What do you eat or cook at home? (independents)
 

I'm looking for advice and ideas from people who cook for themselves at home.. what are your daily meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack? What do you buy or cook for your food at home? I am just starting to make my own meals and learning to cook instead of eating out just so you know.

Breakfast

1) Cereal with cut up fruit

2) A couple slices of toast and a couple eggs (bacon is too gross and time consuming, makes such a nasty mess around the stove, leave it for the restaurants)


Lunch I'm 99% of the time skipping or not eating at home, but a sandwich would be easy to slap together, with some canned soup or something.


Dinner

1) Turkey meat balls and pasta in a fresh made tomato sauce from scratch OR just turkey meat sauce if I'm lazy

2) Pre-marinated chicken breast, grilled or pan seared, or BBQ in the summer with brown rice or yams or baked nugget potatoes, and either a salad or corn on a cob on the BBQ

3) Stir fry from scratch, fresh veggies (mushrooms, peas/beans etc.) with strips of beef sirloin or chicken breasts

4) Pita pizza's. You can buy a pack of 6 whole wheat pitas, ham slices from the deli, canned pineapple (or pepperoni, or chicken w/e) pizza or tomato paste, and pack of shredded cheese

start watching the actual cooking shows on channel 52. easiest way to find stuff that looks good to you. once you find a show or two you like you'll have more recipes then you can cook.

easiest thing is probably pasta. make a big pot of sauce then freeze it in individual bags. one box of pasta goes a long way. its hard to cook for just one sometimes because its so little food, usually you have to make extra and eat it over a few meals.

I don't watch Nigella Express for her cooking. ;)

here is my express recipe
Hot dog
onion
japanese mayo
soy sauce
hot dog bun
sugar.
add some seaweed if you want
your favorite hot sauce (sriracha, Sambal ABC)


first make the sauce
mix soy sauce and sugar in a pan and simmer it, and stir often
keep the sauce in a container for making some more in the future

the rest is self explanatory ..
bam!! japdog in your own home.. delicious :P

One of my favourite things to eat that is quick to make lately:

You'll need;

6 eggs (omega 3)
Coconut milk
Berries
Cocoa powder
Cinnamon

In a saucepan, use low-medium heat. Beat the eggs, and slowly cook (in coconut oil) while stirring.

When eggs begin to solidify, add some coconut milk. Not too much, I'd say no more than 1/2 cup.

Keep stirring, and eventually you'll get this fluffy texture that is similar to a custard.

Plate the eggs, and throw on some berries. Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, whatever.

Lightly sprinkle with cocoa powder and cinnamon.

It actually tastes even better cold. Like a dessert!

This recipe has a ton of protein, lots of good fat, and carbs from fruit (not garbage). It's full of antioxidants from the fruit, cocoa, and cinnamon, and will keep you full for a long time, considering it only takes a few minutes to make.

Hard boiled eggs are you friend. I probably eat 12-18 or so a week. Make a big batch, eat with salt n pepper, chopped up with salsa, cheese, and ham in a wrap or put them in a salad with REAL bacon bits and a bit of ranch dressing.

Chicken breasts... cook a half week's worth, use it in pasta, on pita pizza, in sandwiches or wraps... they're really easy to make, simply bake for 40 minutes @ 400F from frozen flipping once. I don't like frying/grilling them, it either makes 'em greasy or really dries them out.

I cant remember what they're called, but they're in the frozen isle at the grocery store for around $3 in a small box. Inside is a microwave bag with carbs and veggies and they taste half decent for how quick they are. Microwave one of those, fry/bbq up a steak with your favorite rub (available in the spice isle) and you have a decent dinner in less than 5 minutes (I like my steak still bleeding, 2 min a side)

I do all the meal prep in our house and having a kid makes it kind of hard. I have usually an hour from when I get home (longer on the weekends) and I try and make due with whatever I have in the house. This is a bunch of the regular stuff we eat, again probably not the healthiest but I do my best. If your wondering why theres no seafood it's because I don't eat it.

-Stuffed pasta from costco & salad
-bbq Steak, Potatoes and a vegetable
-fajitas
-tacos
-chicken breasts, rice and a vegetable
-chicken cut up on salads
-shepards pie
-roast beef either rotisary or oven, potatoes, vegetables
-chilli
-breakfast foods, cereal, toast, bacon, sausage, pancakes, eggs ect....
-hot dogs, salad and maybe a starch
-hamburgers, salad and maybe a starch
-beef dip
-soup and sandwiches
-tomatoe soup and grilled cheese (my sons fav. )
-bunch of other stuff but I can't think of it right now.

damm that sounds good

Wow, that list you have there is quite impressive. A coworker of mine has two boys, one is almost 4, the other is about 16 months. They're both a handful and for you to pull off that list is awesome. :eek:

We've been eating a lot of stir-fry and rice. Also, kraft dinner...

get a slap chop and a george forman grill you should be set

george forman grill is nice, but you dont need a slapchop. learn to use a knife and get a food processor.

If you're lazy, get a slow cooker. Toss whatever you want in there in the morning and come home to a nice hot meal.

I always have a peice of steak in the freezer or fridge....and this is always a quick lunch/dinner thing.

-Steak
-Teriyaki sauce
-salt/pepper
-baguet/ or french bread or any bread
-fresh garlic
-hellmans mayo
-tomatoes
-lettuce
-onions
-croutons

Salad:

Lettuce
Olive oil + dried tomato dressing.
cherry tomatoes
parmesan cheese.
salt / peppers.
cucumbers if you want.

Meat:

1. marinate the steak with teriyaki sauce,salt+pepper. let sit for 30 mins.
2. Sear the Steak for 60 secs on each side depending on thickness of cut.
3. remove from heat and tent the steak.
4. in same pan, add onions and 2 shots of teriyaki sauce and sautee until caramelized....add a dash of pepper.

5. in a seperate cup, finely chop the garlic and add mayo.

6. Toast baguet and apply the garlic mayo.

7. add lettuce.

8. thinly slice the steak and add to the baguet.

9. add the onions and close the sandwich....pop into oven 250*C for 5 mins.


------

Salad

cut greens and add to bowl, cut the cherry tomatoes into 1/4s and add to bowl, add the cucumbers and dressing.
toss, add parmesan cheese and croutons just before serving.

http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._1920889_n.jpg

not a great pic, but it does taste damn good.:thumbsup:


Another modifed verison is to remove the bread and add rice pilaf or resotto.

http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._2370099_n.jpg
Dont mind the fries, it was just a craving....lol

This is an excellent thread. Lots of easy recipe ideas. Super useful when I will be home alone for weeks at a time and I dont want to dine outside/take out too much.

Breakfast I like making wraps. A flour tortilla + ham + cheese + mayo. Wrap it up and stick it in a george foreman grill. Done in 5 minutes. Alternatively, I make panini. Same ingredients but with white bread.

Does anyone go to M&M meatshop regularly?

if you have a propane bbq, the possibilitiesn for lunch/dinners are endless -- steaks, chicken, veggies, pizza etc and it's darn quick too

couple questions. what cut of steak would you recommend for this? also, how do you normally sear your steaks? lots of different ways to do it, from what I gather.

I'll post my recipe for Japanese Hamburg. It's really easy to make, and tastes great:

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._6020397_n.jpg

Japanese ハンバーグ (Hamburg). Now this is what I call food! Goes perfect with sprouts.

-1 lbs ground beef (make sure not to get extra lean. Mix in some ground pork if you want a richer patty)
-1 egg
-1/2 onion, finely chopped
-1/2 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs - they are coarse and gritty. This is important!)

-Grill onions in coconut oil, butter, or lard, set aside.
-Mix ground beef with egg & onion, I usually add some pepper and a couple dashes of worcestershire here too
-Gently mix in panko, make sure it is well distributed, but do not overmix
-Form patties with hand. The bigger the better!
-Fry in some butter, lard, coconut oil, (or peanut oil if that's all you have). Anything with good saturated fat! Avoid garbage like canola oil, corn oil, "vegetable" oil, etc.

Cook on medium heat, Only flip once, do not squish them down, do not cut them open.

Once cooked, set aside. Do not waste the delicious healthy fat! Mix up a sauce from the following:

-1/2 cup ketchup (find one that does not use high fructose corn syrup if you can - good luck with that)
-1/4 cup Chu Nou Sauce (Japanese version of fruity 'brown sauce' basically. Kind of like HP sauce but thinner and sweeter).
-1 tbs soy sauce

Once mixed, fry up the sauce a bit, and put the patties back in to coat. You can also slice some mushrooms and/or carrots to add to the sauce.

Serve on a bed of sprouts, cabbage, or any other healthy vegetables you like. Add a side of more vegetables. If you are feeling really nasty, mayonnaise tastes great on these things. If you are a carbivore, you could eat it traditionally with Japanese rice, and enjoy the lethargy afterwards ;).

Also Gyudon:

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._6956382_n.jpg

1 pound thinly sliced beef
1 onion
1 1/3 cups dashi soup (IMPORTANT!)
4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons mirin (IMPORTANT!)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon sake

-Slice onion thinly
-Mix everything into a pot (except onion and beef of course)
-Once simmering, add onion. Cook until soft
-While onions are simmering, submerge beef in a pot of boiled water. Remove as soon as it starts to brown (it should still be pink). I can only get frozen beef, so I'm not sure if this is necessary with fresh beef though.
-Add beef and simmer until cooked. Should take no more than a minute or so.
-Serve on rice (traditional). I use a bed of sprouts.
-Don't attempt to make this unless you can get the proper ingredients. Dashi is usually sold in a concentrated form - make sure to use just enough to make 1.33 cups of soup.

breakfast - cereal
lunch - cereal
dinner - cereal in a bigger bowl

^^ That's me in my teens. I am paying for it now though.

This guy knows how to save money, haha.

i normally buy green salad in a bag, but lately i started making greek salad. its a little more enjoyable but not quite as healthy with no leafy greens.