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Medullah posted:Is there a good thread to get help with "lazy healthy eating"? I desperately need to drop some weight, and while I have the exercise down my diet is atrocious. I don't eat a cake by myself or anything, but definitely too much fast food and sandwiches. I'm not an expert in this field by any stretch of the imagination, just so we have expectations laid out here  I think my first round of questions about this sort of thing are: 1). How much cooking are you willing to do yourself? Are you open to any cooking at all, or are you looking for more prepackaged options? (no judgement here, just trying to figure out what a good recommendation would actually be) 2). How much variety do you require in your diet? Are you the type of person that can eat very similar things for awhile, or do you need constant variety? 3). What kind of budget are you looking for? Note that this may be a sliding scale that interacts with how much cooking you are willing to do - many various meal delivery plans exist, but they are going to be more expensive than the grocery store. 4). What kind of kitchen tools/gadgets do you already own that you would like to put into service for this endeavor? I think once I know a bit about those dimensions, I can toss some ideas out there. (I mean, guess I could just go for it, but I'm feeling very lazy right now  )
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Dec 30, 2022 00:29
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Medullah posted:I'd like to get on a meal plan where I can get more veggies in the system but I really don't like shopping more than a couple times a month. Any good resource recommendations? If you have the money, consider HelloFresh or another packaged meal plan. It's expensive for what you get. You're paying them to do the shopping, pre-portion the ingredients, and teach you how to cook. But you don't have food waste, and you do learn something along the way. You may find that in a couple of months you have the hang of things and don't need to use the service any more.
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Dec 30, 2022 00:39
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Eh, if food simply isn't a priority a variety service won't help. I shop about once a month. You should make whatever hotplate/casserole/soup you can stand in bulk the week or two after shopping, using all your fresh, and freeze a lot. Then lean on the pantry and canned dishes, like pasta or beans and such; lots of tomato imo. Have some frozen veg if you really want to spice it up on week 2-4 where you can't stand the leftovers and pantry staples. I find dairy to be the most difficult to manage in a month by month competing with everything else fresh, but I grab that walking the dog. I'd say learn to make bread, but weight loss is a desire. Carbs in general are rough there. Take a look at vegetarian meal pepper lifters for ideas of the after shopping bulk meals
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Dec 30, 2022 01:42
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One strategy I like is to use the freezer to help inject some variety. Get some quart Mason jars and plastic lids. Make a big batch of something (stew, soup, pasta sauce), eat half of it, and freeze the other half. Then make something else, eat half, freeze half, and when the fresh half is gone, pull one of the frozen jars, eat that, then cook something, etc. Having 2-3 different frozen homemade foods handy is a good way to inject variety without having to cook frequently. The other thing I'd advise is to have a selection of easy-to-make meals that you can bust out when you lack the energy for anything complicated. For example, I'll cook a packet of precooked Madras lentils (Costco sells them at a good price), a cup of brown rice, water, and a sliced sausage, all in the same pot. Takes maybe five minutes, and it's healthy and provides another meal or two of leftovers.
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Dec 30, 2022 02:38
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Medullah posted:Is there a good thread to get help with "lazy healthy eating"? I desperately need to drop some weight, and while I have the exercise down my diet is atrocious. I don't eat a cake by myself or anything, but definitely too much fast food and sandwiches. Others have given some good advice, but I just want to point out the virtues of frozen vegetables. We mostly buy fresh veg, but that's because we've got the planning part down. Frozen veg can be as good as -- often better than, depending on season! -- fresh, and will keep a few months with no decline in quality, which addresses both your food waste problem and your preference for less frequent shopping trips. Sometimes people think it's inferior, but it's really not. Canned goods are an option as well but I usually don't like those as much.
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Dec 30, 2022 04:04
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Medullah posted:Is there a good thread to get help with "lazy healthy eating"? I desperately need to drop some weight, and while I have the exercise down my diet is atrocious. I don't eat a cake by myself or anything, but definitely too much fast food and sandwiches. Might be some good advice for you in the old meal prep thread. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3867114&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1
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Dec 30, 2022 04:36
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Also shopping every 2 weeks is perfectly fine when it comes to still having fresh veg on hand. Any root vegetables, fennel, courgette, squash, all will last fine for a couple of weeks. Supplement those with frozen veg and canned tomatoes and you're good. The kind of veg that can be roasted and goes well with a protein and carb for a quick easy dinner.
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Dec 30, 2022 09:20
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Zarin posted:I think once I know a bit about those dimensions, I can toss some ideas out there. (I mean, guess I could just go for it, but I'm feeling very lazy right now Now that I've had a nap I'm feeling marginally less lazy, so I'll go over what I found to be useful when eating to lose weight. Note: I got started with the Diet and Exercise Megathread in YLLS: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3876241 It takes (took?) a lot for me to feel full, so I had to focus on stuff that I could eat a lot of that wasn't high in calories. High-satiety foods that met this criteria are a big plus. This meant that I ate a lot of: • Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast • Pork Loin • Frozen Broccoli • Frozen mixed veggies • Canned green beans • Really, any vegetables (note: I do not include things like potatoes, corn, etc. here; those are more "starches" than "veggies" and bring a LOT of calories to the table) I did this because I'm lazy. In theory, you can eat anything you want if you measure it carefully and stick to the plan, but that's effort. Turns out, if you focus on primarily eating things that would require you to consume Goku-level amounts of in order to exceed your caloric intake target, you can pretty much just not think about it. However, there is a catch: you can eat as much of the above stuff as you want, BUT that does NOT include things like fats, sauces, dressings, drinks, etc. - those all still add up! This is where I ended up hitting upon the concept of "'free' flavor" - not sure if this is my term or someone else's tbh - but basically there are things you can add to food that greatly increase flavor at a negligible caloric increase. Things like ketchup, BBQ sauce, ranch, cheese, etc. all add up calories pretty quick. However, there are plenty of things that don't: • Spices: garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt, etc. • No- or low-calorie "sauces": yellow mustard (0), brown/spicy/fancy mustards (like 10 cal per tbsp), Frank's Red Hot and similar (0), pickled jalapenos (0), salsa (5), jarred banana pepper rings (5), etc. So that's a bunch of words on WHAT I was eating. The "how" is rather specific. Lean proteins like BSCB and pork loin can be tricky to cook well without overcooking; however, I was already deep in the sous-vide well before I embarked on this path so that's like cheating. I amped up the cheating even harder by getting an Anova Precision Oven so I could SV an entire Costco-sized flat of BSCB or half of a massive pork loin at once, without having to gently caress with bags and water. Did I rationalize this purchase by telling myself that it was an investment and I would recoup the cost relatively quickly by how much I would save if I wasn't getting take-out so much? Absolutely. Did it work? Yes, actually. Well, I think so. I lost a bunch of weight so probably? Anyway, so for the how: grocery shopping would consist of buying a bunch of canned/frozen veggies and a couple flats of BSCB or a couple whole pork loins or one of each or whatever. Come home, throw a flat of chicken/half a loin/whatever into the APO on SV mode and cook it to an appropriate time/temp. Throw all the now-cooked meat into a big tupperware bin and into the fridge it goes. Meal prep is done! (mostly). Then a couple days before the expiration on the raw meat in the fridge, I'd either freeze it (if I didn't think I'd be getting to cooking it soon) or just cook that up and throw it in another tupperware; just depended on how much cooked I had left. (The nice thing about SV is that you can just start from frozen as easily as fresh). Also my rule was pretty much cooking something gave me about a week to get through it. Mealtime: cut off half a chicken breast/a slab of loin. Sometimes I'd just eat it cold dipped in a condiment cup of "free flavor" sauce while standing at the counter because I'm an animal I guess. Throw a bowl of veggies in the microwave and grind some black pepper on them. Done. If I was feeling marginally less lazy, I'd reheat the protein by pre-heating a cast-iron skillet to "approximately the sun", toss in a touch of avacado oil, put the protein in, press down firmly, cover, wait 2 minutes, flip and press firmly, wait 2 minutes, done: meat is reheated and should have a nice bit of sear on it too, which is just additional flavor. Sometimes if I felt extra-fancy I'd do the above but then throw it on a (high-fat-content) tortilla with some cheese, toppings, and taco seasoning, then toss the burrito in the skillet until nicely grilled on the outside (maybe another 60 seconds per side). More calories, but still pretty easy to stay under-budget. Certainly better than take-out. Sure, I still ordered a pizza every couple weeks and would make Actual Effort dinners sometimes; this was just for weeknight lunch/dinner where I wanted something fast, healthy, and lazy so I could get back to whatever I was doing (usually work  )
Zarin fucked around with this message at 11:31 on Dec 30, 2022 |
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Dec 30, 2022 11:24
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Can you eat slightly raw button mushrooms? I was watching a veggie chow mein recipe video and the guy threw the mushrooms in and only fried them (over medium heat) for 3-4 minutes. They weren't thinly sliced, they were halved, and it wasn't a rip-roaringly hot wok. I always thought you had to properly cook mushrooms, but if I can just saute them for a few minutes and it's good, it opens up a world of quick and easy veggie dishes with mushrooms in it (which I typically avoid as I can't be bothered sauteing mushrooms for 10-15 minutes).
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Dec 31, 2022 16:16
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You can eat fully raw button mushrooms.
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Dec 31, 2022 16:17
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Thanks you just ended 2022 on the best note
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Dec 31, 2022 16:28
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Zarin posted:Now that I've had a nap I'm feeling marginally less lazy, so I'll go over what I found to be useful when eating to lose weight. Thanks for this and all the other suggestions (Sorry, forgot to check this thread after I posted). I have the curse of being a picky eater, but it's counteracted by the fact that I don't care if I eat the same food every single day as long as it works for me (When I was heavily into the gym in the early 2000s I ate literally the exact same breakfast, lunch and dinner for a year straight). I'll try a few of the ideas here. As far as what I've got, I have an air fryer that I love using and an instant pot that I use sometimes for turkey chili and a few other things. Oven and all that as well.
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Dec 31, 2022 16:34
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People eat raw button mushrooms all the time in salads and stuff. Who told you all mushrooms had to be cooked?
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Dec 31, 2022 17:41
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are there any common cooking mushrooms you must sautee extensively? I know when you're talking about foraging there's weirder stuff out there with special requirements but there's certainly nothing I can think of that I could buy at the grocery store
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Dec 31, 2022 17:58
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My husband makes a killer mushroom salad: slice raw mushrooms thin, toss with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Low effort and very tasty. e: It's a Federal felony to serve morels without first sauteeing them in butter and garlic. I will accept duck fat as an alternative.
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Dec 31, 2022 17:59
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eke out posted:are there any common cooking mushrooms you must sautee extensively? Given how much water is in them, I'd saute almost every common mushroom just to make them more meat like and add a flavorful crust. They're nature's bacon bits
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Dec 31, 2022 18:19
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I feel like raw mushrooms aren't really that enjoyable to eat even though they're perfectly safe and everything
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Dec 31, 2022 18:22
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eke out posted:are there any common cooking mushrooms you must sautee extensively? wood ears have to be completely cooked before eating but i can't think of any others
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Dec 31, 2022 20:10
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eke out posted:are there any common cooking mushrooms you must sautee extensively? Honestly not a high fan of shatakis raw, but I'm sure there is a prep I haven't had. Idk if I'd say extensively either.
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Dec 31, 2022 20:31
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Submarine Sandpaper posted:shatakis 
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Dec 31, 2022 20:53
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Can someone help me figure out how to make the quintessential Turkish / Lebanese grill accompaniment which is the parsley and onion side salad? The parsley bit is easy, it's just parsley. But how do they get their white onions to be so mild and delicious? There's no pungency at all, but I don't taste vinegar, so they haven't pickled it. Not to be confused with the pickled red onion you get as a side from kebab places. Edit: just quickly googled it and the answer is literally just to soak the thinly sliced onion in cold water for 20 minutes. Oops.
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Dec 31, 2022 21:43
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I usually use hot water from the kettle and just pour it off pretty much immediately. Same effect, much quicker. I learned this from making Ukrainian mayonnaise salads a year ago tonight!
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Dec 31, 2022 22:49
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mystes posted:I feel like raw mushrooms aren't really that enjoyable to eat even though they're perfectly safe and everything
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Jan 1, 2023 03:45
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i like nice words
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Anne Whateley posted:I agree. If you're into that special pencil eraser texture, you can, but why White button mushrooms are actually dirty old erasers
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Jan 1, 2023 04:27
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I’ve always thought sautéed mushrooms were tastier than fresh But I’ve also discovered that boiled reduced mushrooms using just water are also great, they make their own sauce
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Jan 1, 2023 11:02
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Do I need to blanch or parcook broccoli for quiche? Seems like it's one of those vegetables that's too water laden to just throw it in raw, but just tender enough that parcooking might result in an overly mushy texture.
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Jan 1, 2023 19:56
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I think that is entirely size dependant. Charing the florets would be good flavor too.
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Jan 1, 2023 20:07
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If you have time, roasting first would be good
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Jan 1, 2023 20:19
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Undercooked shiitakes can cause a severe case of dermatitis in some people, but that’s rare enough to be more of a curious factoid than a food safety scare.
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Jan 1, 2023 21:19
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I accidentally ordered the wrong tea; I ordered China Yin Zhen Bai Hao Downy White Pekoe when I meant to order Jasmine Yin Zhen. Can I just add dried jasmine flowers to the tea leaves, or is scenting tea with jasmine an involved process? And if I can add jasmine flowers myself, can anybody recommend a good food-safe vendor?
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Jan 1, 2023 21:44
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I accidentally ordered the wrong tea; I ordered China Yin Zhen Bai Hao Downy White Pekoe when I meant to order Jasmine Yin Zhen. Can I just add dried jasmine flowers to the tea leaves, or is scenting tea with jasmine an involved process? And if I can add jasmine flowers myself, can anybody recommend a good food-safe vendor? Come over to the tea thread; different brands scent with jasmine differently, but someone there might have a good source of jasmine flowers and I think that will get you close to what you want.
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Jan 2, 2023 05:20
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Has anybody here tried to make tamales using a tortilla press? The method is to flatten out the dough like you would a corn tortilla (except a bit thicker). You get something that easy to fill and handle before even getting a husk involved right at the end. I tried it with my typical dough. It stuck to the plastic bag lining I used and the result was far too tough (like the press took out all the fluffiness). I was hoping somebody had a recipe that made a good dough using the press method.
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Jan 2, 2023 19:43
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I’ve only made them a couple of times, but my dough is the consistency of cream cheese after I’ve whipped the lard into it. I just spread it on the leaves with a palette knife. I have trouble imagining your way would produce an edible tamale, but I’m willing to be corrected.
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Jan 2, 2023 21:03
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I'm not taking credit for that procedure at all--especially since I've not been impressed with the result so far. Here's a YouTube short of somebody making one this way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb2BCE-INss I see theirs has a lot of sheen and comes across as being much more "plastic" as if it were a clay. I'm making something more typical of the cream cheese texture you were advocating (or even thinner). All I can gather is to go dryer and to add even more fat. There isn't a recipe that works specifically for it. On the flip side, I've adapted from previous recipes that were already pretty dry and found they were better received when they were wetter. I suspect the tamales made this way are going to be tougher and less airy, but are compensated by being very thin with a lot of filling.
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Jan 2, 2023 22:26
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This looks exceedingly close to a regular masa, identical to how mine look when I make fresh tortillas. I just can’t see any way these would taste like tamales: tamales specifically have a much more open texture, almost cake-like. These look like they’d be a horrible flabby chewy mess. I assume I’m mistaken, they must taste good in some way I’m too anglo to figure out.
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Jan 2, 2023 23:37
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I think you and me are on the same page on the skepticism of this. I'm trying to either get a the specific instructions for the dough to copy exactly or get a taste of one made this way. The ones I made were like a filling with a tire wrapped around them.
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Jan 3, 2023 00:47
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https://www.tiktok.com/embed/7183000052678429998 Toast black pepper before grinding? Anyone tried this?
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Jan 3, 2023 03:53
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Steve Yun posted:https://www.tiktok.com/embed/7183000052678429998
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Jan 3, 2023 04:10
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Black pepper gets toasted when I grind it onto the surface of whatever meat I'm applying to my dry cast iron at approximately the surface temperature of the sun. Some folks don't like the "cooked" taste of black pepper but I'm not one of them.
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Jan 3, 2023 04:28
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Steve Yun posted:https://www.tiktok.com/embed/7183000052678429998 I mean, a lot of spices taste better toasted, but this is an opportunity cost thing. We spent years inventing the pepper mill to solve the ‘get pepper on the food quickly’ problem, is toasting it so much better that we now have to leave the top off the pepper mill, toast the pepper every time we want some, then mill it to order?
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Jan 3, 2023 09:53
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