So I need to change ALL my food choices...

xoRein13

I don't have time to cook. But I see now I need to find a way to make things work to were I can cook some simple things for myself. Can anyone give me a hand with simple things I can prepare for myself either everyday or for like a week's worth of meals?

I have zero experience cooking. Seriously. If it doesn't come in a box with directions I generally can't say I've ever tried doing it.

I intend to go grocery shopping as soon as possible to get things going so please please help me out!? I'm totally lost here. Also, I have no problem eating the SAME thing everyday. I really don't. Variety at this point may make things too complicated for me here and I'm already stressed enough as it is.

angeliqueann

6 oz of Chicken Breast prepared with any seasoning you want

2 servings or veggies
and a quarter cup of rice.

that's what I eat all the time.

dakotababy

I just finished reading your last thread - I am proud of you!

When i first started this journey, I made the effort to make sure every meal was at least 50% or more of fruits or veggies. I also made all of my snacks into fruits...this gives me a chance for something "sweet". I also occasionally have a fiber 1 bar as a treat.

Quick Low-Cal Foods

Sugar Free Jello topped with Lite Cool Whip. - 1 cup of jello+3table spoons of cool whip = less than 100 calories!
Baby carrots and broccoli with Zesty Italian dressing. (just throw it all in a container and VOLIA!)
Baby carrots and ranch dressing
Thin bagel with Tuna/mayo (lite). I just rip pieces of bagel and spoon on a bit of tuna - yum.
Cucumber chopped into romaine lettuce with creamy cucumber dressing.
Boil broccoli - drain - melt 1 slice of cheese onto it - stir - enjoy.
Tuna wrap/pita with lettuce
Sugar snap peas
Egg whites! (fried, put on 2 pieces of toast, a slice of cheese and tomato)
Yogurts!
Sugar free pudding
Occasional Lean Cuisine.
Fruits!
Protein smoothie. Grab some frozen fruits, vanilla whey protein, water - blend - and done!
A bun or pita with cucumber and lettuce and butter - Yum.

pig2twig1992

baked potato! a monkey could cook it.

find a potato, rub it with a little salt and oil then wack it straight into the oven for an hour!

then choose a healthy topping I like tuna mixed with light mayo and spring onions, or cottage cheese with pineapple, or low fat coleslaw, or baked beans and a light sprinkling of cheese, or leftover chilli/ spag bol/ curry ANYTHING!

velmaisvelma

We eat a lot of processed foods, here. We are, basically, a microwave family. I try to choose organic products, when I can. Raw veggies for snacks, and Michelina's Lean gourmet foods ($1 per boxed dinner) I always choose lean hamburger with less than 5% fat. The only veggies I like (cooked) are green beans, so I eat a lot of them. There are times when I just can't get veggies in (time, money, etc...) I ended up buying Vegetarian low cal broth (near where the chicken of beef stock broth would be in the soup section. ) I've noticed increase in energy when I use that.

I can't see what your food journal is, but I understand about being stuck on processed foods. Good luck!

envy09

Places to find recipes:

www.SkinnyTaste.com
www.yummly.com
http://allrecipes.com/
http://www.snack-girl.com/
http://www.foodiefiasco.com/

michellekicks

Yay for cooking! I suck at it. I do what I like to call "preparing food". It's like cooking, but with less excitement.

Put 4 or 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a glass casserole pan. Brush each one with olive oil and shake on ready-made Italian seasoning (find it in the spices/baking aisle at the store). Bake for 35 minutes at 375. If semi-frozen to start, bake 45 mins at 375.

Then, have those chicken breasts cut up on a salad, on their own, diced and tossed with some stir-fried veggies, chopped up as chicken salad for a sandwich or wrap. Or make up some honey mustard sauce using mayo, mustard and liquid honey. YUM!

Absolute staple in my diet.

Or easy chilli: ground chicken, turkey or beef, two cans of whatever beans you like - I use white kidney beans and black beans, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of corn, some chopped onion and celery, a package of ready-made chilli seasoning.

If you like stir-fry, take a frozen chicken breast and slice it thin while frozen... then stir-fry the meat... it will kind of shred in the pan. Add some broccoli, shredded cabbage, bean sprouts and teriyaki sauce.

Other basics...

Tuna with mayonnaise on high fiber crackers (ryvita, triscuit etc.)
Eggs on a piece of toast with onion & chive cream cheese

Just a few ideas to share...

babeinthemoon

My weekly grocery list looks something like this:
bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, 1/2 green cabbage, green beans, broccoli, carrots, (lettuce & cucumber if I feel like salads), chicken, eggs, skim milk, greek yogurt, apples, strawberries (in season, frozen if not), pineapple (in season, canned w/ no added sugar).

My monthly (every 6 weeks) grocery list adds the following:
Ground Beef, steak or potroast, turkey lunchmeat (low sodium), potatoes, protein powder, coconut milk (unsweetened), brown rice, black bean burgers.

I buy other stuff too... but it's mostly for the kids, or for myself but less frequently.

What do I make with all these goodies?
First off, I cook several chicken breasts at a time (in the oven at 350, until done). I eat what I want for my meal, then dice up the rest and put in individual snack sized zipper bags. I specifically portion these out at 80g, 90g, & 100g quantities.

Ground Beef. I brown the whole package (usually buy at cost-co). Then I portion out 1/2 pound and 1 pound "recipe quantites" to have available for cooking with later on. I package some of the ground beef in 60g & 70g packages for individual meals too.

Both the pre-cooked meats are invaluable for making quick dinners for just me. (I have a family of 4, but I don't always subject them to my healthy eating habits :laugh:) After packaging them in the small ziploc packages, I put them in larger gallon freezer bags, and toss in the freezer for later.

Eggs. I love making omlette's. If you don't know how to do that, then do egg scrambles with diced veggies.

Brown rice takes forever to cook. So, cook a batch, and portion it out into servings, and freeze in those snack size zipper bags too!

Veggies: I use these most often in basic soups, stirfrys, & omlettes.. or just steamed or raw with my meal.

Basic stir-fry: heat up 1/2 tsp oil and some minced garlic in a pan. Add diced veggies (2-3 c total) and saute (cook stirring often) until the veggies are tender, sometimes I need to add a little chicken broth (a splash) to get the veggies to soften faster. Add a serving of chicken or ground beef and cook until the meat is hot. Maybe a few hot-red pepper flakes, and a little soy sauce (to taste). Put a frozen portion of rice onto a plate, and warm it up in the microwave. Once your dinner is done cooking, add it to the rice, and you are done!

Another favorite, that you don't actually need a recipe for is veggie soup. Again, take a bunch of veggies... all that you like, and dice. Cook them in the soup pot with a little oil & garlic until softened (watch the onion to go translucent). Add 2-3 cups of chicken broth and and equal amount of water. Bring to boil, then simmer for at least 30-45 minutes. Portion the soup into the "disposable gladware type containers," for single servings. Then when you are ready to eat, add what type of protein you would like along with the bowl of soup and you have a basic meal. Adding rice, or cooked pasta, or even cheese is yummy too.

Good Luck!

InPieces3

Yay for cooking! I suck at it. I do what I like to call "preparing food". It's like cooking, but with less excitement.

Put 4 or 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a glass casserole pan. Brush each one with olive oil and shake on ready-made Italian seasoning (find it in the spices/baking aisle at the store). Bake for 35 minutes at 375. If semi-frozen to start, bake 45 mins at 375.

Then, have those chicken breasts cut up on a salad, on their own, diced and tossed with some stir-fried veggies, chopped up as chicken salad for a sandwich or wrap. Or make up some honey mustard sauce using mayo, mustard and liquid honey. YUM!

Absolute staple in my diet.

Or easy chilli: ground chicken, turkey or beef, two cans of whatever beans you like - I use white kidney beans and black beans, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of corn, some chopped onion and celery, a package of ready-made chilli seasoning.

If you like stir-fry, take a frozen chicken breast and slice it thin while frozen... then stir-fry the meat... it will kind of shred in the pan. Add some broccoli, shredded cabbage, bean sprouts and teriyaki sauce.

Other basics...

Tuna with mayonnaise on high fiber crackers (ryvita, triscuit etc.)
Eggs on a piece of toast with onion & chive cream cheese

Just a few ideas to share...

That totally is what I do!!! Your food looks a lot like mine. lol. GREAT choices actually. high in protein too.

michelleal90

I saw your last post, don't listen to the A-holes! look at nutrition labels, and if you don't have much experience cooking i'm guessing you don't have good cooking tools, invest in some of these and life will be easier. Use your day off to make your own frozen meals (cooked whole wheat penne noodles and vegetarian pasta sauce, chopped garlic onion and parsley and shred some of your own good quality romano cheese is easy and microwaves amazingly for a five minute fix). Also find some recipes for pretend bad food to make the transition easier, for example: frozen banana puree, with .5tbs peanut butter=peanut butter ice cream at around 200 cal and 0 guilt. Its something you can pig out on, and still feel okay because hey its fruit!. Invest in spices and go for some in season vegetables, roma tomatoes with a tiny bit of mayo on toast is an excellent breakfast, beets or sweet potato sautéed in 1tsp olive oil with salt and pepper is also easy as crap, let it crisp a little and don't cover the sweet potatoes. Again, invest in spices! I would recommend buying dried for the beginner, because using raw garlic onions and herbs can be intimidating.

by far the best advice i can give you is that its hard to change your diet in one day or one week, don't feel bad if you need to fix a craving, do it! just think it through beforehand without beating yourself up about it. I used to have horrible evil cravings for cheese balls and onion rings, which continued until I started eating better and eventually disappeared. Don't buy anything you don't want to eat for groceries. I personally love ice cream cones, but if I want one I will have to walk two miles back to the grocery store before I can have it.

good luck!

sheepy23

i'm pretty much in your boat when it comes to experience with cooking, however i have been making wholewheat fusilli pasta with tuna and a tiny drop of "lighter than light" mayonnaise. makes a good lunch meal. also, here's a nice soup recipe for you, which i made last night, it's absolutely delicious and very low in calories.

Spicy Mexican Broth

1 Courgette (cubed)
1/2 cup Jalapeno, raw (sliced)
1/2 cup Red Chilli Peppers, Raw, (sliced)
1 Red Pepper
2 Roasted Red Peppers (or mix up the colors to make it look nicer :P)
0.25 cup Coriander leaves (dried)
2 Vegetable Stock Cube
1 Red onion (sliced)
1 lime (squeezed)
200g Tinned Chopped Tomatoes
Medium Cloves (4g) (crushed)

just chuck it all in to a pot and put it on a medium heat for about 10 -15 minutes. add or remove items if you don't want them, it's pretty versatile. good for vegetarians and only works out at about 120 calories per serving! i put mine in a blender afterwards, but it really is quite nice when you leave it chunky

Please also note, it's a bit spicy, so if you don't like heat, it's not for you.

anifani4

Anyone can learn to cook basic meals of meat or fish and vegetables along with some starch (like bread, pasta, rice)....either all separated or mixed together is a stew or stir fry.

It's great to make a big pot of vegetable soup with beans , or a skillet full of tomatoes, peppers, onions, pasta and ground beef or turkey. Eat some now and put the rest in the fridge for the next day.

You could watch some cooking shows to get familiar with cooking terms, techniques, and utensils.


You could borrow a basic cookbook from the library(or buy a used one in a thrift store, on Ebay, or Amazon). Betty Crocker comes to mind and a fairly comprehensive and simple one. Spend some time reading the general information as well as the recipes.

It's fine to use some of the boxed ready to fix products too. Read the labels and know what you are eating.


There was a thread on here a couple of days ago about what people keep stocked in their kitchen which might help you with your shopping list.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/809638-things-you-must-have-in-fridge

Other responses have given you some basic directions and recipes. So experiment and have fun. Fixing food is fun, it feels good to feed yourself healhty food.

AggieFan2011

6 oz of Chicken Breast prepared with any seasoning you want

2 servings or veggies
and a quarter cup of rice.

that's what I eat all the time.

I was going to say this exact same thing!
I always have a bag of frozen chicken breasts in the freezer. They come in very handy and are super quick and easy to make. I usually cook mine in a skillet. You just put some olive oil to coat the bottom of the skillet and turn the stove on to let it get warm. Then put some spices on the chicken breast and put it in the pan (spiced side down) on a medium to medium-high heat depending on how your stove cooks, mine gets super hot so I leave mine at medium. Then after about 5-7 minutes you put spices on the chicken again and flip it over. Make sure it's cooked all the way through though before eating it! I typically cut it in half when I think it's done and see if there is any pink in the middle, if so then I leave it in there a little bit longer. Some of the spices I really like are Mrs. Dash's southwest chipotle, garlic and herb seasoning (this is technically for steak but it works), and then just italian seasoning and some garlic and onion power.

Another thing you can do with it is cut it up and throw it in a salad. That way I get a good helping of veggies in while still getting a lot of protein.


Other options are wraps on whole wheat tortillas. I've become obsessed with them since trying to eat healthier. You can make so many different things too. You can put chicken in them or a lot of the time I make turkey wraps for lunch. This is one of my favorite ones to make: http://thecollegeculinarian.blogspot.com/2012/07/grilled-hummus-and-turkey-wrap.html The only changes I've made are I only use 1 tbsp of hummus and I add some shredded cheese in place of the red peppers. Also, use the cooking spray with no calories to cook it!

Another meal that is really good is baked spaghetti. I promise that you can't really mess this up! If you can boil noodles and turn on an oven then you're fine. Haha It heats up really well as leftovers too which is nice because you can use it as a meal for multiple days. I think my roommates and I ate off of it for at least 3 nights last time, and that was multiple people.
http://kidsinthesink.com/2012/03/19/baked-spaghetti/

libbymcbain

Good, easy quick snack: An apple and an individually wrapped portion of cheese or 15g of nuts

Tomato sauce- good with chicken or beans: 1 tin plum or chopped tomatoes, 1tsp olive oil, a couple of cloves of garlic or an onion, dried spice or herb of your choice (roughly 1/2tsp), squeeze of lemon juice. Chop the garlic or onion finely, heat oil in pan, sautee onion/garlic until soft, add tomatoes and herbs/spices, simmer for 1.5 hours. Squeeze in some lemon juice. Adaptations: Add vegetables (carrots, celery, peppers~)of your choice, either finely chopped with the onion/garlic or roughly chop them, add at same time as tomatoes and blend til smooth when fully cooked.

Roast a chicken: Heat oven to 200C. Cut an orange, a lemon or a lime into quarters, stuff into the chicken cavity. Turn chicken upside down and place directly onto oven rack. Place a roasting tin with a little water in on the shelf below the shelf the chicken is on. Roast for 20-25 minutes per lb plus 20 minutes. Use white meat for meals, brown meat for sandwiches and carcass to make soup.

Chicken soup- place chicken carcass in cold water with an onion, a carrot and stick of celery (all finely chopped). Bring to boil and simmer for 1 hour. Let cool. Bring to boil again, strain, discard bones and vegetables and simmer again to reduce a little. Add pulses and vegetable of your choice (add a little reserved chicken meat if you like).

This way a chicken does 4-6 meals.

Brown lean ground meat and add the tomato sauce above. Serve with wholewheat pasta. Add chilli and beans for a chilli, serve with rice.

Omelette- good breakfast item or easy lunch/supper. Whisk 2-3 eggs (or your choice of whole egg/egg white combination) season with black pepper. Wipe a pan with a little olive oil or use an olive oil spray. Heat pan. Add eggs. Cook until set. Add your choice of cheese, cooked meats, cooked vegetables. Fold omelette over, slide onto plate and enjoy.

sijomial

Delia Smith is a well known cook over here and wrote and presented a "how to cook" book/TV series.
Goes right back to how to boil an egg!!

Search on Amazon for Delia Smith How to Cook.

sunshinefrei

bump i wanted recipes lol

t_rog

Lots of good ideas up there!

Also, I recently discovered brown rice cups. Just pop them in the microwave and they're ready in 60 seconds. Amazing for the lazy/inept like me

dab52776

Bump....so many good ideas here!

rachelroma

The best thing I've done recently for improving the kind of food I'm eating was to buy a steamer (they run about $30 on Amazon).

I seriously use it at least twice a day during the week. Twice a week I steam a tray of eggs in it (12 minutes for perfectly hard boiled eggs) and take two of them to work with me for breakfast with a piece of fruit.

In the evening I use the three trays to make dinner and the next day's lunch. Example day:

Dinner: top tray - salmon, middle tray - two sliced apples sprinkled with cinnamon and cloves for dessert, bottom tray --two cups of broccoli. I just put everything in there and turn it on for about 20 minutes.

When that's done, I eat and then start the next day's lunch: top tray - chicken breast with some kind of spices, middle tray - a sweet potato, bottom tray - another veggie like cabbage or asparagus ....which I put into a tupperware and pop in the fridge for the next morning.

I snack on raw veggies throughout the day and add a green salad with oil/vinegar and walnuts to my meal pretty often.

It has to be the easiest, fastest way I've ever made a variety of food and it works well for me. You have to find what works for you. A lot of good ideas here.

chrisdavey

Experiment. Cooking is great fun.

All of my recipes are here. Most are high protein but some are higher carb for my refeed days. You can see the macros anyway.
http://tinyurl.com/8435c82

This channel has some great easy stuff IMO
http://www.youtube.com/user/MichaelKoryFitness/videos?view=0

blackiris49

Bump. Some great ideas here.

ChantiC

Something Super easy for Breakfast or Lunch and cheap to make

Crustless Broccoli or Spinach Quiche

4 large eggs
1 c. milk
1/2 c. diced onion
1 c. light shredded cheese of your choice
2 c. cooked broccoli or spinach
salt and pepper

Wisk together the eggs and the milk, spices. You can use 8x8 pan or even muffin tin to make smaller portions. Spray Pans with spray oil well. Layer bottom with broccoli or the spinach and onion. Spread 1/2 c. of that light shredded cheese evenly. Then pour the milk and egg mixture on top. Then lastly spread the rest of the cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 1 hr. It will be done when the cheese on top is golden and when you take a toothpick and insert it in the middle and it comes out clean.

This recipe is great to freeze. You can make quiche muffins out of it and they taste good in the microwave the next day too. Good protein and very basic

DebMc150

I get a Rotisserie Chicken from Sam's once a week. take the skin off - it is the best part (but fatty) but the rest of the chicken is great. I put it in zip bags. When I am packing my lunch or dinner I just pull a bag out. Add it to a chinese vegetables La Choy - you can get a can if you don't do fresh veggies and stir or heat and eat from micro.

I also buy a bag of already cooked and pealed shrimp - put those in zip bags. And they are ready to go for any meal also. Just mix with your favorite veggies.

My husband grills once a week for me also when the weather is nice. Salmon, Tuna, lean steak, Turkey burgers. Everythng is zippered up.

Minute rice makes brown rice in cups that take 60 secs I think in a micro - I don't eat rice anymore - but when I did - that was great - I could zap one cup and my husband and I would share.

I premeasure everything on Sunday and zipper it up and only take out what I need- No extra - I lost 150 lbs over 20 years ago - I still struggle with the last 20 - which I am determined more than ever now to get rid of now and just started back this weekend to tracking. you can friend me - we love to cook and I can help you with simple things.

kristen6022

Everyone has time to cook. It's all about priorities. Not having time to cook is just another excuse we make to keep being unhealthy.

Take a few cooking classes. Look for recipes with ingredients you like and alter them to make the recipe healthier. Get a crockpot - you don't need to know how to cook... basically throw a bunch of stuff in the morning and you have dinner for a week.

judychicken

Bump

Ready2Rock206

First of all I doubt you need to change ALL your food choices. And you're insane if you think you can completely change every single thing you eat in one day. :flowerforyou: Start by changing a few things. If you never cook from scratch start by cooking non-processed foods like twice a week. Work your way up in baby steps. Try a few new things and then when you're more comfortable try a few more new things. Looks like you got a few good ideas here to get you started!

VaingloriousVictoria

I love to cook, but I am like you...I have very little time! Here are some tips for you. (It's all about planning!)

1. Buy a crock pot/slow cooker. Use this to cook several meals at a time. Portion the meals out into small containers, and then eat them for lunch or dinner the next day. If you like variety, freeze what you don't eat. The key here is to portion your food out after you have it cooked. Otherwise, you may overeat. Trust me on this one...

2. I like the suggestions others have made about chicken, etc. Mrs. Dash has a variety of low-sodium seasonings, but I like the McCormick with the sodium. To each their own, right? Use a flavor to season your chicken, beef, etc. before you cook it up. You can grill it or pan fry it - whichever works best with your ability. Once it has been cooked, slice it up, weigh it, and package it up for future use. You can even prepackage salads in little containers, put the meat in little baggies, and then toss them into your lunch kit.

3. Again, several people have mentioned this already, but I'm going to bump it and mention it again. Little snacks are great. If you can eat things rich in protein, you'll be less hungry. Try some of these suggestions: mozzarella cheese sticks, tuna snack kits, and jerky are some of my favorites. Veggies are great! Try pre-packaging some carrots, celery, or cherry tomatoes.

4. Be careful snacking on lots of fruit. Lots of natural sugars here...My nutritionist tells me to treat fruit like a dessert.

5. Watch out for foods that are already made for you. Frozen meals are notorious for having lots of sodium and being high in carbs. Read your labels!

I wish you the best of luck!

janicemitchellcross

Bump

kwirky1

Bump

bathsheba_c

Honestly, I have four recipes that I use to make just about everything I eat. If you need an idea for seasonings, I find that a mix of garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper works good for just about anything from seasoning bread crumbs to sprinkling directly on poultry.

1. Baked chicken
-Put chicken parts on a foil-lined baking sheet
-Season or brush with marinade or bread
-Bake at 350F for an hour

2. Chicken breast
-Cut chicken breast into pieces
-Marinate or bread
-Put on a foil-lined baking sheet
-Bake at 350F for half an hour

3. Red meat of any kind
-Place meat in a foiled line, deep baking pan
-Drizzle with soy sauce and garlic powder
-Broil until desire level of doneness.

4. Breaded, fried anything (chicken breast, turkey breast, veal cutlet, fish)
-Beat an egg in a shallow bowl
-Create bread crumb mixture in a wide plate
-Dip first in egg mixture, then in bread crumb mixture
-Add to fry pan and cook on one side until crumbs are browned
-Flip and cook for a few more minutes
-Note: Fish needs a slightly lower flame than meat

Aquarian

I usually cook a cup of rice and a cup or two of vegetables for lunch. You just need to add salt to the veggies, not even oil if you are going for low fat.