I've lived in barracks with a microwave and fridge my whole adult life, UNTIL NOW...

i've lived in barracks with a microwave and fridge my whole adult life, UNTIL NOW. finally got a place of my own and have all the nice appliances, and i've got a decent amount of kitchenware and utensils now.

i have money but i want to eat cheaply after eating out at least once a day every day for the past 2 years. i'm prepared to put in the effort, or at least right now i am, maybe i'll get bored later, but i don't know what the hell i'm doing. when you guys say "just eat rice and beans lol", how do you pull that off? do you buy those bags of beans and make it the same way you make rice? what beans? and what rice? how do you much it not taste bland? thanks for any help

jasmine is a good type of white rice. its typically used in asian restaurants.

getting a plug-in rice cooker helps. has instructions on how much water to add. btw youre supposed to rinse uncooked rice until most of the starch comes off. otherwise it tends to bubble up and spit out of the cooker.

chicken is a great source of inexpensive and versatile, healthy meat. chicken thighs are a value buy and taste fine imo.

check the sodium levels of stuff you cook with.

thank you for the advice, also brings up another question of mine. i've heard both sides of the wash/don't wash argument for rice on this board, have any professional chefs ever weighed in on that topic?

not sure. all i know is that i wash it to avoid a mess during the cooking process. as far as how it affects texture, flavor, whatever else, no idea.

Canned low sodium black beans, Basmanti rice. And I'll shred a couple sweet potatoes and add it to the rice if not feeling lazy

When it's said "just eat rice and beans" it's being said because user just asked "how can I live off of xx money for a month?" You can eat pretty well if you spend $40 or $50 a week on groceries (about what you would spend for 1 meal a day if the meal was cheap.) Best advice is to find some recipes that sound good and then purchase ingredients to make said recipe. (Make enough for 2+ helpings to make it worth the effort.) If you don't like it don't make it again.

Chop some onions and garlic, sautée them with a bit of oil, add beans, paprika, oregano, and bay leaves, add beans, some stock, let it cook for 1-2 hours or so.
Serve next to some rice.
Wa la
Any kind of rice is fine. Brown rice is cheaper than white rice, by the way.
By the way, lighter-colored beans usually need more seasonings since they lack flavor, whereas darker-colored beans need very moderate amounts of seasonings, since they're much heavier in terms of flavor. Don't forget to soak your beans for at least 6 hours before cooking them.

When I was in college I decided to make something cheap, but it actually turned out really good considering:
I made rice (short grain, but jasmine's fine) and red beans and a whitefish mix
So, with the rice, I used rice wine vinegar and Aji Mirin (or sugar if you don't have aji mirin). This makes sushi rice; I used a bit more than was really called for because I added a cup of red beans and some flaked fish. It looked like OP pic, but with fish.
The flavor was amazing and I'd consider it a super food because of the carb/protien/sugars.

Basmati rice. For extra flavor, cook it in chicken stock instead of water. Or you can make a pilaf by browning the rice in butter first, and adding some diced onion, peas, and carrots.

Make yourself some navy beans and ham. That's cheap, easy, and tasty as fuck.

forget rice and beans
eat beans and bread.