What is the Ultimate Bachelor Food?

Back in college we would make quick and easy burritos. Cook one package of boxed Spanish or Mexican rice, set aside. Brown 1 lb. of hamburger and drain. Add a couple of spoon fulls of rice to one small tortilla. Place 1/4 piece of American cheese on next. Top with beef. Roll up and eat. Repeat until full. Roll up remaining burritos and wrap in plastic wrap or foil and freeze. When hungry, nuke on high for one minute.

Since then, I've developed a chicken broccoli casserole that is great. In an 8 x 10 dish, mix according to directions one box Stove Top stuffing. Cover with one 10 - 16 oz. package frozen broccoli. Cover with one 10 - 16 oz. can of white meat chicken. Mix one can of broccoli cheese soup and 1/3 cup of milk. Pour over top of chicken. Grated cheddar and breadcrumb on top is optional. Bake at 450F for 20 minutes. This is basically the "Broccoli Chicken Divan" recipe off the Campbell's broccoli cheese soup label plus stuffing. I made it the first time per the label and it seemed like something was missing.

There's an easy chicken with rice recipe, even I can do it. Rice is always 1 part rice to 2 parts water when cooked by itself. So, use however much rice you want (for 1 person a half cup is more than sufficient) but for this dish make it 1:1. Then add a can of cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup, stir well. Then pour into a glass casserole dish, it should be around 1 inch deep. Then park a chicken breast or two on it, cover with foil and bake at 450 degrees. It usually take 30-35 minutes, keep checking for the rice to be done. For a little added interest, dump some Oriental veggies in with it, maybe some Tabasco sauce.

I also have to put in a plug for Stove Top Stuffing (instead of potatos) ;) , and Hamburger Helper. Easy, filling and tastes pretty good.

My wife and I are on different schedules, so we rarely eat together. I basically eat the same way I did in college.

Buy a George Foreman grill and a NuWave oven. Seriously. The GF grille is worth its weight in gold. If you don't want to buy it, buy a good non-stick grill pan with the ribs in the bottom, but it will take twice as long as the GF. It works as a meat and veggie griller, and also makes killer pannini sandwiches. The NuWave is basically a plastic dome with an electric burner and fan on the top. Its like a dishwasher-safe oven that cooks twice as fast. Trust me on this one.

• Equal parts honey and soy sauce makes a KILLER terryaki glaze. Add bourbon and its even better.
• Tony Chachere's seasoning makes anything taste awesome. Its pronounced "SASH-a-reez". Its a New Orleans thing.
• Soy products and beers increase estrogen production. While that might help you be more sensitive and get laid more often, it also can give you man-boobs.
• Clif Bars are awesome for meal replacement and the actually taste really fkn good.
• A super breakfast smoothie recipe: 1T flax seed meal, 1T chia seeds, 1 scoop probiotics, 2 scoops protein powder (look at the protein content), 1/4 cup frozen berries, and a healthy liquid of your choice; nettle tea, licorice tea, V8 fusion, OJ, or something similar. Blend it, drink it, and tweak it however you want.
• FROZEN FOODS ARE YOUR FRIEND. Surf the freezer section for healthy meals in a box. Often times the store-brand microwave meals are $2 each and taste pretty darn good.
• Since you might be cooking for one, try shelf-stable products like milk in a box. That way you can open it as you need it and not waste much.
• get a bag of fresh spinach and a jar of minced garlic. In a large skillet, wilt the spinach with some olive oil and a little garlic. Take it off the heat, sprinkle a little kosher salt on it and some crumbled stilton cheese. You'll think you've died and gone to heaven.
• fat-free ballpark franks are damn good

Breakfast for dinner: 1 or 2 cups of yogurt (depending on size) couple sprinkles of cinnamon half a cup of granola one or two scoops of peanut butter one banana sliced up.

Here's what I made tonight:

• Tuna steaks marinated in soy sauce, olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. I had mine medium rare, the others wanted theirs medium (blasphemy I know)

• A simple risotto: Melt 2 tbs butter, sautee a few tbs of minced onions, add 1 cup rice, deglaze with 1/3 cup dry white wine, and add just enough broth (I used some leftover turkey stock from last week's turkey) until al dente. Add lots of parmigiano reggiano.

• Salad: I bought some fresh basil and baby spinach greens last Saturday at the farmer's market. For the dressing, I heated up 1/2 cup olive oil, added some pine nuts and garlic and cooked until browned, and added a few ounces of slivered pancetta and cooked another minute. Once again, parmigiano reggiano to the heart's desire.

This was paired with a Spanish blend wine that worked out really well.

MitchellC wrote: Here's what I made tonight: - Tuna steaks marinated in soy sauce, olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. I had mine medium rare, the others wanted theirs medium (blasphemy I know) - A simple risotto: Melt 2 tbs butter, sautee a few tbs of minced onions, add 1 cup rice, deglaze with 1/3 cup dry white wine, and add just enough broth (I used some leftover turkey stock from last week's turkey) until al dente. Add lots of parmigiano reggiano. - Salad: I bought some fresh basil and baby spinach greens last Saturday at the farmer's market. For the dressing, I heated up 1/2 cup olive oil, added some pine nuts and garlic and cooked until browned, and added a few ounces of slivered pancetta and cooked another minute. Once again, parmigiano reggiano to the heart's desire. This was paired with a Spanish blend wine that worked out really well.

Laaady friend?

And her roommate. She said she's cooking me dinner next week... we'll see if that happens.

MitchellC wrote: And her roommate.

You have my attention.

Osterizer wrote:

MitchellC wrote: And her roommate.

You have my attention.

PICS!!!!

MitchellC wrote: And her roommate. She said she's cooking me dinner next week... we'll see if that happens.

Dear Penthouse,

I never really thought that this could happen to me.....

This might not be the vein you're looking for.... but lasagna is my bachelor food of choice.

Make two HUGE pans of it, and you're good for quite some time, and it's fine to freeze.

Buy: (one pan recipe)(assuming you have normal spices) 1lb lasagna noodles 2 cans of your favorite RAGU tomato sauce 1lb bulk italian sausage 1 onion 1 clove garlic 1lb mozz cheese 15oz Ricotta cheese Parmesan cheese

1) In large pan, sautee sausage, half onion, and 3 garlic chunky things. (name escapes me right now).

2) Boil lasagna noodles til not quite cooked, floppy, but firm

3) preheat oven to 350.

4) In a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, a 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, tablespoon of oregano, half tablespoon of basil.

5) Dump the tomato sauce in the pan with the sausage onions, and friends.

6) in large baking pan, spoon half the tomato mixture directly in. Then put a layer of noodles. Then a layer of the cheese mixture, top that layer with some of the mozzarella. Then layer of noodles, remaining tomato mixture, layer of noodles, remaining cheese mixture, remaining mozzarella, and sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top.

Bake at 350 covered for 30-35 minutes. Uncover, bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese has all melted and is becoming golden brown in places, and the edges should be bubbly.

Let sit for about 15 minutes, and enjoy.

It sounds complicated, it's not. Start to finish can be done in less than an hour and a half, less than 20 minutes prep work once you practice.

Tastes amazing, probably TERRIBLE for you, and it will feed you for a LONG time. Perfectly good frozen and reheated.

Or just do the prep on a second batch, and freeze the pan. Defrost and bake when you're ready.

RX Reven' wrote: Here’s a one-pot-wonder that’s cheap, filling, & makes you feel a little more grown up than cup-o-sodium: I like to use low fat turkey sausage and skinless / boneless breast of chicken as the meat source.

Gotta get the low-sodium kind. Without that crucial modificatoin, that stuff has as much salt as Ramen.