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[cowgirl836]

Quick Look at cydline's menu. I am not a very good cook and as you can see there are quite a few options that are pretty cheap meals.

Main: Sides:
Pizza Rice
BLT's Frozen Veg
Meatloaf Instant Potato
BELT (Bacon, EGG, Tomato) Twice Baked Potato
Minute Steaks (mushroom soup) Mashed Potato
Sloppy Joes (Red or White) Corn on the Cob
Grilled Chicken Wraps Asparagus
Stir Fry Salad


Crockpot:
Pot Roast
Pulled Pork

Grill:
Marinated Steak
Marinated Chicken
Pork Chops
Hamburgers
Brats/Hot Dogs
Smoked Chicken
Smoked Pork Shoulder
Smoked Pork Loin
Cowboy Griller



Mexican:
Tacos
Fajitas
Burritos (Red Sauce)
Burritos (White Sauce)
Treibers Taps

Italian:
Lasagna
Grilled Chicken Fettuccini
Spaghetti

Breakfast: Breakfast Sides:
Waffles Sausage Links
French Toast Bacon
Pancakes Country Style Potatoes
Breakfast Casserole
California Burritos

Soups:
Chili
Vegetable Beef Stew
Chicken Tortilla

I am very interested in your veggie beef stew and chicken tortilla soup recipes.

also, this thread is making me think the purchase of a grill should be higher up our list.

 

[Wesley]

I cook a lot and life is good.

 

[WhatchaGonnaDo]

Do share.

http://blogchef.net/orange-chicken-recipe/

I usually mix in some Sriracha and much more red pepper flakes than it calls for because I love spicy. The sauce thickness I have found is a bit hit or miss based on how hot your pan is. Just takes some practice. Also I don't think I ever use the full 1.5 cups of water the sauces calls for.

 

[cydline2cydline]

I am very interested in your veggie beef stew and chicken tortilla soup recipes.

also, this thread is making me think the purchase of a grill should be higher up our list.

It's an old, old recipe passed down through my family (my mom to me)...

I am a value cooker, minimal effort, maximum results...


Stew Meat (aprrox 1.5-2 llbs) sauteed with onions until no longer pink
2 cans -DelMonte Petite tomatoes (garlic and Basil)
Knorr's Veg Soup mix (prepared per directions)
Add Beef base to flavor
Couple frozen packs of Mixed Vegs


Throw it all in the crock pot (on low) and enjoy when you get home. Longer it cooks in the crock the more tender the beef.

For as little effort it takes, I think it can hang with other Veggie stews.

 

[besserheimerphat]

I know everybody likes to grill, but you can make some mighty fine steaks, hamburgers and brats and hot dogs under the broiler when the weather is bad. You can even stand around the oven and drink a beer while it's cooking if it makes you feel better.

 

[ArgentCy]

Easy answer, pretty much nope. That's a women's job.

I don't like to eat all that much and would eat like a bachelor if it wasn't for my wife. It was to the point that she saw a TV bit about a bunch of entrepreneurs in Silicon valley who apparently just drink a health shake and say hey, that's all you need. Then she goes, man that's exactly what you would do...

 

[isukendall]

My wife and I are very good cooks. I am better - and she will willingly admit it. I absolutely love cooking. Funny how my cooking has changed from the older generations - my mother and grandmother would cook from recipies, word for word. While I may cook their recipies for nostalgic purposes (and because they're very good), I have very few "go to" recipes.

What's in the fridge/freezer? What do we have? I can usually make a good meal out of that. We live extremely close to a grocery store, which is huge. Being an engineer by day, cooking is very relaxing to me as an outlet, as long as I don't have to follow a recipe. If I'm a 1/4 cup short of whatever, I freak the **** out.

Making a fantastic meal out of zero plan is incredibly rewarding.

That said, many of you are talking about making meals for more than 2, which is a totally different deal. All I can say is that I usually cook more than double what my wife and I can cook, so if you're in northern CO, come on over.

 

[NWICY]

we signed up for a CSA this summer and I'm hoping it means I will magically be incorporating new veggies into our rotation. Most likely I'll be like what the hell am I supposed to do with all this bok choy and kale?!

Your going to eat that kale and like it!

 

[NWICY]

When I grill I always make more than we can eat for 1 meal so we have some leftovers for at least 1 or 2 more meals. Chicken and pork keep in the fridge and still tastes good re-heated, beef not so much unless it's hamburger. Chicken breasts are real easy to re-use. I usually grill 4 or 6 of them and reuse them for leftovers either by themselves or maybe cut some up and put in a salad.

Really if you want to learn how to cook just Google things you like to eat and you can find all kinds of recipes either something quick and simple to something complex that may take some time and skill but the saying around our house is if 1 of us wants to try to make something new, if we don't like the taste of the result then we don't have to make it again but at least we tried.

I love that it is getting warmer as it means better weather to grill and smoke. I'm always trying new types of marinades or seasonings as well as methods to get better BBQ flavors when I smoke. We get a 1/4 of beef from my wife's parents every 2 years and if you are able to buy your beef that way versus buying it a little bit at a time from the store whenever you need it you'll save a lot of money and the meat itself is probably going to taste better too. If you don't have that option Fareway sometimes has deals where you can buy a whole beef loin at a good sale price and they will even cut it up and package it how you want it. I usually wait for whole boneless pork loins to go on sale and buy 1 or 2 to cut up for various sizes of pork chops and save a portion for a pork roast. Granted I also worked at the meat counter in Hy-Vee in HS and college and learned a lot about how to cut various cuts of meats as well as how to haggle on pricing because most stores are willing to sell you whole loins of meat for a much better price than you would pay for that same cut of meat already cut out into steaks or chops in the meat counter.

That's the great thing about Fareway, use their whole chunk pricing, then they'll cut it and wrap it into any portions you want. Did Hy-Vee do the same thing?