Recipes Needed

I'm only starting to learn to cook myself, but here are some things that I've been doing.

Breakfasts I rarely actually cook, but when I do it will usually just be cheesy scrambled eggs. Today, though, I made Chocolate Covered Katie's Reese Chocolate Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal. YUM! (I made mine with PB2 rather than peanut butter). I also love her Oreo pancakes, and other baked oatmeal recipes.

I don't usually cook lunch or snacks (I buy my lunches at work and snack is usually fruit, cheese strings, yogurt, Dole Live Right Double Dark Chocolate Bites)

For dinner, a few most recent:

Salmon foil - Throw a salmon in some foil with whatever veggies I have on hand (usually broccoli) with some olive oil and seasonings, or some teriyaki sauce. Wrap up in foil and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. j

Salmon with a light paste of mayo and a generous coating of parmesan cheese.

Chicken stir fried with broccoli in sweet chili sauce. Yummy by itself, but could also be served with rice.

For breakfast:
Brown rice w/salsa and 2 fried eggs, side of fruit
B'fast tacos w/corn tortillas, scrambled egg whites, avocado, salsa, side of fruit
Banana bread oatmeal w/1 cup prepared Quaker oats, sliced banana, 1 tsp flax seed, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 2 TBS chopped walnut
Sprouted grain toast (2) topped w/Brummel & Brown yogurt spread, 2 fried eggs, side of fruit
Egg Muffin w/whole wheat English muffin, fried egg whites, slice of canadian bacon, 1/2 oz shredded white cheddar, side of fruit
1 egg, 1/2 cup scrambled egg whites, w/cup of spinach, sliced grape tomatoes, mushrooms

For lunch:
Have lots of recipes I cook up on Sundays and parse out through the week, Quinoa & Black Bean Chili, Light & Lemony Lentils, Minestrone, Ground Buffalo soup, Crockpot Ratatouille, Beef w/Lentil and Onion soup, Sauerkraut soup, Southwestern Chicken & White Bean soup, Crockpot Cashew Chicken

Snacks:
Veggies & hummus
Yogurt parfaits (made w/fat-free plain greek yogurt, fruit and nuts)
Granny smith apple w/almond butter

If you'd like any of these recipes, let me know.

I've done instant oatmeal with some fresh blueberries thrown in and coconut dream instead of milk (lactose intolerant).
ALso Kind Healthy Grain bars if I"m in a hurry or super-hungry
I've tried making egg cups (eggs, spinach and mozerella) ahead of time but it stuck to the pan.
Sometimes a smoothie with protein powder, spinach and fruit (I have a nutri-bullet and get bags of frozen fruit from Schwans).

For lunch and snacks I'm lucky we have a full kitchen at work so I have access to a fridge etc. for storage and I can store fresh fruit and veggies, dip (hummus and i don't get along), crackers etc. I also get those single-serve tuna packets and bread. If I didn't have a smoothie for breakfast, I'll have it for lunch or split it up for my snacks with a handful of berries. I have a very hard time getting my daily fruits and veggies in. Sometimes i bring leftovers.

For dinner soup is good. Check pinterest for some easy recipes. I know you hear, 'plan ahead' a lot -- and this is what seems to work for me. When I don't plan ahead, it's not good.
Here's some links to recipes I've tried. I hope they show up!
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/280912095481710222/ - made this one Sunday and did grilled chicken and cooked extra (for lunch monday and tuesday), added mushrooms. This is one you could add a bunch of veggies too-squash, red orange or yellow bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, kale etc.
Instead of heavy cream I used coconut milk and a little flour. Not as thick but oh well.
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/280912095478599756/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/280912095481428385/ - would work well with Turkey sausage! And super-easy!
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/561050066050681368/ - made this one last night. SO GOOD! There's only two of us so I cut it in half.
Do you have a george foreman grill? You can do burgers, chicken and fish on it
Do you have a regular grill? A crock pot?

I get a lot of great deas from Real Simple magazine. Every month, they do "10 ideas for" a given ingredient (burgers, salmon, pasta, kale, etc). They also have a week of easy recipes and usually a special article on a certain food topic, like smoothies or ways to use different greens. I have a three ring binder that I fill with recipes I get from the internet, magazines, or the newspaper. There are some food blogs I love, or I'll google recipes for an ingredient until I find something interesting.

One of the best things you can learn to make is a simple vinaigrette - this saves you money and you don't have to buy processed dressing that is full of calories and chemicals. I typically do a 3:1 ratio of acid to fat - so 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar or lemon juice to 1 tablespoon extra virgina olive oil, plus salt and pepper and any other seasonings you like. I also sometimes will throw in some dijon mustard, which makes it creamier and gives it a good tang and depth of flavor. Wisk the acid and seasonings together, then slowly drizzle in the oil while wisking. You could also use a blender, but I hate doing dishes so I usually don't bother.

Visit some of the healthy blogger's sites. They have tons of stuff to suite any taste buds. That way, you can find the kind of stuff you like and start learning how to spot and cook healthier dishes. Skinnytaste.com is good as is Emilybites.com. theironyou.com is more focused on healthy eating, as opposed being more focused on eating light, and uses a lot of quinoa and stuff that's great for you, filling and may be stuff you are not yet familliar with.

I get most of my recipes from pinterest now and find a lot of other healthy bloggers that way. I also have cooked enough that I now can figure out how to modify most recipes to suite a healthier diet, so I find inspiration there a lot too.

For a low cal snack......

Get a fat free yogurt and put it in a piping bag, or Ziploc bag and cut the tip off. Squeeze out drops of yogurt onto a cookie sheet and freeze them. Dump them in a bowl and enjoy some frozen yogurt drops!