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.