I need simple, inexpensive, beginner's recipes

js775219

Hello, my name is Jess and I cannot cook; I know, I kinda suck. But on this new "be healthy" journey I'm beginning to realize that for my body's (and budget's) sake, I need to learn how to cook and I wanted to ask some people on this same journey with me if you all have some good, flavorful (preferably vegetarian...meat is expensive! lol) and EASY recipes. Thanks in advance!

sbusarah

The crockpot is a girl's best friend. With most crockpot recipes you just throw things in and wait for it to cook. A lot of times you can leave it to do that while you are at work. I would suggest reading the crockpot threads under the recipe section for some good ideas. Also another option is to pick up crockpot recipe books at your library. I would recommend FIX-IT and FORGET-IT LIGHTLY : Healthy, Low-Fat Recipes for Your Slow Cooker by Phyllis Pellman Good. Also google search crockpot 365 and the website will give you tons of recipes. Super Easy to do, clean, and you will have leftovers that you can freeze or eat that week.

Somenameioi

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000002011044

I made this for dinner tonight- it's easy and very good! I buy bagged parmesan- no parmigiano reggiano - you could also just leave it out. I used fresh italian parsley instead of basil. I didn't use fontina cheese. I couldn't find whole wheat panko so just used regular.

You basically bread the eggplant with panko, bake it. Then layer the eggplant, ricotta mix, mozzarella, and spaghetti sauce and then bake it. It's easy and you can substitute or omit all of the more expensive ingredients. It's light on calories, filling, full of protein and fiber. My 1 year old and 3 year old love it.

HTH- and good luck! I get lots of recipes on the cooking light website and just omit or substitute anything that's expensive or too fancy.

themyriadthings

I think soup is one of the simplest, cheapest, and yummiest things going! Put some olive oil, butter or margarine in a big pot and saute whatever veggies you have on hand (carrots, celery, onions, garlic, potatoes, leeks, etc.) Then add water or vegetable stock (I use the instant kind when I am in a hurry) and season to taste with pepper, or some dried herbs if you have them. You could add some tomato paste/sauce if you like tomato based soups. Adding in some barley or quinoa thickens things up nicely and makes it quite hearty and filling. Or you could add beans or lentils, they are also quite inexpensive. You can make a big batch and freeze it, or just make a small batch for eating right away. Enjoy expanding your cooking skills - it can be quite a creative outlet!

kayemme

i second soup ... you cant go wrong. just put in what you like!

js775219

Thanks I don't own a crockpot and cannot afford one now...I have soup making down (haha) and have lived off of it for a week at a time. I liked the egg plant idea; I might try that.

saychzzz

If you like fish, tilapia is relatively cheap (frozen) and very easy to cook- just sprikle lemon pepper on it and put a pat of melted butter on 2 pieces and bake them for about 15 minutes on 425 degrees. Add a bag of frozen veggies that you just put in a pan and heat with a little water until they are soft. Great meal and very low cal. Good luck!!

NatalieWinning

If you get one of those George Forman or Panini type grills. The kind with the lid that shuts on the food and collects juices, you can cook a lot quick and simple. Put a brush of olive oil on spray oil on the meat, vegetables, or whatever, and close the lid. I like to keep spices like "Mrs Dash" that you can sprinkle on everything. It doesn't have salt or pepper, so you can add that as much as you like, but the Mrs Dash has a lot of flavor and no mistaking the spice to use.

One meal is:
Get those frozen skinned chicken breasts, get it lightly oiled with olive oil, then close the lid! Half way through put some Mrs Dash on each side. You can put things like green beans, broccoli, asparagus in there with oil on them, too. After the mean is done or nearly done.

NatalieWinning

Stir fry:
Put a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a big high sided frying pan.

Have ready cut up broccoli, carrots, green beans, whatever really. Seperate the really hard ones like carrots and broccoli, and the softer quicker cooking vegetables. Also have ready Some small one inch square, or long strips of meat. Chicken or steak.

Heat up the pan on medium high and put in the meat. Stir it around until it's cooked. Drain it back into the pan while scooping it out onto another plate for a bit. Now put the harder vegetables in that same pan and stir them around. Add a little water and put on a lid to let them steam a bit. Stir. Maybe cabbage or bok choy cut small? Stir them around, add water if it's dry, and put on the lid if it doesn't cook in a couple minutes to steam some more.

When vegetables are still bright and crunchy, but you can bite them, put the meat back in. Add some soy sauce (maybe a tablespoon for a big panfull, or a teaspoon for a little one. Garlic powder and/or onion powder (a little dash will do you). Now you put that over rice or have it with another side dish (mashed potato?).

Suetobefit

You could also try checking out "The Biggest Loser" Cookbook at your local library. There are TONS of ideas that are easy and inexpensive in there. They have a one for family cooking or single cooking. The nice thing with that is it tells you all the relevant information with fat, sodium and the like. Good luck!

mizfit

Hello:

You can check out the following websites for an assortment of vegetarian recipes: www.fatfreevegan.com and www.vegetariantimes.com

beebe54

Here's an easy chili recipe. It's high enough protein that you don't need the meat, and high fiber so it's filling, too. And it's cheap! I usually check the dented can bin at the grocery store in case they have any canned beans or tomotoes there.

Vegetarian Chili
• 2 cans kidney beans (rinsed and drained)
• 1 can pinto beans (rinsed and darined)
• 2 cans crushed tomatoes, including the juice
• 1 onion (chop it up and sauté it in olive oil or margarine until it's soft)
• 1 packet chili seasoning mix (Lawry's is good but most store brands are good, too)
• 3 teaspoons red wine (if you have it on hand; if not, it’s good without it, too.)
• ½ green or red bell pepper (this can be left out if you don’t like peppers)
• I usually throw in other veggies if I have them on hand – corn, celery, carrots are good in it)

Just throw it all together in a pot with a lid and cook it over medium heat, stirring often, covered, until it bubbles. Then turn the heat down to low and simmer it for 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes. If you find yourself with some ground beef on hand, you can cook that up and throw that in, too. It's also good with chicken, if you have any leftover chicken. You can grate a little cheddar cheese on top if you have it (don’t do this until you serve it). Serve it over rice or pasta.

YourFriendBecky

(Sorry, I typed all this before I went back and realized that you wanted mostly vegetarian; most of these can be made vegetarian, though... my daughter is vegetarian.)

I only make simple things myself, such as:

BURRITOS. Open some canned refried beans, spread some in the middle of a flour tortilla, add a little cheese on top, and microwave for about 90 seconds. Roll up and eat. You can also use leftover meat, chicken or shrimp in addition to (or instead of) the beans, plus some tomatoes and/or onion and/or salsa if you like. Other possible additions are corn, cooked rice, black olives, cooked mushrooms (before heating) or avocado slices or sour cream (added after heating).

QUESADILLAS. Put a flour tortilla or a plate. Top it with some grated cheese. Also add vegies or meat/chicken/shrimp if you like. Put another tortilla on top. Microwave for about 60-90 seconds. (You can also cook it in a frying pan if you like the tortilla more golden and crispy.

SPAGHETTI. Boil a big pot of water. Cook the pasta for however long it says on the side of the box. While pasta is cooking, heat up a jar/can of spagetti sauce. If you want you can add some cooked meat, shrimp, black olives, cooked mushrooms or frozen vegies to the sauce while it's heating up. (To cook ground beef for the sauce, just put it in a frying pan and cook till it's all brown, breaking it apart as it cooks.)

BAKED POTATOES or SWEET POTATOES. Wash potatoes and poke them with a fork a few times. Cook in microwave for about 8 minutes... less for small potatoes, more for large ones. Cut in half and top with butter or butter spray... maybe add cheese and vegies or canned chili to regular potatoes, or brown sugar and pineapple to sweet potatoes.

HAMBURGERS. Buy hamburger already formed into patties. Hamburger with less fat costs more money but saves calories. Put burger into pan and cook each side about 3-4 minutes. Take a fork and make a little cut into the edge so you can see if the inside of the burger is cooked enough for you. Eat however you like your burgers... with lettuce or tomato or whatever. They are good plain (without bread) if you cook up some sliced mushrooms alongside the burger and put those on top when you eat it. There are also recipes on the internet for bean burgers and burgers made from canned salmon.

RICE AND SHRIMP. Buy a box of Rice-a-Roni (any flavor) and cook how it says on the box. About halfway through cooking, add some frozen cooked shrimp (they sell it by the bag) on top of the rice. Cover with a lid while the shrimp and rice finish cooking together.

STORE-COOKED CHICKEN. Eat by itself, or add to burritos or soup or salad or instead of shrimp to the rice above. You can get a lot of meals out of one chicken.

YourFriendBecky

Highly recommended websites:

The 99-Cent Chef: http://the99centchef.blogspot.com/

Hillbilly Housewife (disregard the name... lots of good cheap recipes, especially using beans): hillbillyhousewife.com/

js775219

Highly recommended websites:

The 99-Cent Chef: http://the99centchef.blogspot.com/

Hillbilly Housewife (disregard the name... lots of good cheap recipes, especially using beans): hillbillyhousewife.com/

Thanks, this guy is awesome, I'll never look at 99cent stores the same again!