Cooking help for the noob on the go

[CyFi6]

So I have been trying to get more into cooking lately because I am sick of eating out, it is expensive, and most things fast and easy are not very healthy. My biggest issue is my lack of knowledge and skill when it comes to cooking, but that can be fixed in time. The second issue is the amount of time I have to do any cooking is pretty limited. I have a couple hours mid day between work and school, and a couple hours in the night depending on my workload. Weekends I am completely free.

I have been having my mom send me over some simple recipes for things I can make fairly easily. I have made things like fajitas, burritos, different omelets, simple chicken dishes, fried rice, etc. I also don't have a very sophisticated kitchen...it basically consists of a stove, oven, microwave, and basic utensils.

I was wondering if you guys had any ideas for me that are fairly simple, quick, and relatively balanced. I have weekends off so I have the entire weekend to make a stock load of food for the week. Anything that i can make in larger batches would be great. I am plenty open to meat dishes, I just don't have much of a palette for sea foods of any kind.

Thanks for any tips!

 

[SupraMario]

Rice ball and chicken....lol

 

[gurley0916]

I usually get the pasta roni or rice roni boxes and add chicken or ground beef to those them put some frozen vegies in the microwave. It usally the right amount for one person if you eat a decent amount. If you dont finish then yeah lunch for tomorrow. I recommend doing stew on the weekend as that can last for a couple meals. What is a good investment in my opinion is a crockpot. That way you can throw stuff in and let it cook all day when your at school/work then come home to a great meal. I usually do boneless pork ribs in there and then let it cook all day. Then you can either shred it and add bbq sauce for sandwiches or put canned green peppers for some shredded beef burritos/ tacos. Another quick dish is to cook up some stir fry using those thin steaks and buying the frozen stirfry veggies and then putting that over rice. If you want some recipes just pm me since I do all my family cooking

 

[Kevin]

pasta is quick to make. usually i eat rice with meat and veggies. rice takes about 15min for me to cook using a rice cooker and then i usually marinade a bunch of meats at once and then portion them out into baggies and then freeze them. take a bag out in the morning before or school or work to defrost or night before that (pop it in the fridge). .. and for lunch i pack a sandwich.. once you get home at night the meat will be ready to cook and then just cook some rice.

 

[Late]

step 1: go to cooking school and find girlfriend
step 2: there is no step 2

:icon_bigg

 

[Kai]

Check out my food blog:

http://rationalrecipes.blogspot.com

I usually pop a recipe up once/twice a month.

 

[FullNelson]

1. youtube
2. search EpicMealTime
3. profit

 

[Devin LeBlanc]

Took some brown sugar, we candied bacon, Bacon weaved a bacon plate, cut up some ham, wrapped it in bacon. We made our own beer batter, with lots of beer, ham wrapped in bacon deep fried in beer batter!

We bout to get drunk off pancakes!!!

[video=youtube;wZDv9pgHp8Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZDv9pgHp8Q[/video]

 

[gats]

This site should help you out lol

 

[gurley0916]

1. youtube
2. search EpicMealTime
3. profit

Bacon cup filled with 4 loco...the holy grail of pork products...fuckin smart.

 

[CyFi6]

Cool thanks for all the good tips. I will check out all the websites when i get home from work. I think I will invest in a crock pot Dustin..

I love rice and its really easy to make. Every time I make any kind of meat dish I have been using those little seasoning packets they sell for different things like burritos, tacos, fajitas etc otherwise I just don't know how to make any of not taste bland.

Next time we eat corduroy pants!

 

[te72]

Haha, I'm in a similar boat... GF and I are gonna start cooking for ourselves. I make a mean pasta dish (moose meat!!!), but aside from that, it's all learning for me too. You realize mexican food is just meat, cheese, veggies, and a tortilla of some sort, arranged in different ways, right? Don't believe me? Check it out sometime!

Another thing I've learned to do is to dissect what I eat at restaurants.

As for not making your mexi food taste bland, try adding some spices into the mix. I myself love garlic and paprika, curry powder, etc... give different things a shot. Worst thing that can happen is you can learn yet another way of how *not* to make something.

 

[GrimJack]

Different spices go with different foods, of course. You'll learn which ones work well over time. There's a few must haves that I always keep around. Basil and celery seed for tomato based sauces. Sage for poultry. Oregano for veggies. Garlic for everything - I buy ground garlic, because peeling decent amounts of the stuff is a pain. Salt, of course, and get unground peppercorns and a good pepper grinder - one that doesn't spew out huge chunks.

On the subject of good stuff, buy good knives and a proper chopping block. None of those Ginsu magic serrated bullshit ones, straight blades, high carbon steel (yes, it rusts, keep it oiled) and a good sharpener. Don't use the knives on anything but the chopping block. I caught my wife using my chef's knife on the granite counter once... bad girl!

Lastly, some things really are simple. Marinate diced chicken in equal parts sesame oil and soy sauce, then fry / grill and add to salad, stirfry, or whatever. I use ziploc bags to marinate, beats letting 'em sit in a pan. Beef I tend to cook with just salt and pepper.

 

[fixitman04]

make mac n cheese.... add one can of chili ..... great quick meal

 

[GrimJack]

As for not making your mexi food taste bland, try adding some spices into the mix. I myself love garlic and paprika, curry powder, etc... give different things a shot. Worst thing that can happen is you can learn yet another way of how *not* to make something.

Well, kind of. One thing I've noticed about Mexican food that most people pass over is the temperatures. In American cuisine, essentially it's all one temperature - and that's usually hot.

In Mexico, on the other hand, there is some significant skill to mixing temperatures...

Take tortilla soup, for instance. Hot soup base with tortilla chips in it, topped with cold avocado and sour cream - and served in small enough servings that the temperatures don't have a chance to equalize before you're done.

Even the lowly taco - same kind of deal, hot meat topped with cold cheese and veggies.

 

[te72]

Good point Grim, I just meant the ingredients though.

Good thing I'm reading this thread at lunch haha... Oh, and the GF's mom and brother found us a book: 100 Ways To Cook Ramen. Sounds like my kind of cooking!

 

[DreamerTheresa]

Oh, lawd.

 

[KicknAsphlt]

I'm in a similar boat -- not much skill in the kitchen, partly due to time, mostly due to me not wanting to devote time...lol. Anyway, for quick 'n dirty, I like to get some canned chicken and mix it up with either those Green Giant frozen vegetable steamer bags, or the rice packets from Uncle Ben's....the ones you nuke for 90sec. Also, I bought a little mini-foreman grill at wal-mart for $20....like 36sq-in. It's big enough to cook a couple of chicken breasts on.

My process for the canned chicken and veggies/rice:

1) Open and drain the chicken, then heat. I just put the can itself in my little convection oven on the 'turbo' setting for 5min, but you could probably nuke it in a bowl....just to heat it up, though.
2) While the chicken is heating up, I throw the steamer bag in the microwave for the same amount of time....again, I have two appliances to do this, so....*shrug*
3) When it's all done, I empty the can of chicken on a plate, then mix the veggie bag up to work the sauce around. Then I pour it on top of the chicken.

Portions may vary depending on your appetite, caloric intake, etc. I use the bigger cans, I think they're 9oz cans, and use one of those per bag of the veggies or rice. The rice makes the dish higher in calories, but if that's something you worry about you can cut the portions in half and make 2 meals out of it.

Aside from that, I've been doing salmon steaks, chicken breasts, and lean burgers on the foreman grill or just making sandwiches.

 

[Jeff Lange]

GrimJack is a double posting machine.

Stop that! WTF.

Jeff

 

[DreamerTheresa]

If you don't have a bunch of time, you can always spend half a day cooking a bunch of meals and then putting them in the fridge or freezer. It's what I used to do before I had time every day to cook.