Need advice for *simple*, healthy and frugal eating.

Cabbage - make cole slaw or similar - cabbage is cheap.... Sardines - buy ones from Portugal, packed in olive oil. Drain and mash up with Dijon mustard (or mustard of preference), spread on toast. Part of depression can be lifted with increase of Omega-3. The two items above are loaded with Omega-3, cheap, and (to me) tasty. FYI, I battled depression for a few years - was even hospitalized for it. Buy eggs that are listed with Omega-3 as well. Green leafy vegetables are good - so buy them if you see them on sale. Bokchoy is really good for you. Just stir fry it in a little oil, season with soy sauce. If you do not feel like eating, invite friends over for dinner or lunch...that will force you to cook & eat.

Good luck.

Get yourself a crockpot (slow cooker).

This is basically a real-world Wondrous Item. Put in shitty, cheap, tough meat, and out comes delicious, flavorful, tender meat. Put in a few pounds of pork (shouldn't be more than a couple dollars a pound), out comes holy-fuck-delicious pulled pork for sandwiches. Put in a bunch of vegetables, a 50 cent can of broth, some salt maybe, and whatever other leftovers you have sitting around, and you get cocksawesome soup/stew.

Also, potatoes are like $2 for five pounds and rice is good too.

EDIT: Oh yea, and a personal 2-quart slow cooker is about $20 on amazon.

Buy yourself a slow cooker (you can find them for under $20) and look up some recipes. Many recipes take little more effort than tossing stuff in and letting it sit overnight.

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tl;dr: brown rice and black beans: http://www.reddit.com/r/food/comments/b10rj/can_i_survive_on_a_diet_of_waterbreadbeansrice/c0kfb4g

With the rice, try to get brown rice in the cheapest, largest bag you can find. The brown rice has more nutrition than white rice.

With beans you cannot go wrong. I made some really great split pea soup yesterday from scratch, but you can make a pretty good split pea soup just with a bullion cube, water and a bag of split peas. Black beans are also nearly impossible to screw up. I literally take my spice cabinet and throw stuff in by smell (oh, this smells like it’d taste good). If you don’t have a spice cabinet, just get a thing of bullion (I suggest “Better Than Bullion” as even though its more expensive than regular bullion cubes, per-use it is actually quite a bit cheaper and its flippin delicious). You may want to pick up a thing of Goya Sazon depending on how you feel about MSG…as it will also make your taste buds dance. Navy beans make a delicious soup….mmm so many delicious beans…

Split peas are nice because they don’t take any soaking, you just cook them till they’re soft (I like them completely dissolved). My soup yesterday was some curry, turmeric, cumin, better than bullion, Adobo (salt, pepper, spice mix), two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, half an onion, half a bulb of garlic, one carrot, and a packet of goya sazon. I literally just chopped the veggies, threw everything in a pot with six cups of water and a whole bag of split peas (rinsed) and let it cook for an hour (bring to boil, then simmer with lid on). If its too thick, add water. Too thin…it’ll thicken as it cooks! Took maybe 10 to minutes to throw everything in a pan, an hour of cooking and presto I had numerous servings of a crazy nutritious and delicious meal, very very cheap.

Split peas have a TON of fiber and protein, as well as a lot of other vitamins. Black beans also are amazingly good for you, and delicious. I love making black bean soup (pretty much the same thing, just with soaking overnight and hotter spices) ladled over some brown rice…wonderful food. Beans and rice will see you through almost anything, last forever if kept cool and dry, are cheap and amazingly versatile (even if I just usually make soup cause I’m lazy)…dunno why folks don’t eat them more often!

Veggies...cabbage, collard greens, anything that is very nutritionally dense and reasonably inexpensive. I like collard greens with potatoes. Take them, boil them for five minutes, drain, fry in a pan with some garlic and olive oil for another five minutes, and then eat with some sliced potatoes that were also fried in garlic and olive oil. To eat healthy, go heavy on the greens and light on the potatoes and oil.

Peanut butter toast is also really good if you can find cheap whole wheat bread, which is usually next to impossible. I’m partial to Weis “Whole Grains” series. White bread is cheap but is also worthless, you might as well eat sugar and a multivitamin…

I love quinoa. It's nutty and delicious. A lot of people don't rinse it well enough or don't buy it pre-rinsed. The bitter coating on it is tenacious.

I recommend making a huge batch of quinoa. The first night it's good under stew or what-have-you. The next day toss it with cheese and spinach and spices and bake it. Just a good dose of onion powder, S&P is plenty if you're not comfortable with spicing. Also, if you can bring yourself to splurge a bit a smoked cheese is delicious in this dish.

I also back JB on the sardines. They are fabulous on toast with avocado. Lemon juice is a nice touch, but not necessary. They are also really high in calcium.

Stir fries are cheap and easy. Buy some sesame oil - it's not super cheap but a little goes a very long way. Chop some veggies and chicken or tofu and you can have a tasty hot meal in under 10 minutes, with lots of vitamins. Rice cooks perfectly in the microwave if you need starch.

Keeping with the asian theme, lots of chinese supermarkets sell noodles dirt cheap. Just make sure you grab some veggies too, because an all-carb diet is not good for body or moods.

I'm an athlete/grad student/vegan (don't let the last scare you off, just put bacon in everything I describe). What follows is what I eat every day. What's strange is that I've not gotten sick of any of it. Other foods, like squash, baked potatoes or chicken (once upon a time), I got sick of if eaten everyday... not so with these.

Grocery list: cans of tomatoes, lentils, split peas, quinoa, oatmeal, green onions, almond milk, extra firm tofu, bannana, peanut butter, seasonal veggies/fruits as sales come and go. Average about $40 per week.

Pantry: basil, garlic, sugar, salt, pepper, chili powder, olive oil.

My staple is the oatmeal. I eat it raw with almond milk, a banana cut up and dropped in, and sugar. I eat it a lot. It's breakfast and lunch. The percentage of my food consumption that is oatmeal is a lot but it's easy to get a crap ton of good calories for cheap this way. For what it's worth my energy level is fine.

Dinner is a base of the lentils, quinoa, or split peas, or amalgamation thereof. Saute tofu with garlic and salt/pepper after the carbs have been boiling for 15 minutes. Strain the base and dump it back in the stew pot. Dump in the tofu and add a can of tomatoes (diced, strained to get out most, not all, of juice). get all this stuff hot and eat away.

Eat the peanut butter as a snack... I like putting it on carrots.

Advantages to this system: lentils and split peas are cheaper than beans and take a lot longer to cook, better for you than rice or pasta. Quinoa has a complete protein, and gets some non-soy protein in the body.

Fun tip: for a meat sauce substitute put quinoa in pureed tomatos--thickens it up and the tomatoes overpower the flavor of the quinoa, something that's admittedly an acquired taste.

edit: if you can think ahead this well, steel cut oatmeal cooked in a slow cooker overnight is a good way to wake up to the smell of awesome.

So sorry to hear about what you're going through. Really, really sorry, pschart.

I've dealt with similar depresssion/no appetite/no energy, and here's what I ate: whole-grain bread; peanut butter; hummus (homemade); bananas; apples; yogurt; oatmeal. I kind of just ate that over and over for a long time. Bread alone was something I could always stomach, and there were days I ate it, with a little spread on top, three or four "meals" a day.

A healthier approach, if you can muster the energy:

• Make your own whole-grain bread. It is a mood-lifter, I am certain. "Look, I made bread! It smells good." This is the easiest recipe there is.
• Cook brown rice, maybe two dry cups at a time, in a big pot.
• Make some bean soup/stew. You said you have a crock pot, so use it, friend :) This Cuban-style black bean recipe sounds good with rice.
• Eat leafy greens like spinach, kale, and collards--you can throw chopped handfuls into a pot of beans. Eat broccoli, raw for ease. Eat avocados--try them just sliced on bread.

I hope you keep moving through this time as well as you can.

Be a little careful here. What you're asking for is a little like "Good, fast, cheap, pick all three". To eat well (and I don't mean $, I mean quality, health, etc.) generally requires either more money or more time. You might enjoy the latter; taking good care of yourself feels good, and when you soon make new friends, new lovers, being able to take care of them with food will be a blessing.

Try to think of eating, selecting, and preparing food as a part of a rich meaningful life, rather than as overhead to your "productivity". To put another way, have friends over for dinner AS your evening, rather than meeting for a quick bite before the movie. Cook together, laugh together, drink together... and let that be your night. It can be wonderful. You can even do this alone with your favorite record, a beer, and some nice food. But it's even nicer to use food to connect with people. Scientists know that we are happier when we are connected to things, even more than when we "accomplish" things.

Some more practical tips:

• buy in-season. Even heirloom tomatoes in-season are cheap. Eat what's around, not what you see on TV or in the recipe books.
• plan your meals around fresh vegetables; add starch on the side, like rice, grits, pasta, toast... but ON THE SIDE, in smaller quantities. Also, use meat as a flavoring, like chopped bacon or a single piece of sausage. Meat is expensive, but luckily some of the tastiest are the cheapest
• cut out soda. Right out. It's super expensive, adds zero nutrition, and probably will make you sick. Ditto for candy, etc
• break the rules once in a while, as a treat... celebrate eating, even if your celebration is gummy bears and dr. pepper

In college, I would make a big batch of pinto/black beans on Sunday, with onion, garlic, spices. Then, I'd have a pack of burrito-size tortillas, some salsa, and some cheese in the fridge. I could usually get 4-5 last-minute meals out of this.

(I've written variations on this theme several times on Reddit; look 'em up if you like. There is especially some stuff about learning to shop/cook.)

Sorry about your story; that sounds the worst. If this is at all helpful, write me and we can talk more.

As someone who has dealt with depression in the past, I'm seeing "I go to the grocery store, look at things and start crying then I just leave."

One of the hallmarks of depression is the inability to make a decision. Use times when you feel better to make decisions that you can carry out when you're feeling worse. Your brain power is what you have to conserve.

In this case, it's finding a few recipes you can eat and freeze. Make out the list, then go to the grocery store and go as quickly as possible, because you've already made the decisions.

I suggest soups and stews with bread or rice.

AND GET A NEW JOB! But you already knew that. :)

I would suggest you consider eating anti-depressants. Many of them are generics and can be had dirt cheap. It could help get you through the hard parts.

Good luck!

Cans of soup. Warm it up, done. They have quite a few healthy varieties out there, just double check sodium.

Apples, carrots, Yogurt, cold sandwiches. No cooking required.

Eggs, for any meal. Scramble them up, throw them in a pan and stir. Very little effort required, plus you can add some ham and cheese and make an omelet.

Microwaved burritos. They are not healthy, but when you're having a really bad day you'll appreciate how easy it is to make.

Pancakes.

Good luck. I've been making food as easily and with a few pans as possible for a while now, and you don't always have to sacrifice quality.

you need to start using your oven. Buy a ham or a complete chicken, give it a good rinse (to make it taste fresher) and cook it in a big pan with some water (enough water so that it doesn't dry up by the time you are done cooking. The water keeps the pan from getting ruined and, in the case of the chicken, turns into amazing broth. You will be paying about a dollar per pound (or less depending on where you live and the deals that you can get). Deli meat (even the cheapest prepackaged kind) costs at least 4x as much. Once you have a big pile of roasted meat you can make it into whatever. Slice it for sandwiches, make a soup, make an omlet, pizza, whatever.

The key to frugal living is buying and cooking in bulk.

Avoid white rice, white sugar, white bread, and white alcohol. Corn tortillas keep well if they are the kind sold as a dense stack. If you have a toaster then you can heat them up and spread some refried beans on them( canned or homemade) one stack of tortillas and two cans of beans has lasted me about a week ( of physical labor). Cheese and meat. NPR had a thing about processed meats this morning, how bad it is. Go for the giant chunk of beef. Cut it into portions and wrap it. No Saran wrap? Use walmart bags. The key is reducing exposure to air. It's true about the rice-poison thing but if you cool the rice quickly after cooking it keeps long enough. Hooray for crockpots! What broth to use??? Just put one of the aforementioned beefchunks in there with some random vegetables. You don't need no stinkin' broth! Just add water. And salt. And whatever else. Fancy salt is good. Table salt- meh. Canned fish and crackers makes a good snack after work. Hummus can be made in a blender in huge batches and you can do the zohan diet- put it on everything.

Lentils. Lentils are brilliant -- you can use them in any recipe that calls for mince meat (spaghetti bolognaise, meatloaf, cottage pie, sloppy joes etc), but they're way way cheaper and much kinder on the heart and digestive system!

Loads of fresh veg and fruit of a great variety of colours and textures is good for your health -- including mental health.

I also agree with finding some food blogs that you enjoy and following them -- they can bring great inspiration and get you excited about a meal, even when its a meal for one, or get you motivated to host a dinner party!!!

Some of my favourites are:

http://www.theppk.com/

This one is also quite yummy: http://www.veganmenu.blogspot.com/

For the more Gourmet cooks amongst us, two great ones are: http://www.veganculinaryexperience.com/ http://gtagged.gliving.com/, specifically: http://gliving.com/category/greenchefs/

Super easy breakfast sandwich: toast 1 or 2 slices of bread. Meanwhile, crack 1 egg into a coffee mug and scramble with fork. Microwave that for 45 seconds. Toast should be done, butter them. Egg should be done, scoop out of mug onto 1 toast. Add whatever you like... cheese, slice of ham, salt, pepper, Tabasco sauce, etc... Top with 2nd toast. Enjoy.

Best of luck to ya.

I love raw veggies, especially when I don't feel like cooking. Try to always keep some on hand that you can eat raw. Lettuce, spinach, bell peppers, broccoli, carrots, celery, wander around the produce section and grab whatever looks good.

Get some 2-4 servings portions of meat and cook it. A package of whatever chicken parts you like, beef, or pork are good. Cook, cut up, eat a portion and eat the rest at later meals. Combine with the veggies, cooked or raw, and have a nice meal.

I like steel cut oats. You have a couple of options here: cook a big batch once a week and portion out, or use the overnight method. You said you don't like the microwave, so the overnight method is probably better. Bring a serving to boil the night before, then stick in the fridge until breakfast. Reheat on the stove and add stuff you like to it, fruit, spices, milk, whatever.

If you have a rice cooker with a porridge setting, there are whole recipe books dedicated to making thrifty meals - they are often contributed to by college students living in dorms on a limited budget.

I've gone through depression myself. I remember being in a place where cooking for myself seemed like a huge waste of time. Please don't give up. You're worth fighting for. Here are some of the things I started doing once I started getting my energy up - when I was still fighting the urge to just buy another TV dinner and be done with it - or, at the worst point and just before I went on medication, when I would simply pop a couple of bags of microwave popcorn, grab three cans of soda, and climb into bed after work.

God, that's a horrible flashback. Anyway.

Fish. Whether this is 'inexpensive' or not is of course going to depend largely on where you live. I'm fortunate enough to live right by the ocean, so we have a lot of variety here, and it's pretty inexpensive. Fish cooks very quickly, and can be cooked in a ridiculously wide variety of ways. One of my favorites was to buy a couple of salmon fillets, rub them with oil, then add salt, pepper, parsley, and a drizzle of honey. 9-12 minutes in the oven at 350 and I was eating one of the most delicious things I've ever put in my mouth. With the fish, I'd generally throw some rice on - you can go for brown rice, but I gotta admit I'm picky - converted rice is my favorite. I don't know if all brands are like this, or if I was lucky, but I just happened to pick up a brand that doesn't even require you to measure out the water. Fill it up to about two inches above the rice, cook for 15 minutes, and you have moisty, fluffy rice. Amazing. Plus of course, it's cheap, and can be mixed with a LOT of different things for different effects. If I was tired I'd pull out some frozen veggies and microwave those for my 'greens', if I had any energy I'd pull out some fresh vegetables and steam them with baby potatoes instead of the rice. For fruits and veggies, if you have any upick type farms around, I'd HIGHLY suggest trying one out. Not only can they be a lot cheaper, but if you pick a nice day, you can get the side benefit of the fresh air and sunshine, which can really be a big help with depression.

I also recently read that pork loin is actually a very healthy choice - I haven't had a chance to try it out yet but I spotted it at our local Ridiculously Oversized Walmart for $10 for 2 .. uh.. loins? And I've spotted a lot of preparation methods online. Really, really need to get around to trying some...

I wish I could suggest more, but the only other thing I'd like to say is, please find a support group, either online or IRL. I stumbled across a website that supported depression by accident, signed up to talk about something that was bothering me at a specific time in my life, and with their help discovered I'd been living with depression for - well, pretty much my entire life without ever knowing it. Support is vitally important, and with this kind of thing, you really, really need people who know what you are going through. Good luck!

I've been in the same boat.

What I did was started going to wal-mart. I don't know if you have a nice one near you but if you do, go there every Sunday and buy one loaf of Orowheat bread, one package of cheese (whatever you like under 3$), one large package of deli meat (there's some that are under 4$ and give you almost 30 slices), get 2 79 cent gallons of water, 2 salads of your choice, and a couple avacados.

This comes out to less than 30$ a week and you have go to sandwiches for whenever you're hungry or need to eat. Just use the lettuce from the salad packages to make the sandwhich more healthy and when you need more than that, add the avacado. You can get condiments for free at any fast food establishment. Making sandwiches is not only really easy, but eventually becomes kinda fun.

For your second trip, go to Trader Joe's (if you have one where you live) and get 3 wraps of your choosing (each wrap is about 3.99). Then get one or two frozen dinners. The frozen dinners they have are delicious, cheap, healthy and very easy to make. This will come out to 20$.

Now you have a weeks worth of go to food that's quick and easy, or already prepared for under 50$ a week. If you want to make excuses for not having enough effort to make a sandwich, then eat a wrap. If you don't want a sandwich but you have effort then make a frozen dinner.

I have done this for about 2+ years and my grocery bill is always 200$ a month. Most people spend 200$ in one trip! As a bachelor it is key for you to eat consistently and easily so you can focus on everything else and get your life back together.

Just remember that there's a bunch of people going through the same thing and if they can do it, so can you.