[RustyShackleford]

I have had very little experience shopping/cooking my own meals or cooking for others as I had a single mother who did it all growing up, and a steady girlfriend the past 2 years who cooked lots for me. I started to feel a lack of independence in being able to control my own nutrition, and I've gone off sugar drinks/fast food, but I want to be able to learn some easy to make, nutritious and affordable meals.

I've gone onto r/Cheap_Meals and r/Frugal skimming for advice, but I am curious what you guys do for food.

I've found wraps to be easy and nutritious, but I eat a lot (especially since starting to work out) so they were a little small. I am trying to cook lots of rice/quinoa but being white I don't have a great deal of experience with it. I love yogurt/granola too, its easy to make and nutritious, but difficult to take out of the home.

[dog24]

I hope this is not a troll thread. Anyway ive been cooking for myself for like 5 years. I dont know if other people would pay money to eat my food but i havent heard anyone complain yet. So breakfast: milk, precooked oats, boiled eggs, bread, fruits no need to cook at all. Lunch: you can make pasta just boil some water throw the pasta in wait till its done, add some prefabricated tomato sauce with cheese and done. If you want rice the same boil water throw rice remove water once its done, i usually eat rice with chicken breast or meat. You can put the meat in the oven or fry it, easy. Add mustard to the chicken with some soy sauce done. Maybe add some veggies, cut some tomatoes, onions you could make potatoes instead of rice too. Making pizza or hambuger should be self explanatory. For dinner same as lunch. I dont know why i feel like this is asking someone how to change the lightbulb in my bathroom.

[WesternCancer]

get a rice cooker and a slow cooker.

rice cookers = throw 1 cup rice in with 2 cups water and turn on
slow cooker = throw a bunch of shit in and leave it on for a while

I really love trying new recipes, but most of the time I keep it pretty simple.

I choose a protein. If its fatty I'll get it nice and crispy, if its not I'll usually cook it slower/in liquid.

Then I choose a carb. I usually won't eat carbs with something fatty ie. ribs, chicken thighs etc. with stewed stuff rice or quinoa so I can dump it over. Most of the time I'll fry my potatoes with meat.

Then I choose some vegetables. Basically individual preference, but you'll get thehang of what goes with what and how to cook it.

Now comes spices.I like to have a few different go to spice combos -- in brackets: (garlic, butter, thyme, onions, bacon) or (cumin, chili powder, chipotle) or (some kind of stir fry sauce, orange, ginger, soy sauce) or (korean hotpepper paste, sesame seed oil, soy sauce, garlic) or (curry powder, coriander or various curry pastes)

pick one of those, chuck it on top of the shit you just fried up and you can't really go wrong.

sample meal 1:
- 1lb ground beef
- 1-2 potatoes
- cabbage/onions/garlic
- steak spice
- (optional) eggs on top

sample meal 2:
- 1lb pork (I like ground pork)
- all the veggies ever
- stir fry sauce, soy sauce, ginger, orange, garlic etc
- on top of rice.

when you get more advanced you can explore and create some dope things. the other day I made a delicious ass carbonara:

- sundried tomato + basil marinated chicken breasts (grilled)
- pasta
- garlic, fresh basil, chili pepper
- egg
- coconut milk

Mix a bit of coconut milk with an egg and dump over freshly cooked pasta (and fried up garlic etc), stir around and put in chicken. garnish with fresh basil.

Fuckin delicious.

[StealthAlpha]

Buy some soylent.

[RustyShackleford]

Thanks guys. I just felt I was putting too much effort into cooking for too little output, I want to be more efficient. I also have NO idea what to do with spices/combos (thanks Western). Some things we take for granted, such as changing a home page in a browser, or people even understanding there are different browsers for the internet. I was never shown how to cook or what to do with things, other than simply frying/cutting up vegetables. I have just been cooking eggs/making sandwiches and wraps. Trying to put on weight (6'1, 170 lbs)

[kosko]

(07-14-2013 10:02 PM)RustyShackleford Wrote:  

I have had very little experience shopping/cooking my own meals or cooking for others as I had a single mother who did it all growing up, and a steady girlfriend the past 2 years who cooked lots for me. I started to feel a lack of independence in being able to control my own nutrition, and I've gone off sugar drinks/fast food, but I want to be able to learn some easy to make, nutritious and affordable meals.

I've gone onto r/Cheap_Meals and r/Frugal skimming for advice, but I am curious what you guys do for food.

I've found wraps to be easy and nutritious, but I eat a lot (especially since starting to work out) so they were a little small. I am trying to cook lots of rice/quinoa but being white I don't have a great deal of experience with it. I love yogurt/granola too, its easy to make and nutritious, but difficult to take out of the home.

First figure out what is more of a need:

Time?

OR

Price?

If you lack time but have some resources you can take one route.

If its price and ability your chasing then you take another route.

If your short on funds you have to find the time to prep your meals. If it means taking a Sunday to do so, or waking up earlier/staying up a bit later to prep meals you have to do it. If you have resources then you can put in place ready-made meal options that are healthy and filling.

A good starting point is investing in things that make cooking your own meals more easy. Stuff like a rice cooker, good oven pans, toaster oven, slow cooker, etc.

If you like wraps for example then roast a whole chicken or a bunch of breast/thighs, take the meat of the bone and then use that chicken for wraps and meals for the week (I will soak a chicken in buttermilk & spices overnight, roast on a Sunday, store the meat for the week. The buttermilk keeps the meat moist). While your roasting the chicken have Potatoes roasting in the oven also, you can 'bake' sweet potatoes in the microwave which is also fast. Find a Mexican grocer and look for the massive corn/flour wraps that the burrito places use. I find the ones in the store to small, so I got to a Latin shop and get the massive one and make big 2lbs burritos with them that are bricks.

Start experimenting with foods that you like. Google simple recipes and try them out. I like pasta a lot so I have a arsenal of recipes I use to make pasta with. I always keep some pesto in the fridge if I need something really quick (meat, pesto, spinach.. that's it). Lock down one type/style of cooking. I make a lot of Asian food so I have Asian staples and condiments always stocked up and can make stir frys and stuff very quickly if needed. If you like meat and potatoes type food.. keep those stocked, Italian, etc. The advantage of this is you will get comfy in time that you can whip things up on the fly that taste good and its good to impress people with if you have to cook for others. I can make Asian food that is good enough that my Chinese friends will give me props on it for.

When your shopping for stuff keep staples that don't go bad stocked up. Frozen veggies work better for me so I buy more of those versus fresh. I eat a lot of rice so I get the big bags of good quality for cheap when they are on sale, I get the 10lb bags of potatoes and store them well so they keep longer, etc.

And speaking of Rice -- get a Rice cooker. I haven't cooked rice on a stove in 2 years and I don't even remember how to do so. I lived of one exclusively for months, these things are amazing. You don't need the fancy high-end ones either, just get a step above the budget Wal-mart brand shit like a Black & Decker and your good. When you cook a big batch it will keep in the fridge for a while. 5-6 days it will still re-heat well, cold rice works better for fried-rice and stir frys also.

Buy meat in bulk, your setting one day a week (if possible) to prep/cook your meals. Buy pork loins, whole chickens/ large quantity of chicken parts, beef roasts, value packs of ground beef and do the simple task of dividing them up into meal portions. I will buy a bulk pack of ground beef and divide them up into 1-1/2 lb portions and freeze them separate wrapped in clingwrap. The advantage is that you don't make the rookie mistake of forgetting and freezing a kilo of ground beef and having to cook it up all at once and having way to much for you to eat before getting bored of it and it spoiling.

A hamburger is a simple meal -- cold ground meat, throw some garlic, rosemary, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper. Form into big patties as flat as you can, salt the outsides (no salt inside the burger!), and fry them up. I can make burgers in 20 mins or less now, it has become a quick staple meal for me lately.

And speaking of meats -- get a slow cooker. This tool will be your lifesaver as you can set meals at night and have stuff like chilli and stew ready for you in the AM. Set a small batch of rice in the rice cooker while you shower if you forgot to have some cooked in the fridge. Nuke some frozen veggies for 5 mins -- You got a full meal right there.

Ethinc people are your friend:They always eat cheap and refuse to pay top dollar for their staples. Learn to take away stuff you like from different parts of the world, you will find something you like from everywhere guaranteed. I like curries and they are cheap to make so I have good quality curry paste in the fridge if needed for example. Jews will give you top quality bread for cheap, Asians will give you rice, fish, and veggies cheap, Latins hook up spices, dry goods, and canned beans dirt cheap, and Halal butchers hook up deals on meat always. Don't worry about quality, they save money running hole in the wall stores but 9 times out of 10 they source better stuff then Wal-Mart and the discount places.

Next thing. Don't shop from Wal-Mart or at least try not to a lot. They aren't cheap. I've been in this game to long bargain hunting with food. Wal-Mart gives you the worst quality for the most price. They price-hunt people and give you a cheap sticker price on less quantity/quality of food. Get dry/boxed/cans items from them only. And if you can fuck with Costco it years ahead of shitty Wal-Mart.

The idea is that that if you take the steps to plan and prep is that you save money and eat better. You can put in better money into key things that make the experience of eating better (better tools to cook with, better quality staples & ingredients). I may be broke but I still eat well, and I eat better then people whom have way more money then me, nothing trumps a good legit home-cooked meal.

Try to lock down at first a rotation of a week or two of meals. Basically planing things that you can eat daily or every other day in rotation that you won't get sick off. If you like granola stock it up and have oats stocked up also, use that as a benchmark for your smaller meals with your preped meals being you main meals. Grocery shop to fill the gaps of stuff you need to cook your benchmarks and personal staples. Always have your benchmark foods and personal staples in stock.

You figure out what combo of taste and spices work. Go get a bunch of stock spices right off the bat. Off the top of my head make sure you have these stocked up: Basil, Oregano, Smoked Paprika, Rosemary, Thyme, Onion powder, Garlic Powder, Nutmeg, Cumin, Sea Salt, Black pepercorns, nutmeg, red pepper flakes, Ginger & Garlic paste in the fridge, Mrs Dash/No-Salt Seasoning, Soy sauce, a favourite meat seasoning like Montreal Steak Spice <--- what that arsenal you can pretty much make almost anything (taste good). You learn from practice and recipes what works and what doesn't. I'm not adding Italian basil to my curry, and you wouldn't add cumin to your Italian pasta sauce. You smell the spice and you just know it won't go good, it becomes common sense with a little practice. Most people cook shitty meals because they don't know how to spice things right IMO.

You will be surprised in time what tricks you find for yourself. I learned that if I have space to do it Pizza is a good meal for me to make at home and it freezes surprisingly well. I would make 4 Pizzas cut them up and freeze up the slices and just defrost and re-heat them in the oven when needed. And taking these steps you will be ahead of 80% of women and most men as many still don't take the time to learn how to lock down meals and a kitchen to their own advantage.

[Art Pimp]

You can boil a sweet potato right it in its skin. When it's done, blast it with cold water and it basically slides right out of the skin for you. Start experimenting with beans/lentils, they are dirt cheap, good for you and can be tossed in a lot of dishes. Be careful with granola as a lot of it is pretty much crap. I tend to opt for healthy oatmeal and add fruit, local honey or real maple syrup and maybe a sprinkle of cinnamon. You end up paying more money for boil-in-bag rice, but it's a pretty foolproof system and the portions are somewhat controlled. Couscous is a very easy grain to deal with. You just pour boiling water over it and let it sit for a few minutes. Pretty tasty too, give that a shot.

A man also has to have a go-to chili. It's really hard to screw up chili, just experiment until you find the perfect balance of everything.

It all comes down to trail, error and Googling. That's pretty much how I taught myself to cook. Just don't go overboard with spices, it's a lot easier to add more of something than it is to take it out of a dish (you can toss a potato into a soup to soak up some of the spices if you do go overboard, though).

People generally love instructing others on how to cook and shit like that. Start talking to chefs, many of them are piss drunk cocks with the biggest egos you'll ever find and are more than happy to share their knowledge of the culinary arts if you put some booze in front of them.

[Architekt]

If you're working out and don't mind the extra carbs, Italian food will give you some of the tastiest and best bang for your buck. They can also make you look like you know what you're doing, but in reality, most dishes are pretty simple

[Thomas the Rhymer]

(07-14-2013 10:39 PM)RustyShackleford Wrote:  

Thanks guys. I just felt I was putting too much effort into cooking for too little output, I want to be more efficient.

Super lazy way of cooking meat:

Take a big pan and fill it with water. There should be enough water to just cover whatever meat you are cooking
Bring waterto boil
Throw in a stick of butter about as long and thick as your index finger
Throw in a generous amount of pepper
Throw in some dried mixed herbs. You can buy these prepackaged. You can be quiet generous with how much you throw in.
If you eat salt, throw in some salt.
Throw in any frozen meat
Open your window and turn on a fan so that it blows all the steam from the pan away (unless you want to turn your kitchen into a sauna)
Allow all the water to evaporate from the pan. Keep the water boiling.
Sit back and read a book or do some homework or some crunches or anything
Keep checking that the pan hasn't caught on fire. As long as there is some water, you're good.
Browse the internet, read a magazine, call people on the phone
Keep checking on the pan though
At some point turn the meat so it cooks evenly
Wait for the water to have evaporated out
The meat will then start frying in the butter that is left behind after the water evaporates. It will make a sizzling sound.
Switch off the pan but leave the pan on the hot plate, and flip your meat every few seconds. Press the meat into the pan to get a nice brown colour.
Once the meat is nice and brown, take it out of the pan and put it on a plate.
The meat will be tasty and soft. Enjoy your meal and congratulate yourself on mastering the art of parboiling (boiling then frying) - the laziest way of cooking meat.

If you want some cooked vegetables, just throw them in with the meat once the water has evaporated halfway (unless it's potatoes or similar hard vegetable, then throw them right at the beginning).

Or just cut up some fresh vegetables and add some fruit for dessert.

And there you have a meal that for the most part cooked itself and required minimal effort. It does take some time for the water to evaporate (don't put in too much to begin with) but you can do other stuff while it's boiling.

Guys on the forum will probably chime in that you will destroy some of the nutritional content of the food through all this boiling, which is probably true, but you don't have to parboil every day.

[JayRock604]

Duuuudes awesome recipes thanks. Much appreciated, y'all gonna save me some serious coin with these.
Cheers!

[StealthAlpha]

https://campaign.soylent.me/

simplest meal ever

[Ryre]

Learning to cook is funny. You'd think that following a recipe would be level 1 intro cooking, but if you are really a novice, it can be tricky picking a recipe that you'll actually like, that isn't way too complicated for your needs or call for a bunch of spices you don't want to buy or something.

Ok, specifics:

Roasting a chicken: buy a whole chicken. Preheat oven to 450. Get the following ready: a pan--cast iron skillet works great; some paper towels; about a tablespoon of coarse salt (e.g. kosher) mixed with 7-10 grinds of black pepper. Cut the chicken out of the plastic over your sink so the juices don't go everywhere. Dig out the neck and organs that'll be stuffed inside the chicken and discard. Rinse the chicken inside and out in water and dry with the paper towels. Put it in the pan, breast side up (wing tips pointing up), and sprinkle with the salt and pepper mixture so there's a good dusting of salt all over the thing. Put it in the oven, roast for an hour to an hour 15 or so. Wiggle the drumsticks to tell when it is done--if it is done you can twist the drumstick off pretty easily, the meat will fall off the bone. You can baste it once or twice while it is cooking with fat and juices from the pan. Economical and delicious.

Steak: There've been threads on here about steak, but basically you want to get your cast iron pan nice and hot (smoking slightly), put in a little oil, drop the steak in. Salt, pepper, and garlic powder is fine for seasoning. You want the steak to actually sear/brown. Give it 2-4 minutes before you turn it--it'll actually release from the pan a little, before that it will stick and won't be seared enough. If it isn't too thick, you can finish it in the pan. If it is a thicker, bigger steak--say a flatiron you are going to eat for 2-3 meals--you can transfer it into the oven right in the skillet after searing both sides. 5-10 minutes at 325 should get it done and it gets a great flavor that way. Cut a slit in it and look to tell when it is done (chefs have better ways but that works for me). A little soy sauce dribbled over it after both sides are seared gives a nice flavor.

Chicken tenders: these little guys are your friends. They are the little chicken-finger-size flaps of meat on chicken breasts, my grocery store has them in packages of 10 or 12. I bought a jar of jerk seasoning, coat the tenders with that and some oil, and broil for maybe 10 minutes tops, turning once. Ditto coated with a little teriyaki marinade. Or cut them up for stir fry, cutting out the little tendon in them.

Stir fry: good thing to learn to do. The technique I like is to get the wok hot, brown some chunks of chicken in the bottom, then put in a little water and pile your vegetables around the sides. Put the lid on. The veggies steam while the meat finishes cooking in the water (braising). Take the lid off after a few minutes, add your sauce, stir it all together. Add a little cornstarch to thicken the sauce if you want--careful, a little goes a long way.

If you want to make buffalo wings as good as a bar, without frying, check out Alton Brown's recipe on the Food Network website. Basically you steam the wings for awhile, then bake them. He chills them in between steps but I have skipped that and it comes out fine. He says to buy whole wings, but my store sells "party wings" that are already trimmed.

Good luck.

[Ryre]

(07-15-2013 11:23 PM)Ryre Wrote:  

Learning to cook is funny. You'd think that following a recipe would be level 1 intro cooking, but if you are really a novice, it can be tricky picking a recipe that you'll actually like, that isn't way too complicated for your needs or call for a bunch of spices you don't want to buy or something.

Ok, specifics:

Roasting a chicken: buy a whole chicken. Preheat oven to 450. Get the following ready: a pan--cast iron skillet works great; some paper towels; about a tablespoon of coarse salt (e.g. kosher) mixed with 7-10 grinds of black pepper. Cut the chicken out of the plastic over your sink so the juices don't go everywhere. Dig out the neck and organs that'll be stuffed inside the chicken and discard. Rinse the chicken inside and out in water and dry with the paper towels. Put it in the pan, breast side up (wing tips pointing up), and sprinkle with the salt and pepper mixture so there's a good dusting of salt all over the thing. Put it in the oven, roast for an hour to an hour 15 or so. Wiggle the drumsticks to tell when it is done--if it is done you can twist the drumstick off pretty easily, the meat will fall off the bone. You can baste it once or twice while it is cooking with fat and juices from the pan. Economical and delicious.

Steak: There've been threads on here about steak, but basically you want to get your cast iron pan nice and hot (smoking slightly), put in a little oil, drop the steak in. Salt, pepper, and garlic powder is fine for seasoning. You want the steak to actually sear/brown. Give it 2-4 minutes before you turn it--it'll actually release from the pan a little, before that it will stick and won't be seared enough. If it isn't too thick, you can finish it in the pan. If it is a thicker, bigger steak--say a flatiron you are going to eat for 2-3 meals--you can transfer it into the oven right in the skillet after searing both sides. 5-10 minutes at 325 should get it done and it gets a great flavor that way. Cut a slit in it and look to tell when it is done (chefs have better ways but that works for me). A little soy sauce dribbled over it after both sides are seared gives a nice flavor.

Chicken tenders: these little guys are your friends. They are the little chicken-finger-size flaps of meat on chicken breasts, my grocery store has them in packages of 10 or 12. I bought a jar of jerk seasoning, coat the tenders with that and some oil, and broil for maybe 10 minutes tops, turning once. Ditto coated with a little teriyaki marinade. Or cut them up for stir fry, cutting out the little tendon in them.

Stir fry: good thing to learn to do. The technique I like is to get the wok hot, brown some chunks of chicken in the bottom, then put in a little water and pile your vegetables around the sides. Put the lid on. The veggies steam while the meat finishes cooking in the water (braising). Take the lid off after a few minutes, add your sauce, stir it all together. Add a little cornstarch to thicken the sauce if you want--careful, a little goes a long way.

If you want to make buffalo wings as good as a bar, without frying, check out Alton Brown's recipe on the Food Network website. Basically you steam the wings for awhile, then bake them. He chills them in between steps but I have skipped that and it comes out fine. He says to buy whole wings, but my store sells "party wings" that are already trimmed.

Oh, super-quick and easy: look up "paillard of chicken" on youtube. Basically to take a boneless chicken breast and pound it flat with a meat tenderizer. I bought some tough chicken recently but it cooked up fine this way. Takes a few minutes but they cook up seriously fast, they are so thin.

Good luck.

[kosko]

Easy way to make burgers:

- Get some ground beef, at least 1lb

- Keep it cold, put in a bowl and add some spices (Onion powder, LOTS of black pepper, paprika, fresh garlic; Optional but recommended for extra taste: rosemary, Worstshire sauce, cumin), and NO SALT.

-- You want to spice/flavor them good. That bargain ground beef has no taste, especially if its lean, so it's ideal to pump them up with some good herbs/spices. Ideally you want ground chuck or angus for a Burger but if your on a budget just make sure to spice the regular beef up good.

-Make patties as thick or thin as you like. 4 quarter pound burgers makes the most sense IMO.

-Make then as flat as possible, and put a divot in the top of em' with your thumb do they don't shrink up bad when cooking them.

- Now add SALT on the outsides like you would to a steak, this keeps the texture on the inside moist by keeping it out of the meat.

- Get a hot skillet/cast iron and cook them up for like 5-8 mins a side depending how thick you made them.

-Keep flipping them around after the first good sear on each side. When they shrink up a tiny bit they are done. Just sacrifice one and cut it open to see if there is no or just very minimal pink (they will finish cooking on thier own if it's a little pink).

- Place on a plate and let then rest for 5 mins.

- Make your burger how you like.

You can make them in 20 mins easily. It's a very quick and satisfying meal, eat two and then save the other two as left overs. Eat them with a salad or baked potato for a full meal.

[pobreinvestidor]

(07-14-2013 10:26 PM)WesternCancer Wrote:  

get a rice cooker and a slow cooker.

I will second the rice cooker. It was the best thing I ever bought, and I am not even asian