Advice on cooking and grocery shopping?

[JDTAY]

I go grocery shopping in two hours, which is short notice to ask for advice, but I do go twice a month these days. Any idea what a guy who's looking to cook and lose weight and isn't allowed to have sharp knives should get? I live in a one bedroom apartment with a rather small kitchen, but I do have an oven, stove, pans, and a slow cooker.

So far my list has... coffee. It's probably more essential to my waking life than most food.
[doublepost=1558110458,1558108970][/doublepost]C'mon guys, I heard the only ways to stop the progression of my fatty liver were diet, exercise, and coffee. I'm already really good at drinking coffee, I just need a better diet now, and to pretend really hard that I'm going to exercise.

 

[rSl]

coffee is a verry good one to start with!
you could also get different fresh fruits and make a fruitsalad. lots of vitamines ahead!
this will make your concentration better to stay focused longer.
also get the darker whole grain bread.

you could make a casserole with potatoes and cheese, some broccoli...
possibillities in a grocery store are almost limitless, so focus an the good stuff with the organic-seal. if you're on a budget get less but more quality.
also eat more often smaller portions so your stomach can shrink down a bit. you will get a lot less hungry with this and still you have enough energy.
here is a nice yt page with lots of food-tips from macka b, an british reggae legend. ah... and get a cucumba.
last but not least, drink a lot fresh water. you could add some tea leaves and make an icetea....
hope this helps!

 

[TrashyMG]

My idea of adult cooking for myself is adding microwaved stir-fry vegetables and grilled chicken strips to boil in a bag rice or ramen. So yeah maybe not the best advice...

 

[levi]

If you're not allowed to cut up your own veg with even a fairly blunt knife, then frozen or tinned pre-prepared veg is likely to be a big part of a healthy basket. Some people swear by tinned mushy peas, but I'm a garden pea man and you get those frozen. Mostly if you've got a decently sized freezer*, then buy most things frozen. The only caveat is those bags of diced root vegetables and bits have all been cooked in the same water before being bagged and frozen; you kind of expect everything to taste the same when it comes out of a tin, but for that at least that frozen item it's true as well.

Other than that you will likely have to go ready meal. But pay attention to the nutritional advice on those packs. I assume they still have those where you live. Some meals will have to be retained for special occasions because of fat or sugar.

Edit: I'm too late for this weeks shopping trip, but hopefully you got some of that stuff. If not, you're always going again in a couple of weeks.

Edit again: I missed explaining my starred reference. It should say that since you're American I assume you have a massive freezer anyway.

 

[Tenka]

Bags of frozen broccoli florets, boxes of already chopped mushrooms, and vegetarian protein patties or grounds (both in the frozen vegetable section) are go-tos of mine I can recommend. Sliced tomatoes add a lot to that though especially if you like sandwiches, and I don't know if I've ever seen pre-sliced tomatoes sold, they're a little too watery. Anyway you'd just fry everything in coconut or olive oil on medium or lower heat, a little salt helps. Broccoli should be stirred every few minutes and mushroom slices should be flipped after the first side is browned.
Oh, baby carrots are great too, don't need to peel or chop those.

 

[levi]

Yes, I'm a big fan of the frozen sliced mushrooms. No idea what variety they are but they're tastier than the normal button mushrooms you can get in boxes and cut up yourself. I usually add them to a risotto, so they don't brown there, but you can add them almost right up to the end straight from the freezer.

 

[FBnil]

Well, I go buy lots of veggies (sometimes those 30% discounted eat-today-only) and use peanut oil (can stand more heat than sunflower) to stirfry them, add some ketjap (sweet soy sauce, indonesian). Then make a white rice and mix these 2 together.
The day before all veggies go bad... I make a pizza and top it (yeah, those frozen broccoli's are delicious) and eat a veggy pizza.
Then the day after I make pasta, the veggies can boil/simmer a long time in peeled tomatoes, and that kills all bad things.

For healthy things, try gazpacho (but it needs a blender). Don't forget to peel the cucumber, or the mix with tomato will yield an ugly brown (although it still tastes good). Do not add too much garlic into it.

For the queen of slow foods (which means, you are full with 2, lots of iron):
(and no, I did not understand a word of what she says, but it nicely shows the process of cooking and eating it)

This one is in English, and much shorter (but does not show all the details when eating artichoke):

I like to eat it with home-made mayo, and lemon. It's an art to make mayo, and I still fail from time to time to make it emulsify.

 

[TeDaDeS]

If you go once each two weeks I would suggest buying fresh foods for the first week and longer lasting stuff (canned/bottled/frozen) for the next.
Also get some healthy stuff to snack and don't drink sugary drinks (like fruit juicy), most meals are necessary but snacking usually is just for in between and don't need to contain a lot of calories.

 

[Wally]

You could easily prepare a thai curry with frozen vegetables

2 cans of coconut milk (Make sure you look at the label to see how much coconut milk to whatever is in it 80%+ is the key) - I use the Ayam Brand Blue cans and I would not suggest you use anything other
1 packet of frozen stirfry vegetables
500 grams (1 pound) of chicken breast cut into cubes (You should be able to ask the butcher to do this)
1 Container of thai red / green curry paste (You need 1 tablespoon at a time)
Rice to serve (Jasmine / long grain works best)

Sauce:
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
1 Tablespoon of sweet and sour sauce.
1 piece of garlic crushed (You don't need to chop)
A teaspoon of sugar


Method:
Shake Coconut milk cans for about 10 seconds and open, set aside.
Combine sauce ingredients in a small cup and set aside. (Garlic will need to marinate through)
Prepare a frying pan with olive / peanut oil on medium - high heat
Fry the chicken until almost cooked then add Curry paste (1 heaped tablespoon should be enough), stir through paste
Add about 2 cups of frozen vegetables to the chicken and stir through
Add one can of coconut milk and stir through
Add sauce as prepared earlier, stir through
Add last can of coconut milk and stir
turn down heat to medium low and let it simmer for ~45 minutes stirring every 15 minutes (The chicken will slice easily with your spoon)
If you have a bay leaf or some other garnish like basil you can add this now but it's not necessary.

Prepare rice as you would normally (Rice Cooker or stove with boiling water) - Remember half a cup of rice is enough for 4 servings.


Serve and enjoy as it's delicious!! You could probably slow cook this thing but who knows.

P.S Experiment with frozen vegetable mixes, I find adding frozen brocolli to frozen stirfry mix (if brocolli isn't in it) a great addition.

You could also do a spaghetti bolognaise if frozen chopped onion is available, I can provide a recipe for you if you like?

 

[rSl]

lot's of yummy good tips here.
*leaves screen temporarily to fetch some food...*

 

[rygD]

Anything I would recommend I would probably find out here are terrible for you. Oh, well.

Peanuts and granola bars are what I snack on...

 

[rSl]

good we are no health-regime here.
I'm also in love with japanese ramen (too?) often. lot's of strange "E...'s" in there.

 

[Klumpen]

 

[ible]

but does it taste as good?

 

[kuru]

I try to eat fresh and raw every now and then.
Carrots are great. Buy organic ones, wash them properly and snack away. Fresh peppers, rip and tear, salt, mhh..
Hamburg parsley is also great.
Quick stir fries that don't cook veggies to death are great, too, if you want something warm.
I love broccoli and brussels sprouts. The latter just with salt and pepper, or both go well with that thic sweet soy sauce. Just don't drown them in it.

 

[FBnil]

Another loose weight tip: Eat lettuce!
I buy pita or burrito buns. Chop some onion and meat and stirfry it.
The lettuce I cut into slices. The video cuts into the lettuce, I like to take off leaves, wash them, put them on top of eachother, then slice them. This preserves the lettuce better, but if you eat it in a day or two, then you can just do what the video does:


Then I warm the pita bread and stuff just about 50% lettuce and 50% meat into it.

About the broccoli, here's is one interesting one:

 

[Klumpen]

Also: Use jackfruit instead of meat. Same texture, easy to prepare, nice aroma (if you buy the simple non-seasoned one, stay away from the pre-seasoned jackfruit at all costs!) and next to no calories.

 

[levi]

Chop some onion and meat and stirfry it.

What with? Don't forget the OP isn't allowed sharp knives. Though I guess we're all reading this thread so it's not all just for JDTAY.

 

[FBnil]

isn't allowed sharp knives

Dull knife? (peal each layer off, then cut those? A bullet (or similar blender things)? As long as it is cooked evenly, right? Those onion pieces can be small or large..

Use jackfruit instead of me

Never had jackfruit before (nagka - Artocarpus heterophyllus). Not sure they sell it here, but I'll give it a try if I find it.

 

[Klumpen]

Never had jackfruit before (nagka - Artocarpus heterophyllus). Not sure they sell it here, but I'll give it a try if I find it.

If you find it, I really really recommend not buying pre-seasoned one, all I ever had tasted like soap. I can't emphasize that enough and have no idea, why several companies do that.
Just simple jackfruit in salted water or something like that, should look like chicken meat when it comes to color and consistency and can also used in the same way, it's particularly great as fricassee.