Eating at home

[bcoop]

Recommend a decent crock pot?

Crock-Pot is a brand, like Kleenex. I've got a Crock Pot, and I have 2 that are made by Rival. I've never had any issues with any of them.

[Wish4svts]

Recommend a decent crock pot?

[ceyko]

Don't discount cast iron cookware. I use nothing but it and a lot of foods SEEM to taste better. Especially for meats - just keep all the grease in it and cook with it the next time...etc.

[scootro]

i love this cookbook





A Man, a Can, a Plan : 50 Great Guy Meals Even You Can Make Board book – June 17, 2002

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Man-Can-Plan-Great-Meals/dp/1579546072/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412700671&sr=1-6&keywords=Man%27s+Cookbook[/ame]

[Danny46]

We have been guilty of eating out too often at times. Though we have been doing better. We need to expand our spice cabinet so that everything isn't one note and starts to bore us. My problem is lunch. I work 45 min from home so I can't go home and eat left overs any more. I need to pick up a small cooler and start bringing my lunch.

For those of you who cook ahead and freeze, how are you prepping for the freezer? I need to pick up a quality vacuum sealer so I can buy in larger quantity when meat is on sale.

I vacuum seal raw meat, but if its already cooked I usually just use that cheap Tupperware they sell at walmart. I usually dont leave that food for more than a couple months and its nice for those days you dont have time to cook, just reach in the freezer and have a ready to go meal to take to work. I also make sure my freezer is cranked up so I get a legit fast deep freeze going on.

I make a big bowl of tuna salad pretty frequently and get about ten sandwiches out of it for around $8, not including bread. It's tasty as hell, too.

[bcoop]

For those of you who cook ahead and freeze, how are you prepping for the freezer? I need to pick up a quality vacuum sealer so I can buy in larger quantity when meat is on sale.

I vac seal proteins before they go in the freezer to prevent freezer burn, and give a longer shelf life.

Really the only stuff I will prep ahead and freeze, is casserole type dishes, or enchiladas. I bought Pyrex dishes with lids. Sometimes I'll make a marinade for fish or chicken, and pour it in the bag prior to vac sealing.


Go buy yourself a FoodSaver. Those ziploc vac sealing bags suck dicks. If you have a Tuesday Morning in your area, you can usually pick up a foodsaver pretty cheaply.

[black2002ls]

We have been guilty of eating out too often at times. Though we have been doing better. We need to expand our spice cabinet so that everything isn't one note and starts to bore us. My problem is lunch. I work 45 min from home so I can't go home and eat left overs any more. I need to pick up a small cooler and start bringing my lunch.

For those of you who cook ahead and freeze, how are you prepping for the freezer? I need to pick up a quality vacuum sealer so I can buy in larger quantity when meat is on sale.

[mstng86]

The biggest thing I struggle with is taking proteins out of the freezer to let them thaw the night before. It also helps to make a meal plan for the week, and shop by that and that alone.

I agree on this.

You have to stick with your plan. If you get lazy and go out to eat, then you basically have wasted your money at the grocery store.

I guess what I am trying to say is, you are wasting your money getting groceries if you are just going to go out and eat. Then you have 2 costs for food instead of one. Its taken us a long time get past eating out alot.

[Danny46]

x2 on crockpot! You can do a lot with it in a short period of time especially now that its cooling off; nothing like some hearty crock pot stew on a cold fall day.

I cube up venison (or beef/pork/chicken) season it with cracked pepper, cayenne, sea salt and garlic, brown the outside (cook on high heat in a pan just so the outside is cooked) then throw it in the crock pot with a cup of beef broth. Cut up your favorite veggies (I do 3-4 red potatoes, carrots, celery, 1 red onion and a can of fire roasted tomatoes), also throw into the crock pot along with some more seasoning and a couple tablespoons of flour and set it on low when you go to sleep. When you wake up (if you sleep 7-8 hrs) it will be ready for you to eat. I like this becase you get a lot of food out of it and its not hard to make. I will usually put one or two servings in some tuppaware and store in the freezer for later and still have enough for 3-4 servings. I'll also usually cut up double the veggies then store them raw in the freezer so that next time I make stew I just dump them right in and dont have to worry about it.

[bcoop]

I think the biggest problem people have is being scared of failure. Don't expect to make meals fit for a Gordon Ramsay show. You don't have to follow recipes exactly as they are written. Just make sure your proteins are cooked properly, your prep area is clean and you wash your veggies before you cook them.

Don't be scared to make mistakes and definitely experiment. If you can manage to chop up onions, celery and carrots then you can make a mirepoix which is the base for thousands of recipes.

If you can find John Besh's show on PBS it's great. Most of the dishes have less than 5 ingredients and they are geared for a home kitchen.

http://www.chefjohnbesh.com/recipes/

Mirepoix, holy trinity (bell pepps, onion, celery), and learn to make a good roux. Those three cover so much ground in the cooking world. This shit isn't rocket science. You learn through failure, so you shouldn't be scared to try.


I make a carne guisada in the crock pot that will feed my family 3x or more. We do a lot of Mexican and Italian at my house. Alfredo, chicken picatta, chicken marsala, etc. Enchiladas are great and simple, but time consuming. I'll usually make two trays and wrap one and freeze it. You can't jump right in and make Osso Bucco, but learn the basics and go from there. It really isn't difficult. It just takes time. The biggest thing I struggle with is taking proteins out of the freezer to let them thaw the night before. It also helps to make a meal plan for the week, and shop by that and that alone.

[BP]

I think the biggest problem people have is being scared of failure. Don't expect to make meals fit for a Gordon Ramsay show. You don't have to follow recipes exactly as they are written. Just make sure your proteins are cooked properly, your prep area is clean and you wash your veggies before you cook them.

Don't be scared to make mistakes and definitely experiment. If you can manage to chop up onions, celery and carrots then you can make a mirepoix which is the base for thousands of recipes.

If you can find John Besh's show on PBS it's great. Most of the dishes have less than 5 ingredients and they are geared for a home kitchen.

http://www.chefjohnbesh.com/recipes/

[jakesford]

Fish is super easy to cook and quick. The GF and I cooked a whole red snapper with veggies last night. 15mins to prep, 40mins in the oven and was enough for dinner last night and lunch today.

Pan seared trout fillets, takes maybe 15mins to prep and cook.

[03mustangdude]

salmon is easy to cook. Do it with red potatoes.

[Baba Ganoush]

I cook half my meals for the week in two sessions. When I'm tired of eating leftovers, I remember that my frugality is rewarding.

I cook pork loin or chops, Pasta dishes that are even better on the third day, or barbeque some burgers and sausage that make the break room smell wonderful!

I did some stuffed shells this week.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/stuffed-shells-i/