A few people already keyed in on this but just to make it abundantly clear:
“Peasant food”.
So that means:
Whatever meat/protein and veg is on sale. Don’t neglect the frozen food aisle. Most (all?) of that is flash frozen and, honestly, fresher than if you were to buy it in the produce section. Some veg handles this better than other (frozen spinach makes me vomit, Frozen peas are amazing) but it is cheap and nutritious
Something cheap as filler (I grew up with rice so I eat a lot of rice)
Whatever spice is cheap. You can never go wrong with buying the big bag of mexican seasoning at the supermarket. Usually cheap because “mexican” and usually has a good blend that comes in a range of spice levels. Just taste it to get a feel for how much salt is in there so you can add salt accordingly while cooking.
Cook the filler as you would. Oven or pan the protein. Season generously.
Cooking shows/youtube make us think this is a lot more complicated than it really is. But if you learn a few basic cooking techniques (“stir fry” is love, “stir fry” is life) then you are basically set and can be That Guy who stands in the aisle at the supermarket figuring out what he is making next week based on what is available.
I have a feeling that the answer to this might be anything that you can grow from seeds. So, fresh fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, etc. then, like tomatoes or snow peas or apples or wheatberries. The thing is that these all take time to transform from seed to fruit, so if you include time in your constraint space these don't work. But you didn't so here you go :D
As someone attempting to grow from seed here in Central Texas:
It would be SO MUCH cheaper for me to buy store bought.
You have to factor in a watering costs, soil quality, fertilizer costs, and time commitment. Oh and potentially overhauling large swaths of your yard to grow crops and flowers to encourage enough pollinators to show up.
I spent probably over $1,500 this year getting my yard in suitable enough shape to grow, after a complete bust on any kind of yield last year. I also grow herbs indoors, and yes that can be more cost effective. That isn't to say it's not worth it, I'm about to have an insane yield of tomatoes that I won't know what to do with. I currently get to make my own fresh bruschetta every week with home grown basil and tomatoes. I get fresh strawberries off the vine every day, though the bushels aren't very large. If all goes according to plan, I'll also have some bell peppers and okra later in the season. All grown from seed. I have morning glory and passion flower vines that have volunteered all over parts of the yard, the latter being a critical food source for butterflies, so I now have a few dozen butterflies flapping around on a given day. I also have a ton of volunteer sunflowers after setting up bird feeders with black oil sunflower seeds as feed.
It's wonderful, my yard is slowly rewilding and I love being able to grow a little food. It'll get cheaper over the next few years to maintain. But it certainly was not cheap to get here! Container gardening is cheaper, but you still have to have the right light sources and watering schedule. If you live somewhere naturally rainy and sunny in equal measure, and the climate isn't trying to kill you, then it might be cost effective. It was at one point in time. But it isn't here, now. Still worth it for me though.
Yeah only cheap if you don't include your time. And the cost of land. But as a Florida food gardener - OKRA is like nothing else. It grows even in the summer here, is beautiful, the flowers are lovely and my whole family loves it. If you grow it, you can pick them when younger, and the few you inevitably miss, save for seeds. Nutritious and delicious, and in hot climates, cheap.
Beans are the obvious answer to the OP's puzzle though. Beans and rice, build up your spice cabinet, endless variety and so delicious, cheap, and healthy.
I tell ya, I tried okra last year and it was a total bust. Had enough seeds to try again this year, started them indoors. Of the 10 seedlings I sprouted, six made it into the ground in March, and only two are still growing. They're by far my slowest growers, but the good news is they look like they're finally picking up speed and are looking strong. They're about 18"-2' tall now. I hope they survive the next 3 months set to have more 100*+ days than not.
I think that is ragdoll thing. My ragdoll always begs for belly rubs when I leave the room. But does not sit on a lap. She likes being around people but not on people :D
The Wagner Group, is a Russian paramilitary organization. It is seen as a private military company (PMC), a network of mercenaries, or a de facto private army of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s former close ally Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The group operates beyond the law in Russia, where private military companies are officially forbidden. Because it operates in support of Russian interests, it receives equipment from the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) and uses MoD installations for training, the Wagner Group is said to be a de facto unit of the MoD or Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU.
While the Wagner Group itself is not ideologically driven, various elements of Wagner have been linked to neo-Nazism and far-right extremism.
Here’s a pic of the founder Dmitry Utkin whose call sign is Wagner. He can be seen with nazi eagle, swastika, SS Schutzstaffel. This isn’t just runic imagery. He chose that call sign and the name for his company because he is a fan of the 3rd reich. And it was Adolf Hitlers favorite composer. Not just actual nazis. But an actual nazi leader. Leading a war for conquest and nazi glory.
The Wagnerites also seized the buildings of the head office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB department, the administration of #Rostov and one of the police departments, according to local channels. Nobody in the city understands what’s going on.
Addictive carbs and salt, dirt cheap, and healthy as shit. Also convenient and compatible with most dietary/ethical restrictions.
If you learn to like beans when you’re 20 and throw it into an index fund, you’ll have a modest retirement fund just on the money you saved (yes, I calculated it based on money saved and growth of the S&P).
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