Looking for health/easy cooking methods.

[cmdan]

Hi all, I now have to cook for myself and am looking for easy/healthy meals to cook, keep in mind I'm a beginner here, so some basic meals that will help keep cholesterol down is what I really need. The meals need to have meats, chicken, fish, beef or pork will work.

If you have recipes or know of some links that would be great.

I just moved and don't have internet yet so I am bootlegging some, but only for short periods so I can't do much searching.

Thanks again.

[TEX]

Think stir fry. A little meat; some soy sauce to taste; a drop or two of sesame oil. Lots of veggies and some noodles or rice. SOME PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE SESAME OIL BUT TO US IT IS THE TASTE OF CHINESE COOKING - YOU WILL HAVE TO DO A LITTLE TRIAL AND ERROR TO FIND OUT HOW MUCH YOU LIKE.

Maybe fried rice - cold rice, green onions, drop or two of sesame oil; soy sauce to taste - some green veggies - peas, broccoli, etc and then throw in an egg and scramble it all together. This is a good way to use up left overs.

Soups or stews

meat of your choice; cooked slow with the "trinity" (onions, garlic, celery) all the veggies you can get hold of and water. Salt and Pepper to taste. Cook till it tastes good. Thicken with cornstarch or flour if you like. Add noodles or rice if you like. This is not an exact science - just remember to go easy on the spices till you find out what you like.

Stroganof is one of our favorites and we make it with either cut up beef, cooked slow till tender; browned hamburger meat or even chicken.

Cook your meat with a cut up onion and a little garlic, salt pepper till tender. Add a can of cream soup - hubby likes cream of chicken but my favorite is cream of mushroom. Add about 1 cup of sour cream - you may like less and a couple table spoons of Worcester sauce. Eat over rice or noodles.

Hope this helps

[Aamylf]

Chili has got to be one of the easiest things on earth -- in a crock pot especially. Soak the beans overnight, put in the crockpot, add ground chicken/beef/pork/whatever, add stewed/canned tomatoes, water, spices and voila!

Beef/chicken stew is the same -- chunks of meat, chunks of tomato, onion, potato, sweet potato, mushrooms, carrots, parsnip -- any combination -- cover with water, add a bit of bouillion, maybe some worchestshire sauce, a few spices to suit your fancy. Cook and eat.

Beans and rice.

Tuna noodle casserole -- usually can find the recipe on a mushroom soup can.

[NCLee]

First, pick up a copy of The Joy of Cooking, 25th Anniversary Edition. Don't groan when you see the size of it. Tackle this book, a little at a time. It has in it the how-to for just about everything in the kitchen.

Then, pick up one more... The American Heart Association Cookbook. It's out in paperback. There, you'll find out how to lower the fat and cholestrol at are often in the Joy of Cooking. Those two cookbooks will last a life time and give you guidance for everything (except perhaps wild game and wild veggies) that you want to cook now and in the future.

Start out simple and easy, then work your way up to the more complex, to the degree that you wish to do.

Easy soup that you can customize to your liking. Start out with either canned, fresh, or frozen ingredients, as may be applicable.
Basic recipe:
1 can of Veg-all.
1 can of Swanson chicken stock
1 can of tomatoes (diced or stewed depending on the flavor you want)
1 can of nearly fat free chicken breast.
1 small onion chopped.
Pepper to taste (there's plenty of salt already!)

Combine, simmer until the onions are done. Add water, if needed.

Many ways you can easily modify this recipe. Add a can of another vegetable that you like. Green beans, yellow corn, shoepeg corn, butterbeans, etc.

Add a dried shaped pasta. Cook until the pasta is done. Just make sure you have enough liquid in the soup to accomodate adding pasta.

Substitute the chicken with canned venision, cooked & chopped ham with the fat trimmed off. Start out with a country ham bone. Trim off the fat, let it simmer for a little while before adding the other ingredients.

Learn to bake cornbread in a castiron skillet. Modify the following for the size pan you want to use. It's not rocket science, as you have a lot of flexibility and still have some good bread. For a #8 skillet I use, 1 1/4 c white stone ground cornmeal. 1/3 c powdered instant non fat milk, mixed with the meal. 1 cup of water, combined with 2 tbsp canola or olive oil, and option is 1 egg white. Combine wet and dry until just combined. Add more water if the batter is too thick. Preheat the oven to 450 and heat the skillet, too. When you're ready, remove the skillet (oven mits!!!), spray with Pam. Pour in batter. Bake until golden brown. About 30 minutes. Time will vary by the size of the pan, so watch for the color change and the bread beginning to release from the sids of the skillet.

Now you have soup and cornbread. Left overs are good.

FWIW, I make this soup in a 12 quart stockpot, starting out with a #10 can of mixed vegetables. Add at least a quart of home canned tomatoes, triple succotash, fresh or diced canned tomatoes, and other vegetables. Meat of choice. (left over spiral sliced ham bone, leftover roasted chicken, venison, leftover turkey, etc.) Then freeze it in 2 meal portions. First, I can't make a small pot of soup! Second, it's good to have homemade heat & eat in the freezer.

A quick and easy. Broil thin center cut pork chops in the oven. Add a splash of Worchesthesheire (sp :) ) sauce about 1/2 way through cooking. Turn, splash again. This can also be done on a castiron griddle - either a round one or an oblong 2 burner version. That griddle has many uses beyond making pancakes, but that's for another post. "Griddling" is a way to lower the use of fats/oils and still have some good tasting foods.

Hope this helps get you started. Just take your time, roll up your sleeves, and you'll be fine. Don't sweat the burnt toast that you'll have once in a while. That's just a part of the learning curve. Scrap off the burnt, crumble into a bowl (can) of stewed tomatoes seasoned with a little pepper and a splash of olive oil.

Lee

[cmdan]

Thanks everyone, much appreciated. Gives me some proven meals, which will help a lot.

[BWHLover]

Homemade split pea soup.
4 cups of split peas.
1/4 cup of dried vegetable flakes.
1/8 cup of dried onions.
pieces of ham.
Place in a crock pot, cover with boiling water, cover and cook on high for 4 hours.

[Aseries]

if you got internet you got 1000's of simple recipes at your finger tips, one suggestion is youtube, check out rachel ray and how to cook meals, I learned tons of things watching the HowCast, and Chow, channels I guess they are called on youtube. They will tell you everything on how to open a beer bottle with your teeth to cooking pork loin...

Also Food Network.com has lots of recipes that are easy.... Just look up simple dishes, theres 100s of great sites, though find sites where people leave feedback cause some recipes really do suck....

enjoy

[cmdan]

First, pick up a copy of The Joy of Cooking, 25th Anniversary Edition. Don't groan when you see the size of it. Tackle this book, a little at a time. It has in it the how-to for just about everything in the kitchen.

Then, pick up one more... The American Heart Association Cookbook. It's out in paperback. There, you'll find out how to lower the fat and cholestrol at are often in the Joy of Cooking. Those two cookbooks will last a life time and give you guidance for everything (except perhaps wild game and wild veggies) that you want to cook now and in the future.

Start out simple and easy, then work your way up to the more complex, to the degree that you wish to do.

Easy soup that you can customize to your liking. Start out with either canned, fresh, or frozen ingredients, as may be applicable.
Basic recipe:
1 can of Veg-all.
1 can of Swanson chicken stock
1 can of tomatoes (diced or stewed depending on the flavor you want)
1 can of nearly fat free chicken breast.
1 small onion chopped.
Pepper to taste (there's plenty of salt already!)

Combine, simmer until the onions are done. Add water, if needed.

Many ways you can easily modify this recipe. Add a can of another vegetable that you like. Green beans, yellow corn, shoepeg corn, butterbeans, etc.

Add a dried shaped pasta. Cook until the pasta is done. Just make sure you have enough liquid in the soup to accomodate adding pasta.

Substitute the chicken with canned venision, cooked & chopped ham with the fat trimmed off. Start out with a country ham bone. Trim off the fat, let it simmer for a little while before adding the other ingredients.

Learn to bake cornbread in a castiron skillet. Modify the following for the size pan you want to use. It's not rocket science, as you have a lot of flexibility and still have some good bread. For a #8 skillet I use, 1 1/4 c white stone ground cornmeal. 1/3 c powdered instant non fat milk, mixed with the meal. 1 cup of water, combined with 2 tbsp canola or olive oil, and option is 1 egg white. Combine wet and dry until just combined. Add more water if the batter is too thick. Preheat the oven to 450 and heat the skillet, too. When you're ready, remove the skillet (oven mits!!!), spray with Pam. Pour in batter. Bake until golden brown. About 30 minutes. Time will vary by the size of the pan, so watch for the color change and the bread beginning to release from the sids of the skillet.

Now you have soup and cornbread. Left overs are good.

FWIW, I make this soup in a 12 quart stockpot, starting out with a #10 can of mixed vegetables. Add at least a quart of home canned tomatoes, triple succotash, fresh or diced canned tomatoes, and other vegetables. Meat of choice. (left over spiral sliced ham bone, leftover roasted chicken, venison, leftover turkey, etc.) Then freeze it in 2 meal portions. First, I can't make a small pot of soup! Second, it's good to have homemade heat & eat in the freezer.

A quick and easy. Broil thin center cut pork chops in the oven. Add a splash of Worchesthesheire (sp :) ) sauce about 1/2 way through cooking. Turn, splash again. This can also be done on a castiron griddle - either a round one or an oblong 2 burner version. That griddle has many uses beyond making pancakes, but that's for another post. "Griddling" is a way to lower the use of fats/oils and still have some good tasting foods.

Hope this helps get you started. Just take your time, roll up your sleeves, and you'll be fine. Don't sweat the burnt toast that you'll have once in a while. That's just a part of the learning curve. Scrap off the burnt, crumble into a bowl (can) of stewed tomatoes seasoned with a little pepper and a splash of olive oil.

Lee

I found a American Heart Association Cookbook in a local second hand store, I'll start using it.

[cubcadet]

For a healthy diet, stay out of supermarkets, generally. Grow a vegetable garden, even containers work. Use cast iron and enamel or glass cook pots (many bargains in antique and goodwill stores). No canned boxed or processed foods, generally. Buy or search Freecycle for good used freezers. Buy meat from farmers- grass- fed is best. Whole or halves. Buy grains and beans in bulk. Get a grain mill for making flour if you`re so inclined. range eggs. Don`t drink city water unless it`s filtered as, fluoride and chlorine are toxic.


http://sites.google.com/site/windintheroses/home

[Laura]

For a healthy diet, stay out of supermarkets, generally. Grow a vegetable garden, even containers work. Use cast iron and enamel or glass cook pots (many bargains in antique and goodwill stores). No canned boxed or processed foods, generally. Buy or search Freecycle for good used freezers. Buy meat from farmers- grass- fed is best. Whole or halves. Buy grains and beans in bulk. Get a grain mill for making flour if you`re so inclined. range eggs. Don`t drink city water unless it`s filtered as, fluoride and chlorine are toxic.


http://sites.google.com/site/windintheroses/home


Stellar, Amazing, Outstanding advice.
May I add.....
Stay far away from artificial sweeteners, artificial colors, and high fructose corn syrup. My OB told me he would rather me SMOKE cigarettes than to eat aspertame. (art. sweetener). This was in 1990.:heart_blue1:

www.breadbeckers.com has a great recipe book for using fresh ground wheat.