For those who don't cook often, live alone, or don't like it

AshlynG923
AshlynG923 Posts: 59 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm not a fan of cooking. I find the all weighing and measuring all my ingredients to be a major hassle and by the time I've finished preparing a meal and see the mess of a kitchen I'm left with the last thing I feel like doing is sitting down to eat it! And I live alone so that's not helping either.

Granted I will cook up some chicken thighs or breasts on Sunday and eat those throughout the week. I'm mainly talking about recipes with tons and tons of steps

What are your go to meals? Right now I'm really loving salads, sandwiches, pizzas, and I'm obsessed with eggs.

Replies

  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    Roasted veggies. Take your veggie of choice, cut into bite sized pieces, spread on baking sheet, spritz with Pam (ideally coat in olive oil, but that is messier and takes longer), sprinkle with salt and bake at 425 for 25-40 minutes, depending on how you prefer your veggies.

    Baked fish or chicken. Thaw individually packaged pieces, sprinkle with seasoning of choice (Cajun, lemon juice and pepper, Parmesan or very peppery falafel mix for a breaded texture...) and bake.

    Spaghetti sauce. Brown up some lean ground meat and mix with your favorite canned sauce. The pasta and spaghetti squash are really just fillers, this is where all the flavor is.

    Frozen edamame in microwaveable bags...is it a veggie or a protein? I don't know but one bag with low sodium soy sauce makes a warm, light lunch.
  • issyfit
    issyfit Posts: 1,077 Member
    About every second week I will cook a pound of ground turkey with salsa and use it for several days for taco salads, stuffed peppers and taco pizza (on a whole grain tortilla.)
  • ajourney2beme
    ajourney2beme Posts: 181 Member
    spritz with Pam (ideally coat in olive oil, but that is messier and takes longer)

    Get a spritzer for oil. Same premises but you can refill it! Pretty cheap on amazon or some place like that.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    Get a slow cooker/ crock pot and batch cook, you can chuck a one pot meal together in five minutes and there is little washing up. I eat sauteed vegetables with cheese or some sort of eggs, smoothies, soups, Bolognese sauce/ chilli con carne, stews/ casseroles, curries, roasted/ baked oily fish, stuffed bell peppers. I use time saving ingredients like frozen fruit/ vegetables/ garlic/ ginger, jar red chilli in vinegar, canned beans, lentils and tomatoes.
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
    Invest in a 2 or 3 tier steamer, a grill(george foreman is good) and a slow cooker, and then your options are pretty limitless.
    Plenty of books you can get with simple recipes that don't involve much preparation.
  • AshlynG923
    AshlynG923 Posts: 59 Member
    Thanks for the tips everyone. Slow cookers are great for some people but I personally have never been a fan of the food cooked in them.
  • maryd523
    maryd523 Posts: 661 Member
    I also eat a LOT of eggs. I just bought three dozen today. My favorite meal is an open-faced egg sandwich. Cook a couple eggs to your liking, pop each one on a piece of toast spread with low-cal mayo (yeah, I know it's not "clean"), some tapitio, spinach if I have it, and you have a delicious, 5-minute meal that comes in at 260 calories (I use Sara Lee 45 calorie bread).

    Here's another thing; when I cook, I cook big. I'll make a HUGE pot of soup and then freeze most of the leftovers into single servings. I'll do this for casseroles, lasagnas, whatever. So I usually have a well-stocked freezer of homemade meals that are just as good as the day I made it. Really helps when you are starving and don't want to cook.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    Thanks for the tips everyone. Slow cookers are great for some people but I personally have never been a fan of the food cooked in them.

    None of it?? No stews/ casseroles, curries, soups, chilli con carne or Bolognese sauce? If not either you are super fussy or you have only known bad cooks.
  • maryd523
    maryd523 Posts: 661 Member
    Thanks for the tips everyone. Slow cookers are great for some people but I personally have never been a fan of the food cooked in them.

    None of it?? No stews/ casseroles, curries, soups, chilli con carne or Bolognese sauce? If not either you are super fussy or you have only known bad cooks.

    Agreed. Soup in the slow-cooker tastes the same as on the stove. Same with pulled pork. *drool* And a million other things.
  • AshlynG923
    AshlynG923 Posts: 59 Member
    Thanks for the tips everyone. Slow cookers are great for some people but I personally have never been a fan of the food cooked in them.

    None of it?? No stews/ casseroles, curries, soups, chilli con carne or Bolognese sauce? If not either you are super fussy or you have only known bad cooks.

    Beans and soups, yeah I like! It's all those condensed soup, cream chesse, throw 50 things in the pot pinterest recipes that I'm talking about
  • AshlynG923
    AshlynG923 Posts: 59 Member
    Thanks for the tips everyone. Slow cookers are great for some people but I personally have never been a fan of the food cooked in them.

    None of it?? No stews/ casseroles, curries, soups, chilli con carne or Bolognese sauce? If not either you are super fussy or you have only known bad cooks.

    Agreed. Soup in the slow-cooker tastes the same as on the stove. Same with pulled pork. *drool* And a million other things.

    I'm with you on the soups but I can't do much with the pork.. I'm just spoiled from delicious smoked pulled pork in NC.

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