FOOD

Hey!  So, I am not *too* ashamed to say that I am living up to the bachelor stereotypes of frozen dinners, canned soup, and pasta (and of course beer) but I was thinking it may be time to branch out a little...  What do y'all like to make for dinner that's quick and easy, relatively non-perishable (so I can stock up and not have to eat it the night I go grocery shopping), and yummy!?!  I have a little toaster oven, microwave, and electric hot-plate so I am a bit limited...

Anyways, I thought this could be a fun thread to trade recipes, ideas, and such!  Fire away. 

Bacon always bacon
you know you can make it in the microwave right?

My bachelor are coming to an end but you can't go wrong with grilled cheese. Or if you're feeling real adventurous try english muffin pizza. Just split it open. Put on your tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella and pepperoni. Put the oven to 350 and bake till the cheese is melted. Make yourself a salad and voila dinner

Ramen noodles, summer sausage (not at the same time).

Oh, and white cheddar rice cakes.

Deepfriar wrote:Ramen noodles, summer sausage (not at the same time).

Oh, and white cheddar rice cakes.

Thanks, that was SOOOOOO helpful! 

Haha a couple years ago, I had my then-girlfriend over for dinner [we made pasta haha] and she went to get something out of the fridge and just paused, looked up at me, and stated, "wow Kerrick, I didn't know those stereotypes of bachelors ACTUALLY existed until now..."  All I had in my fridge was beer, a gallon of milk, and some condiments.  Yup, just trying to live up to what society says I'm supposed to! 

Sandwiches, cereal, oatmeal, bell pepper, salad, apple, banana, oranges, toast.

Tuna Sandwiches with baked beans on the side...
Frozen Bell peppers with meat in them out of the frozen dept. at the store
Frozen Pizza (DiGiorno Pizzeria supreme is excellent)
Chili
White Castle hamburgers from the frozen isle
Cornbeef or roastbeef hash with a vegetable on the side
Desserts might include fruit such as apples, Banana's, peaches, strawberry's or maybe some sponge cake with whip cream and cherry's on top...

Stirfry..we do this by scratch usually with Chicken..you cook the chicken (boneless and skinless) in a pan..then you add okra, cut up yellow squash, a cut up potato, corn and a little red bell pepper for color and taste and cook it on the hotplate in a pan with a lite olive oil...

Cooking is a hobby of mine...

Also pizza, peanuts, and almonds. Apple sauce, corn, rice.

I plan to do some experimenting with cooking. It will be interesting.

.

Kerrick wrote:I have a little toaster oven, microwave, and electric hot-plate so I am a bit limited...

Buy a Crock-Pot. This is stew season.

Toss in the ingredients in the morning before work and come home in the evening to a tasty stew!

Get a bag of dried lentils. They are great for stews.
Things that go good in them that keep well are, potatoes, carrots, and celery. Also, if you have Costco, they sell these ham-steaks that keep well and add a lot of flavor to the stew. Also, look for a product called 'Better Than Bouillon.'


I used to get a bag of corn tortillas, canned tuna and canned chipotle peppers and make stove top tacos.

I make quesadillas in the toaster oven. Toast it flat and fold after.

d@v!d wrote:

Kerrick wrote:I have a little toaster oven, microwave, and electric hot-plate so I am a bit limited...

Buy a Crock-Pot. This is stew season.

Toss in the ingredients in the morning before work and come home in the evening to a tasty stew!

Get a bag of dried lentils. They are great for stews.
Things that go good in them that keep well are, potatoes, carrots, and celery. Also, if you have Costco, they sell these ham-steaks that keep well and add a lot of flavor to the stew. Also, look for a product called 'Better Than Bouillon.'


I used to get a bag of corn tortillas, canned tuna and canned chipotle peppers and make stove top tacos.

I make quesadillas in the toaster oven. Toast it flat and fold after.

I second the crock pot. You can make a big thing of chili and freeze the leftovers to eat later.

I just read this, and was going to say crock pot (you probably know this, but you can get a off-brand slow cooker for cheap).  Google recipies and go nuts.  Tonight I'm trying:

16 oz elbow macaroni
2 1/2 c milk
3 c shredded cheese
12 oz evaporated milk
8 oz cream cheese
on low for 3-ish hours

for home made macaroni and cheese that can be ready for when I bring my boy home from basketball practice and we're hungry.  Assume it's awesome unless I report back and say otherwise, but for simplicity and ease it's tough to beat.  Cut it in half for a bachelor or freeze what you don't eat in a day or two for future.  Money.

Those Jimmy Dean breakfast bowls are pretty tasty.

[url=http://www.frys.com/search?query_string=&cat=-70876&pType=pDisplay&fq=101090 slow_cookers_and_roaster_ovens&sort=price asc&start=0&cat=-70876&from=0&to=99]http://www.frys.com/search?query_string=&cat=-70876&pType=pDisplay&fq=101090%20Slow_Cookers_and_Roaster_Ovens&sort=price%20asc&start=0&cat=-70876&from=0&to=99[/url]

some of my personal favorite "easy" things to do are:

a box of augratin potatoes, and as smoked sausage or ham and a can of green beans.  

Rice-a-roni (or your preferred rice mix)with smoked sausage.  I prefer their rice pilaf mix for this.

Pasta roni shells and white cheddar  with a can of tuna or chicken.  I usually drain and add two cans per box.


All of that is easy, relatively quick, and doesn't involve needing to know your way around a kitchen....

Wow, you guys got plenty of great ideas; thanks!!!  I've been meaning to get a crock-pot.  My mom has one which I borrow from time to time for church potlucks and the like.  I love it!  Last time, my chili was a huge success.  Alright, I'm gonna put one on my Christmas list, it's decided.

Static, those ideas sound fantastic!  Also stir-fry is a great idea too.  I need to start getting more creative!  Thanks all!

Kerrick wrote:Wow, you guys got plenty of great ideas; thanks!!!  I've been meaning to get a crock-pot.  My mom has one which I borrow from time to time for church potlucks and the like.  I love it!  Last time, my chili was a huge success.  Alright, I'm gonna put one on my Christmas list, it's decided.

Static, those ideas sound fantastic!  Also stir-fry is a great idea too.  I need to start getting more creative!  Thanks all!

A quick drive to Frys Campbell

I agree with the crock pot idea.

It's been a few years since I only cooked for one, but I'll try to help out.

Do you have a freezer?  Some meals rock as leftovers.  Try to get two-meals out of one.  

budget bytes has mostly-affordable healthy meals. 

Same old stuff (also known by other names with the same acronym)

1/2 lb. ground beef
chopped onion 
garlic clove minced 
(you can use powder onion and powder garlic in place, but the real stuff is better.  For the dish and for you)
cooked noodles or toast
milk 
butter
flour

saute onions and garlic in some butter.  add beef and brown.  
drain meat, remove from pan and put in bowl.  toss with some flour, salt and pepper.
in pot, melt about a quarter stick of butter and flour a spoonful at a time and stir it in until you get something that looks like school paste.  This is called roux.
SLOWLY add 1/4c  milk.  best to this a little at a time and then whisk it up.  If you get hasty then you will get lumps.
this is how you make a gravy.

In my mind this doesn't look like enough gravy, but like I said it's been a few years since I cooked such a small meal.

add beef to the gravy and stir it up till warm.  serve this mess over your toast, noodles, or mashed potatoes.

I have to go cook a lasagna, but I will think of more "not-so-bachelor" meals for you and post later.

McDoubles are pretty much non-perishable. What I used to do when I was single is take those big cans of spaghettios and put 2 slices of cheese in it and microwave it then mix it all up. I recall it being tasty thought its been awhile.

There is something awesome that my wife's family does and probably unhealthy. They call it "Fried Spaghetti. Its typically used with the leftover noodles from last night's spaghetti but on occasion we have made it fresh..

Anyways you boil up some spaghetti noodles and set them aside when done, then in a separate pan you fry some bacon (cut it into small pieces though).

Once the bacon pieces look to be just about ready dump your spaghetti in the pan on top of the bacon and let it fry slightly in the bacon grease. You can cook it as long as you want but I prefer to leave it in just long enough to get a very slight crunch to the noodles. You will have to move it around a bit.

Once done dump it all onto a plate and put ketchup on it and mix. Put more ketchup on until it suits you.

I know the ketchup sounds awful but its actually pretty good

You can also spend an afternoon making breakfast burritos and then freeze them.

Scramble up a dozen or more eggs.
Grab any toppings you want like cheese, tater tots, jalapeños, salsa and throw all into tortillas. Make sure and get fajita sized or larger so that you can easily roll and seal.

Wrap them individually in plastic wrap or foil and throw in freezer so you can pull them out one or two at a time.

Whenever we do make these, I usually pull one or two out the freezer night before and place in the fridge for quicker cooking time the next morning.

Here are some more ideas:

Camp hot-pockets

1 potato
some baby carrots or carrot sticks
some celery snack things
ground beef
salt & pepper to taste
aluminum foil

wash, and slice up the potato,
tear off a page-size of aluminum foil.
put all the ingredients in the center of the foil.
wrap it up like an envelope making sure to roll/fold the sides well.  You are going to create a steam pocket, so if you don't seal it well your juices will spill out into your toaster.

try it in the toaster at 350 for 15 minutes.  Basically it's done when the veggies and meat are to your liking. 


The famous English-muffin pizza


spaghetti sauce
mozz cheese or pizza cheese
your fav toppings

put some sauce on the muffin.  put cheese on.  put toppings on.  put in toaster.
If your bored you can make faces with your toppings.

All right, I'm afraid that in good conscience I need to report back and say that the slow cooker macaroni and cheese recipe that I posted was not a hit tonight with myself or my 13 year old.  Kind of flavorless mush, as shocked as I was that such great ingredients couldn't produce something delicious.

So here's one we've been using for forever, easy and cheap and healthy, it's too much for 1 person but makes great leftovers:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cans of corn, drained
1 can of black beans, drained
1 jar of salsa (16 oz probably, but honestly whatever)

cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8.  For bonus points sprinkle some shredded cheese over the top 5 minutes before serving.  Can't go wrong.


By the way, welcome to the board, kids bop is lame.  But know that Kids Bop is, in fact, awesome.

That chicken should be delicious......

Dude it's so easy it feels like cheating.  Dump in the stuff is all there is to it.  Really tasty, PLUS relatively cheap and (are you serious) healthy?  It's really like cheating.  Except not.

Buy a barbeque and cook pork chops, chicken, burgers, whatever. Cover anything but burgers with olive oil and then spices and herbs, like jalapeño or oregano or whatever else. Also, cut potatoes into thin round slices and fry them in butter in a pan. Buy things like beans and carrots and put them in a pressure cooker. All that is good food, man.