ExRx.net

It's come to my attention that I know absolutely nothing about nutrition, and generally throughout the day have no idea what to eat. I end up having some microwave burger which has around 15g of protein, but that's a 'processed food' right? I want to just maximize my protein intake throughout the day whilst eliminating the crap really, I tend to have eggs or ham every day, around a litre of milk, a protein shake, plus I try to get chicken or some form of meat in. But I imagine sometimes it's the processed kind, still not entirely sure what foods that can be labled to.

Part of the problem is I'm an awful cook, making a few eggs is a struggle. To the point I keep reading about all these things that should be avoided, like processed food, 'bad' fats? I just don't understand much of it. Anyone know of some cheapish easy to make, healthy high in protein meals?

Stop buying your protien from a frozen box.

Steak.

Really though, a nice cheap steak from farmers market or even supermarket. Sprinkle some salt & pepper on the raw meat, rub it around. Turn the skillet/stove top on medium-high to high heat, throw a tablespoon or more of butter in the pan, wait until the pan gets hot and water sprinkled on it sizzles out quickly. Throw the steak on, 2 -3 minutes on each side to sear and get nice markings. During those two minutes, spoon the butter from the pan over top the exposed part of the steak. Once two minutes on each side, throw in the oven at 350 degrees for 5 - 10 minutes depending on if you want your steak rare or well done.

Voila, a great protien meal within only 20 minutes.

1/2 lb. juicy burger.

Measure out 1/2 lb of 70/30 ground beef, & separate into half. Sprinkle salt & pepper. Crumble some of your favorite unprocessed cheese, blue, cheddar, etc. Use hands to mix all ingredients for 15 seconds for each patty. Flatten both patties into 1/4 - 1/2 inch patty. Throw on pre-heated medium - medium high griddle/pan/etc. Cook until meat is browned half way up the patties, then flip and cook until brown all the way through. Finish off for 30 sec on each side one last time, remove and eat! Don't use spatula to squeeze out juices or you'll get a dry burger.

Juicy Pork Chops

Buy chops on the bone and cook as above steak. Add some cooked bacon and crumbled un-processed cheese while in the oven for extra flavors.

hamburger. Buy, put in patties, Add salt, oregano, garlic powder, oniion powder, I dont know, what you like
Tilapia
chicken leg quarter. Put in Over, 425, maybe 45 minutes, I dont know, check make sure juices run clear.

Every protein is easy to make, really. I mean a lot easier than some casserole.

Crock Pot:
Whole Chicken
Chuck Roast


...

come on, seriously, you are really lost on this stuff and cant find enough info out there.
why am I still typing.

I'm sure you've been a newb bachelor before and didn't know how to cook some good meals without calling out to the nearest delivery place... learning how to cook a good juicy steak isn't easy to figure out, even with all the bad information on the internets.

ok. I did work at Bonanza so that helped. And watched mom a few times.

Just saying recipes are pretty much every where.
We cant really tell him anything he cant read...ok... I realize I"ve jsut eliminated the need for 99% of posts on the internet, including mine, asking for help.

... I go now...

Get memebership to WholeSale Club and buy large portions.

Chili is a good start to practice seasoning.

Don't forget your veggies. Anyone can make a salad. Dressing is easy to make too. Just vinegar and olive oil with a little seasoning, maybe some mustard powder, herbs, salt and pepper,lemon. Steam your veggies that you can't eat raw. Drizzle with olive oil or butter for taste.

Veggies come in 2 types, low calorie or high calorie. Eat more of the first type if you're trying to lose weight, more of the second if you're trying to gain weight. To maintain, eat a mix of both. Frozen's OK when it comes to veggies.

Someone earlier said, don't get your food from a box. If it's in a box, it's not real food.

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Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

I know exactly what you're asking. The problem is not so much finding info -- it's finding useful info that ain't B.S. from somebody trying to sell something.

This is what I learned from these forums:

1) Don't eat anything that won't rot. If the bacteria and fungus can't get anything out of it, how can you? This is the easy way to stay away from processed food.

2) Eat 1g protein / 1lb of body weight per day, assuming you are lifting and trying to gain. This one is all over the place, and is not so much "bro science" as some things you will hear.

3) It's not hard to figure out your calorie intake. The rule of thumb is protein and carbs contain 4 calories/gram, fat contains 9 calories/gram. Knowing that you can use food labels and http://www.fatsecret.com to figure out what you're taking in. Increase if you are trying to gain, decrease if you are trying to lose.

4) Protein powder is convenient but it is only protein, you still need fat and carbs.

Buy 'Practical Programming' by Rippetoe and Kilgore, it's got a page or two on nutrition that is worth the $20.00 book price.

@jlmoss Thanks, that's pretty much what I need, some easy ish meals with alot of protein.

@stuward I won't forget them, thanks. Is there a list somewhere of what types of vegetables are high calorie/low cal?

@Ken Thanks for the info. So do you calculate your calorie intake by first counting, how much protein carbs and fats you're getting?

Forgive me if this sounds stupid but, where do you buy food from, notabaly meat? Assuming most of you are from the US, which I'm not. But over here the meat is in packets with transparent wrap ontop, does that mean it's processed?

I'm a lazy mommas boy so my cooking isnt great either, but take the plunge with at least some stuff to fall back on.
5 egg omelletes are something Ill have reasonably often if mommy-kins isnt around to cook the evening meal :) I add cheese, peppers and onions, I tend to never get bored of those, without the cheese its quite dry and I feel like its hard work, but with cheese.. fine.

Cottage cheese is another staple of mine, and peanut butter (but I try to limit peanut butter, didnt know before I came here but omega 6 shouldn't be shovelled down in large amounts [vegetable oil/fat products, including nuts])

I also create a delicate chou frisé et la burger con pignons de pin! (BURGERS AND CABBAGE WITH NUTS!!!! ;) ) - just cook burgers, flash fry the kale and throw in pine nuts - mom made it once and looked simple so I braved that one and really like it.

Burgers obviously need to be reasonably expensive, or rather, good quality (depending on how lucky you are with meat sources) - in England, the north at least, decent burgers tend to be at least twice the price of frozen horrors that half in size when you cook them.

If you have trouble cooking eggs start with scrambled ones. You can easily throw in other ingredients to change the flavor.



http://www.nutritiondata.com is your friend.



Nope. Although some meat is packaged in a modified atmosphere, most wraps are just some meat that got cut and packaged to make shopping quicker. Not that I'm against modified atmosphere anyway. Just telling.

IMO the whole processed VS non processed thing is often blown out of proportions. E.g. legumes come in a tetrapak box, does that make em evil processed food? If you ask me, no. The paleo crowd is especially guilty of doing this, they are so much into their hunter gatherer fantasy, sometimes they make it sound if you haven't killed it or grown it yourself then it isn't healthy. Which is not much practical or even smart.

A clear example of this is dairy. Some of them will insist it's processed food -.-'

It's just going from an extreme to another with no middle ground. Also most authors we read live in the US, and talk in general terms but some things they say are only valid in that part of the world. E.g. some countries in Europe have quite decent cold cuts, they're surely more processed than a steak but still vastly more healthy than microwave dinners, and a convenient way to up your protein intake. But look what they say about them on MDA: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/cold-cuts-primal-paleo

What I do is, wherever there's an ingredient list I read it, and try to use my head. If it has a long list of things which you don't know about, you put it down. If there's only something that you don't know about, you check online and then make your mind up.

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I don't know where the blind could lead the sightless
but I'd still like to witness

Yeah, the only thing I fall back on is takeaways, and toast with ham/egg/bacon, I'm getting sick of them to be honest.



lol yep, I've got some of those shrinking burgers, that's why I don't cook them so much.

I went down the store today, ended up buying some chicken, mackeral, and salmon in a can. I'm in the process of cooking the mackeral, but couldn't figure out what to have with/on it. I settled for spinach, now it's all down to my lack of cooking ability.

You mean in leanness? Or something else? I buy the ground beef closest to 70/30 instead of the really lean ground beef for my burgers. The leaner the beef, the dryer the burger.

Also, I forgot to add on the burger recipe. Add some cornmeal with the salt and pepper to help keep the juices in. Also, cover the burger with a metal bowl or lid during the final 30 sec on both sides and squirt some water under the bowl to create some steam for further juicyness.

Canned fish usually is already cooked. BTW by cooking it again you're likely to kill its omega 3 content.

Something that may help you to get your veggies more tasty. Take a skillet. Pour EVOO. Heat it up. Hotter is better but not so much that you hit smoke point. Cut garlic or onion, and throw it in. Deglaze with water. When you're satisfied with the look of it. Add spinach, beet or whatever else in. Season with salt. Keep deglazing.

Some veggies taste better if you add further seasoning towards the end, e.g. thyme. Don't cook em though, just add, mix and remove.

Balsamic vinegar is also useful to add/change taste. Works with meat, veggies, you name it.

_________________
I don't know where the blind could lead the sightless
but I'd still like to witness

Really? In a can? Hehe

Meat in a can really just can't be good. Farmers Markets or butchers will get you your freshest meats, run there! Hehe, do they call them farmers markets over there?

General rule of thumb... if you can't actually see your meat, buy something else. Unless meat in a can is just a cultural thing on the other side of the pond, otherwise... not good, lol.

Ok canned fish, bad idea, got it. I didn't really know what to get, plus it had a lot of protein in. the chicken and mackeral wasn't canned though, so hopefully that's all good.

Is there a way of finding out how much protein a fish has?, for instance this mackeral, one fillet is 225 cal, 17.9g fats, 4.8g of something which I've forgotten, and 1.4g of salt.