Need some ideas for meals

[James Bond]

All these cooking and fast food threads have me thinking.

I live by myself in an apartment, and realistically eat fast-food at least once a day. It's a bad habit, and I feel gross eating it all the time, but I never really have anything else around.

I have gone to the store and spent tons of money on groceries, but it seems like whenever I do that, I only end up eating 1/3 of the food because it spoils before I can finish it.

Anyone have any ideas how I can start eating healthier? I'm noob at cooking (the most I've done is www.recipezaar.com, some easy pasta dishes)

 

[HN]

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/...00013281eac____&page=0

 

[vi edit]

If you find that you never finish leftovers, just stick them in freezer safe containers and freeze them for a month or two.

This works great with pastas, soups, most types of meats, ect.

 

[Rill22]

Freeze stuff.

I live by myself as well, and by the time I get home from work every day, I rarely have enough time (or energy, for that matter) to make an entire meal from scratch. So every once in a while I'll make a big pot of soup (vegetable, chili, anything), and then put individual servings into baggies and throw them in the freezer. That way, over the next few weeks, I can just grab one out of the freezer and have dinner ready to go. You can really do it with a lot of stuff, not just soup.

Otherwise, I just keep a small supply of rice, pasta, and fresh vegetables on hand that I can throw on the stove and cook up in just a few minutes.

 

[HammerCurl]

It might sound weird, but if your lazy you can microwave a potato. I usually go with yams/sweet potatoes (I just read Body for Life, he recommended potatoes and yams/sweet potatoes according to him carry no extra starch/sugar than regular potatoes) for a carb meal. Also can get a rice cooker, or just boil pasta. Then get a foreman grille and just make hamburgers/chicken breast. I pretty much only go out to eat maybe 1 or 2 times a week, and then its usually a sitdown lunch at somewhere like Bennigans. Body for Life (and a lot of other fitness books) say to eat 6 meals a day, 1 portion of carbs and 1 protein (approximately the size of a fist). Buy some Ragu or some pasta sauce like that, maybe some tuna fish sammiches (I cut celery+onions and mix in mayo salt + pepper), or make myself PB+J, cereal or eggs. Everything previously mentioned usually takes no more than 20 minutes to make, and because its so quick to make I usually don't let anything spoil.

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
If you find that you never finish leftovers, just stick them in freezer safe containers and freeze them for a month or two.

This works great with pastas, soups, most types of meats, ect.

Yup. If it ends up spoiling, plan meals out for 2 week stretches and only buy what you need for those meals.

I find a lot of people use the "I don't wanna cook right now" excuse for going out to eat. If this is one of your excuses, cook 2 or 3+ portions and put some in seal-able containers to reheat on those days you want a meal right away or to take to work for lunches.

One of my bad habits to buy both junky foods, then things like fruit and vegetables for snacks... then when I go for a snack favor the junky foods while the healthier stuff spoils. I just gotta stop myself from buying junky snacks, force myself to only eat the good stuff.

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: HN
http://www.menshealth.com/cda/...00013281eac____&page=0

Awesome link, thank you!

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: Injury

Originally posted by: vi_edit
If you find that you never finish leftovers, just stick them in freezer safe containers and freeze them for a month or two.

This works great with pastas, soups, most types of meats, ect.

Yup. If it ends up spoiling, plan meals out for 2 week stretches and only buy what you need for those meals.

I find a lot of people use the "I don't wanna cook right now" excuse for going out to eat. If this is one of your excuses, cook 2 or 3+ portions and put some in seal-able containers to reheat on those days you want a meal right away or to take to work for lunches.

One of my bad habits to buy both junky foods, then things like fruit and vegetables for snacks... then when I go for a snack favor the junky foods while the healthier stuff spoils. I just gotta stop myself from buying junky snacks, force myself to only eat the good stuff.

I actually really enjoy cooking, it's something I want to be good at. I just hate spending like $50 in food, and then only getting one or two meals out of it... I can't justify it. These ideas are definitely going to help though!

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: HammerCurl
It might sound weird, but if your lazy you can microwave a potato. I usually go with yams/sweet potatoes (I just read Body for Life, he recommended potatoes and yams/sweet potatoes according to him carry no extra starch/sugar than regular potatoes) for a carb meal. Also can get a rice cooker, or just boil pasta. Then get a foreman grille and just make hamburgers/chicken breast. I pretty much only go out to eat maybe 1 or 2 times a week, and then its usually a sitdown lunch at somewhere like Bennigans. Body for Life (and a lot of other fitness books) say to eat 6 meals a day, 1 portion of carbs and 1 protein (approximately the size of a fist). Buy some Ragu or some pasta sauce like that, maybe some tuna fish sammiches (I cut celery+onions and mix in mayo salt + pepper), or make myself PB+J, cereal or eggs. Everything previously mentioned usually takes no more than 20 minutes to make, and because its so quick to make I usually don't let anything spoil.

6 meals a day??

In all honesty I have 2 meals a day at most... I never eat breakfast, and often times I will have a really huge lunch then just snack for dinner.

 

[nageov3t]

I really :heart: this cookbook... http://www.amazon.com/Jeanne-J...&qid=1187804992&sr=8-1

but I also go to the grocery store like 3-4 times a week (there's a bodega right around the corner from my apartment, so I just stop by there after I get home... I'd rather have fresh food every day than shop once a week and live on left overs, but that's just me. I've only got a 5 minute commute, so I've probably got more time to cook than most, but it's just a personal preference really. probably the result of growing up on left-overs and frozen dinners).

 

[James Bond]

Originally posted by: loki8481
I really :heart: this cookbook... http://www.amazon.com/Jeanne-J...&qid=1187804992&sr=8-1

but I also go to the grocery store like 3-4 times a week (there's a bodega right around the corner from my apartment, so I just stop by there after I get home... I'd rather have fresh food every day than shop once a week and live on left overs, but that's just me. I've only got a 5 minute commute, so I've probably got more time to cook than most, but it's just a personal preference really. probably the result of growing up on left-overs and frozen dinners).

Are all of the meals super healthy?

I'm not worried about watching my weight and stuff, I just want meals that taste good

Any other cookbooks out there for noobs?

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: Tizyler

Are all of the meals super healthy?

I'm not worried about watching my weight and stuff, I just want meals that taste good

Any other cookbooks out there for noobs?

it's not like super-healthy vegan stuff... just quick meals that substitute an ingredient or two to lower the fat/salt/calorie count.

 

[49erinnc]

I buy bulk when things are on sale and if it's meat, I freeze individual servings. Tyson actually started doing individually wrapped boneless chicken breasts that I buy in big bags at BJ's/Sam's Club/Costco. But you can do that yourself with virtually anything and take it out of the freezer to put in your fridge the night before. I also keep a full head of shredded lettuce with shredded carrots in a sealed container in the fridge. Then I just scoop out some for individual salads each night, while adding some additional things to it.

And sides are easy. You can buy small servings of canned vegetables, buy a few baked potatoes, some boxes of various rices which won't go bad for a while, etc. As someone else mentioned, soups are great for freezing into small portions. Doesn't get any less of a hassle than that.

I love cooking but I only do time-consuming/complicated meals on weekends. On week nights, I'm all about quick and easy. But with proper planning/prepping, that doesn't mean you have to eat bad.

 

[ManyBeers]

Make some beef stew: 1-11/4 lbs. stew meat cut into 1 inch chunks
4-5 small to medium potatoes cut into app. 1 inch pieces
2-3 " " carrots " " " "
4 ozs. button mushrooms cut off stems and quarter the buttons
4-6 ozs. frozen peas.
1 medium onion 1/4 dice, 1/3 celery rib diced the rest will be sliced,2
cloves garlic, and 3-4 bay leaves.
4- 6 ozs. Sutter Home or Woodbridge Zinfandel or Merlot(optional
usually 3.95-6.95 per bottle)
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce, 1 package beef gravy mix

Brown the meat in either a frying pan or the pan you intend to cook stew in. Make sure not to brown too much meat at once or it may turn gray instead of browning due to the pan cooling too much. Once the meat is evenly browned on all sides(if you want to burn off the alcohol in the wine add it now) add the diced onion, celery, bay leaves and crushed garlic to the pot and pour in enough water to just cover the meat. Bring to a boil ,reduce heat to low and cover pot. Cook for app. 1 hour occasionally stirring and adding liquid if needed.
After about one hour remove bay leaves add the wine,tomato sauce potatoes,carrots, 2/3 celery cut into 1/2 inch slices,mushrooms, gravy mix and enough water to cover all bring to a boil reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 1/2 -3/4 hour or until carrots are cooked. 10 minutes before dish is done add the frozen peas.
If you make it this way the stew will be slightly runny which is the way i like it, but if you need to thicken it you can add cornstarch or make a roux of butter and flour.
Make it on your day off and it will feed you for 3 days, i know because i just finished off a pot and if there was enough i would have eaten it for 4 days straight . It was delicious.
Thw wine adds flavor and gives the sauce a dark rich color.

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: 49erinnc
I buy bulk when things are on sale and if it's meat, I freeze individual servings.

Bulk Meat? Like an alternator sized block of beef?