Ask YC: What do bootstrappers eat for dinner?

[eventhough]

I quit my job a week ago and moved into an apartment with a friend to work on an idea full-time. I'm 23-years-old. I want to know, what do you guys eat for dinner?! How do you buy food when you have no income? When I was an earning man, I managed to get by with meals at the office, lean cuisines, and hummus. Now that I'm on my own I have to figure out everything for myself. We plan on making Costco runs about every two weeks and going to Safeway to get anything else we need. How do you guys survive?

[dehowell]

My favorite dirt cheap (but nutritious) dinner is mujadarrah.

1 1/2 c. lentils (rinsed) 3/4 c. rice (rinsed) 1 onion 6 Tbsp. olive oil

Slice the onion into 1/4 inch thick rings. Fry them in the oil over medium heat for 15 minutes. They'll be kind of ropy when they're done, at which point you should take them off the heat. While the onions are cooking, put the lentils and 1 quart of water in a medium to large saucepan over medium high heat. Get the water boiling and cook the lentils uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes. Once the lentils have started to soften up, add the rice, a little salt, and a lot of pepper. Reduce the heat to low and cover. Once the water is all absorbed, stir in the onions, let it cool for a minute or two, and dig in.

Definitely stay as close to raw ingredients as possible. I've lived out of two cookbooks for the last several years: - Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything" - Deborah Madison's "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone"

Learn to not be picky. Ramen may be cheap and taste sort of ok, but you need to take care of your body if you want a well functioning mind. Learn to love things like kale... cheap, available year round, VERY good for you. Boil it until tender and hit it with a little tabasco.

[NoBSWebDesign]

Definitely learn to cook. You will eat well and spend less. I will often spend $5 to cook a well-rounded meal that feeds me for dinner, lunch, and dinner again...

Just try not to get into an unspoken cooking competition with your roommate. Two months into the semester that my roommate and I decided to learn how to cook, we were spending $30 a meal at the grocery store, trying to outdo each other with dishes like Fillet Mignon with Caramelized Onions, and Grilled Swordfish. Don't do that. Stick to the basics.

[yzeli]

It's time to get to know your relatives better...eat dinner at their houses, they usually don't charge. Suprisingly, you can find meals at local eateries that may not be at all more than the ingredients, let along the additional costs of time, electricity, supplies, and wasted food, when you have to throw it away, at least at the beginning. So, get to know your relatives and your local food places (you'll easily find ~$3 filling meals, depending on COLA).

[bootload]

"... want to know, what do you guys eat for dinner?! How do you buy food when you have no income? When I was an earning man, I managed to get by with meals at the office, lean cuisines, and hummus. Now that I'm on my own I have to figure out everything for myself ..."

Food is somewhat like hacking. You have to have access to the raw ingredients, the right recipes & kit. Most important is practice. One of the things I've noticed that differs from hacking is cooking is very time sensitive. Timing is everything.

So here's a couple of hints:

- REFERENCE: find a good food reference ~ http://www.jamieoliver.com Jamie Oliver may not be to everyone's taste but he covers a good variety of tastes and communicates well.

- BUDGET: set a budget, stick to it.

- LISTS: create a shop list, don't deviate: fruit, vegetables, meat, rice, pasta, bread, nuts, oils then cheese should be at the top list.

- PURCHASING: shop at markets and look for fruit/veg in season, shop at supermarkets also but be aware of specials. Limit purchases of non-essentials and learn to spot in-season consumables. For meats & fish wait till the later part of the day when the prices go down.

- MEAT CUTS: learn how to make do with cheap meat cuts (but be inventive). In the restaurant trade the difference b/w mediocre and great chefs is the ability to make something good out of cheap meat cuts. Do the same.

- BREADS: make your own bread (flour + water + yeast + oil) Unless of course you can find a cheap baker. My baker bakes bread 30% under supermarket price ~ http://flickr.com/photos/bootload/543460411/ then http://flickr.com/photos/bootload/1005146072/

- NO WASTE: don't overcook, portion out servings to avoid waste

The most important thing is to get as close to raw ingredients as possible. Then cook yourself. Cook when you need, don't freeze. If you go for processed stuff you are going to pay. The pay-off is better food, cheaper food ~ http://flickr.com/photos/bootload/sets/72157600195801193/

Peasants always eat better. They just have to work harder at it :)

[michjeanty]

Regardless if you're bootstrapping, or get outside funding, an early startup should always bootstrap. Bootstrap to me is to spend every dollar bill like it was your last. Now, when you start a startup, you won't have time to cook (good way to save money, but not good way to save time), instead you can spend that time coding. Going to a restaurant is out of the window (way too expensive). The best way to save money, and save time is to buy pre-cooked food. I think noodle is the best in that case. I love noodles; just throw it in the microwave for 2 minutes, and it's ready. You can even eat it while you're coding. Trust me I've experienced it before. Noddle will save you time and money.

good luck!

[cperciva]

Most days, I eat whatever my parents cook.

Living in my parents' basement while I get tarsnap up and running is the best business decision I've ever made.