[reachystik]

i don't time my meals. i eat breakfast (usually cheerios, i love those darn cheerios) around noonish (i'm up and ready to start my day 8:30am-9am).

lunch is late afternoon... usually a bagel, cheese & crackers & pickles & tomatoes, or soup

dinner is around 7 or 8pm....usually a meat/veggie dish. love casseroles and how easy they are...and yes, slow cookers are amazing.

i make a lot of shepherd's pie. and those chicken/rice and campbell's soup dishes.

or pasta. i love pasta.

my boyfriend makes a lot of ukranian food, so i've been trying new things, finding favourites and not so-favourites.

we are both suckers for take-out.... there's a great little hole in the wall spot that makes THE best greek salad ever.

There's also a greek orthodox church up the street near campus that host take out nights... bring your own bucket and for 12 bucks you can get a large dinner for 2 (rice, salad, souvlaki, pita, tzatziki)... along with other goodies you can add

i usually have a cup of tea, & a cup of a coffee on the go....by the end of the day all the cups are lined up on the counter. i often forget i have started one before moving on to create another cup of wonderful.

we live in an apartment, and now that it is the start of summer, ALL i can smell is BBQ through the windows. i love BBQ, but don't have a balcony on the apt to get a mini one...

[duhnay]

I love my white chicken chilli recipe. All you need is

1lb ground chicken (normally on sale/pretty cheap) about 3-4 bucks

1 seasoning packet (white chicken chilli) $1.00

1 can of tomatoes w/ green chillis ($1.50)

1 can white beans ($1.00)

and it makes a TON, will last for days if you eat it for 1 meal a day....

[CarlieE]

Beans. Cans of beans and lots of them.

I buy celery/carrots and then make bean dip by using a hand blender, a little olive oil, salt and whatever spices/herbs I want. Very filling. Very healthy - if you use adzuki beans you'll get all the proteins and you'll get a lot of fiber. You can avoid the erm...gas issue... by soaking the beans in cold water for 8 hours the night before.

I also eat a lot of eggs as my protein instead of meat. And a lot of bananas which are typically super cheap.

Generally I just buy whatever's on sale.