The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

I am a working professional who lives alone and works 60-70 hours per week. Needless to say, I don't really have a lot of time to cook, but at the same time, if I eat out/ bring in food all the time I will go broke and get fat. I have thus assembled a small list of foodstuffs that are: 1. Not that unhealthy, 2. Taste Decent, and most importantly: are quick and easy to make. I'd love to discuss with other people who are in a similar situation what they "cook," as I am always looking for new ideas.

Here is my list:

Simple Foods:

1. Cream of Wheat.
2. Oatmeal
3. Macaroni and Cheese, with Cut up Hot Dogs
4. Lipton Pasta Sides (these cost $1, you just need milk to make them, and taste pretty good, my favorite flavor is tomato parmesan).
5. Roast Beef + Swiss Cheese + Bread, heat up roast beef first in micrwave, then throw whole sandwhich in toaster (ZOMG French Dip!) Boars Head Londonport Roast Beef is Best.
6. Same as Above, except w/ turkey breast
7. Flavored Tofu cut into squares(can be gotten in the healthfood section of most grocery stores), then wrapped in wonton wrappers (also can be gotten usually near the tofu), toasted until golden brown in toaster oven, and dipped in Duck Sauze (It sounds funky, but its delicious, trust me).
8. Scrambled Eggs with Bacos imitation bacon bits put in the eggs while they are being cooked, and toast + jelly

When I want to make a nice meal for more than myself:

1. Shake and Bake (This is awesome for chicken cutlets, I recommend Italian style shake and bake bread crumbs, throw some sauce on the chicken with a little melted parmigiana cheese, and some pasta, its a meal that will impress your friends).

As you can see, my list is not very extensive, as I am a recovering "prepared-food"aholic, and would love sugestions from other people who are in similar culinary straits.

I picture Mr. Diablo as being well versed in the culinary arts, would would appreciate his input as well.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

i'm in the same boat, and have been trying to branch out.

last week i made a random chicken dish;

1 frozen chicken breast
1/2 box of mushroooms
1 slice of an onion
1/2 tomato

first i thawed the chicken breast in the microwave. then i put some olive oil in a pan, tossed some salt and pepper on the chicken, and threw it in the oil. the started hissing at me, so i immediatly added the chopped onion and mushrooms, but i think next time i'll let the chicken cook more.

then i poured some wine in, and let it simmer till the chicken got white in the middle.

poured it all on a plate, ate with some salad.

edit: haha, i forgot about adding in the tomato. funny thing is, i forgot in real life too, and just plopped some cold diced tomato on my hot dish

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

another easy meal was buying a box of pasta, boiling it (time is on box), pouring it in a big bowl, then adding chicken breast from the foreman, some quartered artichoke hearts (trader joes sells these in a jar), some fresh bell pepper and some chopped tomatoes.

oh, and a jar of pasta sauce (i picked vodka sauce)

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

j,

Here are some easy ideas to mix things up a bit:

Tomatoes and/or avocados, sliced, salt/pepper/olive oil.

Corn on the cob - microwaving works fine.

Grilled chicken breast (w/ salt/pepper/garlic/whatever or marinate it) on Foreman grill.

Grilled steak on Foreman (no comments required, we are talking super quick and easy here).

Roasted potatoes - cut 'em up, season 'em, oven.

Baked potatoes - oven far superior, but microwaving works too.

Roasted vegetables - butternut squash, brussel sprouts (yes, DELICIOUS, REALLY!), baby onions, fingerling potatoes, sweet potatoes (I buy this stuff cut up in bag at Trader Joes), little olive oil/salt/pepper, toss em in oven, done.

Various Trader Joe's semi-prepared/prepared/frozen food. See OOT TJ suggestions thread for tons of great ideas.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

One of my big goto meals is frozen raviolis. Bags of them are cheap at a local grocery store. Toss em in boiling water for 5-7 minutes slap some alfredo sauce or normal red sauce on it. Make enough for multiple days.

That roast beef sandwich sounds great. As obvious and simple as it sounds I've always just made em cold.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

j,

Here is a meal I used to make in college. It is pretty horrible for you, but so delicious.

Get a box of fettucine. Make sure it's a brand that has fettucine alfredo instructions on the back. Buy the appropriate amounts of butter, cream, and parmesan cheese. Kraft parmesan cheese container may also have a recipe on it, but I liked the fettucine box directions better because it featured more of the bad stuff.

Boil fettucine. Drain. Put it back on stove on low heat. Mix in butter until melted (like a stick or so). Take off heat. Pour in the cream and parmesan cheese. Mix it all up. I think the recipe I used included like a whole thing of cream and grated parmesan. OMG SO HORRIBLE FOR YOU AND OH SO DELICIOUS.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

Easy, easy "mock" fettucini alfredo:

Cook fettucini (about 10 minutes in boiling water)

After you drain water, put back in pot

Mix in about 1 ounce cream cheese until it sticks to pasta

Mix in 3-4 teaspoons of a good parmesan cheese

Little fresh ground pepper

Done (you can add a little sour cream if too dry)

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

[ QUOTE ]
j,

Here is a meal I used to make in college. It is pretty horrible for you, but so delicious.

Get a box of fettucine. Make sure it's a brand that has fettucine alfredo instructions on the back. Buy the appropriate amounts of butter, cream, and parmesan cheese. Kraft parmesan cheese container may also have a recipe on it, but I liked the fettucine box directions better because it featured more of the bad stuff.

Boil fettucine. Drain. Put it back on stove on low heat. Mix in butter until melted (like a stick or so). Take off heat. Pour in the cream and parmesan cheese. Mix it all up. I think the recipe I used included like a whole thing of cream and grated parmesan. OMG SO HORRIBLE FOR YOU AND OH SO DELICIOUS.

[/ QUOTE ]

How were we typing this at the same time?

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

j,

Here's another super easy one. Get some nice sausages. I prefer chicken-apple sausage. But, whatever you like is fine, just a little nicer and more substantial stuff than hot dogs. Heat sausage. Wrap in piece of bread. Eat. A nice mix-it-up from sandwiches.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

nyc,

That is weird. Great minds is the only logical explanation. Well, that or you're a really fast copier.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

Grilled pork roll and cheese on a hard roll, frozen fries with beef gravy.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

Omelettes are also super easy/quick to make.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

[ QUOTE ]
I am a working professional who lives alone and works 60-70 hours per week. Needless to say, I don't really have a lot of time to cook, but at the same time, if I eat out/ bring in food all the time I will go broke and get fat. I have thus assembled a small list of foodstuffs that are: 1. Not that unhealthy, 2. Taste Decent, and most importantly: are quick and easy to make. I'd love to discuss with other people who are in a similar situation what they "cook," as I am always looking for new ideas.

Here is my list:

Simple Foods:

1. Cream of Wheat.
2. Oatmeal
3. Macaroni and Cheese, with Cut up Hot Dogs
4. Lipton Pasta Sides (these cost $1, you just need milk to make them, and taste pretty good, my favorite flavor is tomato parmesan).
5. Roast Beef + Swiss Cheese + Bread, heat up roast beef first in micrwave, then throw whole sandwhich in toaster (ZOMG French Dip!) Boars Head Londonport Roast Beef is Best.
6. Same as Above, except w/ turkey breast
7. Flavored Tofu cut into squares(can be gotten in the healthfood section of most grocery stores), then wrapped in wonton wrappers (also can be gotten usually near the tofu), toasted until golden brown in toaster oven, and dipped in Duck Sauze (It sounds funky, but its delicious, trust me).
8. Scrambled Eggs with Bacos imitation bacon bits put in the eggs while they are being cooked, and toast + jelly

When I want to make a nice meal for more than myself:

1. Shake and Bake (This is awesome for chicken cutlets, I recommend Italian style shake and bake bread crumbs, throw some sauce on the chicken with a little melted parmigiana cheese, and some pasta, its a meal that will impress your friends).

As you can see, my list is not very extensive, as I am a recovering "prepared-food"aholic, and would love sugestions from other people who are in similar culinary straits.

I picture Mr. Diablo as being well versed in the culinary arts, would would appreciate his input as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

if i ate any of that i would projectile vomit (sorry dude). even when i was broke i ate well. in los angeles, if i was broke, id spend alot of time at phillipes, zankou, el tepeyac, papa cristos, pie n burger, and pinks...wait, im flush w/ cash and i do that anyway..lol

when i cook at home i like to get some tony maroni sausages cut them thin and throw them in the pan w/ some olive oil. get a lil black on em and then crush some garlic in there for just a second. then throw some barilla marinara over that, now add about a 1/2 cup of a solid trader joes red to the mix and let simmer. boil up some pasta put the sausage marinara over it and you wont know your not in a fine italian dining establishment

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

[ QUOTE ]
nyc,

That is weird. Great minds is the only logical explanation. Well, that or you're a really fast copier.

[/ QUOTE ]

So fast that in that minute I actually found a Kraft box to copy the recipe.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

I have spent the past few months trying to find healthy and easy to make foods.

My local supermarket has premarinated chicken breasts. I cook them in a closed pot with olive oil on medium heat for about 10min/side. They are super juicy and delicious. I like them with sliced tomatoes.

Premixed salads are great.

Fruit platters.

Get lots of nuts... walnuts, pecans, cashews, peanuts, sunflower seeds, etc.

Amy's soups are good. I like the chunky vegetable and other vegetable based ones.

For veggies, get the frozen ones you microwave in the bag.

Frozen stirfry is good, depending on the brand.

I like to have a random slab of cheese or two.

If you get oatmeal, make sure it's not instant oatmeal.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

All,
This is great, I'm going to go food shopping tommorrow night and try some out.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

If you're doing things like macaroni and cheese, it really wouldn't take too much longer to do a pasta with some simple sauteed vegetables. While the water's heating up, you chop the vegetables - zucchini, summer squash, broccoli, onions, spinach, mushrooms, bell peppers, eggplant are all pretty good here - and cook them in a little bit of olive oil until it softens up a bit. You can then use a store-bought tomato sauce, or do what I usually do, which is just to add a small amount more olive oil to the drained pasta, some crushed garlic, and some salt and pepper. Stir that all up, throw in the vegetables, delicious. It's also worth splurging on real Parmesan that you grate, in my opinion. Tastes great, and completely different from the pre-grated Kraft powder stuff.

Baked potatoes can be done pretty quickly in the microwave, as El D mentioned, and take about zero effort. You might also consider investing in a slow-cooker, which would allow you to cook a bunch of things where you throw stuff in and walk away, basically. Soups and stews are the most natural, but you can do some other things as well.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

Campbell's soup-meals...some of them are friggin awesome

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

Jman,

Trader Joe's has completely altered my eating habits. It's easier to make stuff from TJ's than it is to make hot dogs + mac/cheese.

Start with;

- Pizza that entices you, it's all good
- Burritos, many many burritos
- Bags of chicken + veggies + sauce (they have stir fry, oriental and other varieties)

This should get you well on your way.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

Jman,

Presuming you have a real kitchen and do not wish to eat like a college student; buy How to Cook Everything or for that matter one of the other dozen good cookbooks. Most have indexes for sub 30 minute meals. Then you can eat meals like Sauteed Cod with Spicy Garlic Sauce instead of dried pasta in a bag.

J

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

J,

For a ton of great quick ideas, check out this great thread I mentioned earlier: OOT Trader Joe's thread

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

D, for sausages, try chopping the sausages up and browning them (italian sausage is good here, but any decent ones will do). add in diced onion and some garlic. when that's soft, add in some chopped peppers. serve over rice.

j, if you have a trader joe's nearby, check it out. they usually have a sample table where they whip up some concoction or other made up of TJ's stuff. you can get a lot of ideas about mixing and matching their items this way and you even get to sample it beforehand so you know if you like it or not. One good one i just tried (and made) was: one bag frozen chicken tenders. half a jar of mojito sauce. two can's black beans. one box spanish rice. cook the rice separately (you can use white rice as well). brown the chicken. add the beans and sauce. simmer. you can also add in whatever you like veggie wise. i added peppers and zuccini.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

Recently, as a weekly staple, I have been having fresh pasta (usually cheese or beef stuffed tortellini). I buy a quality jarred tomato sauce and fry up some lean ground beef with fresh garlic to add to it.

The pasta only takes about 6-7 minutes to prepare, the sauce and beef maybe 12-15.

Sprinkle some fresh parmesan and it makes a good "go to" meal when you have a guest (not ashamed to serve it).

Cost 4-5$ per serving.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

Easiest dinner in the world:

Take some good sized scallops (6-8)
Wrap each one with bacon, hold in place with toothpick
Bake at 375 for 12 minutes, broil for another 12 minutes

Eat with some salad and beer

Good in a crunch and never fails

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

Broil for 12 minutes? That seems ridiculously long.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

[ QUOTE ]
I prefer chicken-apple sausage.

[/ QUOTE ]
Oh hell YEAH chicken-apple sausage. Someone grilled one for me once that he'd bought at a high-end local grocer. Spectacular. I still don't know if it's primarily a delicacy or if you can get crappy chicken-apple sausage at Safeway or something. I'm unfortunately very unimaginative with my crappy diet, so I have no clue.

Anyway, good thread, I have some good ideas now. Particularly involving pastas.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

[ QUOTE ]
Easiest dinner in the world:

Take some good sized scallops (6-8)
Wrap each one with bacon, hold in place with toothpick
Bake at 375 for 12 minutes, broil for another 12 minutes

Eat with some salad and beer

Good in a crunch and never fails

[/ QUOTE ]

That does sound good and easy, but the toothpick step disqualifies it from being the easiest meal in the world. Do the scallops have to be fresh and thawed to refrigerator temperature, or will it work with frozen scallops too?


My contribution:
1. Get a deep fryer
2. Buy lots of frozen french fries, chicken nuggets, corn dogs, fish sticks, crab rangoons, whatever you want. if it's breaded, you can deep fry it.
3. ......
4. Profi... I mean eat lots of hot tasty fried goodness, best served with BBQ sauce for dipping.

ps. hint (most pre-made frozen appetizer things that come with oven directions can be deep fried in about 1/4th the time, be creative)

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

I think you should get a rice/vegetable steamer. These things are so damn handy, and make some pretty healthy food. Slap a chicken breast on the Foreman, throw some frozen or fresh vegetables in the steamer, 10 minutes later you've got a pretty decent and healthy meal.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

tup,

"or if you can get crappy chicken-apple sausage at Safeway"

Safeways in California carry Aidell's sausage. Their chicken-apple sausage is awesome, perhaps my favorite around. I think it's about $5 for a pack of 4. Not sure if that's a national brand or not.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

I really like making enchiladas. You can get a super easy recipe from almost any enchilada sauce can. About 10 minutes of prep and 20-25 minutes of cook time and you have a decent meal and leftovers to take to work for the next few days. I'll often use shrimp, crab, or chicken breast to make them somewhat healthier.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

[ QUOTE ]
- Bags of chicken + veggies + sauce (they have stir fry, oriental and other varieties)


[/ QUOTE ]

QFT, you dump it in a pan and cook for 20 minutes for a healthy + super awesome 2 meals. the ones i buy (i think lean cuisine or something) have rice, chicken, veggies, sauce.

-turkey sandwich ingredients (tomato, onions , lettuce, turkey, swiss cheese, olive oil + vinegar)

-pasta and tomato sauce

-baked potatoes

-pizza, i actually like making my own

-oatmeal

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

[ QUOTE ]
tup,

"or if you can get crappy chicken-apple sausage at Safeway"

Safeways in California carry Aidell's sausage. Their chicken-apple sausage is awesome, perhaps my favorite around. I think it's about $5 for a pack of 4. Not sure if that's a national brand or not.

[/ QUOTE ]
Good tip, and pretty dumb of me to say Safeway, since I do 80% of my shopping there anyway as there is a really nice one about 150 yards from my place. I just meant "regular chain supermarket", because the high-end grocer I referenced charges about 2X as much for most meat. I worked for them ten years ago and can attest that they get a premium product.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

scallops should be thawed. if you don't use toothpicks, then tie the bacon into a knot or something

another easy meal:

Take 3 pieces of canadian bacon and 3 eggs, throw them in an oiled pan. Cook until eggs are done (kinda scrambled and a bit moist). Sprinkle on some white truffle oil. it has to be white truffle oil. not black. not sesame. it's expensive but damn well worth it.

while waiting, make some english muffins with butter and your breakfast/brunch is set.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

Jman / Others - if you guys like Japanese-style curry, this is an easy curry dish.

Cube meat of choice (beef, lamb, chicken), cut up some veggies and starch (carrots, onions, potatoes whatever). Stir-fry in large skillet. Add this:

http://www.telescreen.org/puddinparty/IM000203.JPG

Or this:

http://www.efresh.com.hk/images/S&B%...0-chukara-.jpg

Simmer in skillet 'til curry sauce thickens, dump over rice or egg noodles and you are done.

Also second the rice cooker / steamer as great, versatile appliance. I just splurged on a fuzzy logic rice cooker, and while it was pretty expensive, the fact that it handles multiple grains of rice (even brown rice, which my previous, cheap rice cookers failed to cook through), as well as cooking steel cut oats, oatmeal, pudding, and acting as a steamer, was worth it in my mind.

-Al

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

Almost all of my meals I make involve sauteeing some green peppers, onions, mushrooms together. Then throwing in some meat i have handy ( sausage, chicken, steak) and get some cheese melted in then some pasta sauce or some hot sauce or whatever. WHen its all nice I dump it over pasta or in some fresh bread for sangwich ( grilling sandwich after makes it like 10x better)

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

im a starving student who can barely cook. what i eat often is:

ground beef tacos. buy a package of ground beef, taco shells (or tortillas), one of those packets of taco mix, and whatever you want (salsa, sour cream, lettuce... side note i prefer caesar salad salad mix because its so easy) then follow the directions on the packet. takes like 20 min

pasta. hot water, salt, olive oil. put pasta in. get a can of prego or something. ready in like 30 min. easy and surprisingly tasty

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

My favorite quick and easy meal.

Veal sccalopine in white wine.

A couple of nice veal cuts. If they are too big cut them in half. Heat a dollop of butter and some good extra virgin olive oil in a non stick pan.
Lightly coat the veal in flour. Place in the pan on a high heat. You need to cook it hot and quick. After only two minutes it should be turning brown. Flip it over. You mustn't cook this too much, less is better if unsure. Cook for another 30 seconds or so, then pour a cup of white wine into the very hot pan. Instant sauce due to the flour. Cook for another 10 seconds or so then serve with a tossed green salad.

It doesn't get easier or tastier than this.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

onthebutton made the great suggestion of a rice steamer. takes like 20 minutes to cook the rice and you can make enough of it at once to last you 3 days. also, rice goes with practically anything.

you can rough chop some veggies (onion, potato, squash, any kind of mushroom, carrot, etc), toss them with some olive oil + salt/pepper, and put them in 350 degree oven for 30 mins or so. so tasty.

either one of these suggestions with a Foreman grilled or pan seared chicken breast is simple and very delicious. one more thing- start marinating chicken breasts in the morning before you go to work and they'll taste wicked when you're ready for dinner at night.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

My broke food go-to:

Make rice.
In sauce pan, scramble 2 eggs with salt/pepper. Add rice. Cook a bit. Add another egg and stir until that egg is fully cooked. Put in bowl. Add some soy sauce and sesame oil.

The first 2 eggs will result in big chunks of egg. The 3rd egg that you stirred in will result in much smaller bits of egg and making a creamier consistency with the rice. Soy sauce and Sesame oil taste very good.

All told, cost of meal is like ... 40 cents? Probably not that healthy, but it's not unhealthy.

Re: The Official Professional Bachelor Food Suggestion Thread
 

Garlic shrimp is pretty easy and tasty. Just melt some butter in a skillet until it stops foaming. Then add in some minced garlic and shrimp. Cook it for about 5 minutes until the shrimp are fully pink. Then add some salt, lemon juice and chopped parsley or white wine, stir all that for 30 secs until its well mixed, and you're done. Goes well with salad or rice.