[Bipolarchic14]

This isn’t necessarily a bipolar topic and at the same time it can be because I think life skills are important to work on. Do you guys have any at home meal ideas? I’ve been eating out way too much and it’s wrecked havoc my health.

Tonight I made steak corn on the cob and Pierogies.

[Yaowen]

Dear Bipolarchic14,

I am not a very good cook. Awhile back I tried something called "Pasta with Basil Pesto." I thought it tasted pretty good. I bought the Pesto sauce in a pouch at the store and some Olive Oil. It wasn't hard to make. Some people make their own Pesto sauce. Lately I have been eating a lot of meals with curry sauce. I buy the curry powder at the market. Of course, Basil Pesto and Curry dishes are not to everyone's liking. I hope you get some really good recipe ideas from people here. Sorry I couldn't be really helpful.

Sincerely yours, Yao Wen

[buddha1too]

I've been trying to lose some pandemic weight. In the freezer section, they have veggie burgers called Boca Burgers. Nuke them for 1:30 & you have a decent tasting meal if you doctor them up a bit. Quick and low cal. Add a salad, a naked baked potato, & some frozen veggies and you have a complete low calorie meal in 5 minutes. The hot fudge sundae afterwards is optional.

[Bipolarchic14]

There’s a great suggestions thank you both. I love curry dishes and I love veggie burgers I don’t know about pesto I’ll have to try it.

[RollercoasterLover]

My daughter and I cook together a lot. Her current favorite is what she calls "smokey garlic chicken stir fry". We heat a not stick skillet and add about 2 cloves worth of minced garlic (I buy the jar of minced garlic and use about 2 tablespoons). Then add about a half teaspoon of smoked paprika and mix it in the skillet. Then I add about a pound of cubed chicken (sometimes I cut my own cubes and sometimes I buy it already cubed) and stir it all around. I put a lid on the skillet and stir it 2 or 3 times until the cubes are cooked (7ish minutes). Then, I add a bag of frozen rice and diced veggies. Stir it all together and add another sprinkle of smoked paprika. I let it sit covered on the heat for 2-3 more minutes and serve.

I love that its all done in one skillet. It makes cleanup a lot faster. The whole meal only takes about 10 minutes to come together once the cooking starts. My very picky eater of a daughter loves this.

@buddha1too:

Haha, you are soooooooooooooo funny, you crack me up! Keep it coming!

[BeyondtheRainbow]

Have you tried crockpot meals? They are usually easy and after a little prep you can leave and have a good meal when you get home. I get a lot of recipes from A Year of Slow Cooking

[Mountaindewed]

I started Noom a few weeks ago and it’s been up and down but I think I’m getting the hang of it. I just think that it takes more time to go to a fast food drive thru or wait for delivery then it does to throw together a quick healthy meal or open a can of something and heat it up. I’ll eat Eggs with a baked potato for breakfast. Or oatmeal. I’ll eat an organic TV dinner, or a can of soup for lunch. For dinner I’ll have some type of meat and vegetables. I’ll have Almonds or a tablespoon of nut butter for a snack. Or an apple or orange. I use seasoning salt for my vegetables instead of butter. But I never eliminate an entire food group or label food as bad or good food. I can still get fast food just not all the time. Everything in moderation.

[mssweatypalms]

These days, I try some Japanese dishes. I love making nimono and hijiki salad. Nimono is pretty easy to make because you just dump them all together and simmer everything in soy sauce, mirin, sake, dashi and a bit of sugar. I use chicken strips, carrots, bamboo shoots, konnyaku, lotus root, shiitake mushrooms and tofu. I don't know if it's easy to find these ingredients there, but it's good if you want to try something new.

[Soupe du jour]

Hi Bipolarchic14. I find that the easiest and most healthful meals are the most basic. Meaning lean protein, plenty of veggies, and a starchy carb (preferably whole grain). For example, to some, oven broiled chicken pieces, a baked potato with light sour cream, and mixed frozen veggies is a more than satisfying meal. Remove the chicken skin and you save even more calories and fat. Or eat and enjoy it. For this example alone:

Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). While doing so, microwave washed red skin potato. Season chicken piece(s) with salt/pepper and herb(s) of choice. Put chicken in pan in oven and bake. Bone-in skin on chicken legs/thighs take 40 to 50 minutes, depending on size. Bone-in skin on breasts slightly less. Put the microwaved potato in with chicken, but on rack 15 mind before chicken is done to crisp skin. In last 10 minutes microwave veggies. Voila!

I prefer skin on bone-in for various reasons: Cheaper, taste better (even if you remove skin afterwards), and moister since the skin prevents drying out. I could sometimes get packs of four chicken legs for $4. Sometimes I even only ate half of the leg. So 50 cents to one dollar per protein serving for yummy chicken was a steal. Potatoes, rice, and pasta are cheap. Sometimes bread works as the starchy side, too.

Pork chops can be cheap, sometimes. One or two made like schnitzel, one later made in fried rice, etc. Easy and quick.

[sarahsweets]

Originally Posted by Soupe du jour

Hi Bipolarchic14. I find that the easiest and most healthful meals are the most basic. Meaning lean protein, plenty of veggies, and a starchy carb (preferably whole grain). For example, to some, oven broiled chicken pieces, a baked potato with light sour cream, and mixed frozen veggies is a more than satisfying meal. Remove the chicken skin and you save even more calories and fat. Or eat and enjoy it. For this example alone:

Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). While doing so, microwave washed red skin potato. Season chicken piece(s) with salt/pepper and herb(s) of choice. Put chicken in pan in oven and bake. Bone-in skin on chicken legs/thighs take 40 to 50 minutes, depending on size. Bone-in skin on breasts slightly less. Put the microwaved potato in with chicken, but on rack 15 mind before chicken is done to crisp skin. In last 10 minutes microwave veggies. Voila!

I prefer skin on bone-in for various reasons: Cheaper, taste better (even if you remove skin afterwards), and moister since the skin prevents drying out. I could sometimes get packs of four chicken legs for $4. Sometimes I even only ate half of the leg. So 50 cents to one dollar per protein serving for yummy chicken was a steal. Potatoes, rice, and pasta are cheap. Sometimes bread works as the starchy side, too.

Pork chops can be cheap, sometimes. One or two made like schnitzel, one later made in fried rice, etc. Easy and quick.

Hey I might have missed it but how long do you microwave your potatoes for? For instance a regular baked potato? I find that cooking them in the oven takes forever and heats up the whole house in the summer.

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[Soupe du jour]

Originally Posted by sarahsweets

Hey I might have missed it but how long do you microwave your potatoes for? For instance a regular baked potato? I find that cooking them in the oven takes forever and heats up the whole house in the summer.

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Some microwaves have a handy "potato setting". That's always worth trying out. Otherwise, it will depend on the power of the microwave. For mine, about 5 minutes total, for medium red skin potatoes, turning the potato over halfway through. Likely more for bigger ones (like Russet potatoes). They are usually soft enough to eat then, but if baking something, adding the microwaved potatoes to the oven towards the end makes them more like an oven baked one, but far less time. I am all for eating potato skins. I love the taste and the skins are nutritious with great extra fiber.

[Soupe du jour]

Fajitas are also very easy to make and fairly diet friendly as long as you don't go overboard with fats, like cheese and sour cream. Though a little need not be guilt-provoking.

All you need is a small package of flour tortillas, some protein (beef, chicken, shrimp), onion, peppers, a little oil, and fajita seasonings. Or vegetarians (or anyone) can add extra veggie instead of meat (zucchini and broccoli are great). Just slice the veggies and pan saute. Remove veggies from pan and saute thin slices of meat. Add veggies back and stir in spices. Heat tortillas in separate pan or microwave and enjoy as is or with Tex Mex toppings. Delicious! Takes less than 30 minutes. Make enough for leftovers. Leftover unused tortillas stay fresh if resealed with air removed. Really, I rarely add cheese. No need to.

Egg meals are also wonderful, in my book. And cheap and quick to make.

[Blue_Bird]

Here's an easy recipe,

about 1lb skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 jar of chunky salsa
a couple teaspoons of lime juice (or more, if you want)

Put everything in the crockpot on high for 2 hours, then on low for 3 hours, then shred the chicken with 2 forks and put on tortillas like tacos with whatever toppings you want

I just made this for the first time yesterday. I like crockpot recipes because they're low effort.

[sarahsweets]

Originally Posted by Soupe du jour

Some microwaves have a handy "potato setting". That's always worth trying out. Otherwise, it will depend on the power of the microwave. For mine, about 5 minutes total, for medium red skin potatoes, turning the potato over halfway through. Likely more for bigger ones (like Russet potatoes). They are usually soft enough to eat then, but if baking something, adding the microwaved potatoes to the oven towards the end makes them more like an oven baked one, but far less time. I am all for eating potato skins. I love the taste and the skins are nutritious with great extra fiber.

Thanks so much for answering me. So my microwave is pretty good and newish I’m guessing about 1000 W? What’s your recommendation for time and should I pierce potatoes? I love the skins as well. LOL now you are my potato consultant.

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[MickeyCheeky]

i don't have much to add since i can't really cook! Just wanted to thank you all for making and/or taking part in this thread! Sending many safe, warm hugs to ALL of you, @Bipolarchic14, your Family, your Friends and ALL of your Loved Ones! Keep fighting and keep rocking NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, OK?!

[Soupe du jour]

Originally Posted by sarahsweets

Thanks so much for answering me. So my microwave is pretty good and newish I’m guessing about 1000 W? What’s your recommendation for time and should I pierce potatoes? I love the skins as well. LOL now you are my potato consultant.

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1000 W is pretty standard. Again, if you have a potato setting, do try it. My old one did and it worked great. If not, I would try first a medium potato at 4 mins, turning after 3 mins. Feel it by giving a quick press or poke with a fork or paring knife. If still quite hard, add 2 more mins or even more. Feel tests are helpful in many cooking tasks. I'd keep track of the total time needed so you know for the next time. I generally never poke my potatoes before microwaving, but then again I usually do cut out bits like the stem or the occasional teeny start to a sprout (or hard spot). If you do poke, one or two should suffice.

If you over microwave a potato, it will start to look slightly deflated/collapsed. That's too far.

[buddha1too]

Thanks for the healthy eating tips, @Soupe du jour! You're like the Julia Child of the bipolar-set! Speaking of Julia Child, you brought this to mind (might be too graphic for some people):

Bon appetite!

[Soupe du jour]

Originally Posted by buddha1too

Thanks for the healthy eating tips, @Soupe du jour! You're like the Julia Child of the bipolar-set! Speaking of Julia Child, you brought this to mind (might be too graphic for some people):

Bon appetite!

LOL! That looked like what happened to my pointer finger, 9 months ago. I had to get stitches. All over the wall, counter, me, and floor. Amazing! Coincidentally, it was from a 🥔 peeler. I shoved my hand into my utensils drawer, carelessly, and it got me. Since then, I keep the peelers blade parts face down in a special cup.

Kitchen mishaps happen, unfortunately. I've had some painful burns in the past, which were far more uncomfortable than the accidental cuts. All a combo of carelessness and/or reckless impulsive actions.