I only eat freezer aisle foods

essjay76

A LOT of recipes online have a million ****ing ingredients. Maybe google some simple recipes, or recipes for poor people like me. You don't want to be buying 30 ingredients just for one meal.

Start with simple things like pasta + sauce. Bake some chicken in the oven, or grill it on the stove, and add it in. Oatmeal packets, rice, bacon.. Avocados you can eat by themselves, with salt and maybe some hot sauce:)

Start with very simple recipes.

I love cooking frozen green beans on the stove for about 10 minutes, adding balsamic and salt. I will eat that with Salmon I have cooked in the oven in a pouch of foil for like 20-30 mins (i use frozen salmon too!) with rosemary, maybe some lemon. Salt & pepper. Easy peasy!:)

+1 to simple foil pouches for cooking fish. You can add your own seasonings and pair fresh fish (costs as much as those frozen ones) with something cheap like rice. Seriously, a meal for $4. 15 minutes to make.

kcrxgirl

Pick some meat that can be baked like chicken breasts or pork chops. Throw some Mrs Dash on them and bake them on 350 ~20 minutes (depending on thickness). Get some steamable veggies from the freezer aisle and cook as directed. Get a package of quinoa and cook in chicken broth according to the package instructions. I'd also recommend some seasonings in the quinoa, again Mrs Dash works fine. For dessert, some fresh strawberries.

emilysebastian

When I HAVE to go microwave, I try to stick to the organic stuff--Amy's has some pretty good meals. When I am really pressed for time or resources, I have literally eaten and Amy's meal and some turkey jerky (I like TJ's--low sodium). Or just grabbed some snap peas and a to-go cup of hummus.

You could also try Sandra Lee's semi-homemade meals--she uses some ready-made stuff mixed with fresh to make it fast as well as easy

aledba

here is a really simple recipe for a pasta dish similar to a carbonara that serves 2.
boil some spaghetti in a pan (a good tip for serving sizes is to form a circle with your thumb and forefinger, tips touching serves 4, index finger in the first crease of your thumb is 3, next crease is 2 and then there is a slightly less obvious crease that serves one, just put enough spaghetti in the pan to fill the necessary sized hole) driead pasta normally takes about 10 minutes.

while this is boiling crack 2 eggs into a bowl and whisk them up then add a tub of quark or extra low fat cream cheese approx 150/200g mix it well with the eggs.

in a large pan fry up approx 6 rashers of english style bacon that has been chopped into small pieces or a cup of bacon lardons no need to add oil as the bacon has its own fat just stir it to stop it from sticking don't overcook it but no worries if you do should take about 3 minutes try and time this with the pasta finishing

drain the pasta, turn the heat off under the bacon, add the pasta to the bacon pan and mix it up a bit then stir in the eggy mixture, keep stiring until the sauce is well distributed, if the egg mixture starts to scramble give it a very good final stir and serve. the heat from the bacon and the pasta warms the sauce mixture and cooks the egg but if you are pregnant etc this may be a dish to avoid just incase you undercook them (if they scramble they are well cooked but its not as saucy)

i use this recipe regularly and adapt it to suit by adding garlic and mushrooms etc it can also be easily halved or doubled. i hope you give it a try, remember not many of us are natural cooks its a case of trial and error.

Actually, a tip for serving sizes is to weigh the pasta on a scale. Not just willy nilly put it in based on the size of your hand in a certain position. Some hands are much larger than others.

kcrxgirl

Two words. Crock pot.

Also a good idea! Try some frozen chicken breasts, 1/2 bag frozen corn 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed) and 1/2 jar of salsa. When it's done you can shred the chicken (1 fork in each hand, poke them in the chicken back to back and pull apart) and make it into tacos.

Amitysk

I didn't really learn to cook until I was 28 or so... (I'm 40 now! :sad: ). Anyway, what I did was become obsessed with the Food Network.. I watched Rachel Ray, Giada DeLaurentis, and Ina Garten obsessively! What it did for me was inspire me to try what I was seeing. I bought a couple cookbooks (like Better Homes and Gardens- it's the red checkered one), and started reading them. Now 12 years later now I am a accomplished home cook and am even considering starting a meal planning business.

Anyway, my point is to find your inspiration! It will come!

ShiroiKarasu1

I really like finding recipes on pinterest.

If you try searching things like "easy dinner", "quick", or "3 ingredient meals" you'll find recipes that are really easy to make.People like to share and teach, it's in their nature, so you'll find lots of good pictures to go along with the recipes.
Just as an example, you can lookup "Pizza Balls" or "Chile Colorado Burritos." They are super easy and taste like you've been cooking all day. (the burrito filling is only 3 ingredients, but tastes much more complex)

I like to cook, but I love to cook easy!

hope this helps

retropink

If you are really not interested in cooking-don't. But if you want to learn, try a video on FoodTv.Com. They give you the ingredients, and you can cook along with the video. If you get lost, go back. Take it easy and start easy. Do you have a friend that does okay in the kitchen, go cook with them. When you do cook something, cook a full recipe for 4 or 6. Eat tonight, and tomorrow night, and freeze the rest in portions. When you don't have time to cook, pull it out and heat up. I love to cook and do a lot of it, but to stay on the program, I freeze in portion sizes. I do yeast rolls, cookies, cake, hamburgers, chicken, on and on. Stock your pantry slowly 1 or 2 new items each shopping trip. For flavorings get garlic and onion (powdered or granular), paprika, thyme (or grow one in your window), maybe some oregano, parsley, chili powder, etc. Make sure you have some brown sugar, white sugar, flour on hand (I put mine in zip bags and put in frig and they stay a long time.) Stick to recipes measurements. Don't substitute until you have it down pat. Ovens vary, so if it says 20-25 minutes, start checking and 20 minutes because each oven varies. For meat buy a thermometer (about $10) and it will tell you when meat is done. Most of all relax and try new things. If you are truly wanting to learn to cook, you have to start. Not everything turns out perfectly and that is okay because next time it will be better. Have fun!

mblair1968

Start simple. Build your skills from there. As for utensils/pots/pans. Go to Goodwill/thrift stores/yard sales. Get stuff cheap. That way if you ruin it, No big deal.
An example to start: Soup/stew - pretty much a meat, your choice of vegetables, water, and spices(to taste).. You can get fancier from there.

Chili - meat (or not), beans, spices, and tomato sauce, or stewed tomatoes. After that you can go all hog wild with white chilis, or cinnamon, or chocolate.

It won't take long, and you will be amazed how much you were missing and how easy it becomes. (at least that is my experience)

Now I usually make a recipe as it states, the first time. If I like it, then I will try to make it healthier.

AdventureManatee

Trying looking through Macheesmo's blog. He provides a LOT of step-by-step instructions as well as general cooking theory related to each dish.

Pick your 5-10 favorite foods and search Macheesmo, or use "Food Blog Search" to find good versions of your favorite foods.

http://www.macheesmo.com/

http://foodblogsearch.com/

WadeLam

A crockpot is a MUST. Find a good recipe, throw in the ingredients, and you'll have a tasty, tender homemade meal in hours. I usually throw some chicken and seasonings in mine before church and when we get home, lunch is ready to eat. And there's tons of options. Good luck!

little_schmidt

A good recipe is NOT expensive. A good recipe should also not have ten thousand ingredients. If its work just to read the recipe, you should find new recipe. Think of something you like. TACOS! easy.
Taco shells
ground turkey
taco seasoning
lettuce
tomato
cheese

cook the turkey until brown. add seasoning. put turkey in shell. top with lettuce, tomato and cheese.
Just dont over think your food and it wont thwart you by appearing complex.

steppingstones

good ideas

zoodocgirl

I'll reiterate what most people have said:

If you buy fresh food, you will spend LESS and you will have to do less to it to make it taste good.

I am not going to lie, I am a pretty fantastic cook, and I can spend all day making elaborate multi-course meals from scratch.
That said, the VAST majority of the meals I cook for myself include one, MAYBE two, pots and less than 5 ingredients.

Buncha veggies in a pan with some oil, salt and pepper. Stir 'em around over med-high heat until they look cooked-ish.
Once you feel like you wanna get fancy, add different spices, or soy sauce.

MIX WITH:

Pasta - boil water, add pasta, cook until it's pliable. Just keep pulling noodles out and eat them until they have the texture you want to eat them at.

Eggs - scrambled is probably easiest but this is always a healthy good source of protein and nutrients. Heat up a pan on low-med, toss in eggs, add salt and pepper and shove them around with a utensil for a few minutes until they look like you want to eat them.

Quinoa - this sounds fancy but it's stupid easy. Buy, follow directions on package (basically toss into pot with water, bring to boil, cover, wait a few minutes).

I'm not an expert on cooking meat as I don't do much of it, and that's probably where you might get yourself in the most trouble. So to ease yourself in, you could continue buying frozen, pre-cooked meat to mix with the above. Once you're more comfortable, experiment with some fresh/frozen ground turkey or ground beef (basically like cooking scrambled eggs) to start.

Also, I fully consider heating up a can of low-sodium soup and building a salad (toss pre-washed bagged lettuce into bowl, chop some tomato and cucumber into pieces small enough to fit in your mouth, maybe throw a can of tuna on and top with a light bottled dressing for now) "cooking". Voila.

zoodocgirl

Oh, also, this is the best thing that will ever happen to you:
http://thugkitchen.com/

(warning: profanity)

jessieann9393

these are some of my favorite and easiest recipes ever, no they are not gourmet, nor are they all the healthiest, BUT they are healthier and cheaper than most fried fast food and greasy take out

*KALE CHIPS- just wash kale and pull off stems, dry, spread out on baking sheet, spritz with a little oil, salt and pepper, bake at 350 for 10 min. done:)

*BANANA BREAD COOKIES- mash two bananas, fold in 2cups blended oats (blended-pulse in blender til powdery), you can add chocolate chips, raisins, or PB whatever you like, form into cookies and bake at 350 for about 10 mins!

*FRIED RICE- use cold rice leftovers from another meal, (fries better if older) fry in a hot pan with few tsp oil, add scrambled eggs and some veggies and soy sauce. all done !!

*BANANA ICECREAM- slice a few bananas, freeze thoroughly, blend or use food processor.(can add PB or choc chips)

*CHICKEN QUESADILLAS- in a large tortilla add some drained canned chicken breast (by the tuna in most stores) and sprinkle in some cheese, fold and heat in a pan w/ spray oil. you can top w/ sour cream or salsa!

*MINI CHICKEN POT PIES- in a cupcake pan press one canned biscuit in each little bowl, in a big bowl mix 1 cup cheese, 1cup cooked canned chicken, 1cup mixed veggies, and one can cream of chicken soup, spoon filling into each biscuit in cupcake pan, bake at 400 for about 12-15 mins.

*4 INGREDIENT PIZZA BAKE- unroll a can of pillsbury pizza dough, press into a large oiled glass dish, pour on some pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni bake at 350 for about 15-20 mins.

hope this helps some