Need food help

[Bunbun]

I need ideas on what I can cook for myself for the next month, while my SO is away (SO's father had emergency surgery yesterday. The surgery went well and his father's prognosis is excellent, but my SO is likely to be gone for a month because his mom is not in any shape to take care of his father during his initial recovery.)

Anyhow, normally, my SO does all the cooking. I hate to cook and am also horribly unskilled at it. x( I can get by short-term: I usually throw together things like couscous and frozen veggies and some beans....actually, come to think of it, I've had that every meal since he left. That or peanut butter on whole grain bread. It's all getting old fast, but I'm short on ideas. This is all complicated by the fact that I am in the midst of a horrendously high-pressure and stressful project at work, and am getting home near 8 and trying to do my workouts and then winding up "cooking" dinner at 9. Oh, and with the stress of all of the above, I have completely lost my appetite. Can't even get down a quarter of my normal morning meal of oatmeal.

Any ideas for the cooking-impaired? !

 

[saia11]

Salads, Salads, and more Salads. They are fast, healthy, easy, and consist of endless variety. You can buy three or four healthy dressings that you like (low saturated fat, try for lower sodium and sugar, made w/heart healthy oils like olive or even canola). Buy greens already washed in a bag or mix your own with baby salad, (my store even had mesclun greens in bulk), romaine, green/red leaf lettuces. You can even throw in sprouts or spicier greens such as radicchio or arugala, but make sure you know that you like the taste of them, I happen to find them kind of bitter. Then you can throw ANYTHING on top that you want. Beans (garbanzo, kidney, black are my favorite), chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh green beans, peppers, grilled eggplant or zucchini, radishes, roasted vegetables, jars of diced roasted red peppers (give them a rinse to lower the sodium), olives, capers (also rinsed to reduce sodium), steamed frozen veggies, fresh herbs, dried herbs, carmelized onions, shredded carrots, diced celery, red onion slices, different cheeses (in moderation of course;-) ) try aged cheddar and chopped apples, blue cheese and diced figs, feta with olives and sundried tomatoes, smoked gouda and sliced pears. I've never really eaten meat, but if you do there are lots of types of meat you could add in as well. Marinated grilled chicken breast, smoked/peppered turkey, poached salmon w/ lemon tarragon sauce, canned albacore tuna even (but only once a week or so unless you want to spend a lot on "wild" tuna to avoid the mercury). I know this is long, but I hope you managed to grab a few ideas from it. These are all easy combinations and most of them can be purchased already to go right from the grocery store so perfect for the "cooking-impaired." And you won't find a better season for salads and fresh produce than right now.
So get crunching!

Mattea

 

[Bunbun]

Thanks, Mattea. You're making me hungry! I've been avoiding salads since there's only me here to eat them and I was afraid that I'd spend a fortune and then it would all wilt. But those ideas sound really good.

 

[saia11]

I made myself hungry! LOL! Guess what I had for dinner? I forgot to suggest cottage cheese, a small drizzle of pesto, things like different flavored hummus, whole wheat croutons (you can make these in about five minutes in a toaster oven as whole wheat ones can be hard to find), sprinkle in some sesame seeds, crumbled/dried seaweed, small servings of dried fruits or some nuts. I had a few of these in my salad tonight-served with steamed broccoli and cauliflower and crumbled Boca burger as well. Delicious.
I also used my new Breadmaker for the first time and made bread with flax seed, wheat germ, ground oats groats, wheat berries, cornmeal, soy flour, vegetable protein powder, whole wheat flour, stevia, honey, three kinds of raisins, dried cherries, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, vanilla, and soymilk. So worth it, warm and toasty with cashew butter. YUM!:9
Mattea

 

[Bunbun]

A friend took pity on me and took me out to dinner tonight. LOL--I had a salad topped with grilled chicken. You know--I *know* how to cook chicken. I watched my mom do it a thousand times, but every time I have tried, it comes out rubbery, so I gave up.

Used to have a breadmaker--actually gave it away because I could easily go through half a loaf or more in one day.

I did stock up on Boca burgers today. Never thought of crumbling them into a salad, though.

 

[saia11]

Yes, well, ahem, half a loaf, hmmmm... you see there were two loaves (I made extra dough and baked one off in the oven) so my DH and I ate some of one, then some of the other (had to do a taste test of course;-) ) then my parents came over and I gave some to them. So yes there is a lot missing, but it wasn't just me, I swear!
I don't make or eat chicken, but I watch the Food Network A LOT (which can be a terrible thing for eating clean) and you might try poaching the chicken or marinating small pieces and roasting them in a foil packet with veggies, both methods will keep the chicken moist. That's about all the advice I can offer, but I seem to remember a cooking chicken/great recipe for chicken thread on this forum not too long ago that you might try searching for.
Boca and all the related veggie burgers are all great in salads as are water chestnuts and corn on the cob (cooked and then cut off the cob).
Happy "Rabbit Food!"
Mattea

 

[librarygirl]

Since you like chicken, you could pick up a whole roasted chicken from the grocery store deli. If don't eat the skin, they are aren't too bad for you (maybe high in sodium). You can have roasted chicken with some rice and veggies for one night and then save the rest of the meat for salads or sandwiches during the week.