I have eaten food every day of my life, so I consider myself a professional. I am a foodie.

As a college student who works two jobs, I understand the hardships of having the time and money to make a good meal. Ramen noodles are a cheap “go to” staple for many college students.

Over my many meals I have gained much… knowledge of how to make a meal that’s fast, easy, and healthy for a reasonable price.

I hope, through my columns, you will join me as we get off the ramen together.

Speaking of noodles… what do you call a fake noodle? An IMPASTA!

Meanwhile, my meal planning begins with the weekly Kroger sales advertisement. I find the cheapest meats that I can make the most meals out of for a week.

This week, I managed to get three meals out of a ba

g of chicken and another three meals out of three pounds of beef. They will serve two people a week’s worth of dinners for under $30.00.

Yes, I know Ramen is sold in a 5-pack for $0.99, but for $30.00, I get six healthy and fulfilling dinner meals. One package of Ramen, depending on the flavoring, has 790mg of sodium per serving, and believe it or not – one package of ramen is two servings. The noodles alone have five different preservatives that identify as salt.

My three chicken meals consist of chicken fajitas, lemon chicken, and chicken noodle soup. Pinterest is a gold mine for easy and quick recipes on a budget, and some pins have budget-friendly meal plans ready for you.

I found a simple recipe on Pinterest for each of these quick and yummy dinners. Each meal uses two pieces of chicken. The fajita chicken gets sliced. The soup chicken gets chopped, and the lemon chicken gets slathered with lemon and thrown in the oven.

The three beef meals are tacos, stuffed peppers, and spaghetti. I cooked all of the meat and separated it into three portions and froze it. As I needed it, I filled the stuffed peppers, stuffed the tacos, and twirled the pasta with meat sauce.

After doing this for a week, I found it was a very inexpensive way to eat well, and still be the foodie that I am.

I will forever be a foodie. Now, I’ll just be a healthier foodie. However, if times get rough, we can always turn to ramen noodles!