#Healthy meals on a budget cracked#
#Healthy meals on a budget upgrade#

Just fry up the pork mince and chopped onions with peanut oil, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, peanuts and whatever else you can spot on the free food shelf then spoon it into the lettuce leaves. The lettuce becomes the wrap in this Chinese favourite, which is another zero-effort dish.

San choy bau You need: 500gm of pork mince ($5.50), two heads of butter lettuce ($4.00), one white onion ($0.30), stacks of stuff you can pilfer off the share shelf (free).

Throw in tuna or mayonnaise or chicken or avocado or ham or whatever else floats your boat (and fits into your budget), too. Total cost: $11.25Īdd all this to your shopping trolley and you’ll have easily enough food to fill up two people for both lunch and dinner – not bad for a tick over ten bucks.

Salad wraps You need: Eight-pack of tortillas ($2.25), tub of hommus ($2.00), head of iceberg lettuce ($3.50), two tomatoes ($1.20), one green capsicum ($1.70), one Lebanese cucumber ($0.60).

Add chickpeas, spinach or coriander if you’re feeling fancy.

#Healthy meals on a budget cracked#

Whip up a sauce out of the crushed tomatoes, onion and whatever garlic, paprika and chilli flakes you can find on the share shelf, pop it in a ceramic bowl or baking dish with the cracked eggs on top, and leave your meal in an 180☌ oven for about 15 minutes until the egg white sets. Baked eggs You need: Six eggs ($2.80), 400gm can of crushed tomatoes ($1.20), one brown onion ($0.30).Add whatever veggies you like but mum will be happy if you’re eating your broccoli. Gotta love a meal you can just toss together in a pan, especially if you can save a few bucks on the sauce by cobbling together a mixture of soy sauce, peanut oil, ginger and garlic off the share shelf. Chicken stir fry You need: 500gm of chicken thigh fillet ($7.00), stir fry sauce ($3.00), 200gm bunch of broccoli ($1.10), 100gm of mushrooms ($1.20), one brown onion ($0.30).Toss it in a big bowl with crumbled feta, diced cucumber and a squeeze of lemon for a filling no-frills feed.

You know a recipe’s easy when the hardest step is boiling couscous for five minutes. Couscous salad You need: 500gm packet of couscous ($1.75), one packet of fetta cheese ($3.00), one continental cucumber ($2.00), one lemon ($0.80).

#Healthy meals on a budget upgrade#

Upgrade your boring old rice and beans by adding diced tomatoes, onions and cheese, as well as avocado if you can afford one, coriander if you can stand the taste, and chilli sauce if you can find some on the hostel kitchen share shelf.

Burrito bowl You need: 440gm can of black beans ($0.75), two tomatoes ($1.20), one red onion ($0.30), one avocado ($3.00), grated cheese ($2.00), sauce and rice (free food shelf).