Looking for cookbook recommendations for fast, simple single recipies

[Red Squirrel]

I'm looking at eliminating processed foods and fast food as much as possible, and I find I just get nowhere trying to google stuff. Most cooking sites are full of javascript garbage and feel very spamish and hard to navigate, search or follow. They plop all this crap and stuff all over and I just decided I want to go old school with cook books instead of dealing with all these badly designed sites.

I found a few interesting sounding ones searching Amazon, but I'm open to other suggestions as well.

http://www.amazon.com/100-Days-Real-...ref=zg_bs_6_28

http://www.amazon.com/The-Healthy-Sl...ref=zg_bs_6_22

http://www.amazon.com/Sheet-Pan-Supp...ref=zg_bs_6_26

http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-30...ref=zg_bs_6_24

Basically I'm looking for stuff that a single guy can easily do (and quickly) without needing to buy too much stuff or have too much waste, because I can't eat stuff fast enough before it goes bad. I can't be buying tons of complex ingredients that I only end up needing a small part, for example. Like if a recipe calls for 20 different vegetables but you only use a tiny portion of them, that's not good, too much waste.

Also open to recipes where I can make a bunch of portions that I freeze. Some stuff freezes well, like spaghetti sauce (that's about the only thing I know how to do TBH) but some stuff does not freeze very well, like salad, so a recipe that makes salad for 20 people is no good.

I'm not even sure if the links I posted fit in these requirements, they just look interesting, so I'm open to suggestions. Thanks in advance.

 

[marvdmartian]

Being single and cooking mini meals is usually either utterly impossible, or horrendously expensive. You're right in taking the approach of cooking larger meals, then freezing the majority of it for later use. I've found the Zip-loc containers work well for that. I'll use the large squares (~1 quart size) to freeze food, then alternate what I'm taking out of the freezer, thawing in the refrigerator, and consuming with 3-4 meals. If you prefer smaller portions, try the short squares, which should hold about 2 meals worth of food.

As far as eating healthy with simple recipes, check out the Paleo cookbooks (if you're not trying to lose weight, you can always substitute rice, potatoes or pasta back INTO the recipes, in lieu of the Paleo-friendly substitutes they suggest). There's also plenty of "clean eating" cookbooks out there, that rely on simpler recipes and natural ingredients.

I've found that one of the best sources for simple, healthy recipes are fitness magazines. People who are interested in fitness in general, and body building in particular, tend to eat VERY healthy meals, with a good, balanced 40-40-20 ratio to them (40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% healthy fat), whereas most fast food or prepared frozen food is probably closer to 20-50-30. Your local library should have some issues available, or check out some of the fitness forums online, where people share the recipes that work for them.

You can also find plenty of free cookbooks on Amazon. Just go to their Kindle book section, find the listing for cookbooks (on the left side), then set their order to "lowest to highest price". You should get plenty of listings for free books, all of which can be read on a computer (with the Kindle program) or mobile device (with the Kindle app). Good luck! :thumbsup:

 

[Kaido]

Suggestion #1: Use a Crockpot. Super easy & low-effort. Here's a year's worth of recipes:

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

Suggestion #2: Learn how to make smashed chicken breasts. Simply buy some boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trim off the cartilage, slip into a ziploc bag, and pound down evenly to 1/4" or so with a rolling pin. Fry in a pan on medium for about 5 minutes per side. Tastes AWESOME! Eat plain with some salt & pepper on a sandwich, or as a dinner with different sauces: sweet BBQ, smokey BBQ, sweet & sour, teriyaki (with a slice of pineapple), Thousand Island (with caramelized onions), honey mustard, red marinara pasta sauce (with noodles), etc. Pictorial:

http://asweetandsavorylife.com/how-to-cook-tender-juicy-not-dry-chicken-breasts/

Suggestion #3: Get setup with some plastic containers, so when you cook a meal, you can pack it into a convenient, microwavable tray. I use the disposable TV dinner trays. More info:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2336038

Suggestion #4: Make shredded chicken. I do plain shredded chicken (usually with some garlic salt to offset the initial plain flavor) & BBQ chicken. Basically, just throw it in the slow cooker on low for 5 hours, shred, and cook for another hour (you can do it on the stovetop too, if you're home). To shred, use two forks, or buy some meat claws:

http://www.amazon.com/Kassa-Puller-F.../dp/B00G4SCGNQ

Shredded chicken is amazingly versatile: chicken salad sandwiches, all kinds of Mexican dishes (tacos, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, etc.), salads, haystacks, etc.

Suggestion #5: Burritos. I make all kinds of burritos & freeze them to reheat in the microwave later, including breakfast burritos (eggs & sausage), rice & bean, chicken, and beef. Quick, easy, tasty. It's nice to have hot food available in 2 minutes without any effort.

Anyway, the big key is just to mix it up. Try to make a 4-day menu, at minimum, so you don't get sick of eating the same thing every day. The TV dinner containers help me a lot because (1) they give me a place to store extra food, and (2) it gives me the choice of a different meal for variety. I also like snacks inbetween meals to keep my energy up; I usually do a mid-morning snack, a mid-afternoon snack, and a healthy-ish dessert snack. Morning is usually a smoothie, afternoon are some no-bake energy bites, and for dessert I'll usually do something with sugar but with healthier ingredients. Here are some smoothie ideas:

http://catch42.pbworks.com/w/page/78032378/Protein Smoothies

Here are some energy bite ideas:

http://catch42.pbworks.com/w/page/84297007/Energy Bites

I'm hopelessly addicted to these homemade Snickers bars: (no refined sugar, super easy to make, plus taste amazing!)

http://detoxinista.com/2013/09/healthy-snickers-bars-vegan/

I would suggest writing up a 4-day meal plan. Here's a fill-in-the-blank template for you:

Day 1:
Breakfast: ______________
Morning Snack: ______________
Lunch: ______________
Afternoon Snack: ______________
Dinner: ______________
Dessert: ______________

Day 2:
Breakfast: ______________
Morning Snack: ______________
Lunch: ______________
Afternoon Snack: ______________
Dinner: ______________
Dessert: ______________

Day 3:
Breakfast: ______________
Morning Snack: ______________
Lunch: ______________
Afternoon Snack: ______________
Dinner: ______________
Dessert: ______________

Day 4:
Breakfast: ______________
Morning Snack: ______________
Lunch: ______________
Afternoon Snack: ______________
Dinner: ______________
Dessert: ______________

Again, if you can make a small rotating menu, you won't really get too sick of eating the same foods every week, especially if you're throwing in some snacks like smoothies & energy bites. Also, it can be overwhelming to start out doing all this. My suggestion is just to take it one recipe at a time, that way it's not intimidating & you can work on tweaking it out to your personal taste preferences. Here's an easy one to start out with - peanut-butter energy bites. They're like fresh granola balls, really awesome. Unprocessed & no baking required, but pretty healthy for you while also tasting really good! Just stir it in a bowl, let it chill in the fridge to get hard, and then roll it into little bite-sized balls. From there, you can put them back in the fridge, or if you have a ton, throw the extra in the freezer:

http://www.cookingclassy.com/2014/04/bake-energy-bites/

Once you get up to like 4 different flavors (like say peanut butter, almond butter, chocolate brownie, and pumpkin spice), you'll have a pretty good inventory in your freezer so you can rotate through them, not get sick of them, and not have to cook all the time. Just start small - one new recipe a day, or one new recipe a week. Tweak it out to fit your tastebuds & dietary goals, and learn how to freeze the extra. For freezing pretty much anything (from burritos to energy bites), I usually put them on a cookie sheet in the freezer for a couple hours to harden, then toss them in a ziploc bag once they're so frozen that they won't get stuck together like glue.