Ask HN: What do you eat? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What do you eat?

51 pointspj109 comments

A little lighter subject for this late saturday evening. I have considered starting a site along the lines of "startup recipes."

These recipes would be focused on inexpensive meals that don't take a lot of time away from coding but still provide excellent nutrition and lasting energy.

Of course we all know the "ramen profitable" stage, but Ramen is horrible for the body. Restaurants in general produce not that great of food and the amount of time saved by having them cook it isn't always advantageous considering you have to drive there, stand in line and be away from the computer. Not to mention the expense of convenience makes them not the best choice economically.

I went to college in New Orleans, so I became aware quickly of lots of inexpensive dishes that could be cooked without a lot of distraction: Red beans 'n' Rice, Gumbo, and Jambalaya. I also like to make a nice Pot Roast with potatoes, onions, and carrots in there.

So, my question for you is, what do you eat to keep yourself going while you are coding or working on your startup or just living?

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Interesting recipes here, but I don't think they relate very well to the question. The simplest/healthiest food I used to eat:

1. Get a rice cooker.

2. ???

3. Profit.

No, really, it's that simple. On a bowl of cooked rice you can put:

- vegetables (frozen or fresh)

- fish (of all sorts)

- cheese & bacon (mmmm)

And pretty much anything else. Some of these you just stick in the cooker with the rice, but mostly I bought canned veggies and put everything in the microwave. The best is you can play as much as you like and still keep it simple and cheap. And don't forget the soy sauce.

Roger Ebert's article on (as he calls it) The Pot seems rather appropriate right about now:

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/11/the_pot_and_how_to_u...

I usually cook up a pot of rice, prepare half of it to eat immediately, and stick the rest in the fridge. Later on, I fry it with an egg and throw anything handy into it.

Cheap, easy, and healthy roughly in inverse proportion to my supply of MSG, salt, schmaltz, and cheese

Rice Cooker! Yes. I put my gumbo, jambalaya, chili, all that stuff on rice. Great filler. Has 19 amino acids. It's cheap and good for you. Very nice suggestion.

I personally like cooking quinoa and egg in my rice cooker. I add some sliced habanero (de-seeded) for some kick; it's a nice snack.

I have a few simple and general rules that I try to follow:

1. I try not to eat anything that does not easily rot. This generally keeps me away from processed food.

2. I try to eat a lot of things that are green (vegetables).

3. I purchase organic when I can.

4. Excellent ingredients minimally handled usually make for the best recipes.

These rules make for healthy and great tasting food. I am a single male and my monthly food budget is around $300. I buy from a weekly farmers market, Whole Foods, and occasionally WalMart.

Gosh, I'm spending barely $450-500 for a family of three.

That's probably a bad thing. Good healthy food, like proper cuts of meat and wild fish, is not cheap. Peasant food is cheap. Eat the cheap starch and lousy meat like the peasants and you'll find yourself bloated and waddling around just like them. I drop $150 a week on just me, easy.

I think you may want to reconsider your preferences among the food industry. Having a rich taste is one thing, but outright accusing less pricey foods as being lower quality is not exactly accurate. I can't imagine spending $150 a week on myself without buying * incredibly * fine cuts of meat on a daily basis.

I eat pretty good food on < $10/day.

Absolutely. Inexpensive cuts of meat are by no means 'worse' than expensive cuts. Certain cuts are always going to be expensive, such as fillet of beef, rack of lamb, but more under-appreciated (and cheaper) cuts can be just as good.

As for examples, pork belly is still very cheap, even since it came into fashion a few years ago, and is much more flavoursome than other cuts. Chicken legs are much cheaper than chicken breast, despite the former having more flavour. Rump steak is more flavoursome than Sirloin. Offal can be delicious, too, and despite its cheapness it is used in the very best restaurants without compunction. You simply have to know what you're looking for.

You can eat healthy on a whole lot less. My family is pretty health conscious (we are all vegetarians, and my mom is pretty much vegan). And I am sure we have never spent 500 a month for a family of three.

Not everything needs to be organic. Some foods usually have low levels of pesticides. And while Whole Foods has high quality food, it is usually pretty expensive. You can get high quality food for less money elsewhere.

That said, at least your food is probably healthy and high quality.

There are even some foods that are just unsafe organic. Pork (less interesting to you, being vegetarian, bear with me) is not nearly as safe, there's been a rise in trichinosis cases at least related to organic pork. I know I've seen evidence suggesting organic celery is worth avoiding too, but I can't find it now.

In any case, agreed that you don't have to spend an arm and a leg to get healthy food. Expensive often doesn't even indicate better food, just more aggressively marketed at suckers that'll pay more.

> My family is pretty health conscious (we are all vegetarians, and my mom is pretty much vegan)

Vegetarianism is not healthy.

Vegetarianism is not isomorphic to healthfulness, but it is healthy.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10627874

There is much more research on the topic.

It has also been shown that the same benefits arise from "flexitarianism", or limited meat consumption.

There are many ways how to eat healthy and stay on the low budget at the same time.

One of the first things here is to be smart when you shop. It takes time to find good places, and I'm even commuting 20 miles every two weeks for some grocery shopping, but I can buy high quality food very inexpensively. 20 miles sounds like a great deal, especially, when you'll think about the average total in the receipt (rarely less then $150-200).

And the second thing, organic is a buzz. Buying organic doesn't automatically mean you are buying healthy food. Buying non-organic labeled stuff, doesn't mean you're buying crap.

Whatever, eating habits are eating habits, and I'm not here to change minds. :) I still think that $500/month for a family of three is pretty much enough. However, I can't argue with the fact, that you can spend unlimited amount of dollars on food -- sky is the limit.

things that are processed do not easily rot... am i wrong?

take for example this pancake i bought from mcdonalds, i left it in my truck for like 7 months, still looked as good as new, kinda like this

http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2008/09/12-year-old-mcdo...

I try not to eat anything that does not easily rot...

yeah, that's what he said. He used a double negation.

I try not to eat anything that does not easily rot.

Oatmeal and nuts are important exceptions to that rule.

Excellent ingredients minimally handled usually make for the best recipes.

This is the theory behind Italian cooking. The theory behind French cooking is that anything is edible with enough garlic and butter..

Yeah, for me, everything is edible enough with black pepper. My dad can eat anything with enough soy sauce, haha.

I have to say, dumplings are cheap and delicious also. Nutritious enough if you make seafood dumplings or vegetable dumplings.

Oatmeal is so delicious! I made a habit of keeping a container of oatmeal (bought in large bags from costco - no steel cut, but good enough) soaked in soy/cow milk in the refrigerator overnight. Serve cold the next morning with dried or fresh fruit or whatever else you might fancy (yes, it's muesli). For cold mornings, I'll go with hot oatmeal instead and steel cut, otherwise it's too much work to serve steel cut oats cold. It's a really flexible food with (what is to me) an infinite combination when it comes to toppings, and best of all it's cheap and nutritious.

The traditional way is this: soak in warm water overnight with a little vinegar, then warm it up the next morning slowly, serve with salt and a little butter. Delicious!

For a treat sometimes I have it with maple syrup and vanilla icecream...

"soy/cow milk"

I read that as "soy sauce or cow milk" the first time. Yuck.

Actually, you can use soy sauce and sesame oil to flavor Oatmeal, but then you are going for savory, not cinnamon/sweet. Most people wouldn't like that if you told them what it was, though. Flipping to savory from sweet or vice-versa grosses lots of people out.

Fresh fruit. Lots and lots and lots of it. Melon, citrus, grapes, berries in season, and IMHO, the hacker's 2 best friends: apples and bananas. Bananas are nature's perfect answer to your question, as long as they are ready to eat (brown spots) and not too soft yet. Freeze them for smoothies once they reach that point. I carry them everywhere and always have them on hand for long coding sessions. I eat little else besides fruit before dinner unless I have a lunch date.

Fruit is expensive, but forget about that. Pay for the best. The long term cost of feeding your brain and body suboptimal fuel is much higher.

No one I know can keep up with me. I believe diet is a major reason.

Generally speaking you only eat fruit from the time you wake up until you eat dinner?

Do you ever get the feeling you're getting too much sugar in your system from it? I'm not saying it contains too much sugar, because I don't know. I'm genuinely curious. Some days I'll brew up a smoothie for lunch which contains a ton of fruit, some oatmeal, milk and a nut butter; I really like it, but someone who knows way more about nutrition than me mentioned that it might have an unhealthy amount of sugar (I'm not adding any, she was just referring to the quantity of fruit).

"Do you ever get the feeling you're getting too much sugar in your system from it?"

No. I guess I forgot to mention 2 pretty important things: I exercise every day, usually before I eat anything, and I never eat anything else with fruit. Uncombined fruit is a very clean burning fuel; its sugar only becomes a problem when combined with other more slowly digested food.

"someone who knows way more about nutrition than me"

Sometimes I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

I'm no expert on nutrition, but I know that this guy is:

http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Live-Revolutionary-Formula-Sustain...

so (most of the time) I do what he says.

This is also my favorite programming book. You're not going to write much good code if you're not well.

Thanks for the reference to the book (written after eating an overflowing egg-salad sandwich). I probably need to check this out.

The obvious riposte is that I like vegetables. Tomatoes, Brussell Sprouts, Broccoli, Onions, Bok Choi, Cabbage, Lettuce, Scallions, Eggplant, Beans. Other Types of Beans. Spinach. Bean Sprouts.... Do I need to go on?

Edit: I left out potatoes, cucumbers, and mushrooms. ;-)

There are three primary aspects of a balanced diet to consider: (1) starches: in my experience, rice is the cheapest per calorie, when purchased in bulk. Other good choices in this category include pasta and barley. (2) vegetables: getting a variety of vegetables is important in one's diet; I typically get frozen, since I can't get to a supermarket often enough to get fresh. Note that vegetables should typically be either green or carrots to qualify; in particular, corn is a starch. (3) protein: your body can't function without consuming several amino acids you don't produce. My typical protein source is cheese, as this is cheaper per serving than meat. Also in this category are beans, soy, and tofu.

A typical meal where I live on the east coast (by which I mean, 80% of my lunches/dinners) consists of: $0.30 to $0.40 of pasta (1/3 to 2/5 of a pound, dry), $1.00 to $1.25 of vegetables (1/2 pound), $0.60 to $0.90 of cheese (2 to 3 servings), and occasionally seasonings.

Add in milk and cereal for breakfasts, plus costs of variations on this theme and occasional extras, and my monthly food budget works out to around $160.

Edited to indicate amounts associated with given costs.

Cheese has very little protein. The primary protein source in milk is Whey, and that's filtered out when making cheese.

Interesting, didn't know about Whey being filtered out.

But 7 grams in a 30 gram (1 oz) serving isn't too bad, right?

http://www74.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=cheese&a=*C.chees...

21 grams of protein compared with 23 grams in chicken http://www74.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=cheese+chicken

(edited to include comparison to chicken)

7 grams a serving is plenty of protein, as you've suggested.

Recommended daily protein intake depends upon a person's height and gender, as well as a few other factors that tend to have small effects. For most adults, the theoretically ideal amount will fall somewhere around 40 to 50g of protein per day, with less for shorter women and more for taller men. Getting less than this can cause severe problems due to amino acid deficiencies (particularly when you always consume the same general protein source and it doesn't contain significant quantities of one or more of the amino acids you don't produce on your own), as well as muscular atrophy (exacerbated rather than improved by exercise, as an insufficient protein intake will prevent the microtears in your muscles from healing properly). Getting significantly more than this increases stress on your kidneys (although it has not been shown to solely lead to kidney failure) due to the larger quantities of nitrogen present in protein than other forms of food.

Though if you ever make your own cheese, paneer, etc., you can cook with the whey. It's good in bread.

I'm not expecting you people looking for quick, healthy food to eat while working on your startup to take the time to make your own cheese, but I love to cook. Paneer doesn't take long, at least: ( http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Paneer-%28Indian-Cheese%29 )

Making your own bread isn't too time-intensive, though. It's just a few short steps over the day, and working dough with your hands after spending hours up in your mind can be a very grounding break.

Smoothie for breakfast (or any other meal). It's easy to digest and can be full of good nutritious stuff, so you get a nice boost of energy. And you can even drink it while coding.

I currently use: banana, frozen fruit, whey protein powder, greens powder, almond milk, water, and ice. No added sweetener needed. Just requires a blender and about two minutes to assemble ingredients.

One caveat: Depending on what you put into the smoothie, it might not be that inexpensive. But it's a great way to get fruit if you otherwise wouldn't eat any fruit during the day.

My morning smoothie is similar:

1 banana, frozen fruit (some form of berry, usually raspberries), 1/2 avacado, lots of soy milk (almond milk works too), couple spoonfuls of thick plain yogurt. I like adding a bit of protein powder, too, because it really makes the smoothie last until lunch.

The avocado sounds a bit weird, I know, but its what makes the smoothie, trust me. I don't use water or ice, unless I'm out of soy milk.

This is what got me through my startup. Don't skimp on step 3.

2 Cans of Whole Tomatoes 1 Can Lentils (or 1/2 cup dry lentils) 1 Large Onion (peeled) 5 Cloves Garlic (peeled 1 Cup Water Salt + Pepper Olive Oil Parmesan

1. Combine in a Large Pot: Tomatoes, Lentils, Whole Onion, Whole Garlic Cloves, Water. 2. Let simmer for about 45 min. When the middle of the Onion “pops” out or is very soft, the soup is ready. 3. Serve in Bowls, then… Drizzle Olive Oil and Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese on each serving. 4. Enjoy!

Monday:

   Breakfast: 8 Egg Whites Scrambled with a breast of chicken + 3 slices of cheese + 3 glasses of Orange Juice + 5 strawberries

   Lunch/Dinner: Protein Bar/Crackers

   Supper: 2 steaks with baby tomatoes + 3 glasses of OJ

Tuesday:

   Breakfast: 2 English Muffins + 2 slices of cheese + 2 Bratwurst sausages + 3 glasses of OJ + 5 strawberries

   Lunch/Dinner: Protein Bar/Crackers

   Supper: 6 pieces of beef tenderloin + coleslaw + 3 glasses of OJ

Wednesday:

   Breakfast: Pita bread with chicken breast/coleslaw/cheese + 3 glasses of OJ + 5 strawberries

   Lunch/Dinner: Protein Bar/Crackers

   Supper: 2 pieces of steak with green peppers + 3 glasses of V8 juice

Thursday:

   Breakfast: 8 egg whites scrambled with spam , 3 slices of cheese + 5 strawberries + 3 glasses of V8 juice

   Lunch/Dinner: Protein Bar/Crackers

   Supper: 2 pieces of chicken breast with radishes + 3 glasses of V8 juice

Friday:

   Breakfast: 2 English Muffins + 2 slices of cheese + 2 Bratwurst sausages + 3 glasses of V8 juice + 5 strawberries

   Lunch/Dinner: Protein Bar/Crackers

   Supper: 2 steaks with cucumbers + 3 glasses of V8 juice

Saturday:

   Breakfast: Build something out of whatever I have in the fridge(either scrambled eggs or muffins) + water

   Lunch/Dinner: Bar/Crackers

   Supper: Mince meat snacks with water.

Sunday:

   Breakfast: Protein Bar

   Lunch/Dinner: Protein Bar/Crackers

   Supper: 2 pieces of chicken breast with baby tomatoes + 3  glasses of OJ.

And I have an extra protein bar every day after exercise.

Cooking is a breeze, I just bought one of those indoor grills, so all my meat is grilled w/o worrying about it. The only time I use a frying a pan, is when I'm making scrambled eggs.

Damn. How big are you?

5'11, and my weight varies from 157-160lbs. I exercise every day for 1-1.5 hours(doing that p90x program), so I burn it off right away

Why so much protein?

Mostly because that's what the diet for the program has me pegged at for my weight

That much protein is insane! I guess if you're young and your kidneys can take it, more power to you. If you're worried about longevity, though, I'd swap out about 3/4 of that meat with rice.

The longest lived people, the Japanese get over 80% of their calories from carbohydrates, and over half from rice alone. They're also the thinnest of all economically developed people in the world and have low rates of heart disease.

Here in Taiwan, it's similar, but as the restaurant scene has become more Americanized, more and more young people are having those problems. All those steaks take a toll.

That "protein is bad for your kidneys" meme is a myth, the "research" was all funded by Kellogg's so people would switch from eggs for breakfast. Yes it is true that a high protein diet will exacerbate existing kidney disease, but a healthy adult drinking enough water per day will have no trouble at all with 1-1.5g/lb of bodyweight.

Interesting. Can you cite that point about Kellogg?

His book, "The Natural Diet of Man" started it, but his corporation perpetuated it.

From the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2007) 61, 575–581:

"higher intake of carbohydrates was associated with significant reduction of total mortality, whereas higher intake of protein was associated with nonsignificant increase of total mortality (per decile, mortality ratios 0.94 with 95% CI 0.89 –0.99, and 1.02 with 95% CI 0.98 –1.07 respectively). Even more predictive of higher mortality were high values of the additive low carbohydrate–high protein score (per 5 units, mortality ratio 1.22 with 95% CI 1.09 –to 1.36). Positive associations of this score were noted with respect to both cardiovascular and cancer mortality.

Conclusion:

Prolonged consumption of diets low in carbohydrates and high in protein is associated with an increase in total mortality."

http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v61/n5/abs/1602557a.html

Ben+Jerrys. Easy to eat from the tub while coding. Put some fruit in the bottom so it's "healthy".

Combine with a can of Mt.Dew and some pic'n'mix sweets to keep your sugar levels up.

I love ben and jerry's, but I'm also a huge fan of making my own ice cream. compared to ben and jerry's/haagen dazs/other "premium" ice cream brands, it's not much different in price, and homemade ice cream (and quiescently frozen confections and other such similar foods) has the fun twist of being able to easily add/change things to the ice cream recipe itself as you want, as opposed to waiting for that chunk of frozen solid store-bought ice cream to melt to edible softness then adding fruit in the bottom if you can even stand eating the ice cream in the first place. There's just something so satisfying and delicious about making your own that I only buy from the store when I can't make and store enough ice cream for a party.

Here's two of my favorite recipes from my favorite David Lebovitz (he has the BEST ice cream recipes, I swear...): One for the coffee lovers: an espresso granita affogato (!) - http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2007/11/espresso_grani...

One for the chocolate lovers: no-machine-required chocolate ice cream - http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2007/11/the_easiest_ch...

And one I discovered today that I'm sorely tempted to try: absinthe ice cream - http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2009/05/absinthe_ice_c...

Definitely - good points. My wife actually bought me an ice cream maker for the above reasons. Hoping to start using it soon and see what I can create :)

Just wait until you make ice cream for other people. I've had friends ask why my mint, pistachio, and strawberry ice creams (among other flavors) were nearly white except for the pistachio and strawberry bits they found, because they were probably expecting it to be colored. It actually creeps me out to think about all the extra ingredients that go into commercial ice cream. It also amuses me to no end that haagen dazs is selling a new line of ice cream promising "all natural" ice cream with "only five ingredients".

Anyway, off my soapbox. One great place to start is (in my opinion) Lebovitz's site, since he has a few good recipes and tips for making ice cream. There's also a ben and jerry's ice cream recipe book out there. And lastly, get ready to waste a lot of cream and eggs and sugar (in a good way), cause experimenting is fun and you'll want to for some exotic flavors.

Also, if you have a maker with bowls that need frozen before use, be prepared to learn how to make ice cream without it as well - they work, but sometimes you just don't want to wait that long :P

Are you serious? Ben and Jerrys, Mountain Dew and pic'n'mix are some of the most unhealthy things you could possibly choose to eat.

If I've missed the obvious irony, then sorry for the downvote.

I was just bored with all the "I eat beans, tofu and organic rice" replies.

If we weren't meant to eat Ice Cream by the tub, it wouldn't taste so damn good. It's science.

> Ben+Jerrys.

Yup. I keep mine right in between the soda can cozy (keeps it cool) and the ash tray.

Everything that follows is true.

A college friend of mine had an interesting take on food.

Breakfast 1: Egg in the Blender with some OJ. It's fast. It's cheap. Plus, you feel slightly nauseous all day and save money and lose weight!

Breakfast 2: Bowl of Grape Nuts. Eat quickly with lots of milk. It sticks to your ribs, it's fast, it's cheap. Plus, the Grape Nuts swell up in your stomach, so you feel all full and bloated so you save money and lose weight!

He also once went bonkers when his girlfriend broke up with him, took lots of LSD and ended up grinding his teeth in the asphalt of the middle of the road in the dead of winter in New England and had to be dragged back in the house by a bunch of guys. His reason: it felt really neat on his teeth! So as far as his advice goes, take it with caveats.

Is there a downside to feeling nauseous and bloated? Like, any particular health concerns that spring up when that's the strategy?

Well, a nausea-related downside to breakfast #1, is that you run a risk of dying from Salmonella.

From all the raw cookie dough I've eaten over the years, I'm convinced that I have built an immunity.

Nah, Salmonella in eggs is actually pretty rare. Plus few people would die from it even if they got it.

And if you are really worried you can get pasteurized raw eggs.

I guess about one person in every county in the US every year to be fairly rare. Pasteurized eggs sound like they would be more expensive. I suspect my friend was buying massive chicken-house raised eggs laid by birds with red glasses taped to their heads and hacked off beaks, pumped up with antibiotics and living in their own filth.

Bacterial food poisoning can lead to various long-term diseases. Look up Reactive Arthritis, and Guillian-Barre syndrome.

I speak from experience. Reactive Arthritis is not fun, and one can be genetically predisposed to it.

But, it is true that Salmonella in eggs is pretty rare. And given the string of recent outbreaks, you're perhaps more likely to get it from something else.

Unsalted nuts. They store really well. Walnuts in particular have plenty of calories but if you have too many in a day you'll be overloaded on omega-3, which will make your hands and feet swell painfully as pressure is applied; the blood vessels in them start breaking too readily.

So nuts aren't the bulk of my calories, but they help make everything else taste better.

"Healthy Foods for Under $1" was discussed a while back.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=414298

Here was my suggestion (sweet potato):

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=414398

While toying with the idea of going vegetarian (to see if it would affect energy levels), and just reducing intake of red meat as whole I have started using lentils in a lot of meals, especially in dhal and potato curries.

Seriously easiest and nicest meal possible. http://www.vegsoc.org.nz/recipe_070307.html For a quick dhal recipe. Quick to zap reheat and easy to eat in a mug at the desk.

During the week I mostly eat: egg whites, beans, frozen veggies, fresh veggies, almonds and blueberries. Sometimes I make chicken stir-fry. On Saturdays I eat whatever, usually going out, or to a BBQ, or to a friend's house. On Sunday morning I usually go out to brunch and then the rest of the day it's back to the basic stuff listed above. During the winter I often make turkey or lentil Chili. Most of it is pretty cheap except for the almonds and blueberries. However, I'm just feeding myself so it's still not that expensive.

I used to eat anything and everything but I found that too many carbs and cheese made me get fat, and "crash." Most meat makes me feel sluggish. I'd eat more fish if I had more confidence in my ability to prepare it.

edit: I also have a banana for breakfast. very cheap at Trader Joe's.

what's your preference: borrone's or hobees?

My name is deceptive, I don't actually live in Menlo Park. Brunch is usually at Zazie in Cole Valley.

The key with preparing fish is that, unlike meat, it doesn't change color when it is done. Instead, you want the fish to flake (this verb will make sense if you try it) when you run a fork along it "across the grain". If you aren't confident the first time, use a recipe to get a general sense of how long it should take, and overcook it slightly, then slowly work your way back (on successive attempts) until you reach a point where you are comfortable with how well done it gets.

Once you are used to how the fish cooks, consider different flavorings, such as orange or pineapple juice (pretty much everybody starts with lemon), and onions (many people add black pepper to fish, I personally can't stand the stuff).

Unless you live close to where fish are caught (not just the coast, but particular parts of the coast for different kinds of fish), the only cheap fish available will come in a can. However, if, unlike the OP, you aren't interested in the cheapest healthy food available you can make a decent fish fillet with a little practice.

Sometimes i cooked Chilli Con Carne. It's easy and last long. Healthy too. http://proven-great-and-simple-recipes.blogspot.com/

I put any "great and simple" recipes that i found in that blog. So, yes, i like your site idea. It definitely would be helpful for someone like me.

My three favorite hacker dishes:

Toasted ham, cheese, and grilled veggie sandwich. Dice up an onion, pepper, garlic, and whatever else you like. Heat a little oil in a fry pan for a few seconds, toss in veggie mix, stir while heating until the onions change color. Take off heat. Cut open the fresh french bread you bought earlier that day, add ham, cheese, and veggie mix, top with a sauce if you like it, heat in toaster oven until either the cheese melts or the bread ends up toasty (your call). Takes less than 15 minutes to make, cheap as sin, tastes great and is fairly healthy for you. (Alternative to sauce: splash some soy sauce on the veggies in their last five seconds in the pan.)

Or, get the cheap cuts of beef that no one in American uses for anything, grill them in the pan with your veggies (beef goes in last after the veggies are done), add a bit of soy sauce and stir, then serve over rice. Goes great with a fruit smoothie because it is VERY dry by itself. Again, 15 minutes or less.

Then there is tofu. Buy a small brick of it, dice, heat with a veggie/beef mixture as described above, serve over rice and garnish with salsa. (I'm told by my family that this recipe is the only way they have ever "tricked" their kids into eating tofu.)

I just bought chicken for 2$ per pound, while the bulk granola was 4.45$ per pound. I'm thinking they don't feed the chickens bulk granola.

Lean Cuisine, Oscar Meyer turkey dogs and Spicy Chile Chicken Cup of Noodles. Every other day I go get a tuna sub from Subway to get my fresh vegetables. For desert, Hershey Kisses with almonds or chocolate chip cookie from the grocery deli. And to drink, I make 1/4 cup orange juice with 3/4 cup soda water. It's a homemade Orangina but not nearly as sweet. And every other day I allow myself one coke. Breakfast is usually Kelloggs Mueslix or oatmeal.

I'm 48 and have been blessed with having never been sick. I exercise regularly also. This may not pass muster with a lot of you but I attribute my good health to a positive mental attitude. Something has to make up for my diet... :o)

the amount of time saved by having them cook it isn't always advantageous considering you have to drive there

Depends on where you live. There are 20 restaurants within 2 blocks of my house. Also, I don't own a car. Everyone's situation is different, but I'm pretty certain it's both cheaper and healthier for me to eat out than cook at home.

I use $1/minute for estimating my time value. The "cost" really comes down to taking a walk vs doing dishes. I like walks better.

Burritos at El Castillito are a personal favorite, even though it's a 4 block walk: http://www.yelp.com/biz/el-castillito-san-francisco-2

I hear ya. When I was in San Francisco, my car battery died all the time because I didn't drive enough. I loved walking.

I went in for a checkup once and my doctor asked me, "Do you exercise?" I said, "Not really." He said, "What do you do?" I said, "I walk to and from work everyday. It's two miles from Russian Hill to Market Street up and down a few hills."

He said, "I think you're doing fine."

Lebanese food: http://tasteofbeirut.com

If nothing else, it's really nice to have good olive oil and some za'atar on hand. It's an herb/spice/sesame seed blend that goes remarkably well with most kinds of bread, and you can usually get a big bag for a couple bucks.

I cook everything with fresh ingredients and I'm still able to eat decently. I usually either cook a form of soup noodles with 1 veggie & meat for around $2.50 or a form of spinach/fish/tomato/mushroom risotto for around $3.00 a meal. I buy my food from local asian grocery stores that usually half the price of similar foods bought at Safeway.

I use cheaper beef bones or chicken gizzards for broth, rice or basic noodles for staple starch.

Chinatowns are the least expensive places to find groceries anywhere I've been. I've shopped them in Oklahoma, San Francisco, Vancouver... The west has a lot to learn from the east...

I eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

The source of this slogan:

http://www.michaelpollan.com/indefense.php

Great book. Really informative read, and very convincing.

Bean stew (I use black):

Two cans beans one can diced tomatoes one onion other veggies? (bell peppers, etc)

bay leaf, spices, hot salsa (to taste).

Sautee onions/veggies Stew everything until it's the consistency you want (put it all in a pot).

For about $5-7 /pot which feeds about 4, it's pretty cheap.

Also, you can prep it and start everything stewing, and then just let it boil. Furthermore, it keeps really well, so you can just make a large batch and reheat it.

This one is my childhood favorite.

Tuna Casserole: 1 box elbow macaroni 1 can Bumble Bee solid white albacore tuna fish (5oz) 1 can DelMonte sweet peas (15oz) 1 can Nestle Carnation evaporated milk (12oz) 1 can Campbell's cream of mushroom soup (10.75oz) 1 heaping tablespoon Helman's mayonnaise

Boil and strain pasta, drain excess juices from pea and tuna cans, mix in all of the ingredients, dump into oven safe casserole dish, bake for ~45min @350 or until the top starts to get golden.

I listed specific brands since I've found that when using alternate brands the end result doesn't taste quite as good...

Also, you can put breadcrumbs or smashed up potato chips on the top of the casserole before baking to give it a bit of crunch if you want.

My cousin came up with a pretty good take on tuna casserole that substitutes corn and chopped red peppers in place of the peas. It's more of a Southwest Tuna Casserole.

A related thread from a while back - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=57538 . I've actually been doing PG's rice and beans recipe (with some changes and some other variation), and it's not so bad.

I think you might be right about the restaurants. While some of them serve food that tastes well, I doubt that many of them use the best ingredients. These days it is hard to tell, for example I think most take away restaurants serve microwaved food that was prepared in some factory.

Maybe we could set up some cooking circles for hackers, that is, take turns to cook. Everybody would be responsible for one day in the week. Might work in the bigger cities? I am in Berlin, if anybody is interested.

Cook some vegetables, including potatoes, in a pan with a bit of oil. Add miscellaneous spices. Add two beaten eggs as a binding agent. Stir for a little while to prevent scorching, then let the egg congeal. Sprinkle some cheese on top and fold the thing over, and let it sit for a minute or so. Then put it on a plate and eat it.

This combines cheap vegetables with some protein from the eggs, and is delicious and easy to make. Stick some on toast if you want to add grain to the meal.

One i recently discovered: cook some shell style pasta then add a small can of (possibly flavored) tuna. the heat of the pasta heats up the tuna. easy, cheap, good for you.

It depends on the day/week/season for me. For produce I try to buy what's fresh and in season that day at the market. Protein wise I usually go for what's on sale as that's a good way to stay out of a rut.

I haven't bought bread this year, if I want bread I make it. Much better tasting and really cheap.

For lunch today I'm making chicken tacos. Chicken breast was on sale and I have diced red onion, limes and queso fresco in the fridge so it was screaming tacos to me.

I love food, probably too much. My favorite things to prepare are:

- shrimp and asparagus gnocchi with basil

- pancetta-covered roasted beef tenderloin with wild mushrooms

- seafood and chicken paella

- mushroom, garlic and parmesan home-made pasta

- onion and porcini soup with gruyere-topped toast

- pizza with pesto, marinated artichokes and aged cheddar

- a garden fresh tomato sandwich with _really_ good bread

Life is too short to cut down on butter and garlic. And no, I'm not involved with a start-up right now :)

This is what is stocked at my office fridge:

- 20 cups of yogurt for $10 dollars at Ralphs.

- Nutrigrain bars

- delimeat (for lack of anything better, since i know i probably won't precook meat and bring it)

- precooked pasta

- shredded cheese and pasta sauce (for pasta)

- assorted nuts

- provalone cheese

- soy chocolate milk

- peanut butter / jelly

- bread

So basically i just eat meat/cheese/bread sandwiches or pb/j all day, and supplement that with yogurt snacks to curbe my hunger. Not the best, but it gets the job done.

Home cooked meals are for when i get home, and weekends.

For a quick snack or breakfast, I like having Applesauce (or apple slices) with fat-free cottage cheese. It's filling and easy to make.

I am interested in the bulk cooking phenomenon.

I have only recently started, so I cannot really comment on what recipes are best.

I found cooking in bulk leading to eating in bulk.

Actually, I think that spending some time cooking is a good distraction, and breaks are good for productivity.

As a rule of thumb, I always try to eat fruits in their season.

There must be a reason they appear in that specific period of the year, like a natural diet plan ;)

I love my wok.

Woks are fantastic! It's amazing the variety of tasty food that can be cooked with just a wok and a long-handled ladle. Stir-fry, braise, boil, whatever you like. Fast and easy.

A few words of warning, though: First, proper stir-fry technique requires a pretty intense heat source (think smelting furnace and you're not far off). Most American stoves won't do it unless you use a wok ring. Even then, it's hard. If you're using an electric range, um... good luck. I've heard that people have good luck with the self-contained electric wok kits, but YMMV.

Oh, and DO NOT BUY NONSTICK. Teflon starts to break down at the temperatures produced in wok cooking. Highly carcinogenic. :(

Other than that, enjoy! A good stir-fried meal only takes minutes to prepare and can be amazingly delicious. Cleanup is easy too, since you've only got one pot to deal with.

Years ago, my grandmother got one of those original hand hammered woks from china off an infomercial. It was shiny as a new nickel when she got it, but she never used it so she gave it to me.

Now it's black as night. I love it.

My main problem is smoke alarms. Thankfully I live in a small apartment with good ventilation/fans and a big patio door I can open. Heat, steam, etc don't do well with modern condos. And that's a problem.

the number one thing most people could benefit from: reduce sugar intake, increase fruit intake.

eat fruit with every meal, the chimpanzee diet is 50%+ fruit and our digestive tracts are identical. Every time you crave sweet drinks, fruit flavored treats...your body is asking for fruit.

Fresh. Organic. Veg. Seasonal. Less.

1. Everything must be fresh, especially fish, vegetables and fruits. Don't buy many, buy enough for one meal. Each time. Tomorrow it will be fresh delivery on market.

2. Do not overboil. There are two main rules in cooking - 'less heat' (less flame under your bowl and inside your head =) and 'just enough' (long boiling spoils everything - taste and goodness)

3. DRY - Do not repeat yourself. Do not try to eat the same dishes day after day. You will spoil all your effort. Even a pure caviar diet will finish you in no time.

4. Eat local and seasonal fish and vegetables.

5. Learn from the poor. I learned from Nepali and Tibetan people in Hymalayas. They have very smart aproach to cooking.

what approach?

don't you get lower pressure at high altitude, thus cooking takes longer ... or do i get it backward?

It is about pragmatic choices - what to cook and how to cook. The main idea - you can easily spoil usefulness of your dishes (in terms of gains to your health). Freshness is the key because of vitamins. Less boiling means keeping them and other useful ingredients from destruction. Combination of fresh, raw and cooked organic foods keeps them healthy in very hard nature conditions. Seasonal food means to eat what grows on the next hill instead of buying something from distant lands. And the last part is about keeping nothing for tomorrow - why to eat old and non fresh when you can make it from new fresh goods again.

If you live by the coast, you can try spear-fishing and you kill two birds with one stone: you exercise and you eat healthy food ;-)

I live by the coast and right now I can't even catch bait in a cast net. If I had to live off what I caught I would be starving.

My comment was tongue-in-cheek. Though spear-fishing is doubtlessly a great way of impressing the ladies, it requires a lot of technique and it can be lethal. If you live by the coast and the waves aren't too mean, something cool is kayak-fishing. I have tried and it's lots of fun. You paddle 500 meters offshore and lie there sunbathing on the kayak until some fish is dumb enough to bite the bait. Quite relaxing.

Interesting, our waves offshore are typically 3-4 feet. Is that doable? I could find some near shore/inshore areas with no waves but then the bugs will bite :)

Depends on what kind of kayak you have. My kayak would easily capsize so I would only take it to the ocean when it was flat. On non-flat days, it was also fun as one could try some harmless kayak-surfing and get wiped out countless times. Fun stuff.

It's pretty easy to eat healthily and fairly cheaply at a lot of by the pound supermarket buffets. It's faster than cooking, but not cheaper, though not so expensive.

Eating healthily is very simple: every meal should be a piece of meat/fish/egg, with varied vegetables and some whole fruit. Add nuts and cheese to taste. The most important aspect to eating well is simply to avoid starch and sugar: no potatoes, corn, baked goods, cereal, rice, or beans. Avoid soybean oil and other synthetic "vegetable" oils. You too can be ripped like me by following these simple rules. It's easy.

I make chili, curries, soups, stews..

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