Cooking at home can be super cheap and healthy, even if you are busy since this fresh meal can take less than 15 minutes! I did not have any rice left in the fridge, so I cooked 1 1/2 cups of white rice in a rice cooker, which took 56 minutes, so I did this an hour before I wanted to eat. With about 10 minutes left for the rice, I started the rest. I had frozen ground beef, so I started that in a pan. A small amount of meat was enough as I didn’t exercise much today. There was plenty of fat in the ground beef, so I did not add any additional cooking oil. Washing and cutting veggies took about 4-5 minutes.
Now the beef was mostly thawed, I broke it apart and added the veggies and minced garlic. Add salt, black pepper, and red pepper. Stir fry for 5-6 minutes, and done! A quick, cheap, and delicious dinner! I’m excluding the rice cooking time since it really doesn’t take much effort if you have some time to wait. If not, it’s just as easy to make a few days worth of rice and keep it in the fridge. I’ve been making similar meals since I started college (after my first year of dorm food, that is). I think cooking can be fun and a great way to save money while being healthy as well!
I followed up dinner with a kiwi. It was on sale from $3.99 to $3.49 for 2lb. There were about 12 kiwis in the box, so I’ve been eating a kiwi or two every day or for a week now.
Ground beef: $0.75 at $1.99/lb
Rice: $0.25 at $4.99/5lb
Veggies: $0.50 at ~$1.50/lb
Spices and electricity: $0.10
Kiwi: $0.30
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Cost: $1.90
Let me know in the comments what you think about this meal!