BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb not much of a cook

I really don't cook if I can help it and I was looking for some advice. I am thinking I should try to cook stuff up once a week in advance so I don't have to bother otherwise.

What kind of stuff is easy to make and will last in the fridge and still taste good later?

Hi, Jilly, I think the cheapest & easiest low-carb thing is eggs. I got them for 67 cents a dozen yesterday. Boiled up some last night & ate two for breakfast. I usually boil about 6 or so (more if my son is around), peel them & put them in a ziploc in the fridge. Then, they're there to add to tuna or salads, make deviled eggs, or make egg salad (egg & olive is good, too), or to just eat with salt & pepper if you like them that way. Plus, you can have them fried, scrambled, in an omelet or frittata or custard. Whatever.

I read in another post that you can't afford meat right now--chicken wings are very cheap and if you keep an eye on the sales, you might can find hamburger on sale. A pound will make quite a lot of meatballs, which will keep a few days, too.

thanks Deb. I actually hate boiled eggs (slimy food). I like scrambled and omelettes, so I should give that a try. The tuna idea is a good one too. Hmmm, meatballs - love em - how do you make them?

Hey Jilly, the best way to learn how to cook is to practice! My sister and I love cooking, and friends and family agree that we're wonderful cooks, but trust me, we have had tons of disasters that no one knows about! We like to experiment a lot, creating new recipies...and these don't always come out edible! I recommend you getting a cookbook, or even searching online for recipies (tons of websites are dedicated to recipies), and just practice cooking things that sound good. Learn from your mistakes, and you'll eventually be able to create some wonderful dishes!

I make meatballs a whole bunch of ways--I'm one of those "throw it in & see what happens" cooks.

Basically, for low-carb, I put crushed plain pork rinds (about a half cup per pound of meat), a little bit of half & half to wet the pork rinds, an egg, Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup) the meat, and usually season with minced onion and/or garlic, soy sauce, parsley, tiny bit of worcestershire sauce, pepper (red & black--I like spicy), and whatever herbs or seasonings I grab. I like thyme in just about anything, maybe paprika, just whatever flavors you like. Sometimes, I put mustard in.

Italian herbs are good, especially if you're going to put them with low-carb pasta or spaghetti squash. Cajun seasoning is good if you like spicy. Parmesan is a basic, but you can use other cheeses, too.

My guys like Teriyaki but I don't so sometimes I'll make some basic meatballs (seasoning with garlic, soy, pepper & parsley) and then sauce some of them with teriyaki for them. (A good teriyaki can be quickly made using soy, garlic, ginger & usually brown sugar but I think splenda would work fine. Some recipes use sherry or saki and other seasonings, but the basic flavor is similar). Meatballs are so versatile! You can even put various meats--anything ground--I sometimes use chicken, turkey or pork. And, my guys are hunters, so sometimes venison. (I make awesome deer jerky!)

So, after you've mixed it all up & smushed it all together, just roll into balls & bake at about 400 till done--depends on the size of the balls. Golf balls will take about 15--20 minutes, tennis balls about 20--30 or so. When they are browned on the outside, they're usually done and it's easy to split one & see.

If you like gravy, the canned brown gravy that costs less than a dollar (store brand) has very few carbs and it's heat & eat and good on meatballs. I still make potatoes (or mashed cauliflower) for the guys and they like gravy, so this is a quick and easy way to do it. The three of us usually use about half of the can at a meal and I just pour the leftover gravy on the leftover meatballs (if there are any) & stick it in the fridge for lunch.

Uh duh, just realized I didn't actually answer your question--just went on a tangent! I'm new to low carb cooking, so haven't really discovered any foods I could cook on the weekend for during the week...but I'm sure some versions of other meals I made in the past could be low carb.

Soup. Just skip on the noodles or potatoes, and fill it with veggies and whatever meat you like. This would actually be a really easy meal to make DURING the week. Throw some canned broth (or water and bullion cubes) into a pot, add frozen veggies and maybe some leftover chicken from the night before. You could get really creative with this, using different veggies and herbs.

An eggplant lasagna. I haven't tried this one yet, but I've seen it made on low carb cooking shows. They slice the eggplant thinly, lengthwise, and use that instead of noodles. You could layer it with whatever you normally use in a lasagna. I usually use onions and green pepper for the first layer, mushrooms for the second, and spinach for the third. I use mozerella cheese on all layers except for the spinach layer, where I use cream cheese. Sounds weird, but it's a family recipie that used cream cheese mixed with ricotta cheese, and I hate ricotta cheese so left that out. I love eggplant parmasean, so I think this would be delicious. And lasagna keeps well in the fridge, although it never has lasted more than a couple days in my house!

That's all I can think of now. Like I said, still new to the low carb thing, and I'm a vegetarian, so I don't have any experience cooking meat dishes. On the weekends, I've been cooking up big bowls of veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms and onions) to use during the week. I also keep some of these veggies chopped raw to throw on salads during the week. I've been frying up a couple of packages of tofu, seasoning each batch differently, to eat during the week. You could probably do this with chicken. Nothing lasts an entire week. I usually cook a lot on Sunday, and then again around Thursday. For quick meals, I use bagged prewashed salad, add some diced veggies, and maybe some cooked tofu and shredded cheese. You could add some precooked chicken, or canned tuna.

Hope I've redeemed myself!

thanks guys, I am printing your suggestions out to hang on the fridge. great stuff!

Deb, I never thought of using crushed pork rinds for breading. WOW, how fabulous. What else can I do with it? Any kind of stuffing? I love stuffing but it is for sure not low carb. LOL

Oh, and how do you cook the tofu? I love tofu. Extra hard is a texture I prefer.

Another thing you can use for a substitute for bread crumbs instead of the crushed pork rinds is any kind of nut "meal" finely ground nuts. I learned this from a friend who is a Seventh Day Adventist- they are strict vegetarians (not vegan, but no meat) - and she gave me a recipe for spaghetti and meatballs, hers called for using ground pecan mhieal. A lot of stores carry it, or you can grind it in you food processor. But if you do it, be careful not to turn it into pecan "butter" (like peanut butter)!

One of my easiest low carb things is those lettuce wraps like they do at Chilis.

Take big heads of boston lettuce and separate all the leaves. Thinly slice (or buy thinly sliced) chicken, and stirfry w/ sesame oil, sesame seed, & light soy sauce. Put aside. Get that "broccoli slaw mix" (it has shredded broccoli, carrots, cabbage, etc - usually bagged in salad section) and stirfry just a couple of minutes in the wok with all of the leftover juices from the chicken & soy (you may want to put more soy.) Then you serve it up by putting some meat and veggies in a lettuce leaf, topping off w/ peanut sauce and rolling up like a fajita.

Not something you can make up ahead of time. But it only takes about 15 min to make, so it really deosn't make a difference.

I make Italian wedding soup in bulk. It has meatballs, ham, onions, spinach, and other veggies. I change up on the different veggies to make it different each time. We also just started grilling a large amount (16) of chicken breast at one time. So Sunday we have grilled chicken breast for dinner. Then during the week, my husband takes one to work with him for lunch. I made chicken salad and grilled chicken green salad this week with them. We also made chicken stir fry with soy sauce.

Jilly, that's a good idea about stuffing--I've never tried. I bet it would work, especially with some other stuff--maybe some chunks of toasted low-carb tortillas for more bulk? I'll have to try that.

I do use crushed pork rinds for casserole toppings--mixed with cheese sometimes, and they are good for that.