Food

You'll do best with semi-vegetarian options (for the most part). E. g. peanut butter (but watch the sugar content), beans and rice, and eggs when they're on sale.

I think of $200. as a lot.

Consider making fish cakes (potatoes and canned fish and mayo or whatever.
Tuna and celery salad. Cornbread made with corn niblets included, and spices. Pasta fagioli - pasta with a kind of bean mash. Homemade hummus on toast (hummus made by cooking ceci beans (garbanzos) and adding some tahini). Salad made with cooked Quinoa or Farro plus greens and stuff.
I make ricotta tarts - ricotta/eggs/spices/vegetables in an olive oil dough.
Saute some fish.. add salad.

In other words, learn how to cook..

I could go on - make some pasties/little pies/also known as empanadas. Make up a batch of burritos, filling of your choice including possibly scrambled eggs, bits of sausage.

Thank you for the food ideas it was very helpful! I know how to cook and do so but am really sick of what I am eating (I eat almost the same thing every night for dinner: Chicken with kung pao sauce and rice or eggs and rice). I have resorted to eating oatmeal for breakfast and lunch which definitely is not balanced. I also do not have a lot of time since I work and go to school so I like to cook something easy when I do. I consider $200 a small budget for food from my perspective. It's probably because I work out a lot though (7 days per week and 1 hour and 30 minutes per day, cardio and some weights). I also have a part-time job to cover my food and rent since I am still in college. I was eating way too many calories at first (3000-3500/day) and so I was going through my groceries too quickly. I have since cut it down to about 2000 calories though, so that should save me money. According to the chart at this link "Monthly Cost/USDA Food Plans September 2014," I am on the low cost plan, according to this chart: Edit [Moderator]: Link removed. Thanks I will start shopping for the food ideas you have given me.

Beans and rice sounds good. Thanks!

I'm sorry that I forgot that you don't eat pasta.

this inspired me to look up something involving tuna/mash/cannellini

I'm going to put some leftover garlic alfredo mashed taters into this

http://imcountingufoz.com/blog/recipe-tuna-and-canellini-bean-burgers-2394


1 400g tin of cannellini beans in water
1 200g tin of tuna.
1 tbs sunflower oil (or any flavourless oil)
1 courgette (zucchini), grated
1 spring onion (scallion), chopped.
1 egg, beaten.
half a teaspoon of paprika
a good pinch of salt and pepper