Hate to cook, but trying

bekka0404
bekka0404 Posts: 9
in Food and Nutrition
So it is just my husband and I, and I should add he is very fit and never had a problem with his weight. Anyway, just being us, and me not really liking cooking, we used to go out to eat a lot and preparing frozen meals. So here I am determined to loose weight, and trying to find easy to cook meals. And I am not trying to kid myself, I need some grab and go type snacks and pop it in the microwave type meals some of the time. I know I am not going to go from hardly every cooking to cooking every meal seven days a week.

I don't know a lot about nutrition but am learning. I've just got to find variety and make this work. I love raw veggies and celery, just not plain. Whats a good low cal dip? Whats the best peanut butter? I don't want to burn out on raw veggies, so I am thinking of steamer veggies as well.

Anyway, I know I need to do my research but am looking for friends who share their meal plans. Looking for healthy, and easy to accomplish ideas. If you don't mind sharing, please let me know / add me.

Replies

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Start easy... Buy some meat or fish, cook it in a pan, bake it or grill it, buy some frozen veggies, and stir fry them with salt and pepper or nuke them in the microwave (or roast them with a bit of olive oil). Easy, complete meal. You can add some 'boil in a bag' rice or noodles or something.

    Once you're bored with that, you can check sites like skinnytaste.com for recipes. I was in your shoes, never cooked, hated it, but now I do it a lot because I've figured that if I'm going to be eating less, I might as well make it as good as possible (although I still get scared if a recipe has more than 6 ingredients, lol).
  • KoopaSix
    KoopaSix Posts: 252 Member
    I was terrible starting too...you need to play around in the kitchen. I keep things basic because 8 months later I'm still not a GREAT cook. Just work with what you have. All in all you HAVE to cook...microwave dinners won't cut it.
  • corgarian
    corgarian Posts: 366 Member
    so I'm a great cook ,but this tip could help you in general for that "toss in the microwave and go" lifestyle.

    Every sunday (or saturday depends on time) I make a big ol' croc pot of... well whatever (this week I made jambalya it was stupid easy) and I take that and portion it out into tupperwares. So every day of the week I have a home cooked lunch that I can just "toss in the microwave". It may take a lot of time one day of the week, but saves me lots of time and money throughout the rest of the week.
    You could make one big dish in the croc pot, and another in the oven and had lunch and dinner for like 3 days between the two of you.
  • Shell_1384
    Shell_1384 Posts: 80 Member
    so I'm a great cook ,but this tip could help you in general for that "toss in the microwave and go" lifestyle.

    Every sunday (or saturday depends on time) I make a big ol' croc pot of... well whatever (this week I made jambalya it was stupid easy) and I take that and portion it out into tupperwares. So every day of the week I have a home cooked lunch that I can just "toss in the microwave". It may take a lot of time one day of the week, but saves me lots of time and money throughout the rest of the week.
    You could make one big dish in the croc pot, and another in the oven and had lunch and dinner for like 3 days between the two of you.

    This is exactly what I did on Sunday...Jambalaya is made for the week! Yummy and quick for when you need it.
  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
    Check out the recipes albums on this facebook page. There are step by step instructions along with pictures.

    https://www.facebook.com/TheSassyGourmet/photos_albums
  • Jelise24
    Jelise24 Posts: 74 Member
    Might also try recipes that involve cooking in parchment. Throw your veggies, potatoes, & protein into a large piece of parchment (foil works too), close it up, and bake it. Very easy, low cal, & food is always cooked perfectly! You can do it with pretty much any combo of protein & veggies, here are a couple of recipes...

    http://www.redlobster.com/press/media_kit/tilapia.asp

    http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/recipe/15832_Chicken_in_a_Sack/index.html
  • avskk
    avskk Posts: 1,787 Member
    It's fine to use pre-made stuff to help you along. Good jarred sauces and pestos, frozen vegetables, pre-made turkey burgers or pre-battered fish filets, cooked polenta in a tube, frozen pre-cooked fajita meat, pork and beef roasts that come bagged in marinade -- all of these help me immensely. Just make sure to read labels and make sure everything fits into your goals; try to avoid things that are full of unrecognizable ingredients. (Meaning you'd want the ingredients on pre-grilled meat to read "beef, salt, water, and spices," not "calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate, dimethylpolysiloxane, sodium aluminum sulfate, may contain up to 10% beef.")
  • bekka0404
    bekka0404 Posts: 9
    This is wonderful. Thank you for all the replies. I'm eager to stay trying it all out.

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