New and can't cook...please help!

xandra_27

Ok I can cook a little but my attempts at healthy cooking usually result in dry chicken and a boring salad. My kids are over it and have taken to cooking their own meals...usually Mac&Cheese, not my ideal choice. I know there's got to be some simple recipes which don't require a half day to prepare or an exotic ingredient I have to hunt down. I would appreciate any ideas, suggestions, whatever you got! I could also use a little support so feel free to "friend" me, figure we can all use as much help as we can get!

beth_hayden

Can you grill? Can you put together a meal of a baked or grilled meat, some kind of healthy starch, & some veggies/or a salad? Meaqls don't have to be a recipe, imo.

gothicprophet

I'm always looking for quick and easy, yet healthy, recipes so... bump.

doobabe

I cant cook or grill either..... I can bake from a box, but only if I dont get distracted and forget what I was doing... (hey look keeyys!)

I'm pretty much used to boring gross food that I eat every single day LOL Im still alive so thats a good thing I guess....

Maybe take a healthy cooking class? Plan your weekly meals in advance so you have time to prepare by getting the things you will need and googling "how to make it" in advance? Good luck!

RTricia

www.goneraw.com

no cooking necessary!

slp2112

Cooking Light!!! Not only do they provide nutrition facts for most of their recipes, but they also generally have recipes that are easy to assemble. Plus, the food is pretty delicious. A personal favorite of mine is calzones with spinach, mushrooms and cheese (just over 300 calories a piece!). Go to their website - all the recipes are free. I paid for a subscription too, though ($1 an issue - totally worth it).

baisleac

http://healthydoesntmeanboring.blogspot.com/

Healthy recipes. Some are harder, some are easier. I try to include images of parts of the process (when I remember); diced vs. chopped, etc, along with detailed descriptions and a glossary for unfamiliar terms.

rileymama

We do alot of chicken, just throw some worstershire and seasonings on it and bake about 30 minutes....with sweet potatoes/brown rice and steamed veggies. Or tacos made with ground turkey, ground turkey meayloaf with shredded carrots, spinach and mushrooms in it......Sparkpeople.com has tons of recipes...and they give you the nutrition for each of them. We really liked the recipes, and you just have to set up a free account (like on here) to access them. Good luck~!

clrrrr

Try a light spaghetti carbonara with tuna and whole grain/fortified pasta (I like Barilla Plus). Also there's a great lentil soup recipe on Allrecipes (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/lentil-soup/detail.aspx) that takes little effort, just some chopping and you have to let it cook for a while. It's low-cal and super filling (lots of fiber and protein). We only usually cook for 3 in this house so the leftovers are great on the side of half a sandwich for a low-cal lunch, too. Also it doesn't take much effort to whip up a fancy-seeming caesar salad with chicken, shrimp, or scallops. Use a non-creamy dressing (we use Newman's Own caesar, but not the creamy one...it's so tasty!) and portion it exactly. Leave off croutons, bacon, parm, etc. or serve them on the side so your kids can have them but you don't have to (or can go light on it). But the go-to easy, healthy dinner in this house is poached or grilled salmon with sauteed spinach (in a little olive oil, with plenty of garlic...put in way more spinach than you think you'll want because it shrinks a LOT when you cook it) and maybe some sauteed squash, asparagus, potatoes, or sweet potatoes. As long as you are careful with your oil it ends up being really low-cal and satisfying.

melizerd

www.skinnytaste.com

she has awesome recipes! They are figure friendly and have some much loved recipes plus all new things you never tried before.

Starlage

I'm a decent cook but because of work I usually go for easy stuff- my favorite go to dinner: hormel pre-cooked meats (they're usually near the raw meats) my favorite is the beef roast au jus, uncle ben's ready rice whole grain medley, jolly green giant steamers frozen veggies- the boxes are about a cup and the bags are about two. LOVE this. So easy, everything's microwaved. It's a little high in sodium and definitely processed food, but on the healthier side. yum! I love the jolly green giant veggies- most nights I just have a box of those with a protein (i also love frozen tilapia filets, they're SO easy to pan fry. not much skill involved- just defrost and put in a sprayed pan on medium until the fish is easily flaked with a fork and not opaque anymore- turns white.

KylerHunter

The crockpot is the best thing ever. I'll try to get you some recipies but here are a few quick and easy ones.

1) Spray a light cooking spray to keep food from sticking
2) Throw in meat (I use chicken pieces; breast and drumbsticks or strip steaks)
3) Mix 1/2 bottle of favorite BBQ sauce with 1 cup water (Wegmans has ones that are 80 calories per serving)
4) Pour over steake
5) Cook on low for 8hrs or High for 3 hrs
6) Take meat out and (for you) let excess juices and sauce fall off the meat. Everyone eles can add more if they wish.

That's very quick and tastey. I've a programed slow cooker so I put mine on low for 12hrs. The meat is tender juciy and falls apart. Measure out the amount of meat you want and then give the rest to the family. The Recipe tool on this site is great for figuring out what the total calorie count is.

Add some steamed veggies (those in the bag ones are great) and a whole grain rice side and you've a nice healthy dinner. I've also a pulled pork one that my husband loves. I'll get that up when I return home.

traceyj3

If you have the time, watch some Food Network or the Cooking channel. I have learned so much from watching my favs, Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten), Rachael Ray, Emeril green show, Bobby flay for grilling. Ellie Krieger was good but I have not seen her show on in a while, but you can also view on the website, and there are great recipes there I use all the time. some of the shows are more diet friendly than others, but you can always tweak the recipes using lower fat/lower cal ingredients.

GingerBroad

This is my kinda post! I always thought it was really hard to cook healthy too, its SO boring. Esp chicken! Which i find boring anyway. Have you ever checked out allrecipes.com? its my favorite for many reasons.
1. All the comments the other "cooks" leave, they really help you round out recipes you are trying for the first time.
2. Portions! You can change how many you are cooking for and it changes all the ingredient amounts. This is helpful for the math challenged such as myself.
3. Nutrition information included!

I have so many favorite recipes that are low fat or low calorie - feel free to message me but some of my favs:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-zucchini-2/detail.aspx low cal veggie that tastes good!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-best-meatballs-youll-ever-have/detail.aspx High protein, just buy lean meat
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/delicious-and-easy-mock-risotto/detail.aspx high carb/calorie low fat though.

Ways to flavor chicken and not pack on the lbs:
hot sauce. So many hot sauces out there have 10 calories or less!
experiment with marinades. you can easily fill a plastic bag up with olive oil or balsamic vinegar and just add rosemary or dried basil, S&P, etc to flavor the chicken, then just bake after marinating for an hour or so...yum!)
Don't be afraid of cheese. I know a lot of kids might not like Goat Cheese, but its pretty low in calories and pretty high in yumminess! Stuffing your chicken with some spinach and goat cheese is easy and tasty. If you're like me, it might not LOOK so pretty in the beginning but its good.

Last, This is one of the easiest, tastiest recipes around. Again, use lean meat to cut fat. Otherwise its all good carbs from tomatoes and super high protein. Its a Rachel Ray 30 minute meal. My boyrfriend loves this and its great for a group.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/sausage-peppers-and-onions-stoup-recipe/index.html

cobaltis

I just grill twice a week enough meat for my fiance and I for 1/2 a week then do it again. I generally cook some chicken, sasusage, chicken sausage, tri-tip etc and then of course store bought cottage cheese and costcos pulled pork. For each meal we grab meat, some veggies and fill extra calories as we like. I usually eat a couple peices of fruit then fill in with some carbs (we make bulk pasta or mashed potatoes etc) or treats like cookies or chips etc.

My fiance eats a lot of carbs so she fills hers with those since she is training for an ironman this year.

I use a variety of seasonings for the meats and we found a 0 calorie dressing from Henrys, sesamie ginger. Oh and salsa and Hot sauce! Yum...

tolygal

bumping to read later (cuz I can't cook either)

crysofmyk

If you start with fresh healthy ingredients anyone can cook something yummy! Keep it simple and don't be afraid to experiment. But for an idea, here's a standard dish I make when running short of time and ideas. Fresh veggies (and maybe some frozen) like carrots (running short of time? use baby carrots and eliminate peeling and chopping) corn, peas, an onion and garlic chopped up for flavor, whatever you like. Sautee for a minute or two using just a limited amount of olive oil (1 or 2 TBSP) (extra virgin...remember, it's a healthy fat, and good for you when used in moderation) or use steam if you have concerns about the EVOO (did I really just use a Rachel Rayism? Oh No!). Slide veggies onto a plate, and use the hot pan with remaining oil to sear the outside of some boneless skinless chicken breast strips. Don't cook them all the way or they will be dry! When seared on both sides add the veggies back in with a can of stewed chopped tomatoes and a little water. Season with whatever you like (my standard is sea salt, pepper, and greek oregano). Cover and let simmer for a little while (20 minutes maybe?) so the chicken can finish cooking...don't worry about drying it out. Now that it's in the liquid it should be fine. Then add some couscous (whole wheat is the healthiest, and I can't taste the difference) depending on how much liquid you have in the pan. Usually a 1/2 cup should do it. Remove from heat, but keep that lid on. Once the couscous absorbs all the liquid you're good to go. it's a 1 pan meal that is healthy and the kids should like it too.

Aside from that, the hardest thing I think is trying to diet when the rest of the family is not. I'm incredibly luck in that I have a husband who not only is a good cook, but wants to cook most nights. But I hated to tell him don't make this or that because I can't eat it. He's Greek. He makes Greek food. And it's SOOO good, but not always low fat or low carb. And my 2 year old son is already obsessed with helping in the kitchen, which I think is wonderful, so I don't want to discourage that either. What I do is control everything else I can. I have steel cut oats with frozen berries for breakfast. Salad for lunch. Non fat greek yogurt for my morning snack. Carrots for the afternoon snack. Maybe a handful of almonds or walnuts if I'm still hungry. Then at dinner I can mostly eat what I want (if it's a home cooked meal that is) so long as I measure out what I'm eating to keep healthy portions. And don't go back for seconds. That's my biggest temptation...seconds! Anyways, just wanted to let you know that I understand...it's hard with families. You want to set a good example for the kids by eating healthy, but you don't want to eat things that are boring or tasteless because then that's what they will associate eating healthy as---bland and boring.
I would also recommend subscribing to cooking light if you don't already. So many good ideas in there...and since they tell you calories and serving size it's hard to go wrong.

tammykoon

My oldest son gives new meaning to picky. We have adjusted things in our pantry slowly so there isn't the, "OH, my do I have to eat that?", fuss. I kept our spaghetti sauce but changed or noodles to whole wheat (try boiling them a little longer than the directions say). Then I made it without hamburger. Two months later and my kids like our new healthy pasta. 10 oz serving has less than 300 calories.

Think of it as adding instead of subtracting. Add something new each week and soon you will have a month of menu options.

Here's my favorite dessert... Take a regular cake mix, add one can of diet coke, and bake.
If you want frosting we use coolwhip and 1/4 cup sugar free chocolate syrup.

ashlbrow

My staples for every meal have to be baked/grilled veggies. I don't have a grill since I live in an apartment but I will slice a whole eggplant/brussel sprouts/zuccini/squash (really whatever I'm craving) add a little olive oil and sprinkle with Mrs. Dash seasoning (no salt AND it's so flavorful). You can also saute zuccini and squash in a pan on the stove but keep it on low, don't add oil just some water and cover with a lid. This steams the vegetables without adding extra calories from butter/oil.
I also love Quinoa. It's a healthier grain that essentially cooks itself. Quinoa needs to be mixed with something or else it tastes bland. I usually make up enough for 2-3 days and mix it with Israeli salad (tomotoes, cucumbers, a little bit of onion, parsley and lemon juice). You can also mix quinoa with kidney beans.
I am also a fan of making meat in bulk for a few days, then you can just grab and go!
www.allrecipes.com is also helpful and I like the tips other cooks leave.

One of my favorite meals is stir fry. I always vary what vegetables I use but they usually include a combination of eggplant, onion, bell pepper, celery, carrots, bok choy, snow peas and usually tofu as the protein. I use water to steam/sear the veggies on the stovetop and I will add a little bit of soy sauce for flavor and I serve it over a little bit of brown rice. I prefer to use more veggies and less rice.

rmartin72

My Problem is that is really hard to cook for just one person and that does not cost a lot of money. I do not mind cooking anything. I honestly enjoy cooking for other people. Does anyone have any ideas? I'm trying to plan out a menu to cook food tor the week and freeze the food in small amounts.

brtty82

I can't cook much either, but I recently bought a Hungry Girl cookbook. It is stocked full of awsome recipes. You can get the one where all the recipes are under 300 calories or the one where all the recipes are under 200 calories. I have tried cooking some of the recipes and they are soooo easy to make and taste great. My husband has loved every meal I have made so far. You should check it out!

baisleac

My Problem is that is really hard to cook for just one person and that does not cost a lot of money. I do not mind cooking anything. I honestly enjoy cooking for other people. Does anyone have any ideas? I'm trying to plan out a menu to cook food tor the week and freeze the food in small amounts.

Find recipes for 4 people, cut the recipe in half, freeze the half you don't eat or save it for the next day's lunch?

HansTied

We do alot of chicken, just throw some worstershire and seasonings on it and bake about 30 minutes....with sweet potatoes/brown rice and steamed veggies. Or tacos made with ground turkey, ground turkey meayloaf with shredded carrots, spinach and mushrooms in it......Sparkpeople.com has tons of recipes...and they give you the nutrition for each of them. We really liked the recipes, and you just have to set up a free account (like on here) to access them. Good luck~!

Thanks for the tip on sparkpeople.com recipes. I moved into a travel trailer, nearer to family because of health reasons. And I have so little room to cook now. I found some great recipes that I can use in a slow-cooker (crockpot). This would be a great way for someone not too active in the kitchen to prepare meals also.