Flavor does not matter, presentation does not matter but the food shouldn’t make you sick, and should ideally have enough calories per day for the average person to survive (2000 kcal min).
Edit: I am not in any danger of starving or malnutrition, nor am I insolvent. I’m mainly asking this question out of curiosity on how people would approach a solution :)
SNAP.
…but for real, fortified short-grain rice, and dried beans are probably single best bang-for-buck you’re gonna find. Mix in whatever’s on the clearance wrack or provided by things like food pantries, and you should have no issues keeping yourself fed. Won’t always be good, but it’ll be dirt cheap.
Makes sense - I always heard of the ol’ rice and beans combo. I was just thinking in terms of avoiding things like vitamin deficiencies - I’m trying to think this from a desert island or fixed shopping price POV.
Not necessarily just rice. The thing is that both beans and cereals contain protein, but each has only some of the essential amino acids, while human body consumes these acids in a particular proportion. Well whaddayaknow, beans and cereals in combination have all of those acids, complementing each other. So wheat or other cereals also work instead of rice.
They even have about 10% protein, which is on par with sausages and such.
For the rice, look specifically for “fortified” - it has things like vitamins added in. From there, unless you want to actually track your micro and macro nutrients, your best bet is to just shoot for a good variety, and that’s where things like food pantries will shine, cuz (for most of them at least) their inventory will be changing constantly, so it’ll force you to try things you wouldn’t normally have the desire or financial access to.
This is assuming your local area has food pantries - you’ll have some homework to do to find those kinds of resources. Also look into langar kitchens if there are any Sikh churches near you. I’ve never been to one, but heard nothing but good things.
the fuck is this all ai
…I mean…