Groceries and cooking

[private joker]

My eating habits are getting into a bit of a rut. I eat out a lot because I'm too lazy to cook and shop. When I do shop at the grocery store, be it Ralph's or Trader Joe's, I end up getting the same things every time.

I'm sick of the same boxes of frozen chicken, deli meats on white bread for sandwiches, and other staples of an uncreative diet. I'm looking for suggestions on unusual or simply different things to get at the store to mix up my diet.

Restrictions: I'm lactose intolerant, so foods high in diary are not a good idea. Leave off your recipes for cheese and milk-related stuff. Also, I'm nowhere close to a vegetarian, so a lot of meat-based or protein-heavy options are welcome -- something to balance out the carbs (I'm no Atkins dude, but I like to at least moderate the starches I take in).

I'm not looking for complicated recipes for cooking things that take a lot of time or skill. I'm just looking for items that are simple to make but tasty, whatever you guys like to get at the store. I think buying more groceries will be less expensive than eating out so often, but can also be healthier and more efficient. Thanks in advance for all your grocery tips.

[swede123]

Look at the non-diet versions of frozen meals. Some of these, made by Stouffer's and so on are actually pretty good, and they don't take but a few minutes to prepare. There's really pretty good selections out there, some come complete with decent veggies and everything. Whip up a simple salad to go with this and you got yourself a decent meal.

I know this isn't exactly exciting food, but you gotta take small steps when it comes to this stuff. Do a frozen meal once or twice a week, maybe work on actually fixing something decent from scratch once a week, then stick to eating out and making sandwiches the rest of the time. Do this for the next month and re-evaluate.

Swede

[astroglide]

i'm going to enjoy some delicious trader joe's turkey stromboli for dinner

Get one of those herb salad in a bag things. It'll have a variety of lettuces and herbs and it's already washed. Make a little dressing with olive oil, honey, dijon mustard, and S&P. You can never eat enough greens.

Do you like stir-frys? They're easy to make, healthy, and a lot different than the typical American crap. I highly recommend Chinese Cooking for Dummies by Martin Yan. It will explain how to make all kinds of asain stuff.

[RunDownHouse]

Aside from stir fry, I like putting [censored] in tortillas and cooking it on the stove. Instead of a chicken sandwich, throw it in a tortilla and add some caesar dressing: simple caesar wrap. Instead of a ham and cheese sandwich, throw it in a tortilla and use more cheese: easy quesadilla.

Also (if you're going low carb this is horrible, but if not), go to your local Panera Bread/Bread and Company type place and buy a couple of the sourdough breadbowls. A can of Campbell's Chunky or whatever in one of those is lightning-fast, filling, and a good change. Plus they are something like $1.50, so its dinner for under $3.

[Blarg]

Dude, get yourself one of those Popeil rotisserie cookers. You know, the "set it and forget it" one from the commercials.

It really does make unbelievably good chicken flawlessly every time. I am usually pretty indifferent about chicken skin, often throwing it away, but this thing cooks all the fat off from underneath so it's just paper thin and beautifully caramelized all over, not one spot missing. Really tangy and delicious. And meanwhile the fat naturally just circles and crips round and round on the chicken during the cooking as it rotates, keeping it nice and moist.

What I do is throw a big bunch of pieces in one of the baskets that comes with, stick the basket on the rotisserie spokes, and come back after later after the shut-down beeper beeps. Stick a knife in a piece and see if there's any red left or if it's cooked. Take it out of the basket and dump it into one big or several smaller tupperware bowls. Refrigerate some, freeze some, and eat some. Makes for a great snack -- like you, I eat only pretty moderate starches, and you can fill up on chicken super cheap and really deliciously this way.

You can cook other stuff with it too, different meats, and on top with some models there is a steam tray where you can have it steam up some rice, taters, veggies, whatever. so the whole meal at once with no real effort. And let me repeat - that chicken is GREAT!

Also, how about a slow cooker for soups, stews, casseroles, chili, and big cuts of meat that need slow cooking? That's another thing that can turn out really good food with pretty much no work to speak of -- dump the crap in, walk away, and come back later.

Oh, I also got one of those small oven like things that looks like a big kinda flat glass bowl that rotates inside while a heating element above cooks the stuff. This is really good for stuff that starts off frozen, which fits the lazy man profile really well. It actually cooks stuff straight from the freezer and very well too. Plus it uses way less electricity than an oven and doesn't give out nearly the heat. I was kinda skeptical when I bought it, but my oven is right next to my fridge (idiotic apartment design) and when I use it it forces my fridge to act up and skyrocket my power bills. So I tried it as an alternative and was very pleased. Again, good chicken. But not on the level of the rotisserie. But it basically does everything an oven does, and faster, and with less power and heat. And the frozen thingy -- very nice.

[M2d]

my favorite meal. you can do a lot of substituting and personalizing, and it comes out looking pretty impressive:

saute chicken pieces in olive oil with about two cloves of chopped garlic and a shallot. I like dark meat, so I use 3 or 4 legs (separated into thigh and drumstick), but you can use a whole chicken, chopped up if you like). add mushrooms. you can use dried or fresh porcini, dried or fresh shiitake, or whatever shroom you like. the dried versions will give you a more intense flavor while the fresh usually gives you a more subtle flavor. add a handfull (maybe four or five for this much chicken) of chopped up sundried tomatoes. add some rosemary.

when the chicken is browned, add about a half to a full cup of white wine. reduce a bit and add a little chicken stock. cover and simmer on low for at least 20 minutes to whenever. the longer you cook it, the better, I think. serve over white rice.

as a side to this, take baby carrots (the ones that are in the salad section). saute in butter. add fresh grated ginger (for about a cup and a half to two cups of carrots, use about 3/4"cubed worth of ginger). saute some more. after about four minutes, add a quarter cup of orange juice. cover and simmer on low for ten minutes (until the carrots are soft but not mushy).

[jasonHoldEm]

Here's a pretty easy healthy meal I make on a regular basis...basically turkey chili, I serve it over brown rice.

1-1.5 lb ground turkey
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can diced tomates
1 small can tomato sauce
1 can corn (I guess this could be optional if you wanted to watch your starches)
1 package of chili seasoning (they come in envelopes usually in the foreign foods isle)
1/2 of an onion, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced (if you don't want it spicy you could use less or more mild pepper)

Brown the turkey and drain off the fat. Add diced tomatoes and tomato sauce, beans (rinsed and drained), corn, chili mix, onion, and pepper. I usually find the water from the can of corn will be enough to give me the consistancy I desire, but you might have to add a little more water (if you like really "solid" chili you might want to drain some or all of the water from the corn, but since I usually have mine over rice I like it with more liquid).

Let everything simmer for 15mins (or longer, I often let it go for up to an hour to let the favors mingle), cook some brown rice, and presto.

It will make about 4-6 servings depending on how big your portions are and it freezes well (don't freeze the rice, just the chili).

J

[JonPKibble]

Ramen noodle stir fry. Add veggies, sauce, and spices to taste. Cheap, fast, and tasty!

[private joker]

Sounds tasty but too difficult to cook.

[StevieG]

Baked fish - simple, fast, healthy

ridiculously easy (5 minute prep, 12 minute cook), no added fat , good for adding variety to your diet

tilapia (http://www.rac-export.com/images/BlackTilapia/Tilapia_Filet.jpg) filet (farm raised, relatively cheap)
lemon

cut the lemon into thick slices (3/8 of an inch)
arrange in baking pan to make a bed
salt and pepper the fish
place onto bed of lemon slices
add 1/4 inch of water to pan (so now your lemon slices are islands)
cover pan with aluminum foil

bake at 375 for about 12 minutes or until done (fish is opaque, flesh easily separates, not too tough)

do it with tilapia, and top it with your favorite salsa

you can also bake trout the same way, but throw a sprig of rosemary inside the fileted trout

do what my fiance and I do.

get some recipes.. don't matter where. Pick out some that you think you'll like.. and make a menu for the week. Grocery shop for the items you need to make these meals (no more, no less)... it'll force you to cook at home (or you'll waste your food).. and you won't waste any food in general.

...just get motivated to cook.

[StevieG]

[ QUOTE ]
how about a slow cooker for soups, stews, casseroles, chili, and big cuts of meat that need slow cooking?

[/ QUOTE ]

Another great suggestion. Even if you just want to open up a can of Campbell's chunky soup, you can just start it heating up and walk away, like Blarg said.

[RacersEdge]

I'm sort of in your boat - I started looking into cooking. I got the Olin Brown book rec'd here. I seraed a flank steak last Saturday. Very simple - oil the steak, salt, pepper, 3 minutes per side. Puts a nice crust on the outside - medium rare in the middle. You just need a good cast iron pan.

[nolanfan34]

[ QUOTE ]
Sounds tasty but too difficult to cook.

[/ QUOTE ]

You serious? All you have to do is brown the turkey, then add the other ingredients.

If you can't do that, your best bet would be to check into a cooking class at night. Maybe a community college class or something? A few basic cooking skills will widely expand your options.

[mmbt0ne]

So, I was telling the same thing to my gf, and she says, "I'll cook for you." This is great because once a week she actually cooks for a huge group of friends, actually one of the ways I met her, and she knows how to do it amazingly well. So, now I give her whatever she spends in the grocery store, and I get a week plus worth of easily reheatable food in tupperware containers.

Right now, here's what I have:
A tilapia/onion dish with a cajun seasoning that's really good.
2 containers of a spicy chicken soup, with some baked tortillas to put on it.
Some sort of shrimp dish thats in a soy marinade
Brown rice with celantro
Angel hair pasta with sauteed zuchini and tomatoes, and a cheese topping
Black bean chicken (about 5 meals worth)
~2 gallons of salad to eat with my roasted red pepper dressing
A vanilla yogurt/fruit/granola parfait-type dish.

All in all, I'm eating like a king now. Basically I recommend you get someone to do this for you. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[HtotheNootch]

Binge cook.

Don't make things for one night - other than steaks, fish, etc.

I'll turn one or two nights a week into cooking nights. I'll make several meals worth of homemade pasta at a time, and then freeze it in meal size portions. I'll do the same with the sauce. I make jumbalaya and other "complete meals" in big batches and then freeze it. That way, if I have a busy day, it's a simple trip to the nuker, rather than a takeout menu.

[MrPokerPants]

Really easy pot-roast:

Requires crock pot or slow cooker (are these the same thing?)

Ingredients:

Cheap slab of beef (I usually buy a two-pounder)
Can Cream of Celery soup
Can Cream of Mushroom soup
Can French Onion soup
Salt & Pepper

Prep:
Put salt and pepper on meat. Put everything in crockpot. Turn on high. Come back 4 - 5 hours later. Its done when the meat falls apart when you try to pick it up with tongs. If done ahead of time, just turn it to low until dinner.

I usually make some mashed potatoes or rice to go with it. The gravy is pure goodness.

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
Binge cook.

Don't make things for one night - other than steaks, fish, etc.

I'll turn one or two nights a week into cooking nights. I'll make several meals worth of homemade pasta at a time, and then freeze it in meal size portions. I'll do the same with the sauce. I make jumbalaya and other "complete meals" in big batches and then freeze it. That way, if I have a busy day, it's a simple trip to the nuker, rather than a takeout menu.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is really the best way to do it. Even if you don't eat the frozen stuff that often, you should do this until your freezer is stocked full of them. It's so damn cool to have a big selection of healthy, home cooked food ready to turn into a great hot meal at any time of day or night.

Chili and spaghetti sauce is great for this, and soups. Those things you kind of naturally tend to make in big batches, or they're just as easy to cook in big batches as small. Plus things like chili and good spaghetti sauce are kind of a pain to cook in individual portions for one meal, so it's better to just cook up a ton all at once anyway.

AND -- many soups, as well spaghetti sauce and chili, actually taste better a day or two after they were cooked.

I usually have some soups and chicken legs in the freezer, some in smaller snack size tupperware containers and some in bigger meal size containers.

It's great -- if you get weird cravings, sometimes some strange combos are sitting right there waiting for you.

And it's all the easier when you're letting something like a slow cooker or rotisserie do all the work for you in the first place. Lazy dude cooking can be pretty righteous and good.

[BoogerFace]

Joker,

Learn to marinade.

Idea #1 - Put chicken breasts in a gallon ziplock and cover with cheap Italian dressing. Put in the fridge overnight. Brown them on an electric grill (optional) and then bake at 350 until their done. You can get a cheap meat thermometer at kitchen store for $15.

Idea #2 - Steak with the Montreal marinade - it comes in a little envelope in the store in the ketchup isle. Broil in the oven 3 to 5 minutes on each side.

For starch I usually do one of those Near East rice pilaf boxes. They only take 20 minutes to cook. For veggies, you can get an electric steamer for $20. The steamer makes broccoli, green beans, whatever really easy. If you get an electric grill, pork chops are really easy too.

[Blarg]

If you get a rice steamer, you can throw in frozen veggies, or regular ones, with it to cook. This is my favorite lazy dude no-effort one-dish meal of all. There are better tasting meals, but nothing is as easy as rice, frozen veggies, water in the pot, and walk away.

[xadrez]

Making a hearty soup is a good idea, as you can freeze it and reheat whenever. Split Pea is unbelievable easy to make and its filling.

Heres my recipe, this will make a lot...Youll need (No exact measurments sorry)
-EV Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper
-2-3 Celery stalks
-3 carrots
-1 large onion
-4 garlic cloves
-6 Brussel Sprouts
-1 bag of dried split peas
-1 ham hock
-back bacon (the think slab, uncut)

-OK, So first chop up the onion, carrots, celery, brussell sprouts, and garlic. Then dice the back bacon into little bite size bits

-Get a large pot and heat some olive oil, then throw in the vegetables, garlic. Let them cook for a minute then pour in about a 1/2 of hot water. Next throw in the bacon bits and the ham hock. Once those brown put the split peas in and cook some more.

-Finally cover this with water, put in a lot (about 3/4 up to the top) and when it starts to boil turn the heat to simmer and just let it sit for several hours (4-6). When the ham comes off the bone your good.

[CollinEstes]

Baked Ziti. Good for like two meals.

1 bag of Ziti noodles (like $.99)
1 Jar Prego Pasta Bake Sauce (like $2.50)
1 Bag Cheese (like $2.00)

Combine in a baking dish along with one jar full of water, cover with foil and bake at like 425 or something for like 20 minutes, take off the foil and then bake again for another 10 or until pasta is tender.

If you want to make it better brown some Italin sausage or hamburger and throw that in.

Quick and Easy.