Well I'm a student and let's face it, I'm pretty broke most of the time.
Eating lots of food during a bulking phase can get pretty expensive! So
I was wondering if anybody has any ideas for cheap, high calorie meals.

My current favorites are, peanut-butter sandwiches (ahh peanuts, so cheap, tastey and calorie packed!:eat: ). Also pasta, made with a blended chickpea sauce, cheap and delicious. Add a chicken breast baked right in the sauce for added protein. And of course there's granola, great for breakfast. I buy it bulk and then add trail mix so it's not so boring.

I would definitely shop at a place like Sam's and stock pile on some of the more expensive items. You may not be able to eat the 'best' foods for a bulk, but you can definitely get by on a college students budget.

-Canned Tuna: Relatively cheap and is usually on sale for a good price.
-Oatmeal: Also relatively cheap and you can buy it in bulk for a good price. Very good Carb source as well ( I think steel Cut is a little cheaper )
Sam's also has bulk almonds as well as bulk chicken, salmon, and other fish. I also get their bulk GoLean Crunch, although it's not as good as the regular ( nutrition wise ) it is still a good choice.

Also, Skim Milk is relatively cheap as well and can provide another good source of protein. Yogurt, string cheese, and cottage cheese are also things you can eat.

I might have listed somethings you may not be able to eat due to storage or cooking limitations, but I hope this helps. :tucool:

OATS (repeated), potato's and powered milk.

That's cheap :)

I must say I am not a fan of pasta/granola/trail mix. These sound like fat+carb combos to me.

For bulk you want lean protein sources. Preferably red meat. Maybe not steak, but lean ground beef, beef roast, cube steak. You can buy chicken breasts (even frozen, those are cheaper). Canned tuna, canned salmon, sardines, nuts (almonds). I know you can buy frozen tuna steaks and mahi-mahi at sams (my mom had some). Frozen veggies: brocolli, asparagus, green beans. Dry goods like beans and brown rice. Fats like olive oil, grapeseed oil, safflower oil and coconut oil, you can buy a huge bottle, and it will last (basically) forever.

I think the theme above is dry/frozen/canned foods. Those last a long time, allowing you to get use out of them. For me, I used to buy fresh, but it would often spoil before I could eat it. This of course is a waste of precious money, so the above foods present value in keeping longer. Check out what your local bulk food store has frozen and canned. Read the labels to find what you can add to your diet, and whether it will help you to reach your nutrition goals or not.

You may want to supplement some carbs post workout (maltodextrin + dextrose, both very cheap). Whey protein is pretty cheap, if you buy it in bulk from a good vendor.

I eat most of the stuff listed above, I spend about $120 a week on food, but I am not trying to skimp. I think you could eat well and spend alot less than I do if you were so inclined.

Good luck.

OATS (repeated), potato's and powered milk.

That's cheap :)

Like NUCLEAR milk?

I've had my fair share of being broke all of the time as well!

I found that if I prioritized correctly, I could still purchase what at first seemed to be more expensive, healthy foods.

It simply meant:

* Not buying beer
* Not going to bars
* Not eating out

I'd basically pay my rent, utilities, car payment and car insurance, take what was left over and shop. Then, if I still had a bit, that was my play cash.

Jeremy


Well I'm a student and let's face it, I'm pretty broke most of the time.
Eating lots of food during a bulking phase can get pretty expensive! So
I was wondering if anybody has any ideas for cheap, high calorie meals.

My current favorites are, peanut-butter sandwiches (ahh peanuts, so cheap, tastey and calorie packed!:eat: ). Also pasta, made with a blended chickpea sauce, cheap and delicious. Add a chicken breast baked right in the sauce for added protein. And of course there's granola, great for breakfast. I buy it bulk and then add trail mix so it's not so boring.

Nutritionwise, beans are the best bang for your buck. Dry beans especially, but even the canned ones are pretty good value. Next on the list is eggs, then oats.

Try to buy foods as close to their natural state as you can. Then you're not paying for someone else's labor. Granola is even cheaper if you make it yourself rather than buying it in bulk. (Better for you too. They add all sorts of fat and sugar to the ready-made ones. I use this recipe (http://christmas.allrecipes.com/az/Granola.asp), but I replace some of the oats with oat bran, wheat bran, and flax seed, and I leave out the sugar.) Don't bother with boxed cereals, seasoning mixes, and dressings. Substitute with whole grains (steel cut oats, brown rice, barley, cracked wheat, etc.), bulk spices, and oil and lemon juice or vinegar. Whole grains are usually cheaper than bread and pasta (think about all the labor that has already gone into it).

I make vegetarian chili quite a lot from canned and frozen veggies. If you're not familiar with TVP, give it a try. I mix it in with all my ground meat dishes.

Soy nuts have more protein and less fat than almonds and are much cheaper.

We have a membership to a wholesale club, but we're not renewing this year, because I find that if I watch the grocery flyers carefully enough, I can get much better deals. (Buy what's on the front and back pages, and stuff your freezer with them.)

Keep in mind you don't NEED a high protein diet to gain muscle. (20% calories from protein is enough.) Carbs and fats are much cheaper than protein, so experiment with bringing your percentage down if you're comfortable with that.

Here's another great cheap meal:
take 1/2 C chickpeas (mash them if you like) and spoon them into half a whole wheat pita. Stuff in a bunch of spinach and sliced tomato. Make a sauce with a tablespoon of peanut butter, a tablespoon of lemon juice, a teaspoon of crushed garlic, and a few tablespoons of fat free yogurt.

There's also this thread (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=15235), where I said pretty much exactly the same thing. Lots of great advice from other people too.

I once went on "the 99 cent diet." Every thing you eat has to be 99 cents or less. It led to lots of value menu fast food. It doesn't work.

Like NUCLEAR milk?

Never heard of it.

Never heard of it.

Bad joke. You typo'd powered milk. Nuke powered, battery powered, gas powered...

Like I said, bad joke. Back to your regularly scheduled nutrition thread.