Any tips on cooking?
diontre840
Posts: 50 Member
Any tips on cooking better. I have tried to cook many things such as chicken, beef, fish and I can only make 1 healthy recipe for each. It gets really boring having that stuff every week so I go to fast food which is terrible for my body. Any recipes for chicken, beef, turkey, and any fish?
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Replies
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Might want to post this in the food & nutrition section0
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I incorporated different protein into a stir fry. Always weight my protein to ensure I’m getting the right amount of protein needed per meal1
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I like the recipes on the Skinnytaste blog, particularly her slow-cooker recipes.1
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Skinnytaste.com3
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dont2
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Look to vegan and vegetarian recipes, they have some interesting choices. Also mix up your spices, chili chicken, onion soup mix chicken, fajita chicken, mole chicken, enchilada chicken, tandoori chicken, BBQ chicken, butter chicken. The list goes on and on, spice mixes are your friend.2
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Ground beef recipes http://www.myrecipes.com/healthy-diet/calorie-counts/healthy-ground-beef-recipes#healthy-picadillo
These cuts of beef are relativelty low in fat: https://www.livestrong.com/article/510998-cuts-of-steak-with-the-least-calories/1 -
I eat a lot of grilled chicken and rice with veggies. I eat pretty boring and same day to day. It helped me lose a lot of weight! I would pick 3 or 4 easy fast recipes and rotate them. And then stop thinking about what to eat.1
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YouTube links to Pan Seared Fishdiontre840 wrote: »Any tips on cooking better. I have tried to cook many things such as chicken, beef, fish and I can only make 1 healthy recipe for each. It gets really boring having that stuff every week so I go to fast food which is terrible for my body. Any recipes for chicken, beef, turkey, and any fish?
YouTube links to Pan Seared Chicken
YouTube links to Pan Seared Beef
My sincerest tip is, Don't focus on recipes. Master a relatively few number of cooking techniques instead.- An obvious starting point is Pan Seared Protein since it addresses the three specific requests in your post.
- Next maybe Roasting vegetables because it's delicious, simple, and nearly foolproof.
- You will also want to be able Saute vegetables. Then saute combinations of vegetables. Learning to Blanch and Shock will improve your sauteed veggies.
- Learn what a Braise is why you want to brown first, then slow cook.
- Learn to make Emulsions. Now you can make vinaigrettes, creamy salad dressings, even mayonnaise and aioli.
- Slow Roast poultry, beef and pork roasts. Maybe start with a simple chicken.
This is the road less traveled. You see literally millions of recipes out there. Many of them are click-bait. Many are outright plagiarized or modified slightly to make it unique for no purpose. If you set out to find the cookbooks, TV shows, and YouTube channels that use recipes to demonstrate basic techniques you won't have to hunt down a recipe every time you want to cook something a little different.
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YouTube links to Pan Seared Fishdiontre840 wrote: »Any tips on cooking better. I have tried to cook many things such as chicken, beef, fish and I can only make 1 healthy recipe for each. It gets really boring having that stuff every week so I go to fast food which is terrible for my body. Any recipes for chicken, beef, turkey, and any fish?
YouTube links to Pan Seared Chicken
YouTube links to Pan Seared Beef
My sincerest tip is, Don't focus on recipes. Master a relatively few number of cooking techniques instead.- An obvious starting point is Pan Seared Protein since it addresses the three specific requests in your post.
- Next maybe Roasting vegetables because it's delicious, simple, and nearly foolproof.
- You will also want to be able Saute vegetables. Then saute combinations of vegetables. Learning to Blanch and Shock will improve your sauteed veggies.
- Learn what a Braise is why you want to brown first, then slow cook.
- Learn to make Emulsions. Now you can make vinaigrettes, creamy salad dressings, even mayonnaise and aioli.
- Slow Roast poultry, beef and pork roasts. Maybe start with a simple chicken.
This is the road less traveled. You see literally millions of recipes out there. Many of them are click-bait. Many are outright plagiarized or modified slightly to make it unique for no purpose. If you set out to find the cookbooks, TV shows, and YouTube channels that use recipes to demonstrate basic techniques you won't have to hunt down a recipe every time you want to cook something a little different.
I cook alot and this poster is spot on. Excellent. Learn about the things he listed, and how to do them--one at a time. Then you're good to go and can experiment and expand on your own. It's easy to find recipes, but you have to have some basic knowlege and skill. Cooking is fun. You will be amazed at what you can do. Best of luck and bon appetite.2 -
There are tons of recipe sites, cookbooks, magazines and blogs where you can find recipes for those things. Healthy is a vague term. Search for more specific things like low calorie, low sugar, low sodium, etc recipes instead.
I find food ideas on Pinterest a lot.
http://www.budgetbytes.com
http://www.skinnytaste.com
http://www.kalynskitchen.com/
http://www.cookinglight.com/food
I have a few American Heart Association cookbooks and the recipes I have tried are tasty. https://recipes.heart.org/categories/31/delicious-decisions
If you are a beginner cook a basic cookbook like Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, How to Cook Everything or a cookbook aimed at kids could be helpful.
https://www.chowhound.com/food-news/54612/10-beginner-cookbooks/1 -
In my opinion healthy = balanced and varied. Eating enough to fuel my day and getting adequate nutrition.
As long as you are meeting your calorie goal for weight loss (presumably given the forum you posted in) and getting the nutrition you need from your food, there are literally thousands of different recipes that can form part of a healthy diet.
Use the recipe builder in MFP, accurately log everything you use as an ingredient if it has calories, particularly oils.
I find it really helpful to have food prepped ahead of time to prevent the temptation of reaching for fast food (although again the odd fast food meal isn't going to kill you if your overall diet is well balanced). That way when I get in from work I only have to cook something through in 20 mins or reheat it. I normally have a couple of different meals in the fridge/freezer from meal prep sessions.
For example this week I have:- Saag Paneer (Spinach, onion and coconut cream with pan fried tofu (can't get paneer locally) and spices) will probably have this for dinner 2 nights, lunch on Friday and freeze the rest for another week. I had some last night with Turmeric spiced roast potatoes
- Tonight I am having a simple pan fried chicken with some steamed veg and gravy.
- Shredded slow cooked chicken breasts, used to make Chicken & Sweetcorn Pasta for lunch
- Broccoli & Blue Cheese Soup, used 2 portions for lunch this week and have frozen the rest.
- At the weekend I usually have an omelette or poached eggs for brunch and I am planning on making Crispy KFC style chicken (Baked not Fried) on Friday night, I will likely make some sort of meal prep recipe on Saturday like Salmon Fishcakes or maybe some homemade burgers - I normally do this on a Sunday but I am eating out with friends instead.
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Try a new recipe every week! Experiment with different herbs and seasonings. There are plenty of recipe websites out there. My favourites are:
seriouseats.com (they have some great articles on the science of cooking, techniques, etc.)
allrecipes.com (lots of tried and tested recipes)
skinnytaste.com (lighter recipes with focus on dietary needs)
budgetbytes.com (cheap eats)1 -
sexymamadraeger wrote: »I eat a lot of grilled chicken and rice with veggies. I eat pretty boring and same day to day. It helped me lose a lot of weight! I would pick 3 or 4 easy fast recipes and rotate them. And then stop thinking about what to eat.
This would cause me to fail. Variety is important to me. I need different flavors and textures, and besides, eating with variety is a proven way to maximize nutrition. Yes, green veggies are good for you. But so are red, yellow, orange, purple, and white vegetables. Yes, turkey and chicken give you protein, but beef gives you protein with more iron. And with all the variety of flavors available in worldwide cuisines from which I can learn to cook at least a few simple dishes, why would I eat the same boring stuff over and over?1 -
My best cooking tip...Dont overcomplicate it. Food is food you dont need huge fancy recipes with a million ingredients. Just make food. Yum.2
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Pinterest is your friend...3
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Find recipes you like. Realize that some meals take patience and preparation to cook. And PRACTICE. That's unfortunately the only way to get better at cooking.1
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Learn your techniques as per oldhobo, then learn how to read a recipe, as long as your meal contains, vegetables, protein and carbs in appropriate proportions and the portion size is suitable for you it's going to be healthy enough.1
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pinterest. type in healthy recipes
narrow it down by whatever - chicken, breakfast, beef, pork, seafood, whatever
https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=healthy recipes&rs=typed&term_meta[]=healthy|typed&term_meta[]=recipes|typed0 -
What is it that you like about the fast food? What are your favorite meals when you are not trying to lose weight or be healthy?
Do you order burgers and fries? Make your own burgers at home with or without a bun. Add whatever toppings fit into your meal plan. Experiment with different types of meat and spices in the burger. Cut up a potato or sweet potato and bake them into "fries". Add some vegetables to the meal.
Do you like chicken nuggets? Search the internet for some healthier and easy homemade options. Make a big batch and keep them in the freezer for easy meals later.
Learn some quick ways to cook healthier versions of those foods you do like instead of forcing yourself to eat something you don't really enjoy. Or cook multiple servings of food and freeze portions for quick meals later.
Tonight, I'm making beef and sweet potato chili, then freezing two portions of it for later, and having one serving of it for lunch tomorrow.
Tomorrow for dinner, I'm planning grilled salmon with bok choy and a lentil side dish. I'll puree the lentil dish with chicken broth to make soup for the next day's lunch.
Usually, at least once each week, I'll take whatever leftover meats and vegetables (and eggs, grains, etc) I have in the fridge and make a big stirfry/hash. I can add spices and sauces to make it Thai, Chinese, Mexican, Italian, Indian, etc.
Experiment. Cooking doesn't have to be an exact science. Buy some premade sauces, herbs and spices and just start throwing together things that sound good to you.2 -
Pinterest is my best friend for weekly meal planning. I have a ton of recipes I picked and at the start of each week, I pick 2-3 similar ones for a meal so my other half can then pick what he prefers (without being overwhelmed with 50+ recipes). I also try to do themes, such has meatless Mondays, Soup or Salad days, Casserole bakes for early in the week, and so on.
The only way to get better at cooking is to do it. I would recommend a subscription box such as Hello Fresh or Blue Apron if it's within your budget as it allows you to increase your cooking knowledge with guidance on recipes and you build up a recipe box at the same time.0 -
Emilybites.com is another site with tasty, healthy recipes.0
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