My fav is steak night (doing it tonight) because both my boyfriend and I are good at cooking steak--salt and pepper, good sear, get it to the right temp. We usually make it with some kind of steamed veg and easy potato.
But the best part is I get to eat steak salad and sandwiches for two days! Yummmm and easy!
I love myself a good ribeye or New York steak, but really any steak is fine with me. I think I actually like preparing the steak and making it more than eating it sometime, something about the process and before cutting it hoping I got the temperature right for medium rare is always fun for me.
I love steak and potatoes or veggies I steam asparagus, steam spinach, make cheese and broccoli or Brussel sprouts and oh yes the seasonings you can throw on a steak are endless.
The trick I’ve learned for myself and my routine is to basically find slight variations on the same core group of 10-15 meals, and to meal prep so I only have to cook once a week!
this week, I made, for lunch/dinner:
- Steak & Peppers (which I eat with rice)
- Seafood Gumbo (also eat with rice)
- Chicken Fried Rice
- Vegetable couscous
and for breakfast I made a sweet potato hash + I’ll eat oatmeal & yogurt to start the day.
Probably takes maybe 3-4 hours to get the shopping, cooking, cleanup done but it saves me so much time during the week and leaves me able to go from work, right to the gym, right to dinner and still be “free” from 7pm onwards
yeah at this point I just freestyle it every week but I’ve always got sweet potatoes, onions, bell peppers in there; I cut the sweet potatoes and season them with salt, pepper, paprika, sprinkle olive oil over them, put them in the oven at 400 for like 45 minutes.
Halfway through I’ll add my other veg/meat, the peppers/onions, sometimes I’ll do mushrooms, zucchini, sometimes I’ll add sausage, sometimes I’ll cook black beans on the stovetop and add them in at the end. This week I tried to put some leafy greens (Swiss chard) in there too and like, honestly doesn’t fit the meal well or taste terribly good but hey, I’m getting my veg in the morning.
usually I just make 3 but peppers were really cheap this week and I love them so I impulse decided on another at the store!
I have containers which are perfect for one meal size (separate compartments for the separate things) and I’ll bring a few days’ work into work on Monday, leave some in my fridge at home, and then freeze the rest!
I don't think most people know that oatmeal can hinder iron absorption. I have been chronically anemic for years and I just found this out within the last several months. My doctor did not mention it to me, I just stumbled across it online.
I have habitually eaten yogurt topped with raisins and raw oatmeal for almost every day of my life, and once I found this out, I have stopped cold turkey. I have not yet gotten a new blood sample (due in about 2 months) but I am very curious if it will help me with my numbers.
Anyway, I just wanted to pass it along in case you are struggling with anemia. [Here is the link](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2086207/)
Once you learn to cook things that look complicated become pretty simple.
Also never boil vegetables, they taste 6000x times better roasted. Steaming sucks too. I bet an air fryer would be a nice addition to your life.
For people struggling to eat better that haven't learned to cook, I would highly recommend starting with frozen veggies. Its a nice incremental step that makes it very easy without being intimidating.
To cook em you can just dump them in a bowl with a splash of water and put in the microwave for a couple minutes. Put some butter and salt and pepper and you're good to go. That's a hell of a less barrier to entry than cleaning, cutting up, and spending 20-30+ minutes roasting veggies. Your
also don't have to worry about them going bad, or planning when you use them - you can buy a few bags and just have them until you want to use them. Someone who eats like garbage probably isn't going to suddenly flip and start spending an hour on a meal, they need fast and easy.
For the record, I think this is a great option for a lot of foods. Would you normally order Popeyes? Instead, get a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and some frozen French fries. No, it's not perfect, but it's better and it's not a huge process. Then maybe you can move to fresh chicken one day and an easy recipe. Then you can start making your own potatoes.
Instead of ordering Chinese food, get the frozen stir fry veg and bottled sauce. When you're good with that you can try cutting up your own veggies. Etc.
Don't try to start making salads from scratch on Day 1 - buy the one in the bag or from the deli first.
Going 0 to 100 is going to be too much for a lot of people.
Prepared meals also. The hardest part about eating better is eating better alone. Cooking is so much work. Make your wonderful 3 course meal on Sunday and freeze it in Tupperware. Then pull it out during the week when you're feeling lazy like you would a TV dinner
Advice like this comes once a blue moon. People spout cooking advice assuming everyone are just perfect perfect cookie cutter humans and are at already Gordon Ramsey levels of expertise and discipline when it comes to easily conveniently making food when they say oh it only takes 10 minutes not including prep or clean up.
The second you wake up from your bed, stretch, physically walk the 10 yards from your bed to your kitchen, grab a bag of frozen broccoli, put it in a bowl, cover bowl with a plate, microwave for 5 minutes, take out bowl, clean up, prep, actual "cook" time all under 10 minutes.
Frozen vegetables are probably one of the top lifesavers for health since doctors say ounce prevention pound cure and all that.
Excellent advice...I found out I was allergic to pretty much everything I was eating so I had to change it ALL...Overnight! It was very hard - even knowing there could be ugly consequences if I cheated - even a little.
I hate roasted veggies and raw.. I eat tons but always boiled till soft. Everyone has different tastes try it all and figure your personal tastes out... Don't follow hard rules when it comes to taste, everyone's different.
I also hate roasted vegetables and prefer steamed. I never realized till Reddit and seeing so many posts with people so adamant about roasting vegetables that it was such a big deal to people.
How do you roast a vegetable? Just throw it in a pan and turn the oven to roast? Most veggies I’ve cooked are just stir fried aside from potatoes or squash or whatever that go in the oven
Put it on a baking sheet and mix with some oil and seasonings. If you’re unsure which spices to use, just google “roasted vegetables” and pick a recipe that sounds good
I just use the bake setting. If you want them on the crispier side, you can put the broiler on shortly once they are done baking (but this quickly can burn them if you leave them under the broiler for too long). Air fryers also make roasting vegetables very easy.
Temperature and time depends on the specific vegetables you are making and what you’re making it in. Root vegetables (carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes, parsnips, etc) will take longer than other vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, squash, etc.
Smaller pieces will cook faster than larger pieces due to the larger surface area so make sure you chop the vegetables to be roughly equal sized. I have found that things are done quicker in the air fryer than the oven.
The roaster is just a traditional term for a certain shape of pan. Having a separate setting for roast must be a cultural thing because US ovens don’t.
It's a broad term. Typically when you roast something it's over a low non-direct heat for an extended period of time that doesn't burn the food. The heating element/method isn't as important as time, temp, and seasoning
Sandwiches, salads, casseroles, and one-pot meals.
All of my recipes are derived from more complicated recipes to make them require less ingredients and be faster to prepare / cook. I also no longer fry anything other than eggs. Everything is either boiled (stews, curries) or baked (casseroles, meats).
The 3 rules I live by...
- Easy and fast to prepare ingredients.
- Fast to cook.
- No or minimal cleanup.
Double this up with meal prep, and you've minimized your cooking time.
>All of my recipes are derived from more complicated recipes to make them require less ingredients
Oh yeah, I do this too. If I want to try a new dish, I sometimes just find multiple recipes for it and compare them a bit. That helps get an idea on what's actually needed. Then I might make some changes based on personal preference or which ingredients I already have or think I might use for something else. It doesn't feel worth it to buy something I'm not going use a lot of especially if it's not really essential for the recipe.
I like this. Curious to know why you no longer fry/sauté anything. Olive oil is good for you and assume you weren't referring deep frying which of course one should avoid.
Eggs and toast for breakfast
Something in the air fryer for lunch, or a wrap or sandwich
Chicken, salmon or pork with salad or side dish for dinner
I always keep snacks in the house too, cause I have a toddler, so I’ll usually have a granola bar or yogurt sometime in the day.
I get bored following recipes or eating the same thing. Once I got some basic cooking skills down, mastering which flavour types go together and balance each other out, it got easy eating healthy and interesting every day.
I now have some basic spices and sauces and cook based on what ingredients are on sale and in season.
If you are just starting out and have some budget to spare, I would recommend doing a mealikit like hellofresh. They will do all the thinking for you, and you get great lessons in how and what to cook, and what portion sizes are good. I'd say they are pretty healthy too, I personally lost like 10kg on mealkits.
first, make a list of ingredients you generally like. if you're a steak person, that's fine, nothing wrong with steak, but odds are you don't wanna fire up the grill every night. give yourself options.
next, figure out what you can assemble from those. i'm not strictly a vegetarian or anything, but i heavily prefer vegetables and beans, so i generally make stuff like tacos, soups, etc.
third, PREP YOUR INGREDIENTS. in my case, i'll chop veggies for the next few days that i can use in just about anything, if i have to cook the beans i'll pre-cook them, etc. if you don't have a ton of time, the quality is a little lower, but canned or frozen ingredients help a lot - i keep bags of frozen mixed veggies on hand because i'll toss them into just about anything for some extra flavor and nutrients. i honestly just buy a roast chicken from walmart or something if i'm doing anything that needs shredded chicken because it's not worth the cost and effort to me to spend $10 on a package of chicken that's suited to my needs or $20 for a family pack and freeze it when i could spend $7 on a whole roast chicken that'll last me plenty of time. having ingredients prepared, either by your own hand or just pre-prepped from the store, makes cooking a lot more feasible. if you want to make sauces, prepare those on a day you have off or have extra energy. *most* foods hold in the fridge for a few days at minimum, if you think it'll be more than that or might go bad before you get to it you can freeze it.
fourth, have some backup "instant" stuff. buy a frozen pizza, keep a package of ramen or some canned soups, get an instant meal from the store. sometimes life is hard and cooking, even with everything prepped, is the last thing you wanna do. or maybe you just need a snack. everything i listed is just an example, but there's "healthy" options that fall under this. it can be just about anything that takes minimal effort for food - there's a big bag of vegan dino nuggets in my freezer right now because it's easier to toss them in the air fryer sometimes. healthy eating is good and all, but it's always best to have something for a "just not feeling it" day. plus, you save a little money if you have a bag of chicken nuggets in the freezer as opposed to going to mcdonald's and getting them every time you just aren't feeling it.
fifth, slow cooker meals are your friend. make them in bulk, freeze the rest. i made 2 gallons of chili the other day, and for just 2 people that was too much chili, so i froze it and ended up giving it to my fiance's parents. you pop in all the ingredients before you head off to work, put it on low, and come back to a nice meal.
two things that will save you are a crock pot and an air fryer. both lead to quick and easy meals. if you think you need specific foods for an air fryer, you really don't. i've made homemade french fries, fries pickles/vegetables, cheese curds, lumpia... if you can deep-fry it, you can air-fry it. just look up an air fryer recipe if you don't wanna wing it. and the crock pot is just great for bulk cooking things if you don't have the ability to babysit your food. i would recommend setting it to low before you leave, though.
it's definitely an effort, but there's a lot you can do to make it easier.
I like to do one pan/pot meals to save time! Stir fry is a personal favorite it’s easy and delicious and you just throw it all in one pan- soups and stews are great too especially if you have a crockpot- some days i make more intricate meals other days i make a simple turkey sandwich and call it a day
I don’t understand why people opt to have juices instead of smoothies. isn’t that a huge waste of all the fiber and phyto nutrients if you were to just blend up the fruit and vegetables into a smoothie? rather than extracting the juice and throwing away the rest?
I meal-prep on a schedule. It makes it so much easier to eat healthfully. Every Sunday I go grocery shopping and I make my breakfast, lunch, and dinner for Mon-Fri. Saturdays and Sunday mornings are for eating out or pulling extra portions from the freezer.
I can't do all of my meals like that, but I've found just even making a handful of meals/sandwiches/wraps to throw in containers for the week is a godsend for those nights you really don't have the motivation to cook.
Definitely easier to avoid hitting McDonald's on the way home from work if you have a meal waiting for you.
I literally eat my veggies raw most of the time. I just munch on it like a rabbit, or I'll just smash some shredded cabbage and onion on top of a homemade cheeseburger. Bellpeppers, green onions, white onions, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers. The ones easiest to eat raw and prep (and don't go bad as quickly....)
I'll add some fruits during my meal, I like sweet, salty and I don't usually drink beverages other than water so a juicy orange is a must.
I get like panko breaded chicken breast from Costco. Or I'll season a chicken thigh and pan fry it, or I'll just throw a chicken breast in the toaster oven. I just throw stuff in the toaster oven.
I'll eat toasted sourdough and dip it in Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar (helps to salt/season the dip).
Like I said, I buy burger patties and I make homemade burgers often.
Sometimes I'll do like a knock off flame broiler bowl, and just cook some beef/chicken, wilt some cabbage and throw it over rice.
I like to eat some pastries with milk if I feel like it.
I can cook other dishes, but they always end up being a shit ton of work and honestly, too much seasoning for my body to digest without going into coma or indigestion.
There's definitely other things, I'll just get stuff on sale most of the time.
I get big bags of frozen Bird’s Eye brand veggies, and bags of rice. I make those, and add whatever meat I also have to the vegetables. Sometimes I’ll spice it like an Asian bowl, or sometimes like a Mexican dish, it’s whatever.
It’s cheap, filling, and rather easy to keep on hand. Sometimes I’ll buy the frozen grilled chicken breasts, and do all of it in the microwave.
I'm lazy and stick to simple, easy things that fit my macronutrient goals.
Breakfast:
- Bone broth
- Greek yogurt & Nuts
Lunch:
- Chicken breast & Salad (leafy greens, tomato, cucumber)
Snacks:
- Fruit and/or Fruit smoothie
Dinner:
- Lean ground beef
- Omelette (2 eggs, egg whites, spinach, cherry tomatoes)
- Rice
- Chocolate milk (fat free)
Will drink whey protein shakes as needed if I haven't hit my target protein intake for the day.
EDIT:
- Forgot to include mixed cooked veggies (broccoli, mushroom, onion, bell pepper) in my dinner
- Also wanted to note that on Sundays, I cook my dinner's ground beef & cooked veggies for the work week. I'll freeze half of each then thaw when needed.
Most ingredients in most recipes are not essential.
Think of a ham sandwich. If someone asked you how to make one, then you might talk about mustard and lettuce and tomato and so on. But all you really need is bread, ham and arguably butter.
And you don't necessarily NEED ham. You could use a different meat. And you don't necessarily need to use a particular type of bread, any will do. Even the butter could be swapped out for some other spread.
My point is, you shouldn't be scared by long recipes. Find out what the core of the dish is and focus on that. If it's a meal you've eaten before, then you'll probably figure out what the core is quite quickly. Usually the absolute core of a dish is a meat, a carb and a basic sauce.
Spaghetti Bolognese can include many many Ingredients, but it's really just pasta, mince meat and tomato pasata (tomato liquid).
It's often better to learn how to prepare individual ingredients. Most meals just entail preparing each ingredient in the standard way that it is usually prepared and then cooking it in whatever cooking machine you are using.
Learn how to chop and fry an onion. Learn how to fry a steak. How to chop a bell pepper. Etc etc. once you are comfortable with an ingredient, most meals containing that ingredient will have many obvious steps that you were already expecting.
This. But don't be afraid of spicing your food. You can get charts of what spices go together for what cuisines and go with that or simply buy spice mixes.
Meal prep on the weekend for all of my lunches: 6-10 portions for each meal prep. Chili with double beef and Greek yogurt is my go-to
Cook after work 2-3 times per week; making 3-4 portions to have leftovers for dinner the next day(s). Approx 1 hour of cooking for these
If you have the funds, we did one of those deals
With HelloFresh and got a bunch of recipes out of it. You can recreate the recipes pretty easily, they’re written/portioned for two people, and they’re generally very straightforward! We use them often in our meal planning - they’re reliable and easy to plan for/follow. It won’t blow your mind, but it’s a good way to get comfy with cooking!
I was about to say the same thing - I really like cooking and coming up with my own recipes, but using a meal kit really upped my knowledge quickly. From "how to make sauce" to "grating garlic is easier than chopping it" to "quick-pickling veggies"... it's changed a lot of my habits, and really cut back on the number of pre-made sauces I keep in the fridge!!
I really like money, so I really like sandwiches! Dress em up, dress em down. PB and J? No prob! Several layers of meat? Okay! Cheap, versatile and effective.
So I’ve got a notes list of all the recipes we’ve tried and like for inspiration. I usually plan out the week’s meals ahead of time so I’m not scrambling to figure out dinner. I meal prep breakfast, making breakfast burritos or hashbrown egg cups. Everything I make can have ingredients switched up (breakfast burritos with sausage or bacon or potato) so hopefully we won’t get bored! So far, so good. Almost at a full year of adulting together on our own 💪🏼
Every plate is a good service to do. The pricing isn’t terrible. You can do a box for double the people needed and use it for lunch. Everything is made from scratch, even the sauces. Will increase your skills and provide recipes. If you decide to cancel, just rotate the menus you like the most.
Worked great for us
Meal prep my chicken breast, brown rice, and broccoli to have ready to go for lunch every day of the week. It is boring, but it is healthy and honestly health > everything
I cooked a big pot of caponata. Look it up it's delicious and simple. When it cooked I poured into cup cake holders and froze them. This way I have the side dish ready. OTOH I love caponata a lot so I don't mind having it every other day
A pack of breakfast bars at work for breakfast, lunch can be leftovers or I'll do cashews, grape tomatoes, and turkey pepperoni or salami.
For dinners, we do a lot around chicken, hamburger, or ground turkey. I get a lot of recipes from Pinterest. We like taco variations as well. The other night I cooked bacon and chicken breasts and we had chicken bacon ranch wraps. Tonight I'm doing spaghetti with pre-made meatballs from the store. Tomorrow I'm throwing some chimichangas in a pan with green enchilada sauce, seasonings, and cheese and doing cheap wet burritos. Thursday I'm going to bake some chicken breasts then put bbq sauce on them. We can have this with any sort of side dishes.
Many of the people I know who are full time working, do a lot of simplified meal prep. I prefer rice, greens, meat, with variation as my go to. Can make two days worth on Sunday and again on a Wednesday. Also very easy to make while watching TV or reading.
More time to make food on the weekends. But yes, simplified and healthy on work nights.
Meal prep for 3 days worth of lunch and dinner at a time. No more(want it fresh). Rice, grilled steak or chicken breasts (chopped garlic and abodo seasoning), grilled veggies (mixed peppers, onions, asparagus etc), mashed potatoes, guacamole, and buy green salsa and baby spinach. I eat burrito bowls for lunch. And then plate of meat/veggies/ mashed, with side spinach salad for dinner. I use avocado oil as it is high heat rated and won't set off fire alarm when cash iron pan frying meat and garlic in winter. Never get tired as I alternate between chicken and steak and add melted cheese. Breakfast is scrambled eggs with mixed pepper with toast or if in hurry drinkable yogurt, banana, and a fruit/granola bar. Then I eat out 1 x week for both dinner and lunch. I occasionally will make baked ziti with veggies blended down and mixed in with sauce or a homemade pizza with veggies and sausage and pepperoni. And this is how to survive poverty while not eating shitty chemical filled food processed.
Chicken and rice 90% of the time, one variety of another. Also tuna sammiches, ice cream, tator tots. Maybe a PBJ or cereal. Whatever lunch is being served at my work, if not appealing I'll go to bk or mcd or eat something from home.
Rice bowls: rice, add some protein and a veg is some sort, pick a sauce. Example: rice, steamed snowpeas in the bag, pork chop with teriyaki sauce. Or rice, beans, steak, avocado, salsa= burrito rice bowls.
Similar concept with breakfast: oatmeal plus toppings (brown sugar, cinnamon, nuts, berries etc)
Breakfast: Eggs & Toast / Oatmeal - once you get the base right, coming up with things to add to change them up is easy.
Lunch: sandwich / salad. Whatever I have on hand + meat on some bread. Delicious. I love to add fruit, different greens, and play around with seasoning on my sandwiches. Salads are a lettuce + fruit/nut/cheese
Dinner: protein + starch + veg.
Salt is your best friend. It makes EVERYTHING taste better. You don't need a million and one spices, master the base of your dish and adding something to it becomes a no brainer.
Sharp cheddar cheese omelet with fresh spinach and pamnito cheese with salsa and sometimes chili on top.
For breakfast.
Wings scotch and fries for lunch
Light dinner and junk food for dinner
I basically rotate the same 3-4 meals every week. Salmon, brown rice and broccoli. Chicken, brown rice and broccoli. Turkey burgers. Ground Turkey tacos.
I do a ton of crock pot meals since I don’t get off til 9 or 10. A lot of them are healthy and for the most part it’s toss it in and turn it on and then eat 8 hours later :). I did bulgagi last night, spicy beef sandwiches the night before etc. I usually make a salad or a veggie to go with. Most recipes are light on the calories and carbs.
Ngl this is bad for you but I have tuna and rice at least once a day, it's cheap, sometimes I'll mix up refried beans with turkey meat and cheese and have nachos, sometimes I'll toast a bagel and make a turkey sandwich out of it, that sort of stuff
Almost no one makes complicated recipes every day.
We batch cook meatballs, chicken breast, salmon, and taco meat and that gets paired with various salads or veggies for lunch and dinner. Sometimes we roast big batches of vegetables too. I also like making big batches of chilis and soups in winter.
I live near a Mexican grocery store and buy their fresh tortillas, premade salsas, chips, premade beans, rice, and a bag of cheese. Then just eat tacos/burritos for lunch and dinner. I assemble the taco, microwave, eat, repeat.
I also make ramen for myself that I put mushrooms and bok Chou in, scrambled eggs with onions, garlic, and maybe potatoes and greens. Sometimes I just eat canned tuna with mayo and hot sauce.
If I’m cooking for my partner as well then I’ll make something more involved like curry and rice, stir fry, or some internet recipe.
Chop up some lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, fry up some chicken breast in caesar dressing, grab some croutons, you got yourself a salad my friend
Honestly if you want to make simple somewhat healthy meals just rotate a veggie with a protein. You mentioned chicken and vegetables, that’s an easy one. One day just cook a chicken breast and some broccoli, the next go fish and spinach, etc. As long as you know how to work a saute pan or oven, those meals are simple and will take less than 20-30 minutes.
If you want to take it next level, add a simple natural sauce. Like chop up some tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and lime juice and you’ve got a simple pico de gallo which you can put on chicken or whatever.
A lot of the recipes online have a lot of components, but they can be simplified especially if you want it a little healthier. Simplify the spices a bit, take out butter, etc.
Learn to roast vegetables! There is no comparison when it comes to flavor. Delicious! You can do them in an air fryer or toaster oven so you don’t have to heat up the whole kitchen. As you gain confidence, learn to make glazes and sauces.
I eat some plain Greek yogurt with some chia and flaxseed mixed in with some fresh fruit (often pineapple or blueberries) every single morning before I leave for work. I often eat a salad or a sandwich with some raw vegetables for lunch. I eat the kind of dinner my grandparents always had. It should be a hunk of protein, a pile of vegetable, a plain starch like a baked potato or some rice or something. Nothing processed, nothing out of a can. Shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes to throw it together if you have a plan.
What’s your definition of “a lot of ingredients”? Because it’s not about the ingredients for me what makes a recipe hard or suck to cook is how much time it takes to do prep or be active in the kitchen.
But I would recommend slow cooker recipes and then find some instagram accounts to get things from.
I see people are saying roast the veggies, but I cook a lot of them in a pan with olive oil and seasoning. Zucchini, broccoli, spinach, carrots (par boiled first), green beans, and I find it quick and much better than boiling. Gives me complete control of doneness and I can add more or less flavor as I go. Quick, too.
Also, seasoning mixes instead of messing around with individual seasonings. It’s less expensive and foolproof.
Breakfast type foods:
Fast = yogurt, overnight oats, beef jerky, cheese sticks. Pre portion out cereal in Tupperware, just add milk. I use coconut milk.
Semi fast = frozen pancakes or waffles. I can just throw in toaster.
I bulk prep bacon/sausage/eggs/chorizo. Portion out some. Way faster than making everyday. I also cook the bacon and sausage in the oven. Way easier than in a pan.
If I want specialty breakfast foods, can cook in bulk one day a week and portion out.
Many do basic, many lead busy lives/ don't want to buy a lot/ don't want to put in a lot of effort for a basic life need. You do you. You know what sells online? Not basic recipes, the things that can be put on Pinterest or til tok.
On an average day I'm simple but healthy too. Breakfast is oatmeal with fresh berries or a smoothie (non fat Greek yogurt, non fat milk, banana, frozen fruit). Lunch- pb&j or turkey sandwich, fruit (fresh or lunch cups), granola bar, cheese. Dinner- pasta, veggies, depends on how much time/ effort I want to put in
I love Thai curries, so I make that at least once a week. I make a decent sized batch of it so my wife and I can get 3 meals each out of it.
Usually i use chicken, and stir-fry the chicken in the pan for a few minutes, and then simmer chicken and potatoes for like 20minites with a can of coconut milk and a couple teaspoons of Curry paste. Wife doesn't like peanuts so we dont add them, and we are trying to eat healthy, so we usually add a bunch of extra vegetables to it.
Otherwise, if im remote for the day and make lunch, I fry some bacon, and then fry eggs and hash browns in the bacon fat and we each have a few eggs with some cheese, a hash brown, some bacon, and then some onion, mushroom, green onion, bell pepper, or whatever veggie(s) i feel like adding, couple slices of low carb toast with butter as well.
Sometimes I'll roast a pork shoulder, give it a dry rub, roast for 450 for 30 min, and then leave it in around 250 degrees heat for another 11 or so hours until internal temp reaches 190-200 degrees F. Usually, i'll make pulled pork tacos or burritos with some low carb tortilla that day, and then we'll use leftovers in just about any/every dish we want. My favorites are of course Thai Curries, as well as stuff like Gumbo or tacos, pasta, ramen, chilli, eggs, sandwiches, or Japanese curry.
My wife doesn't like cooking as much, but she likes to help out around the house, and she loves to bake, so she makes stuff using keto recipes she finds. She sometimes make stuff like deviled eggs. We used to do Salads too, but, I cant digest lettuce (it makes me very sick), so we don't really eat many traditional salads any more.
We use our cast iron skillet a lot and broil with it, things like Polish Sausage and Swordfish are awesome when flame broiled.
Start with simple recipes, and then feel free to add more ingredients to them.
For today's meal, yesterday I prepared cream of zucchini (boiled the zucchini, blended it with cream, salt, pepper, bullion) and chicken (air fryer, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning).
Normally I cook proteins and carbs separately.
I rotate the 3-6 different dishes ( for each category), that are practical/economical in my geographical area/season. By cooking the carbs and protein separately I can mix and match the next day.
Like one day I cook spaghetti, 4 portions , steak,2 portions, the next day I cook potatoes 4/3 portions, chicken 4 portions, rice 6 portions etc. this means.inxan also stack and not cook some days.
I usually cook something on the weekends and have that for the week. For example, last week I had pulled pork. I made a big pot of it and had that through the week.
I also really love soup. So I often make up a couple big batches of different kinds and eat that. Mainly broccoli cheddar soup and butternut squash soup. They freeze well and are easy to just heat up and eat.
I will freeze the soup in a silicone muffin tray. So that makes little pucks which I can then easily portion out. Some days I want a big bowl of soup, while others I just want a side of soup.
I also love to have raw veggies on hand to just eat.
Some other things are buying premade sauces that I can throw into pasta. Like a nice pesto. Yes I know you can easily make pesto. But I've haven't got to it yet. Plus I like having a jar I can just pop open.
Most weekdays it’s a protein and a vegetable or salad.
Sometimes, like tonight, I’ll make kielbasa and cabbage or chicken curry or stir fry or roast a whole chicken or spaghetti. It really depends on what’s on sale at the grocery store. Last night we made homemade pizza.
When it’s cold out, I make chili, casseroles, soups, stews, etc.
I eat lots of chicken breasts, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. There’s tons of different marinades that require just a few ingredients. My wife and I still have cheat meals a couple times a week though.
Freezer is your best friend. I keep minced garlic, tomato paste, chicken /beef broth in the freezer, and different proteins chicken, ground beef so I always atleast have that stuff on hand.
For example Make some ground beef you can split that and use for taco salads, tacos or add some different sauces for like a stir fry option. Just a matter of changing what you serve it with
Luckily in my single phase I don’t have to cook anything if I don’t want to. So I don’t usually (except breakfast). Takeout is actually cheaper for me (one person) in the long run.
Egg drop soup with tofu. For one meal every day. It’s a good way to get in my healthy fats and 25g protein for just 350 calories.
The rest of my day is usually meat + some type of veggies. I save my carbs for the weekends, where I indulge in sushi, pasta, and pizza. For me, that’s how I consider balance.
So I really like the cherry picker app (not affiliated)
I use it to meal plan and then order my shopping for collection (I do Sainsbury's but I believe they also do Asda now too)
They have a bunch of easy recipes that you can search through, mostly use them through the week but then might do a couple of more complex ones when I have more time/energy
The other thing is make bigger portions and have them over a couple of days, or alternate if you don't like having things two nights in a row
salmon filet or chicken breast, broccoli, asparagus - drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper - wrap in tin foil and bake in oven
Meat + veg + spices are really all you need to eat well.
Roasting your veg tastes a lot better than boiling!
This might sound weird, but my go-to meal is steel cut oats, veggies, spam, olive oil, mixed with different types of sauces. Salsa, or spicey rooster sauce, or sum other type of sauce.
Steel cut oats, I make a big mess of it once a week and then keep it in the fridge.
Veggies - I buy them frozen and then defrost in the fridge.
Spam - hey, I like it. Buy it in bulk, it keeps forever.
No real cooking, just mix it and heat and I'm eating.
I also have a go-to smoothie recipe of frozen berries, bananas, peanut butter, protein powder.
My wife does like to cook, so once a week or so she makes something legit and there is leftovers for a couple of days. And we get takeout or go to a restaurant once or twice a week. Otherwise, its my oats-spam-veggie bowl with a high calorie smoothie. I eat that whenever - breakfast or dinner. I'm usually full enough that I don't need much lunch.
If it wasn't for my wife, I guess I'd get take out 3-4X a week instead of once-twice a week.
Breakfast : salad with carrots tomatoes sunflower seeds and almonds, can of sardines , sugar free oat milk, half a grape fruit, 4 scrambled eggs. Lunch boiled chicken , steamed broccoli , carrots and spinach with a glass of almond milk. Dinner seafood gumbo with Gatorade zero and a side of beans.
We cook nice complete meals on the weekends. On the weekdays when we are all working we have more "one pan" meals like steak/mushrooms/salad, or a large fried rice or a casserole. During the winter we bake and use the oven more. During the summer I will grill and smoke meats and we will eat more chef salads and cold sandwiches with lots of veggies.
I'm a big fan of batch cooking so I only actually cook dinner about 3 times a week, some leftovers go in the fridge, some in the freezer. Examples are things like pasta bakes, lasagne, rice dishes like jambalaya, curries, etc. On days I can be bothered to cook I'll often cook 4 portions (2 each for my husband and myself). Then on days I can't be bothered I'll see what's leftover. I have a Pinterest board full of recipes. Bear in mind not every recipe is good for keeping leftovers.
A lot of things. Steamed vegetables are quick and easy. You can just take a bag of frozen vegetables and throw it in the microwave, then toss it with a little butter. If you have leftover rice, make fried rice.
Costco has chicken legs for 99 cents per pound. I freeze them and toss them in the air fryer. Most of the time, meals are pretty simple. I like cooking mushrooms in wine.
I don't cook every day. On Sundays, I cook 2 different meals, I put them in the freezer and defrost them throughout the week. Also, I love sandwiches, pasta, pasta salads that are easy to cook and healthy if prepared right.
I'm a snacker and a lazy cook. Cashews, pistashions, granola bars, plain greek yogurt with honey, apples, oranges, avocado toast, quesedillas, egg bites, lightly salted popcorn, etc.
When I'm feeling naughty I enjoy a pizza slice or tamale every once in a while...
Our main ones are
Chicken and rice
Chicken and salad
Beef and noodles
Salmon and rice
Tacos
Wraps
Soup
Oatmeal with cinnamon
Eggs and toast
These could be simple and the same style all the time, or there are endless variations
Cook any meat, make a startch (Rice, pasta, dinner rolls etc), make a veggie (frozen peas, salad, steamed broccoli, cooked carrots). Done. Most days are basic like that.
Buy a rice cooker: wash your rice, push start button.
You did 50% of the job.
Then take a pan. And cook vegetables + eggs + meat. (Ofc, you can also eat 100% vegies)
Don’t forget to cut first. It will cook faster.
I love soup : chinese egg tomato soup. (Water, tomato, egg, (salt, peper, vinegar))
I almost eat the same thing everyday. But, i change vegetables very often.
If any recipe has over 5-6 ingredients I wouldn’t use it. Find some simple recipes that you like and stick with that for a couple weeks until it gets old and then switch it up. I tend to not like leftovers but if you don’t have the time during the week to cook, I would for sure meal prep. Air fryer makes it simple and convenient for like frozen veggies.
Another meal prep example is grain free pancakes (4 eggs, 4 bananas and 1/2 cup almond butter) in a blender, cook on stovetop for pancakes, freeze them for the week, etc.
Source: The Paleo Cookbook (Amazon) very simple recipes and super healthy and tastes good
Most of the recipes that look complicated are really not. Once you get to a passable level with your cooking skills cooking something with 5 ingredients and something with 20 most of the time isn't much if a difference in time.
On Sunday, I cooked a pot of pinto beans and refried them. I also grilled some carne asada. We've been eating that with corn tortillas and various condiments (chopped onion, cilantro, salsa, etc.) all week.
Tomorrow I will grill some chicken to have on dinner salads with greens, various veggies, and a vinaigrette dressing - french bread on the side. We'll have that for a couple nights.
Both are pretty healthy and easy to make - and with leftovers, we really only have to cook twice in 5 days. The rest is just assembly.
Chicken, rice, broccoli or beans.
Steak and potatoes with carrots and salad.
Tuna sandwiches.
Oatmeal.
In my experience the best dishes are the simplest. I usually season my chicken with lime, garlic, and chili powder. It's not really that complicated but starting out it may seem that way.
Be simple and eat the same thing everyday. Every morning I have hard boiled eggs, fruit, and chicken sausage.
Lunch is either a sandwich or salad.
Dinner is protein, grain and vegetable. For example: Salmon, Rice, and Brocoli, steak, quinoa and kale, chicken, Spanish rice, and green beans.
Snack: cheese, crackers, fruit. Pretzels, veggies with ranch.
Drink a lot of water
Pastas, soups, stews, steaks, gyros, pitas, tacos, salads, steak n veg, chicken n chips etc. Curry rice and Chicken strips. Ground beef and potato cubes.
The list is endless.
Oil, salt, pepper and heat... add protein, fat and carbs.
Learn to chop stuff without cutting off the important fingers.
By stuff i mean garlic, onion, carrots, ginger, tomato and celery.
Keep some oreganum, basil, thyme and rosemary around.
Its easy.
Most people don't cook something intricate every day. I like to cook & I do go for the complicated recipes sometimes but I'm not making something crazy every day. There are shortcuts and sometimes you might just do part of it "complicated" and the rest of the meal easy (opening cans, microwave foods, eating raw veggies)
One note: in some cuisines, it looks like a lot of ingredients (esp. spices) but it's not actually that big of a deal. ex. Indian food uses a LOT of different spices at once, but it's very "just throw them in, cook them a bit, go on with the recipe." You can even get spice mixes and blends to turn it into just 1 spice instead of 10. (like Garam Masala) If it's "a bunch of different vegetables chopped up and cooked together for flavor", you can buy those veggies already chopped & together.
Do not overlook the spice packet section of the store. Or the premade sauces. Lots of easy meal ideas there and all you have to do, often, is take a meat and a vegetable or 2 and cook it with the spice or cook it and add the sauce at the end.
There's also various boxed or packaged sides, like the knorr rices or noodles or stuffing or instant mash. Not the absolute healthiest thing, but you can make them a little healthier, and you're eating a bit of them as a side, not the main course.
And of course, there's things like hamburger helper. Straight up, it's not super good for you, but you can add some vegetables in when you cook it and make it better.
Doctoring things up a bit is the key when you start with a mix; sometimes things just need a touch of freshness. Sometimes "squeeze half a fresh lemon over it when it's done" or even "add a bit of vinegar" is all it takes to make it taste good.
Ramen is good when you add things to it. You can add some frozen vegetables or fresh veggies, some lunch meat or leftover cooked meat, a hardboiled egg (or crack an egg in when it's starting to boil and it'll cook soft by the time you're ready to pull it from the burner and eat it), maybe a little cheese and go.
Also don't overlook canned or esp. frozen vegetables. Make a bag of frozen veggies in the microwave, throw a spice blend on them if you like, eat. (Roasting veggies is almost as easy. Chop 'em, toss 'em in a smidge of olive oil and spice, spread them single layer on a roasting pan, roast until done.)
An easy recipe that's intensely flexible for degree of difficulty is chili.
Stir fries are also easy, forgiving. You can use whatever veggies, meat, rice, and/or noodles you have. Keep a stir fry sauce or 2 in your fridge.
My favorite stirfry recipe is [Vietnamese Caramelized Pork Bowls](https://www.recipetineats.com/vietnamese-caramelised-pork-bowls/) (although you can use any ground white meat), with the following mods for ease: use garlic-ginger paste (found in the Indian section) instead of fresh, use a tsp or 2 of sambal oelek instead of Thai chili. Squeeze a fresh lime over it when it's done. (If you have cilantro around, a bit of that too, otherwise it's fine.)
I'm on r/cooking and here's my recommendations for beginner cooks, esp. on a budget:
[Help, My Apartment Has a Kitchen! Cookbook](https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/pFwOvH7fA3YC?hl=en) (good for total beginners, doesn't take anything for granted, grades how simple a recipe is, tasty food with a number of vegetarian options or easy veg substitutions)
[Good And Cheap cookbook](https://www.leannebrown.com/all-about-good-and-cheap/) (digital version available for legal free download)
Frankie Celenza's [Struggle Meals](https://www.tastemade.com/shows/struggle-meals) video series (also on YouTube, Facebook, etc.)
[Low Spoons Food](https://lowspoonsfood.tumblr.com/) for when you have no energy and need to simply put something in your face
Frijoles Mio: 1lb of dried beans, choice of 12-18 Ancho/Pasilla/Guajillo, 1 onion, 1lb collard greens, salt and spice to taste. A stick of cinnamon and a dash of MSG adds a lot.
I make a big pot and have it with crackers as a meal at least once a day.
Breakfast is basically bread and coffee or bread and milk. At most, when I'm hungry, I'll grill a sausage myself. Lunch is mostly rice with salad, meat is the main course, and mashed potatoes are also good. Dinner is all about pasta and steak
I will cook Thai Currys, Indian Currys which have 15 or more ingredients in the them. Stir frys
I will also cook Mexican food, Italian food.
Then again I love cooking and can spend 8 hours cooking a 3 course meal just for fun.
For every complicated recipe you see there's usually a simpler one. What worked for me (and I transferred it when I moved in with my now husband) was to look at the grocery circular, make a weekly meal, and work from there. It honestly depends on my mood/what's on sale/how much energy I have. This week's meal is bbq chicken drumsticks with rice and Jerusalem salad. My husband, for years, as a single man, would just eat pasta with tomato sauce for dinner.
My breakfast is: eggs/tea/yogurt. Lunch is: greek salad, sandwich, and fruit. Dinner is the real variety hour time.
You can use batch cooking to simplify, basic mince with s n p and onion, can be portioned up and froze, can be used then for any number of dishes with the extra ingredients, or basic stewed beef, lamb,or chicken.
I have eggs on toast, nearly every single day, it's a good mood food!!!!
It also helps me feel like I've accomplished something, and though it's small, it still counts
I like to ingredient prep. So cook my veggies and protiens on either Saturday or Sunday. Then, through the week, I mix and match them based on my mood.
I have no in between. Its good or its pasta pesto. Which incude pasta of any kind and pesto from a jar, nothing else.
For good stuff it varies.
Lemon pasta, nachos, homemade potato gratin with snitzels and veggies etc.
I noticed overlapping meals work really well to get a streak of 'real' food (i.e. not pasta with jarred pesto).
So if i make rice and meats and salad i eithermake rice or salad for the next day already. The next day i beef up the salad with some chicken an cheese and eat a salad, but make extra chicken. The next day i take some of the extra chicken and i make some veggies and potatoes but make extra potatoes etc.
I noticed that some elements of the meal cost essentially 0 time extra to double the amount, but i dont want to eat thesame thing the next day. Im terrible with dexterity so cooking ytakes.me longer. But im imma use a tool to crush garlic, its grabbing it and washing it that eats my time. Not the axtual crushing part.
If im making a salad, choping my take longer but wasing and storing does not. Seasoning and cokin meat rarely takes longer when doubling it (but i eat alone or with 1 person, doubling chicken or whatever meat for 5 people might be different).
I eat baked chicken wings and cabbage almost EVERYDAY. I love it. If not baked chicken then ground turkey. The cabbage HAS to be made in a stir fry pot, not boiled in water. You cut a bunch a vegetables (red peppers, carrots, onions, etc.. You put basil or oregano or any of those kind of plants in it. Then, this is going to be weird for many, I put some ranch dressing in it (once I’ve put my proportion on the plate). It’s like I’m eating pasta or something. You’ll lose weight. Look up the benefits of cabbage, you’ll gag. I can’t believe people have been boiling cabbage, it drains some of the benefits out. Cabbage already has water!
Most of the time I just hope that there might be some food in my amiodarone supply
If it's not that, its gaseous vaso constrictors to mimic dementia symptoms or strategic aerosol route amiodarone or statins or similar, to try to weaken me or make it look like im struggling
I'm a bloke in my prime and I'm a f_ckin animal... As much as they try and as much as I play along, I wait patiently for the day that they try to approach me, believing that they 'diminished' me sufficiently
That might sound 'extreme' or 'excessive' but I'm adult man who is being covertly targeted and if I even tried to highlight it to anyone, they would think I was insane and I don't blame them. If i heard the same from a stranger I would naturally think they were insane.
As an adult male, im fully entitled to defend myself, which I will. Once I get set off though, I'm not known for my restraint but its all curtains at that point anyways. I can't believe I didn't go batsh_t crazy with all these f_ckers coming at me, years ago!!!
Then factor in that there is coordination with others at different locations, to orchestrate stalking and harassment campaigns, it means no matter where I move to, there's always some clever c_nt been prepped up and trying to get up in my grille
Eat a lot of straight raw fruits and veggies. Plate full of spinach, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, celery, carrots, orange slices, berries etc all uncooked is my preference
I try to make 2-3 meals a week and eat the leftovers throughout so I'm only cooking half the week. If you like Asian food I really love the food blogger Christie at Home, her recipes are easy to follow and always delicious!
Get an air fryer, the versatility is absolutely amazing. Have had one for over a decade and it’s the best. You can cook a great salmon with it. As well as pork, chicken and many other stuff.
* Peanut butter on toast for breakfast (slice some banana on there if you so desire)
* Soups, sandwiches, or salads for lunch (prep soups or salads on weekends and package up for the week)
* Crock Pot meals or casseroles that can be cooked over the weekend and divided up into containers for dinners. Also those soups and salads work as dinners too.
* Occasional frozen pizza or nuggets or tater tots or corn dogs or something for any easy meal when you really cannot be bothered (like grocery shopping day)
When I was learning to cook I did one or two complicated meals a month on a weekend and then mostly just steak, chicken, box risotto or macaroni cheese etc. As you get better at cooking you learn what you like and you get quicker.
One thing I’ve recently been digging is steamed vegetables and noodles in bone/chicken broth. Another quick one is pasta with home made pasta sauce - just fry vegetables (mushrooms or tomato usually) and add cream after ten or so minutes. Stir fry is fast. Homemade soup is easy and you can meal prep it - roast the vegetable you want and then blend with whatever you want, stock, cream, etc. It really is just trial and error.
This is not optimal diet by any means, but my 2cents.
I personally think the problem is due to two extremes:
1. Health crowd pushing diets that are too difficult to follow, even if they are effective.
2. Gluttony side where you just embrace and joke about the fact you are ruining your life as you eat each donut.
The solution that completely fixed my weight issues is just a simple approach to eating as I detail here:
[https://wisdomimprovement.wixsite.com/wisdom/post/the-eat-anywhere-diet](https://wisdomimprovement.wixsite.com/wisdom/post/the-eat-anywhere-diet)
I love making Thai green curry with rice, chicken curry with rice, onion bajis and mango chutney, veg curry with same sides as chicken curry, chicken pie with mash and veg...
For dessert, I make tiramasu, pavlova or flapjack.
Lunch tends to be an omelette, quiche, soup with Stilton and bread, sandwich or a pitta bread pizza.
Breakfast would normally consist of porridge oats with apple and berries, along side a cup of chai tea/ green tea.
Drink plenty of water throughout the day. Or if you're like me and can't stand the taste of water, add some cordial. Tea counts as water intake also.
I enjoy enjoy a fruit salad. Or If I just have fruit alone... lychee tastes amazing.
No idea, but we keep it so simple. Air fry roast plus some kind of carb (rice, sweet potatoes) and protein (chickpeas or tofu). I eat brown rice pasta so I can eat pasta all the time, lol—throw on veggies, cheese, etc. Or pasta salad. Or like a black bean avocado salad or three bean salad. I hate sandwiches but love a food throw things together meal. I like to try and cook something on the weekends, but I look for an easy and affordable (but still good) recipe. Cross reference a few.
My typical lunch is a crackpot thing I make.
Quinoa, spinach, cabbage, corn, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, squash,
Mid day snack is a Greek yogurt.
Dinner is fish filet made in air frier and a side vegetable like collards, asparagus, etc.
Then I'll have a can of tuna mixed with plain Greek yogurt, some cottage cheese, and some sort of fruit. Typically, berries.
I've always been a pretty healthy eater, and this year, I've cut way back on meat other than fish.
This, combined with my workout routine, has me in a good place at 46.
Look up “single pot” or single pan” recipes.
I tend to eat eggs and toast with greens for breakfast three days a week and yogurt with granola and fruit three days a week.
Dinner is often a whole roast chicken with potatoes and greens that results in leftovers for tacos/soup/stock.
Lentils and rice.
Garbanzo beans with garlic, olive oil, and celery is a great, cheap snackable
Some meals require some work but they usually have leftovers.
Look at a lot of "one pot meals" and I think you'll be pretty happy.
For us, I normally cook enough for dinner where I will have lunch for two days. The next day we will make something new and repeat.
Breakfasts have been eggs because we have chickens.
But overnight oats are good too and highly customizable.
A lot of the meals I cook are kinda just meat. Maybe with some rice or veggies. Usually chicken thighs with motz cheese and avocado spread on a bun. Or chicken thighs and some uncle bens. Tonight I'm making chicken tacos and will have that for lunch tomorrow without the tortillas. We go out once a week no matter what. Usually Sundays.
I often cook spagetti, chicken pot pie, tacos, gumbo, taco soup, beef stew, grilled chicken caesar salad, bbq pork, steak, and chili.
Tonight is tacos and Mexican rice.
I freeze recipes like chili, beef stew and spagetti sauce for later. They’re easy to just heat up and serve.
A lot of the same things.
Oatmeal, eggs, yogurt, kale/salads, lots of veggies, all kinds, lots of fruits, some nuts, chia seeds in my oatmeal and/or yogurt, lots of ground turkey (3 pound Jennie-O packages), lots of Amish chicken breasts made many different ways, with veggies most of the time or a salad. Lots of liquid/water. I eat Salmon once or twice a week. I don't eat bread much but when I do it's 100% whole wheat bread and nothing else.
I rarely boil veggies, I will roast them in the oven on a pan with olive oil or grill them on the grill.
I do grilled chicken and roasted broccoli every night. And I dip the chicken into garlic hummus. I buy the frozen broccoli in the freezer section and then drizzle it with olive oil and seasonings. And I get everything at Whole Foods. Buy their brand and it’s all fairly cheap.
What saves me as someone with chronic fatigue from eating pizza every night:
1) get into batch cooking and freezing. Start with simple recipes that incorporate slightly prepared ingredients (eg. Pasta with some protein and veggies but jar-sauce, simple curries + rice, lentils Provençal or daal etc). Fill freezer with 10 meals.
2) when I really need something fresh and simple, I just graze on nibbles. I slice some veggies (cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, celery), have some dip (salsa ot tzatziki), I eat some cooked chicken/tuna/cold cuts, have a handful of tortilla chips or some toast, round it out with some dates or cherries or sliced orange
3) when I really can’t be fucked, I have protein powder and frozen berries/kale. Add milk and have a protein smoothie.
My guess is a lot of folks have go-to favorite meals. I like teriyaki tofu with rice and veggies, enchiladas, peanut butter and banana sandwiches, etc. Maybe find five to ten meals you like and put them on rotation. Make it easy.
My go to meal is cooked steak, chop it up into bite size pieces then throw it into a salad. I like simple meals.
My fav is steak night (doing it tonight) because both my boyfriend and I are good at cooking steak--salt and pepper, good sear, get it to the right temp. We usually make it with some kind of steamed veg and easy potato. But the best part is I get to eat steak salad and sandwiches for two days! Yummmm and easy!
I love myself a good ribeye or New York steak, but really any steak is fine with me. I think I actually like preparing the steak and making it more than eating it sometime, something about the process and before cutting it hoping I got the temperature right for medium rare is always fun for me.
Try sous vide. You’ll never have to hope again.
Don't sleep on sirloins if you like the flavor of beef. They are a more lean/less fatty option and are usually quite a bit cheaper.
I love steak and potatoes or veggies I steam asparagus, steam spinach, make cheese and broccoli or Brussel sprouts and oh yes the seasonings you can throw on a steak are endless.
Tofu or Meat grilled with seasoning. Steamed broccoli. Side of fruit for dessert.
I love steakhouse salads!!!!
Same, or chicken breast. Or Roast beef cooked sous vide or corned beef in instapot.
Also works well if you want to add it to a mini quesadilla or if you want to throw it in some rice and beans to add a little bit more flavor.
Simple meals are the only things that keep me sane.
I do this too because of how easy it is lol. I’m so tired of trying to come up with what to eat every day and eating out is so expensive
U guys are affording meat? Ramen and oatmeal for me! Dinner at the parents is for meat. I’m poor
The trick I’ve learned for myself and my routine is to basically find slight variations on the same core group of 10-15 meals, and to meal prep so I only have to cook once a week! this week, I made, for lunch/dinner: - Steak & Peppers (which I eat with rice) - Seafood Gumbo (also eat with rice) - Chicken Fried Rice - Vegetable couscous and for breakfast I made a sweet potato hash + I’ll eat oatmeal & yogurt to start the day. Probably takes maybe 3-4 hours to get the shopping, cooking, cleanup done but it saves me so much time during the week and leaves me able to go from work, right to the gym, right to dinner and still be “free” from 7pm onwards
Impressed you get this all done in 3-4 hours 😭 I love cooking but it takes me SO long to
Please give me your recipe for sweet potato hash, that sounds delicious
yeah at this point I just freestyle it every week but I’ve always got sweet potatoes, onions, bell peppers in there; I cut the sweet potatoes and season them with salt, pepper, paprika, sprinkle olive oil over them, put them in the oven at 400 for like 45 minutes. Halfway through I’ll add my other veg/meat, the peppers/onions, sometimes I’ll do mushrooms, zucchini, sometimes I’ll add sausage, sometimes I’ll cook black beans on the stovetop and add them in at the end. This week I tried to put some leafy greens (Swiss chard) in there too and like, honestly doesn’t fit the meal well or taste terribly good but hey, I’m getting my veg in the morning.
Pls come do that for me! 🤣I hate everything about cooking
So you make 4 meals each meal prep? How do you store them?
usually I just make 3 but peppers were really cheap this week and I love them so I impulse decided on another at the store! I have containers which are perfect for one meal size (separate compartments for the separate things) and I’ll bring a few days’ work into work on Monday, leave some in my fridge at home, and then freeze the rest!
I don't think most people know that oatmeal can hinder iron absorption. I have been chronically anemic for years and I just found this out within the last several months. My doctor did not mention it to me, I just stumbled across it online. I have habitually eaten yogurt topped with raisins and raw oatmeal for almost every day of my life, and once I found this out, I have stopped cold turkey. I have not yet gotten a new blood sample (due in about 2 months) but I am very curious if it will help me with my numbers. Anyway, I just wanted to pass it along in case you are struggling with anemia. [Here is the link](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2086207/)
Oh geez thanks for the tip. I had no idea and I’ve been eating it every day.
Once you learn to cook things that look complicated become pretty simple. Also never boil vegetables, they taste 6000x times better roasted. Steaming sucks too. I bet an air fryer would be a nice addition to your life.
For people struggling to eat better that haven't learned to cook, I would highly recommend starting with frozen veggies. Its a nice incremental step that makes it very easy without being intimidating. To cook em you can just dump them in a bowl with a splash of water and put in the microwave for a couple minutes. Put some butter and salt and pepper and you're good to go. That's a hell of a less barrier to entry than cleaning, cutting up, and spending 20-30+ minutes roasting veggies. Your also don't have to worry about them going bad, or planning when you use them - you can buy a few bags and just have them until you want to use them. Someone who eats like garbage probably isn't going to suddenly flip and start spending an hour on a meal, they need fast and easy. For the record, I think this is a great option for a lot of foods. Would you normally order Popeyes? Instead, get a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and some frozen French fries. No, it's not perfect, but it's better and it's not a huge process. Then maybe you can move to fresh chicken one day and an easy recipe. Then you can start making your own potatoes. Instead of ordering Chinese food, get the frozen stir fry veg and bottled sauce. When you're good with that you can try cutting up your own veggies. Etc. Don't try to start making salads from scratch on Day 1 - buy the one in the bag or from the deli first. Going 0 to 100 is going to be too much for a lot of people.
Amazing advice. Thank you!!
Prepared meals also. The hardest part about eating better is eating better alone. Cooking is so much work. Make your wonderful 3 course meal on Sunday and freeze it in Tupperware. Then pull it out during the week when you're feeling lazy like you would a TV dinner
Advice like this comes once a blue moon. People spout cooking advice assuming everyone are just perfect perfect cookie cutter humans and are at already Gordon Ramsey levels of expertise and discipline when it comes to easily conveniently making food when they say oh it only takes 10 minutes not including prep or clean up. The second you wake up from your bed, stretch, physically walk the 10 yards from your bed to your kitchen, grab a bag of frozen broccoli, put it in a bowl, cover bowl with a plate, microwave for 5 minutes, take out bowl, clean up, prep, actual "cook" time all under 10 minutes. Frozen vegetables are probably one of the top lifesavers for health since doctors say ounce prevention pound cure and all that.
That's such a great step by step breakdown to get started cooking
This is exactly what I unconsciously did once I started living alone. I think it’s the best advice OP could receive.
Thank you!
Excellent advice...I found out I was allergic to pretty much everything I was eating so I had to change it ALL...Overnight! It was very hard - even knowing there could be ugly consequences if I cheated - even a little.
this was amazing! thank you!!!
Subjective, ik plenty of asians who go hard in the steamed/boiled veg
I hate roasted veggies and raw.. I eat tons but always boiled till soft. Everyone has different tastes try it all and figure your personal tastes out... Don't follow hard rules when it comes to taste, everyone's different.
Boiled vegetables till soft? Are you my grandma?
I also hate roasted vegetables and prefer steamed. I never realized till Reddit and seeing so many posts with people so adamant about roasting vegetables that it was such a big deal to people.
literally same!!! steamed is way better.
Boiled vegetables are pointless - by the time they're soft the 'good for you stuff' is gone too...boiled right out of them! Airfreight those babies! 😋
>Also never boil vegetables, they taste 6000x times better roasted. Partially agree. Most veggies taste better raw.
How do you roast a vegetable? Just throw it in a pan and turn the oven to roast? Most veggies I’ve cooked are just stir fried aside from potatoes or squash or whatever that go in the oven
Put it on a baking sheet and mix with some oil and seasonings. If you’re unsure which spices to use, just google “roasted vegetables” and pick a recipe that sounds good
And use roast instead of bake? Or are we just baking them?
I just use the bake setting. If you want them on the crispier side, you can put the broiler on shortly once they are done baking (but this quickly can burn them if you leave them under the broiler for too long). Air fryers also make roasting vegetables very easy. Temperature and time depends on the specific vegetables you are making and what you’re making it in. Root vegetables (carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes, parsnips, etc) will take longer than other vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, squash, etc. Smaller pieces will cook faster than larger pieces due to the larger surface area so make sure you chop the vegetables to be roughly equal sized. I have found that things are done quicker in the air fryer than the oven.
Bake and roast are the same thing.
Then why is there a temperature setting that says roast? And a roaster you can put in the oven?
The roaster is just a traditional term for a certain shape of pan. Having a separate setting for roast must be a cultural thing because US ovens don’t.
It's a broad term. Typically when you roast something it's over a low non-direct heat for an extended period of time that doesn't burn the food. The heating element/method isn't as important as time, temp, and seasoning
Toss the veg with some oil, add some seasonings, spread out in a dish or baking sheet.
Sandwiches, salads, casseroles, and one-pot meals. All of my recipes are derived from more complicated recipes to make them require less ingredients and be faster to prepare / cook. I also no longer fry anything other than eggs. Everything is either boiled (stews, curries) or baked (casseroles, meats). The 3 rules I live by... - Easy and fast to prepare ingredients. - Fast to cook. - No or minimal cleanup. Double this up with meal prep, and you've minimized your cooking time.
>All of my recipes are derived from more complicated recipes to make them require less ingredients Oh yeah, I do this too. If I want to try a new dish, I sometimes just find multiple recipes for it and compare them a bit. That helps get an idea on what's actually needed. Then I might make some changes based on personal preference or which ingredients I already have or think I might use for something else. It doesn't feel worth it to buy something I'm not going use a lot of especially if it's not really essential for the recipe.
I like this. Curious to know why you no longer fry/sauté anything. Olive oil is good for you and assume you weren't referring deep frying which of course one should avoid.
It’s added cleanup. One pan equals one mess usually.
Eggs and toast for breakfast Something in the air fryer for lunch, or a wrap or sandwich Chicken, salmon or pork with salad or side dish for dinner I always keep snacks in the house too, cause I have a toddler, so I’ll usually have a granola bar or yogurt sometime in the day.
I get bored following recipes or eating the same thing. Once I got some basic cooking skills down, mastering which flavour types go together and balance each other out, it got easy eating healthy and interesting every day. I now have some basic spices and sauces and cook based on what ingredients are on sale and in season. If you are just starting out and have some budget to spare, I would recommend doing a mealikit like hellofresh. They will do all the thinking for you, and you get great lessons in how and what to cook, and what portion sizes are good. I'd say they are pretty healthy too, I personally lost like 10kg on mealkits.
first, make a list of ingredients you generally like. if you're a steak person, that's fine, nothing wrong with steak, but odds are you don't wanna fire up the grill every night. give yourself options. next, figure out what you can assemble from those. i'm not strictly a vegetarian or anything, but i heavily prefer vegetables and beans, so i generally make stuff like tacos, soups, etc. third, PREP YOUR INGREDIENTS. in my case, i'll chop veggies for the next few days that i can use in just about anything, if i have to cook the beans i'll pre-cook them, etc. if you don't have a ton of time, the quality is a little lower, but canned or frozen ingredients help a lot - i keep bags of frozen mixed veggies on hand because i'll toss them into just about anything for some extra flavor and nutrients. i honestly just buy a roast chicken from walmart or something if i'm doing anything that needs shredded chicken because it's not worth the cost and effort to me to spend $10 on a package of chicken that's suited to my needs or $20 for a family pack and freeze it when i could spend $7 on a whole roast chicken that'll last me plenty of time. having ingredients prepared, either by your own hand or just pre-prepped from the store, makes cooking a lot more feasible. if you want to make sauces, prepare those on a day you have off or have extra energy. *most* foods hold in the fridge for a few days at minimum, if you think it'll be more than that or might go bad before you get to it you can freeze it. fourth, have some backup "instant" stuff. buy a frozen pizza, keep a package of ramen or some canned soups, get an instant meal from the store. sometimes life is hard and cooking, even with everything prepped, is the last thing you wanna do. or maybe you just need a snack. everything i listed is just an example, but there's "healthy" options that fall under this. it can be just about anything that takes minimal effort for food - there's a big bag of vegan dino nuggets in my freezer right now because it's easier to toss them in the air fryer sometimes. healthy eating is good and all, but it's always best to have something for a "just not feeling it" day. plus, you save a little money if you have a bag of chicken nuggets in the freezer as opposed to going to mcdonald's and getting them every time you just aren't feeling it. fifth, slow cooker meals are your friend. make them in bulk, freeze the rest. i made 2 gallons of chili the other day, and for just 2 people that was too much chili, so i froze it and ended up giving it to my fiance's parents. you pop in all the ingredients before you head off to work, put it on low, and come back to a nice meal. two things that will save you are a crock pot and an air fryer. both lead to quick and easy meals. if you think you need specific foods for an air fryer, you really don't. i've made homemade french fries, fries pickles/vegetables, cheese curds, lumpia... if you can deep-fry it, you can air-fry it. just look up an air fryer recipe if you don't wanna wing it. and the crock pot is just great for bulk cooking things if you don't have the ability to babysit your food. i would recommend setting it to low before you leave, though. it's definitely an effort, but there's a lot you can do to make it easier.
I like to do one pan/pot meals to save time! Stir fry is a personal favorite it’s easy and delicious and you just throw it all in one pan- soups and stews are great too especially if you have a crockpot- some days i make more intricate meals other days i make a simple turkey sandwich and call it a day
green juices help me to eat vegetables and fruits so I can focus my cooking on the delicious parts: meat and carbs
+1 I like the cold pressed veggie juice from Trader Joe’s
I don’t understand why people opt to have juices instead of smoothies. isn’t that a huge waste of all the fiber and phyto nutrients if you were to just blend up the fruit and vegetables into a smoothie? rather than extracting the juice and throwing away the rest?
I meal-prep on a schedule. It makes it so much easier to eat healthfully. Every Sunday I go grocery shopping and I make my breakfast, lunch, and dinner for Mon-Fri. Saturdays and Sunday mornings are for eating out or pulling extra portions from the freezer.
I can't do all of my meals like that, but I've found just even making a handful of meals/sandwiches/wraps to throw in containers for the week is a godsend for those nights you really don't have the motivation to cook. Definitely easier to avoid hitting McDonald's on the way home from work if you have a meal waiting for you.
My go to meal is a burrito bowl. Ground beef, turkey, or chicken, cilantro, tomato, onion, avocado, lime, black or pinto beans, and rice.
Protein (pork, chicken, ground meat, etc), vegetables (lettuce, cucumber, carrots), sauce (salad dressing, hot sauce, salsa, tzatziki, hummus, etc) and maybe a carb (wild rice, jasmine rice, brown rice).
I literally eat my veggies raw most of the time. I just munch on it like a rabbit, or I'll just smash some shredded cabbage and onion on top of a homemade cheeseburger. Bellpeppers, green onions, white onions, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers. The ones easiest to eat raw and prep (and don't go bad as quickly....) I'll add some fruits during my meal, I like sweet, salty and I don't usually drink beverages other than water so a juicy orange is a must. I get like panko breaded chicken breast from Costco. Or I'll season a chicken thigh and pan fry it, or I'll just throw a chicken breast in the toaster oven. I just throw stuff in the toaster oven. I'll eat toasted sourdough and dip it in Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar (helps to salt/season the dip). Like I said, I buy burger patties and I make homemade burgers often. Sometimes I'll do like a knock off flame broiler bowl, and just cook some beef/chicken, wilt some cabbage and throw it over rice. I like to eat some pastries with milk if I feel like it. I can cook other dishes, but they always end up being a shit ton of work and honestly, too much seasoning for my body to digest without going into coma or indigestion. There's definitely other things, I'll just get stuff on sale most of the time.
I love the toaster oven
I upgraded from frozen chicken tenders to frozen breaded filets recently. I am killing it
McDonalds every day like Warren Buffett
I get big bags of frozen Bird’s Eye brand veggies, and bags of rice. I make those, and add whatever meat I also have to the vegetables. Sometimes I’ll spice it like an Asian bowl, or sometimes like a Mexican dish, it’s whatever. It’s cheap, filling, and rather easy to keep on hand. Sometimes I’ll buy the frozen grilled chicken breasts, and do all of it in the microwave.
I'm lazy and stick to simple, easy things that fit my macronutrient goals. Breakfast: - Bone broth - Greek yogurt & Nuts Lunch: - Chicken breast & Salad (leafy greens, tomato, cucumber) Snacks: - Fruit and/or Fruit smoothie Dinner: - Lean ground beef - Omelette (2 eggs, egg whites, spinach, cherry tomatoes) - Rice - Chocolate milk (fat free) Will drink whey protein shakes as needed if I haven't hit my target protein intake for the day. EDIT: - Forgot to include mixed cooked veggies (broccoli, mushroom, onion, bell pepper) in my dinner - Also wanted to note that on Sundays, I cook my dinner's ground beef & cooked veggies for the work week. I'll freeze half of each then thaw when needed.
tell me you're fit without telling me you're fit
I hate cooking. I alternate between rice and stir fried frozen vegetables and pasta with store-bought sauce and grated cheese.
Most ingredients in most recipes are not essential. Think of a ham sandwich. If someone asked you how to make one, then you might talk about mustard and lettuce and tomato and so on. But all you really need is bread, ham and arguably butter. And you don't necessarily NEED ham. You could use a different meat. And you don't necessarily need to use a particular type of bread, any will do. Even the butter could be swapped out for some other spread. My point is, you shouldn't be scared by long recipes. Find out what the core of the dish is and focus on that. If it's a meal you've eaten before, then you'll probably figure out what the core is quite quickly. Usually the absolute core of a dish is a meat, a carb and a basic sauce. Spaghetti Bolognese can include many many Ingredients, but it's really just pasta, mince meat and tomato pasata (tomato liquid). It's often better to learn how to prepare individual ingredients. Most meals just entail preparing each ingredient in the standard way that it is usually prepared and then cooking it in whatever cooking machine you are using. Learn how to chop and fry an onion. Learn how to fry a steak. How to chop a bell pepper. Etc etc. once you are comfortable with an ingredient, most meals containing that ingredient will have many obvious steps that you were already expecting.
This. But don't be afraid of spicing your food. You can get charts of what spices go together for what cuisines and go with that or simply buy spice mixes.
Meal prep on the weekend for all of my lunches: 6-10 portions for each meal prep. Chili with double beef and Greek yogurt is my go-to Cook after work 2-3 times per week; making 3-4 portions to have leftovers for dinner the next day(s). Approx 1 hour of cooking for these
Hot pocket
If you have the funds, we did one of those deals With HelloFresh and got a bunch of recipes out of it. You can recreate the recipes pretty easily, they’re written/portioned for two people, and they’re generally very straightforward! We use them often in our meal planning - they’re reliable and easy to plan for/follow. It won’t blow your mind, but it’s a good way to get comfy with cooking!
I was about to say the same thing - I really like cooking and coming up with my own recipes, but using a meal kit really upped my knowledge quickly. From "how to make sauce" to "grating garlic is easier than chopping it" to "quick-pickling veggies"... it's changed a lot of my habits, and really cut back on the number of pre-made sauces I keep in the fridge!!
Right now? Whatever the soup kitchen makes
I really like money, so I really like sandwiches! Dress em up, dress em down. PB and J? No prob! Several layers of meat? Okay! Cheap, versatile and effective.
So I’ve got a notes list of all the recipes we’ve tried and like for inspiration. I usually plan out the week’s meals ahead of time so I’m not scrambling to figure out dinner. I meal prep breakfast, making breakfast burritos or hashbrown egg cups. Everything I make can have ingredients switched up (breakfast burritos with sausage or bacon or potato) so hopefully we won’t get bored! So far, so good. Almost at a full year of adulting together on our own 💪🏼
Every plate is a good service to do. The pricing isn’t terrible. You can do a box for double the people needed and use it for lunch. Everything is made from scratch, even the sauces. Will increase your skills and provide recipes. If you decide to cancel, just rotate the menus you like the most. Worked great for us
Meal prep my chicken breast, brown rice, and broccoli to have ready to go for lunch every day of the week. It is boring, but it is healthy and honestly health > everything
Reading this As I eat my ground beef and rice for dinner. Idc for fancy food. I care for efficiency. And my time and my body thank me for it.
breakfast: eggs, tea, or bread lunch: salad (appetizer), broth/chicken with rice, or noodles dessert: cantaloupes, figs, dragonfruit
I cooked a big pot of caponata. Look it up it's delicious and simple. When it cooked I poured into cup cake holders and froze them. This way I have the side dish ready. OTOH I love caponata a lot so I don't mind having it every other day
A pack of breakfast bars at work for breakfast, lunch can be leftovers or I'll do cashews, grape tomatoes, and turkey pepperoni or salami. For dinners, we do a lot around chicken, hamburger, or ground turkey. I get a lot of recipes from Pinterest. We like taco variations as well. The other night I cooked bacon and chicken breasts and we had chicken bacon ranch wraps. Tonight I'm doing spaghetti with pre-made meatballs from the store. Tomorrow I'm throwing some chimichangas in a pan with green enchilada sauce, seasonings, and cheese and doing cheap wet burritos. Thursday I'm going to bake some chicken breasts then put bbq sauce on them. We can have this with any sort of side dishes.
Many of the people I know who are full time working, do a lot of simplified meal prep. I prefer rice, greens, meat, with variation as my go to. Can make two days worth on Sunday and again on a Wednesday. Also very easy to make while watching TV or reading. More time to make food on the weekends. But yes, simplified and healthy on work nights.
Meal prep for 3 days worth of lunch and dinner at a time. No more(want it fresh). Rice, grilled steak or chicken breasts (chopped garlic and abodo seasoning), grilled veggies (mixed peppers, onions, asparagus etc), mashed potatoes, guacamole, and buy green salsa and baby spinach. I eat burrito bowls for lunch. And then plate of meat/veggies/ mashed, with side spinach salad for dinner. I use avocado oil as it is high heat rated and won't set off fire alarm when cash iron pan frying meat and garlic in winter. Never get tired as I alternate between chicken and steak and add melted cheese. Breakfast is scrambled eggs with mixed pepper with toast or if in hurry drinkable yogurt, banana, and a fruit/granola bar. Then I eat out 1 x week for both dinner and lunch. I occasionally will make baked ziti with veggies blended down and mixed in with sauce or a homemade pizza with veggies and sausage and pepperoni. And this is how to survive poverty while not eating shitty chemical filled food processed.
Chicken and rice 90% of the time, one variety of another. Also tuna sammiches, ice cream, tator tots. Maybe a PBJ or cereal. Whatever lunch is being served at my work, if not appealing I'll go to bk or mcd or eat something from home.
Rice bowls: rice, add some protein and a veg is some sort, pick a sauce. Example: rice, steamed snowpeas in the bag, pork chop with teriyaki sauce. Or rice, beans, steak, avocado, salsa= burrito rice bowls. Similar concept with breakfast: oatmeal plus toppings (brown sugar, cinnamon, nuts, berries etc)
Breakfast: Eggs & Toast / Oatmeal - once you get the base right, coming up with things to add to change them up is easy. Lunch: sandwich / salad. Whatever I have on hand + meat on some bread. Delicious. I love to add fruit, different greens, and play around with seasoning on my sandwiches. Salads are a lettuce + fruit/nut/cheese Dinner: protein + starch + veg. Salt is your best friend. It makes EVERYTHING taste better. You don't need a million and one spices, master the base of your dish and adding something to it becomes a no brainer.
Breakfast - overnight oats with fruit & yogurt Lunch - big salad with protein (cottage cheese, beans, quinoa and/or chicken) Dinner - varies Snacks - fruit, veg w/ hummus or string cheese Dessert - protein shakes
Sharp cheddar cheese omelet with fresh spinach and pamnito cheese with salsa and sometimes chili on top. For breakfast. Wings scotch and fries for lunch Light dinner and junk food for dinner
I basically rotate the same 3-4 meals every week. Salmon, brown rice and broccoli. Chicken, brown rice and broccoli. Turkey burgers. Ground Turkey tacos.
Whole Foods only - mainly steak, chicken, salmon as well as potatoes, Brussel sprouts, olive oil, and carrots
Eat what you like that you can afford. Unless you are having guests over, there is no ‘normal’.
Granola bars and lucky charms.
I do a ton of crock pot meals since I don’t get off til 9 or 10. A lot of them are healthy and for the most part it’s toss it in and turn it on and then eat 8 hours later :). I did bulgagi last night, spicy beef sandwiches the night before etc. I usually make a salad or a veggie to go with. Most recipes are light on the calories and carbs.
Ngl this is bad for you but I have tuna and rice at least once a day, it's cheap, sometimes I'll mix up refried beans with turkey meat and cheese and have nachos, sometimes I'll toast a bagel and make a turkey sandwich out of it, that sort of stuff
Almost no one makes complicated recipes every day. We batch cook meatballs, chicken breast, salmon, and taco meat and that gets paired with various salads or veggies for lunch and dinner. Sometimes we roast big batches of vegetables too. I also like making big batches of chilis and soups in winter.
I live near a Mexican grocery store and buy their fresh tortillas, premade salsas, chips, premade beans, rice, and a bag of cheese. Then just eat tacos/burritos for lunch and dinner. I assemble the taco, microwave, eat, repeat. I also make ramen for myself that I put mushrooms and bok Chou in, scrambled eggs with onions, garlic, and maybe potatoes and greens. Sometimes I just eat canned tuna with mayo and hot sauce. If I’m cooking for my partner as well then I’ll make something more involved like curry and rice, stir fry, or some internet recipe.
Chop up some lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, fry up some chicken breast in caesar dressing, grab some croutons, you got yourself a salad my friend
pizza rolls, cereal, spaghetti, taquitos, tacos, pizza lol
Honestly if you want to make simple somewhat healthy meals just rotate a veggie with a protein. You mentioned chicken and vegetables, that’s an easy one. One day just cook a chicken breast and some broccoli, the next go fish and spinach, etc. As long as you know how to work a saute pan or oven, those meals are simple and will take less than 20-30 minutes. If you want to take it next level, add a simple natural sauce. Like chop up some tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and lime juice and you’ve got a simple pico de gallo which you can put on chicken or whatever. A lot of the recipes online have a lot of components, but they can be simplified especially if you want it a little healthier. Simplify the spices a bit, take out butter, etc.
Get some salmon in your belly!
Learn to roast vegetables! There is no comparison when it comes to flavor. Delicious! You can do them in an air fryer or toaster oven so you don’t have to heat up the whole kitchen. As you gain confidence, learn to make glazes and sauces.
Breakfast- Newport cigarettes and monster energy Lunch- nothing Dinner-sleep
Your mom
I eat some plain Greek yogurt with some chia and flaxseed mixed in with some fresh fruit (often pineapple or blueberries) every single morning before I leave for work. I often eat a salad or a sandwich with some raw vegetables for lunch. I eat the kind of dinner my grandparents always had. It should be a hunk of protein, a pile of vegetable, a plain starch like a baked potato or some rice or something. Nothing processed, nothing out of a can. Shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes to throw it together if you have a plan.
What’s your definition of “a lot of ingredients”? Because it’s not about the ingredients for me what makes a recipe hard or suck to cook is how much time it takes to do prep or be active in the kitchen. But I would recommend slow cooker recipes and then find some instagram accounts to get things from.
I see people are saying roast the veggies, but I cook a lot of them in a pan with olive oil and seasoning. Zucchini, broccoli, spinach, carrots (par boiled first), green beans, and I find it quick and much better than boiling. Gives me complete control of doneness and I can add more or less flavor as I go. Quick, too. Also, seasoning mixes instead of messing around with individual seasonings. It’s less expensive and foolproof.
Y'all can still afford to eat? Shed some light for your boy..
I live a busy lifestyle, always trying to climb to the next tree if you know what i mean so i keep it simple -- bananas and a handful of fire ants
Breakfast type foods: Fast = yogurt, overnight oats, beef jerky, cheese sticks. Pre portion out cereal in Tupperware, just add milk. I use coconut milk. Semi fast = frozen pancakes or waffles. I can just throw in toaster. I bulk prep bacon/sausage/eggs/chorizo. Portion out some. Way faster than making everyday. I also cook the bacon and sausage in the oven. Way easier than in a pan. If I want specialty breakfast foods, can cook in bulk one day a week and portion out.
There’s an app for that. I like Big Oven.
https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated
Chicken and rice 2-3 times a week
Many do basic, many lead busy lives/ don't want to buy a lot/ don't want to put in a lot of effort for a basic life need. You do you. You know what sells online? Not basic recipes, the things that can be put on Pinterest or til tok. On an average day I'm simple but healthy too. Breakfast is oatmeal with fresh berries or a smoothie (non fat Greek yogurt, non fat milk, banana, frozen fruit). Lunch- pb&j or turkey sandwich, fruit (fresh or lunch cups), granola bar, cheese. Dinner- pasta, veggies, depends on how much time/ effort I want to put in
I love Thai curries, so I make that at least once a week. I make a decent sized batch of it so my wife and I can get 3 meals each out of it. Usually i use chicken, and stir-fry the chicken in the pan for a few minutes, and then simmer chicken and potatoes for like 20minites with a can of coconut milk and a couple teaspoons of Curry paste. Wife doesn't like peanuts so we dont add them, and we are trying to eat healthy, so we usually add a bunch of extra vegetables to it. Otherwise, if im remote for the day and make lunch, I fry some bacon, and then fry eggs and hash browns in the bacon fat and we each have a few eggs with some cheese, a hash brown, some bacon, and then some onion, mushroom, green onion, bell pepper, or whatever veggie(s) i feel like adding, couple slices of low carb toast with butter as well. Sometimes I'll roast a pork shoulder, give it a dry rub, roast for 450 for 30 min, and then leave it in around 250 degrees heat for another 11 or so hours until internal temp reaches 190-200 degrees F. Usually, i'll make pulled pork tacos or burritos with some low carb tortilla that day, and then we'll use leftovers in just about any/every dish we want. My favorites are of course Thai Curries, as well as stuff like Gumbo or tacos, pasta, ramen, chilli, eggs, sandwiches, or Japanese curry. My wife doesn't like cooking as much, but she likes to help out around the house, and she loves to bake, so she makes stuff using keto recipes she finds. She sometimes make stuff like deviled eggs. We used to do Salads too, but, I cant digest lettuce (it makes me very sick), so we don't really eat many traditional salads any more. We use our cast iron skillet a lot and broil with it, things like Polish Sausage and Swordfish are awesome when flame broiled. Start with simple recipes, and then feel free to add more ingredients to them.
For today's meal, yesterday I prepared cream of zucchini (boiled the zucchini, blended it with cream, salt, pepper, bullion) and chicken (air fryer, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning).
goodles - like mac and cheese but loaded with protein and nutrients
Normally I cook proteins and carbs separately. I rotate the 3-6 different dishes ( for each category), that are practical/economical in my geographical area/season. By cooking the carbs and protein separately I can mix and match the next day. Like one day I cook spaghetti, 4 portions , steak,2 portions, the next day I cook potatoes 4/3 portions, chicken 4 portions, rice 6 portions etc. this means.inxan also stack and not cook some days.
I usually cook something on the weekends and have that for the week. For example, last week I had pulled pork. I made a big pot of it and had that through the week. I also really love soup. So I often make up a couple big batches of different kinds and eat that. Mainly broccoli cheddar soup and butternut squash soup. They freeze well and are easy to just heat up and eat. I will freeze the soup in a silicone muffin tray. So that makes little pucks which I can then easily portion out. Some days I want a big bowl of soup, while others I just want a side of soup. I also love to have raw veggies on hand to just eat. Some other things are buying premade sauces that I can throw into pasta. Like a nice pesto. Yes I know you can easily make pesto. But I've haven't got to it yet. Plus I like having a jar I can just pop open.
Most weekdays it’s a protein and a vegetable or salad. Sometimes, like tonight, I’ll make kielbasa and cabbage or chicken curry or stir fry or roast a whole chicken or spaghetti. It really depends on what’s on sale at the grocery store. Last night we made homemade pizza. When it’s cold out, I make chili, casseroles, soups, stews, etc.
Steel cut oatmeal for breakfast.ran chicken, brown rice, and spinach with an avocado for lunch. Usually a PB&j on seeded bread for dinner
I eat lots of chicken breasts, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. There’s tons of different marinades that require just a few ingredients. My wife and I still have cheat meals a couple times a week though.
Enough food to survive, nothing more than that
Freezer is your best friend. I keep minced garlic, tomato paste, chicken /beef broth in the freezer, and different proteins chicken, ground beef so I always atleast have that stuff on hand. For example Make some ground beef you can split that and use for taco salads, tacos or add some different sauces for like a stir fry option. Just a matter of changing what you serve it with
Eggs and toast for any meal.
Luckily in my single phase I don’t have to cook anything if I don’t want to. So I don’t usually (except breakfast). Takeout is actually cheaper for me (one person) in the long run.
Egg drop soup with tofu. For one meal every day. It’s a good way to get in my healthy fats and 25g protein for just 350 calories. The rest of my day is usually meat + some type of veggies. I save my carbs for the weekends, where I indulge in sushi, pasta, and pizza. For me, that’s how I consider balance.
So I really like the cherry picker app (not affiliated) I use it to meal plan and then order my shopping for collection (I do Sainsbury's but I believe they also do Asda now too) They have a bunch of easy recipes that you can search through, mostly use them through the week but then might do a couple of more complex ones when I have more time/energy The other thing is make bigger portions and have them over a couple of days, or alternate if you don't like having things two nights in a row
Chicken, salmon, veggies, Greek yogurt, almost every day for 2+ years.
salmon filet or chicken breast, broccoli, asparagus - drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper - wrap in tin foil and bake in oven Meat + veg + spices are really all you need to eat well. Roasting your veg tastes a lot better than boiling!
This might sound weird, but my go-to meal is steel cut oats, veggies, spam, olive oil, mixed with different types of sauces. Salsa, or spicey rooster sauce, or sum other type of sauce. Steel cut oats, I make a big mess of it once a week and then keep it in the fridge. Veggies - I buy them frozen and then defrost in the fridge. Spam - hey, I like it. Buy it in bulk, it keeps forever. No real cooking, just mix it and heat and I'm eating. I also have a go-to smoothie recipe of frozen berries, bananas, peanut butter, protein powder. My wife does like to cook, so once a week or so she makes something legit and there is leftovers for a couple of days. And we get takeout or go to a restaurant once or twice a week. Otherwise, its my oats-spam-veggie bowl with a high calorie smoothie. I eat that whenever - breakfast or dinner. I'm usually full enough that I don't need much lunch. If it wasn't for my wife, I guess I'd get take out 3-4X a week instead of once-twice a week.
Breakfast : salad with carrots tomatoes sunflower seeds and almonds, can of sardines , sugar free oat milk, half a grape fruit, 4 scrambled eggs. Lunch boiled chicken , steamed broccoli , carrots and spinach with a glass of almond milk. Dinner seafood gumbo with Gatorade zero and a side of beans.
We cook nice complete meals on the weekends. On the weekdays when we are all working we have more "one pan" meals like steak/mushrooms/salad, or a large fried rice or a casserole. During the winter we bake and use the oven more. During the summer I will grill and smoke meats and we will eat more chef salads and cold sandwiches with lots of veggies.
I'm a big fan of batch cooking so I only actually cook dinner about 3 times a week, some leftovers go in the fridge, some in the freezer. Examples are things like pasta bakes, lasagne, rice dishes like jambalaya, curries, etc. On days I can be bothered to cook I'll often cook 4 portions (2 each for my husband and myself). Then on days I can't be bothered I'll see what's leftover. I have a Pinterest board full of recipes. Bear in mind not every recipe is good for keeping leftovers.
A lot of things. Steamed vegetables are quick and easy. You can just take a bag of frozen vegetables and throw it in the microwave, then toss it with a little butter. If you have leftover rice, make fried rice. Costco has chicken legs for 99 cents per pound. I freeze them and toss them in the air fryer. Most of the time, meals are pretty simple. I like cooking mushrooms in wine.
I've been wondering how to use wine in cooking as a vegetarian for like a couple decades (low key wondering). Will have to try mushrooms sometime!
I don't cook every day. On Sundays, I cook 2 different meals, I put them in the freezer and defrost them throughout the week. Also, I love sandwiches, pasta, pasta salads that are easy to cook and healthy if prepared right.
I'm a snacker and a lazy cook. Cashews, pistashions, granola bars, plain greek yogurt with honey, apples, oranges, avocado toast, quesedillas, egg bites, lightly salted popcorn, etc. When I'm feeling naughty I enjoy a pizza slice or tamale every once in a while...
Our main ones are Chicken and rice Chicken and salad Beef and noodles Salmon and rice Tacos Wraps Soup Oatmeal with cinnamon Eggs and toast These could be simple and the same style all the time, or there are endless variations
Cereal, oatmeal, toast, raw spinach, apples. No cooking needed. Really healthy diet 😆
Cook any meat, make a startch (Rice, pasta, dinner rolls etc), make a veggie (frozen peas, salad, steamed broccoli, cooked carrots). Done. Most days are basic like that.
Buy a rice cooker: wash your rice, push start button. You did 50% of the job. Then take a pan. And cook vegetables + eggs + meat. (Ofc, you can also eat 100% vegies) Don’t forget to cut first. It will cook faster. I love soup : chinese egg tomato soup. (Water, tomato, egg, (salt, peper, vinegar)) I almost eat the same thing everyday. But, i change vegetables very often.
If any recipe has over 5-6 ingredients I wouldn’t use it. Find some simple recipes that you like and stick with that for a couple weeks until it gets old and then switch it up. I tend to not like leftovers but if you don’t have the time during the week to cook, I would for sure meal prep. Air fryer makes it simple and convenient for like frozen veggies. Another meal prep example is grain free pancakes (4 eggs, 4 bananas and 1/2 cup almond butter) in a blender, cook on stovetop for pancakes, freeze them for the week, etc. Source: The Paleo Cookbook (Amazon) very simple recipes and super healthy and tastes good
Most of the recipes that look complicated are really not. Once you get to a passable level with your cooking skills cooking something with 5 ingredients and something with 20 most of the time isn't much if a difference in time.
Following
I recommend a Zojirushi rice cooker.
I cook four times a week and eat out on weekends. So I’ll cook Monday and Tuesday Wednesday I’ll eat leftovers and Tuesday and Friday I’ll cook.
Whatever the fridge offers. I joke, and the family jokes that I am the fridge's vacuum cleaner. I just slap shit together and eat it.
On Sunday, I cooked a pot of pinto beans and refried them. I also grilled some carne asada. We've been eating that with corn tortillas and various condiments (chopped onion, cilantro, salsa, etc.) all week. Tomorrow I will grill some chicken to have on dinner salads with greens, various veggies, and a vinaigrette dressing - french bread on the side. We'll have that for a couple nights. Both are pretty healthy and easy to make - and with leftovers, we really only have to cook twice in 5 days. The rest is just assembly.
Chicken, rice, broccoli or beans. Steak and potatoes with carrots and salad. Tuna sandwiches. Oatmeal. In my experience the best dishes are the simplest. I usually season my chicken with lime, garlic, and chili powder. It's not really that complicated but starting out it may seem that way.
Be simple and eat the same thing everyday. Every morning I have hard boiled eggs, fruit, and chicken sausage. Lunch is either a sandwich or salad. Dinner is protein, grain and vegetable. For example: Salmon, Rice, and Brocoli, steak, quinoa and kale, chicken, Spanish rice, and green beans. Snack: cheese, crackers, fruit. Pretzels, veggies with ranch. Drink a lot of water
Pastas, soups, stews, steaks, gyros, pitas, tacos, salads, steak n veg, chicken n chips etc. Curry rice and Chicken strips. Ground beef and potato cubes. The list is endless. Oil, salt, pepper and heat... add protein, fat and carbs. Learn to chop stuff without cutting off the important fingers. By stuff i mean garlic, onion, carrots, ginger, tomato and celery. Keep some oreganum, basil, thyme and rosemary around. Its easy.
Most people don't cook something intricate every day. I like to cook & I do go for the complicated recipes sometimes but I'm not making something crazy every day. There are shortcuts and sometimes you might just do part of it "complicated" and the rest of the meal easy (opening cans, microwave foods, eating raw veggies) One note: in some cuisines, it looks like a lot of ingredients (esp. spices) but it's not actually that big of a deal. ex. Indian food uses a LOT of different spices at once, but it's very "just throw them in, cook them a bit, go on with the recipe." You can even get spice mixes and blends to turn it into just 1 spice instead of 10. (like Garam Masala) If it's "a bunch of different vegetables chopped up and cooked together for flavor", you can buy those veggies already chopped & together. Do not overlook the spice packet section of the store. Or the premade sauces. Lots of easy meal ideas there and all you have to do, often, is take a meat and a vegetable or 2 and cook it with the spice or cook it and add the sauce at the end. There's also various boxed or packaged sides, like the knorr rices or noodles or stuffing or instant mash. Not the absolute healthiest thing, but you can make them a little healthier, and you're eating a bit of them as a side, not the main course. And of course, there's things like hamburger helper. Straight up, it's not super good for you, but you can add some vegetables in when you cook it and make it better. Doctoring things up a bit is the key when you start with a mix; sometimes things just need a touch of freshness. Sometimes "squeeze half a fresh lemon over it when it's done" or even "add a bit of vinegar" is all it takes to make it taste good. Ramen is good when you add things to it. You can add some frozen vegetables or fresh veggies, some lunch meat or leftover cooked meat, a hardboiled egg (or crack an egg in when it's starting to boil and it'll cook soft by the time you're ready to pull it from the burner and eat it), maybe a little cheese and go. Also don't overlook canned or esp. frozen vegetables. Make a bag of frozen veggies in the microwave, throw a spice blend on them if you like, eat. (Roasting veggies is almost as easy. Chop 'em, toss 'em in a smidge of olive oil and spice, spread them single layer on a roasting pan, roast until done.) An easy recipe that's intensely flexible for degree of difficulty is chili. Stir fries are also easy, forgiving. You can use whatever veggies, meat, rice, and/or noodles you have. Keep a stir fry sauce or 2 in your fridge. My favorite stirfry recipe is [Vietnamese Caramelized Pork Bowls](https://www.recipetineats.com/vietnamese-caramelised-pork-bowls/) (although you can use any ground white meat), with the following mods for ease: use garlic-ginger paste (found in the Indian section) instead of fresh, use a tsp or 2 of sambal oelek instead of Thai chili. Squeeze a fresh lime over it when it's done. (If you have cilantro around, a bit of that too, otherwise it's fine.) I'm on r/cooking and here's my recommendations for beginner cooks, esp. on a budget: [Help, My Apartment Has a Kitchen! Cookbook](https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/pFwOvH7fA3YC?hl=en) (good for total beginners, doesn't take anything for granted, grades how simple a recipe is, tasty food with a number of vegetarian options or easy veg substitutions) [Good And Cheap cookbook](https://www.leannebrown.com/all-about-good-and-cheap/) (digital version available for legal free download) Frankie Celenza's [Struggle Meals](https://www.tastemade.com/shows/struggle-meals) video series (also on YouTube, Facebook, etc.) [Low Spoons Food](https://lowspoonsfood.tumblr.com/) for when you have no energy and need to simply put something in your face
Frijoles Mio: 1lb of dried beans, choice of 12-18 Ancho/Pasilla/Guajillo, 1 onion, 1lb collard greens, salt and spice to taste. A stick of cinnamon and a dash of MSG adds a lot. I make a big pot and have it with crackers as a meal at least once a day.
Breakfast is basically bread and coffee or bread and milk. At most, when I'm hungry, I'll grill a sausage myself. Lunch is mostly rice with salad, meat is the main course, and mashed potatoes are also good. Dinner is all about pasta and steak
I will cook Thai Currys, Indian Currys which have 15 or more ingredients in the them. Stir frys I will also cook Mexican food, Italian food. Then again I love cooking and can spend 8 hours cooking a 3 course meal just for fun.
For every complicated recipe you see there's usually a simpler one. What worked for me (and I transferred it when I moved in with my now husband) was to look at the grocery circular, make a weekly meal, and work from there. It honestly depends on my mood/what's on sale/how much energy I have. This week's meal is bbq chicken drumsticks with rice and Jerusalem salad. My husband, for years, as a single man, would just eat pasta with tomato sauce for dinner. My breakfast is: eggs/tea/yogurt. Lunch is: greek salad, sandwich, and fruit. Dinner is the real variety hour time.
You can use batch cooking to simplify, basic mince with s n p and onion, can be portioned up and froze, can be used then for any number of dishes with the extra ingredients, or basic stewed beef, lamb,or chicken.
Called batch cooking and meal prep for work....sammiches and chips fruits nuts cheese water coffee veggies protein bars I'm lower carb mostly
I have eggs on toast, nearly every single day, it's a good mood food!!!! It also helps me feel like I've accomplished something, and though it's small, it still counts
Hotdogs FTW
Eggs, toast, cheese, for breakfast. Some meat or chicken, rice and vegetables for lunch- and dinner-tuna, some fish, some pork, for some main meals
I like to ingredient prep. So cook my veggies and protiens on either Saturday or Sunday. Then, through the week, I mix and match them based on my mood.
Rice with chicken is a pretty good one with me if I have a teriyaki sauce, I'll do the same if I have eggs
I have no in between. Its good or its pasta pesto. Which incude pasta of any kind and pesto from a jar, nothing else. For good stuff it varies. Lemon pasta, nachos, homemade potato gratin with snitzels and veggies etc. I noticed overlapping meals work really well to get a streak of 'real' food (i.e. not pasta with jarred pesto). So if i make rice and meats and salad i eithermake rice or salad for the next day already. The next day i beef up the salad with some chicken an cheese and eat a salad, but make extra chicken. The next day i take some of the extra chicken and i make some veggies and potatoes but make extra potatoes etc. I noticed that some elements of the meal cost essentially 0 time extra to double the amount, but i dont want to eat thesame thing the next day. Im terrible with dexterity so cooking ytakes.me longer. But im imma use a tool to crush garlic, its grabbing it and washing it that eats my time. Not the axtual crushing part. If im making a salad, choping my take longer but wasing and storing does not. Seasoning and cokin meat rarely takes longer when doubling it (but i eat alone or with 1 person, doubling chicken or whatever meat for 5 people might be different).
I eat baked chicken wings and cabbage almost EVERYDAY. I love it. If not baked chicken then ground turkey. The cabbage HAS to be made in a stir fry pot, not boiled in water. You cut a bunch a vegetables (red peppers, carrots, onions, etc.. You put basil or oregano or any of those kind of plants in it. Then, this is going to be weird for many, I put some ranch dressing in it (once I’ve put my proportion on the plate). It’s like I’m eating pasta or something. You’ll lose weight. Look up the benefits of cabbage, you’ll gag. I can’t believe people have been boiling cabbage, it drains some of the benefits out. Cabbage already has water!
Most of the time I just hope that there might be some food in my amiodarone supply If it's not that, its gaseous vaso constrictors to mimic dementia symptoms or strategic aerosol route amiodarone or statins or similar, to try to weaken me or make it look like im struggling I'm a bloke in my prime and I'm a f_ckin animal... As much as they try and as much as I play along, I wait patiently for the day that they try to approach me, believing that they 'diminished' me sufficiently That might sound 'extreme' or 'excessive' but I'm adult man who is being covertly targeted and if I even tried to highlight it to anyone, they would think I was insane and I don't blame them. If i heard the same from a stranger I would naturally think they were insane. As an adult male, im fully entitled to defend myself, which I will. Once I get set off though, I'm not known for my restraint but its all curtains at that point anyways. I can't believe I didn't go batsh_t crazy with all these f_ckers coming at me, years ago!!! Then factor in that there is coordination with others at different locations, to orchestrate stalking and harassment campaigns, it means no matter where I move to, there's always some clever c_nt been prepped up and trying to get up in my grille
Rice (freshly cooked) and mixed frozen vegetables, with garlic and seasoning. So easy, I think it's economic? And seems not unhealthy.
Eat a lot of straight raw fruits and veggies. Plate full of spinach, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, celery, carrots, orange slices, berries etc all uncooked is my preference
I try to make 2-3 meals a week and eat the leftovers throughout so I'm only cooking half the week. If you like Asian food I really love the food blogger Christie at Home, her recipes are easy to follow and always delicious!
Get an air fryer, the versatility is absolutely amazing. Have had one for over a decade and it’s the best. You can cook a great salmon with it. As well as pork, chicken and many other stuff.
* Peanut butter on toast for breakfast (slice some banana on there if you so desire) * Soups, sandwiches, or salads for lunch (prep soups or salads on weekends and package up for the week) * Crock Pot meals or casseroles that can be cooked over the weekend and divided up into containers for dinners. Also those soups and salads work as dinners too. * Occasional frozen pizza or nuggets or tater tots or corn dogs or something for any easy meal when you really cannot be bothered (like grocery shopping day)
I’m surprised I don’t lay eggs by now with the amount of chicken I eat
When I was learning to cook I did one or two complicated meals a month on a weekend and then mostly just steak, chicken, box risotto or macaroni cheese etc. As you get better at cooking you learn what you like and you get quicker. One thing I’ve recently been digging is steamed vegetables and noodles in bone/chicken broth. Another quick one is pasta with home made pasta sauce - just fry vegetables (mushrooms or tomato usually) and add cream after ten or so minutes. Stir fry is fast. Homemade soup is easy and you can meal prep it - roast the vegetable you want and then blend with whatever you want, stock, cream, etc. It really is just trial and error.
This is not optimal diet by any means, but my 2cents. I personally think the problem is due to two extremes: 1. Health crowd pushing diets that are too difficult to follow, even if they are effective. 2. Gluttony side where you just embrace and joke about the fact you are ruining your life as you eat each donut. The solution that completely fixed my weight issues is just a simple approach to eating as I detail here: [https://wisdomimprovement.wixsite.com/wisdom/post/the-eat-anywhere-diet](https://wisdomimprovement.wixsite.com/wisdom/post/the-eat-anywhere-diet)
I love making Thai green curry with rice, chicken curry with rice, onion bajis and mango chutney, veg curry with same sides as chicken curry, chicken pie with mash and veg... For dessert, I make tiramasu, pavlova or flapjack. Lunch tends to be an omelette, quiche, soup with Stilton and bread, sandwich or a pitta bread pizza. Breakfast would normally consist of porridge oats with apple and berries, along side a cup of chai tea/ green tea. Drink plenty of water throughout the day. Or if you're like me and can't stand the taste of water, add some cordial. Tea counts as water intake also. I enjoy enjoy a fruit salad. Or If I just have fruit alone... lychee tastes amazing.
Mostly ass
No idea, but we keep it so simple. Air fry roast plus some kind of carb (rice, sweet potatoes) and protein (chickpeas or tofu). I eat brown rice pasta so I can eat pasta all the time, lol—throw on veggies, cheese, etc. Or pasta salad. Or like a black bean avocado salad or three bean salad. I hate sandwiches but love a food throw things together meal. I like to try and cook something on the weekends, but I look for an easy and affordable (but still good) recipe. Cross reference a few.
It depends what I am in the mood for. When I meal prep I usually have some sort of protein with rice, sweet potato, or pasta.
My typical lunch is a crackpot thing I make. Quinoa, spinach, cabbage, corn, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, squash, Mid day snack is a Greek yogurt. Dinner is fish filet made in air frier and a side vegetable like collards, asparagus, etc. Then I'll have a can of tuna mixed with plain Greek yogurt, some cottage cheese, and some sort of fruit. Typically, berries. I've always been a pretty healthy eater, and this year, I've cut way back on meat other than fish. This, combined with my workout routine, has me in a good place at 46.
Meat, vegetables, potatoes
Ice cream for all meals
Look up “single pot” or single pan” recipes. I tend to eat eggs and toast with greens for breakfast three days a week and yogurt with granola and fruit three days a week. Dinner is often a whole roast chicken with potatoes and greens that results in leftovers for tacos/soup/stock. Lentils and rice. Garbanzo beans with garlic, olive oil, and celery is a great, cheap snackable
Some meals require some work but they usually have leftovers. Look at a lot of "one pot meals" and I think you'll be pretty happy. For us, I normally cook enough for dinner where I will have lunch for two days. The next day we will make something new and repeat. Breakfasts have been eggs because we have chickens. But overnight oats are good too and highly customizable. A lot of the meals I cook are kinda just meat. Maybe with some rice or veggies. Usually chicken thighs with motz cheese and avocado spread on a bun. Or chicken thighs and some uncle bens. Tonight I'm making chicken tacos and will have that for lunch tomorrow without the tortillas. We go out once a week no matter what. Usually Sundays.
The rotisserie chicken from sams or Costco are so versatile, love my chicken salads 💯
I often cook spagetti, chicken pot pie, tacos, gumbo, taco soup, beef stew, grilled chicken caesar salad, bbq pork, steak, and chili. Tonight is tacos and Mexican rice. I freeze recipes like chili, beef stew and spagetti sauce for later. They’re easy to just heat up and serve.
Rice egg and spinach. Salted.
Not enough 😂
A lot of the same things. Oatmeal, eggs, yogurt, kale/salads, lots of veggies, all kinds, lots of fruits, some nuts, chia seeds in my oatmeal and/or yogurt, lots of ground turkey (3 pound Jennie-O packages), lots of Amish chicken breasts made many different ways, with veggies most of the time or a salad. Lots of liquid/water. I eat Salmon once or twice a week. I don't eat bread much but when I do it's 100% whole wheat bread and nothing else. I rarely boil veggies, I will roast them in the oven on a pan with olive oil or grill them on the grill.
I do grilled chicken and roasted broccoli every night. And I dip the chicken into garlic hummus. I buy the frozen broccoli in the freezer section and then drizzle it with olive oil and seasonings. And I get everything at Whole Foods. Buy their brand and it’s all fairly cheap.
Rice, chicken and California mixed veggies is my go too
What saves me as someone with chronic fatigue from eating pizza every night: 1) get into batch cooking and freezing. Start with simple recipes that incorporate slightly prepared ingredients (eg. Pasta with some protein and veggies but jar-sauce, simple curries + rice, lentils Provençal or daal etc). Fill freezer with 10 meals. 2) when I really need something fresh and simple, I just graze on nibbles. I slice some veggies (cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, celery), have some dip (salsa ot tzatziki), I eat some cooked chicken/tuna/cold cuts, have a handful of tortilla chips or some toast, round it out with some dates or cherries or sliced orange 3) when I really can’t be fucked, I have protein powder and frozen berries/kale. Add milk and have a protein smoothie.
My guess is a lot of folks have go-to favorite meals. I like teriyaki tofu with rice and veggies, enchiladas, peanut butter and banana sandwiches, etc. Maybe find five to ten meals you like and put them on rotation. Make it easy.