I've never done a deadlift before, so I don't really know how much I could do, or how difficult it is. I do mostly negative reps, such as weighted dips, concentration curls, and skull crushers with dumbbells. They are very safe and easy to do negatives with even without a spotter. At least in the studies I've seen, negative reps are significantly more effect at increasing strength than positive reps are.
As far as nutrition goes, protein powders are always a quick and easy source of protein, and they come in a variety of flavors. They're also pretty cheap. Even some of the higher quality brands only cost ~$.40 for a single serving of 25g. I have a bowl of whey powder, rolled oats, and milk every morning as soon as I wake up.
I also make my own protein bars with it and take them to work for lunch, along with some vegetables, such as spinach, peppers, or cucumbers. The bars are just protein power, eggs, bananas (since the protein power was banana flavored also), and rolled oats. Bake for 30-40 minutes. The bars have about 30g of protein and 30g of carbs, and 2-3g of fat from the eggs, which is ~400 calories. I think I calculated the cost was about $.70 cents a bar. They're much better quality, and much cheaper, than anything you'll find in the store. The downside is they need to be kept frozen until the week you're going to eat them, and refrigerated until the day you're going to eat them. I accidentally left one out for a week once, it turned from the original light tan color to a fuzzy dark green and light blue color.
For vitamins and minerals, anything you can put lots of vegetables on is good. Spaghetti is one of my favorites. You can make a huge pot of sauce, cut up a bunch of onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, spinach and put them in there along with some lean ground beef and you're good for a week. The sauce should be fairly dark because of all the green vegetables. After you've made the sauce, all you need to do is reheat some along with some spaghetti and you're ready to eat in ~15 minutes. Whole wheat spaghetti is a bit more expensive, but only ~$.06 more per serving, so it's worth it in my opinion.
Beef and cheese sandwiches are really good too. Just take some roast beef, or another meat if you prefer, throw it in a frying pan with lots of onions, peppers, some cheese, and fry it. Add some sauce if you like, I like A1 style sauce, then throw it on a bun and you're done. Only takes ~10 minutes.
Pizza is another good choice. You can pile tons of vegetables on it and it will still taste great. I prefer to make it myself with whole grain crust, but if I'm short on time I will just use a store-bought pizza and throw a bunch of vegetables on it. Pizza is easy to reheat as well, so you can always make more and save it for later.
I'm not a very picky eater, so I tend to just eat the same thing over, and over, and over. I think I've had spaghetti pretty much everyday for the last three weeks. I know some people that would probably say "Spaghetti? No, thanks I had that last month", but eating the same thing over and over doesn't bother me. Hopefully you're not a picky eater, because picky eating and weight lifting don't mix too well. Not only is eating the same thing every day convenient and cheap, but makes it really easy to make sure you're not eating too much or too little. Proper nutrition makes a whole world of difference.
