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Recommend Healthy, Easy to Cook Meals
Darlan
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hi guys,
I've lately taken to getting more serious about weight loss and making healthy adjustments in my life, and have successfully cut out sugary sodas, red meats, walking more, trying out a standing desk, and am trying to incorporate more healthy, home cooked meals. I've been trying to focus on staying out of the frozen foods section of the grocery store, with the exception of frozen poultry, but I still have a very long way to go towards being able to regularly cook decent and healthy meals as a part of my normal routine. My current cooking repertoire of chicken fried rice, home made pizzas, and various pastas and casseroles are not going to cut it for weight loss, so I thought I'd ask what kind of easy to make, healthy meals are part of your rotation.
I'm aware that there are about fifteen trillion sites and books dedicated to healthy cooking, but a lot of those resources and recipes seem dedicated toward more elaborate meals that I, being honest with myself, am probably not going to prepare on a regular basis. I don't mind cooking a nice meal here and there, but I'm looking for a more steady, permanent change to my diet that won't lead to me being lazy and throwing a frozen pizza in the over or something when I'm tired or in a rush. So, that said, I'd love to hear some ideas/cooking routines from folks with normal workdays that don't involve much time spent cooking. Affordable pricing is another consideration; I don't need to pinch every single penny but I am also making an effort to put more money aside these days as well.
What healthy stuff do you throw together in such circumstances?
Thanks.
I've lately taken to getting more serious about weight loss and making healthy adjustments in my life, and have successfully cut out sugary sodas, red meats, walking more, trying out a standing desk, and am trying to incorporate more healthy, home cooked meals. I've been trying to focus on staying out of the frozen foods section of the grocery store, with the exception of frozen poultry, but I still have a very long way to go towards being able to regularly cook decent and healthy meals as a part of my normal routine. My current cooking repertoire of chicken fried rice, home made pizzas, and various pastas and casseroles are not going to cut it for weight loss, so I thought I'd ask what kind of easy to make, healthy meals are part of your rotation.
I'm aware that there are about fifteen trillion sites and books dedicated to healthy cooking, but a lot of those resources and recipes seem dedicated toward more elaborate meals that I, being honest with myself, am probably not going to prepare on a regular basis. I don't mind cooking a nice meal here and there, but I'm looking for a more steady, permanent change to my diet that won't lead to me being lazy and throwing a frozen pizza in the over or something when I'm tired or in a rush. So, that said, I'd love to hear some ideas/cooking routines from folks with normal workdays that don't involve much time spent cooking. Affordable pricing is another consideration; I don't need to pinch every single penny but I am also making an effort to put more money aside these days as well.
What healthy stuff do you throw together in such circumstances?
Thanks.
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http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2010/06/a-free-e-cookbook/
The easiest healthy meal I can throw together is chicken, quinoa and a pack of steam veggies. I have a rice cooker, so I can make the quinoa and walk away and get other crap done. When it chimes, I can go in and cut up the chicken and toss it on a grill pan, put the steam pack in the microwave. If you dont include the ricemaker time, this is like a 15minute affair, tops.
I cant speak to how healthy anything else I eat is.
It's really (mostly) about portion sizes and controlling how much you eat in a day when you want to lose weight; there's no reason, for example, that you should have to cut all pasta out of your diet entirely rather than just having some pasta alongside some rice & vegetables.
I'm throwing up the @spool32 signal for actual cooking advice. The man knows his way around the kitchen, and how to get it done lean.
Even easier than that are eggs. I like to make breakfast sandwiches out of 'em. Just pan scramble an egg for a few minutes, toast a whole wheat english muffin, slap on a bit of cheese and a dab of some preferred sauce, and you're right in that 300 - 400 calorie range, with decent protein. I make these all the time, even for dinner.
I did a thing a while back which you should check out: 5 meals for under $50 total!
That link has a long OP with tons of info for what you'll need to eat cheap and healthy. It also includes 4 recipes, my very very amateur cooking videos, and lots of variations from people attempting to make them.
Also you should bookmark that post (and everyone else feel free) because I swore at PAX East that I'd do the 5th recipe and I'm unemployed right now and really don't have any excuse so I will do a 5th I swear!
Probably chicken quesadillas.
It's great for protean...not awesome for veggies. You want to talk veggies? Look into roasting them in the oven whit a little olive oil and whichever seasoning you prefer. You can be reheating your vide meal or cooking in the same time you're roasting some veggies.
I really like chickpeas with cucumber, cherry tomatoes, onions, lemon juice and some olive oil. Beets and quinoa are also good.
Steam: CavilatRest
I've been doing this a lot. Plain broccoli can be spiced up literally by throwing on, say, chili powder or curry powder or lemon pepper or some other herbs or spices. It won't add anything for calories but it will make it more flavorful without much trouble. I like the steam packs because when I get home from a crappy day at work I can just throw them in the microwave and have vegetables for dinner without much in the way of effort.
If you want to try lentils to cut out meat, look for red lentils. They cook much faster.
If you don't mind eating a lot of leftovers of the same thing, you could do what I do also and cook one big batch of something on Sundays and eat those for lunch the next five days. When I make lentils I also make brown rice (I have a rice cooker which I use 1-3 times a week) and eat them together.
My favorite at the moment's slicing up some onions and white mushrooms, tossing them in a lidded skillet with a boneless skinless chicken thigh and just enough butter to keep everything from sticking, and let it cook at a low heat while I go about other things. 10 minutes or so and it's done. Eat it straight, cut the thigh up and toss it all on a healthy tortilla (low-carb or whole wheat, depending on what diet strategy you prefer), whatever.
Or, cook just the thigh that way (don't need the butter, thigh's fat will keep it from sticking at low heat), dice it up, toss it on your tortilla of choice with a squirt of ranch and your lettuce of choice.
Or, like I said, you can cook bulk. Sit down and cook a ton of food once a week, then reheat and eat as needed. Sometimes I cook entire packages of boneless skinless chicken thighs at once (they're like $1.5/lb here, okay?), since I can quickly reheat the meat for whatever--wraps, salads, hot sauce and ranch, etc. I also do a low-carb sausage chili sometimes--spicy sausage, mushrooms, onions, stewed diced tomatoes, cumin, chili powder, done. If you don't like eating that much red meat or you're worried about the calories from the sausage, make it a chicken or turkey chili instead. If you're not worried about carbs, add your beans of choice.
Sometimes I spot a boston butt or pork loin on sale. Buy it, then get out a knife and cut it into reasonable serving sizes. Cook it as needed--you can toss it in a pan or skillet with a lid, set low heat, go do something else. Or, you can take the whole butt, season it as you like, put it in a pot with a lid, and leave it on low heat until you can push the meat off the bone with a spoon or fork. Reheat the shredded meat for lots of things--hot sauce and ranch, barbecue stuff, toss it in a salad, whatever.
One I haven't done much recently is frozen mixed vegetables, a fillet of whatever fish I can get cheap on top, nuke it, drain it, add a splash of sauce (teriyaki is my pref, watch how much you use), eat--all the fish I like got expensive.
Oh, also to make cooking meat stupid easy and consistent, find a spice mix you like and use it on everything. I put Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning on damn near all my meat. It's pretty universal. You can probably find one or two you like for the same purpose.
Hey dude, we're pretty much in the same situation. Here's a few things that are working pretty well for me:
- Oatmeal (steel cut oats) with honey and blueberries
- Cottage cheese with honey (surprisingly delicious)
- Protein shakes when you work out / maybe every other day: protein powder, 2% milk, banana, blueberries, a few cubes of ice
- Cliff bars (I honestly hate every flavor except Cool Mint Chocolate, which I love) every once in a while instead of a meal
- Skinny Pop popcorn is the best thing ever
- Yogurt and granola
- Frozen whole-wheat ravioli is pretty decent
- Fresh fruit; bananas, strawberries, raspberries -- good, healthy snacks
- Chicken; I get it pre-prepared from the grocery store. All I do is oven-heat and eat
- Omelettes; eggs, onions, peppers, a little hot sauce
I've been staying away from:
- Bread
- Beer (I'll have a couple on a Friday night, but don't drink much in general)
- Starches (not sure why; probably just taste)
- Cheese
- Sugar / soda / candy / chips / junk food / fast food
Individually, these things don't amount to much (except for not eating cheese... I f-ing love cheese). Together though, they comprise like 85% of my diet for the last month+, and I've noticed a *huge* difference. Hope that helps!
My Digital Pin Lanyard || PAX East '13, '14, '15, '19 | PAX South '15
It isn't amazing but it's satisfying and extremely easy to make. I'll usually add some veggie in the side.
This is going to be a sizable adjustment for me for sure, but it was definitely past time to make some changes. Thanks again.
get a pack of mixed vegetables you like, there should be some in the freezer section. peppers, onions, corn, whatever.
drop some olive oil in a pan, then dump them in. cook them for like 5 minutes and add some basic spices- cumin, oregeno, etc. I like cumin a lot.
once those are cooked I put in the liquid part like tomato puree then add in your more flavorful part. I use beans because I like them and they are a good alternative to meat. this is when I add in the hotter spices like chili powder and crushed hot pepper.
bring it to a boil then let it simmer for like 45 min. sprinkle some cheese on top.
that's it, all done. shouldn't even cost $5 for everything
Get a red onion. Cut it into tiny pieces.
Get a garlic clove or two, depending on taste. Slice it thin, like in Goodfellas.
Get a big pan, something pretty deep. Liquids will be added here.
Take the pan and make fire, like your caveman ancestors.
Add some olive oil. Throw in the onion, and really cook the shit out of them. Then add garlic. Stir things, always. Don't let them sit and burn.
Whilst they cook, chunk your protein into roughly one-inch cube sized pieces. (Anything works with this. The original calls for Sausages with the skins removed, but I have used Chicken, Pork Loin and Beef as well. Not tried fish yet. It may even work for tofu.) 1/4 lb per serving up to 1/2 lb is a good guide.
In go the protein chunks, where you Cook Meat With Fire, Make Ancestors Proud.
Throw some Paprika all over the place. And in the pan as well. Spices to taste, but don't skimp.
One handful of rice per serving should end up in there. Yes the pan is largely dry at this point. The heat will blast the rice and they absorb the liquid much better.
Half a bottle of white wine goes in, and deglazes the pan from the onions, meat and such. The other half mysteriously disappears as you cook. It is, after all, thirsty work.
The same amount of stock goes in the pan. You can match the stock with the protein, but the good thing is You Don't Have To. Stewing Steak and Chicken Stock in the fridge and they need using up? Chuck them in! I would avoid fish stock only because I haven't tried it yet. But if you want to experiment, hey it's your dinner.
Two decent sized Bell Peppers, or three small ones. Red, Orange and Yellow work best. There will be Green later. Foreshadowing, see? Slice like a pro. Add to pan.
By now the pan is pretty full. Lots of liquid sloshing around, bubbling away. Make fire small, so everything is simmering not boiling.
Take a quick rest, and marvel at the disappearance of the wine.
Chop half a dozen tomatoes into chunks. Cut a bunch of green onions into small bits.
Look at the pan. Isn't that great? It's almost food.
Most of the liquid will be gone now. Add the tomatoes and green onions. Stir nicely.
Take the time to clean up a little and grab a plate or bowl.
Make the fire go away now.
Spoon food onto plate or into bowl.
Shovel into face hole and marvel at your creation.
Watch a movie.
The rest is now cool. Divide into bowls, containers or people who want second helpings. Place in fridge or freezer (bowls/containers only, not people.)
The good thing about this is that it takes just as long to make 4 portions as it does 10, 12 or 18. About half an hour and you could be eating Actual Proper Meals for weeks. Plus if you use a really big pan, you get to make more wine disappear. Everything scales up!
Nusquam Findi Factionis
My Digital Pin Lanyard
Greasing a pan reasonably isn't going to do anything bad to your food. Just remember that you probably need less than you think--if I want to cook something not-particularly-oily, then I dab a cloth or cotton ball or something with oil then run it over the pan. Doesn't even really look like it has oil in it, but it works.
If you mean a bit more than that, I'n exactly sure what the ratio of oil/butter/etc used to cook something:oil that you end up eating is.
(for the record, I personally only control grease/butter/etc for taste purposes, not health. I drop a big dollop (2-3 tbs) of butter in the pan, toss my mushrooms, chicken, and onions in, cover it, walk away. I drain what I can, but yeah. I like my butter. Hasn't stopped my BP or weight from dropping so far, but then, I'm inching ever closer to a VLCD).
You do need some fat in your diet, and a spoonful of oil is nothing compared to what the processed food manufacturers hide in their meals. In fact, eating oil with vegetables helps you absorb nutrients. That's why an olive oil vinaigrette actually makes a salad healthier.
Olive oil isn't the best for cooking stuff like that. You'll lose all the flavour and be lucky not to scorch it. Go for some cold-pressed rapseseed (canola) oil, which stands up to high heat much better. It incidentally has double the amount of "good" fats that olive oil does, and if you add a smidgen of salt it really does taste like melted butter.