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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   2741 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 26, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Anyone here with experience when it comes to meal-replacements?

I have, on a few occasions, tried various flavors of Huel:

  • It tastes like ass chalk.
  • A single bottle 500ml bottle is only 400 kcal, which is a fucking salad, not a meal as far as I'm concerned.
  • I can get a 12 pack for £42 on Amazon, which comes to a stupidly low 114 kcal/£. And that's just a nominal two days of consumption.

A diet of takeout, even something fancy, will almost certainly beat it on calories per unit of currency. I don't really see the point unless I'm traveling and don't want to deal with a "normal" snack. It's very much not a full meal either way.

Why do I even ask? I'm consumed with exam anxiety, my meds suppress my appetite, and I can't be arsed to cook right now (even if, in all honesty, it won't cut down into study time). Plus a moderate caloric deficit is something I don't mind, from a weight loss perspective, I just don't like getting stiffed on the calories I get. I would be happy getting 1800-2000 a day, which is about what I can reasonably continue for days/weeks without feeling like I'm starving.

In other words, can you think of something superior on metrics such as taste, price per calorie, which I can stock up on?

(Please don't suggest sticks of butter, pemmican or drinking cooking oil. I'm only human. If all else fails, it's McDonald's and their shakes that have calorie densities comparable to nuclear fission)

If we allow simple meals (inspired my the biryani benchmark) as meal-replacements, you could always peasant-maxx and just microwave potatoes.

Potatoes are very close to nutritionally complete when eaten with any kind of cheese or milk. Depending on how refined your taste in cheese is, it will knock restaurant/delivery biryani out of the water in terms of price per calorie. You can easily deal in total calories by adding butter.

peasant-maxx

My ancestors, including my dad, were born peasants. They tried very hard to ensure that I wouldn't grow up as one haha.

People ate better during the Irish famine! Well, minus the potatoes.

Then upgrade your cheese game! There's practically no limit on nobility variety, tastes and prices. Goes extremely well with potatoes, doesn't increase the complexity of preparation towards anything resembling "cooking", still nutritionally complete. And unless you actually dislike potatoes and/or cheese, it should be far more tasty than a can of Delicious Soylent Green (or it's modern successors).

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