Trying to get away from the TV dinners and being Lazy or eating out too much. Trying to get better at cooking the rice. Been eating a lot of pasta as well. Gotta start somewhere… Feel free to post anything or add Suggestions. It’s actually really cheap to eat healthy on a budget I’m realizing
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You look like you’ve gotten off to a good start!
Congratulations to you for making the change. There’s two food threads that you might get some ideas from.
If you’re not already familiar with them one is called Foodies thread, And the other is where are my vegans, Something like that for each.
Here is an article that really doesn’t have that much substance as far as recipes go but gives guideline for three different types of meal preparation.
Mark Bittman is a well-known chef, cook book author, whose premise has been that people are able to eat healthy on a budget.
This article doesn’t go into that that much. One of the most important things is tolook at the vegetables that are in season or otherwise priced affordably.
Frozen vegetables/fruit are a good alternative pricewise and taste wise and cuts down on waste a lot.
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Thank you so much
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Also canned food like your peas. Canned tomato products are very healthy antioxidants because of the Lycopene. I’ve often said that a healthy diet should include a tablespoon or two of tomato sauce every day.
Remember that anything you eat hot can be just as good eaten cold, for instance, your rice and peas Would make a nice cold salad in and of themselves. Or frozen spinach added to them for flavor and taste for another hot meal.
Happy eating!
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Thank you I’m just starting to listen to my body. the first couple months of my sobriety I was just drinking energy drinks and mostly TV dinners … I guess you could say I already have natural energy but sometimes it can make me forget about eating. I might try to make some kind of cold pasta like you’re talking about. But I already noticed such a huge difference. I’m slowly putting weight back on because I think I’m eating the right foods. I realized how much I liked zucchini recently. I’ve just been cooking it in the oven. I’m just trying to stay busy, trying to make changes in every area of my life. But little by little. Thank you so much for the suggestions and reaching back… I also am going to try to start meal prepping, and get more comfortable with cooking meat on the stove top
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I’m 32 years old and a fat bum. I still can’t cook anything. I sit around all day getting fat, the only thing I can cook once in a while is a steak. I can never cook my daughters good meals bc I’m to stupid. It’s always Mac n cheese and chicken patties. I’m a fricken waist of space
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Peanuts are a healthy food. Roasted peanuts. Nutrient dense foods like nuts will be nutritious for you and add calories.
Sardines are a health food just fyi.
I like to microwave sweet potatoes 
(Because I like the flavor not because I need the calories, I don’t.)
You are doing a great job of improving your health!
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Learning to cook requires everything any new habit requires, like intention, motivation, research/planning and action. You can do it and it is so fulfilling to be cooking your own meals.
I think it’s smart to start with what is familiar and move on from there. There are also a whole lot of tutorials and cooking shows out there on you tube or wherever that have helped me over the years.
I’m excited to see where this thread goes! But definitely check out the foodie thread. Recipes aren’t often shared but questions are welcome any time.
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One pro tip if you’re a meat eater: buy chicken parts for cheap and bring to a boil, skim off impurities (foam) and simmer with a quartered onion, if you have it then celery, carrot chunks, garlic and a bay leaf. Start at a boil just briefly and then turn low to simmer. Cool until chicken is just cooked (you can cut in the meat to check). Take the chicken out and let cool and pull it off the bones. Then you can strain the broth through a stainer and either use it to make soup or save it for later.
Then you have super tender chicken for whatever you want to use it for and the extra benefit of a stock/broth.
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Thank you for reaching out and the suggestions on the other thread. I think my body is getting used to real food. My cousin brought me a cheeseburger from McDonald’s like a week ago I really didn’t like it. Which was the first and was really weird lol. The same thing happened when I didn’t have a monster for like two weeks and then I tried it and I was like this is disgusting. I’ve got a lot to learn but it should be fun . I didn’t get sober to be miserable or feel miserable. What I put into my body is so important.
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I hear you there! And cooking can totally be fun. It’s one of my favorite ways to express myself and explore. A great hobby. Like anything new it will require some learning. Working from recipes really has helped me a lot to getting the hang of things to where I can do things on my own.
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I actually have some chicken thawing out in the fridge for tomorrow. I actually wasn’t sure what I was going to do. Maybe I will try this. Normally if I cook meat it’s usually just in the oven. And really haven’t tried too much, but basic things like pork chops with Panco…
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You can poach it like I described and then pull it out before it’s over cooked, let rest a bit, then shred it for multiple uses.
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There’s a great book called “The Everlasting Meal” by Tamar Adler. It’s not really a cookbook like we think of it. It’s a book book that speaks really lovingly about the task of feeding ourselves throughout our lives and offers up really simple and basic ways to begin going about the process of learning to make food for ourselves from what is available and within our grasp. It is a FANTASTIC read and really changed the way that I view food!
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I hope this is helpful!
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I will definitely check this out. Thanks so much
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Definitely helpful. Thank you 
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It’s good to think of staples, too. Like, I cook a batch of some grain like rice or barley or quinoa and you can mix any number of things with it through your week. Soups and stews are also a really good start.
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These are good ideas. I’m slowly getting there. Progress not perfection. Some days I’m still walking around with a jar of peanut butter and a spoon all day lol … I sometimes forget I don’t have to live like that anymore Like you said it really is about the motivation and Cooking being a new hobby.
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