Bachelor Grocery Shopping

rosader · 11-02-2007, 04:24 PM

I have moved out on my own and need help knowing what groceries to buy. I don't want to live on instant noodles and mac & cheese. I want good nutritious meals (I am willing to learn to cook) so those of you that are experts at this help me make my grocery list.

POLBOSS · 11-02-2007, 04:32 PM

Chicken breasts

a little oil in a pan, breast, add your favorite spices, cook to taste, add your favorite sauce (A1, BBQ).
10 minute steamed rice, when ready add a little pepper and salt and butter and make it fluffy with a fork.
Pasta, you know the drill to cook it, add your favorite pasta sauce (Ragu for example) and you can add some of the chicken discussed before.
Buy a crock pot, add beef, all vegetables you want, spices, cook over night

Lettuce, cherry tomatoes, julianne carrots, make your own vinagrettes (in a bowl mix a little vinegar of your choice, your favorite spices, then sloooowly add olive oil, while you mix.
And so on, good luck!

P.S. Buy a stainless steel high quality oil core electric skillet many companies make them, search ebay for stainless steel skillet, the oil core is a plus, to get quick equal heat on all the skillet, endless easy dishes with this kind of skillets, for example, add some pork chops on the bottom, on top put all kind of veggies specially carrots and potatoes, add your favorite spices, and a little water, in like 20 minutes you'll have a delicious meal all in one skillet

Rubi22 · 11-02-2007, 04:35 PM

IF you've got your own place and a balcony/porch, get a grill. Endless possibilities

Ski01xj · 11-02-2007, 04:43 PM

I eat those meals in a bag quite a bit. I think they're bertoli or something. They have like shrimp scampi and things of that nature. If I don't eat those I usually steam some vegetables and toss them with noodles or chicken or something.

In the mornings I have gone back to pop tarts and cereal. Just puts enough in my stomach to give me energy until lunch. Lunch is usually a lean cuisine microwaveable sandwich.

I eat breakfast and lunch at work every day so much options are limited.

PJL · 11-02-2007, 04:55 PM

As far as cooking goes, www.foodnetwork.com is really the best all-in-one resource I've found. There's recipes and they have instructional videos for different cooking methods ("Chiffonade? What the hell does that mean????").

As far as stocking your pantry, you should have some basics. Dried pasta, jars of pasta sauce, canned fruits and veggies, salt, pepper, crackers, cereal, all the condiments, cans of prepared soup for when you're feeling lazy, some basic cooking oils (olive oil and vegetable oil, at least), salsa, hot beverage mixes (coffee, tea, whatever), white rice. In my freezer I like to keep chicken, hamburger (wrapped in 1 lbs. sections), a couple steaks, and then your miscellaneous snack foods - frozen burritos, pizza snacks, things like that. A personal favorite of mine are the frozen raviolis. Get a bag of onions and a bag of potatoes. That stuff is a good foundation. Then get other things as you need them - specific spices, specific ingredients, fresh vegetables and herbs, things like that. If you keep cooking, you'll be surprised how quickly your pantry fills up.

This is coming from a guy who spent a year on his own eating pasta-roni and hamburger helper. Now I love cooking elaborate meals for friends.

rosader · 11-02-2007, 04:58 PM

Thanks PJL that's a big help!

**jbolty** · 11-02-2007, 05:01 PM

boneless chicken, assorted veggies, season to taste. Wrap in 2-3 layers of foil. Stick it on top of your manifold for a couple hours of wheeling. Stop and enjoy.

I'm not kidding. Or, do it the same way but cook it in the oven like a girly man at 350 for an hour.

watch Rachel Ray on 30 minute meals.

PJL · 11-02-2007, 05:05 PM

^ Rachel Ray is good. Alton Brown's show "Good Eats" is also very instructional. He focuses on one main ingredient, shows you a few good dishes, and explains the science and ins & outs behind why he's doing what he's doing. Very informative.

AlTheKillerr · 11-02-2007, 05:09 PM

buy lots of meats and veggies. you can cook all the meat in a pan on the stove and the veggies can be cooked in a pot or just eat them fresh. the meats i ussualy buy: steak, hamburger, sausages, beer brats, chicken breast, salmon or some form of fish. like stated foodnetwork.com has all kinds of recipes so just search around there or just start experimenting.

**grogie** · 11-02-2007, 05:56 PM

My favorite dish as a bachelor was "Bachelor Enchiladas".

1 lb. of ground beef (85% lean... don't drain the fat!)
1 can of refried beans
1 small can of green chilies
1/2 cup of hot salsa
1 brick of cheese
1 package of tortillas
1 bag of corn chips
6 pack of beer

I would get three meals out of it. Very tasty... and I still make it today in fact.

Other then that... peanut butter, bread, eggs, more cheese, pasta, more ground beef, chicken breasts, granola, brown rice to go with chicken, fruit, packages of salad, stew meat with carrots, red cabbage and potatoes (and add sour cream when serving), stuff to make chili, simple stuff like that! But wow, I was 20 plus pounds lighter then now being married.

mdoug445 · 11-02-2007, 05:58 PM

im not a good cook. for example, i tried to cook chicken and some scalloped potato thingys the other night for me and my girlfriend around midnight when we got to my house. didnt turn out great. neither was even edible. my level of cooking max's at throwing a steak on the grill and throwing a potatoe in the microwave. other than that im screwed. i hope my future wife can cook. i even screw stuff up on the george forman. im about to buy a little charcoal grill soon, cause the summer before last me and my buddies would just chill at my house, drink beer, play basketball, talk about cars and girls, and cook steaks that we got for $1 in my driveway (my buddy is a meat manager at a local grocery store....he hooks us up). i could do that.

not to mention that was the best summer ever.

too bad i cant go back and do it all again, it was a blast.

**PM Thor** · 11-02-2007, 06:03 PM

A Man, A Can, And a Plan.

I got this as a gag gift on my 30th birthday, but I use it all the time....plus you don't have to worry about having food go bad, because the main ingredient is canned food.

Outside of that, lots of chicken breasts. You can prepare chicken tons of different ways. And Ramen noodles. Just had to throw that in there.

POLBOSS · 11-02-2007, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PM Thor

A Man, A Can, And a Plan.

I got this as a gag gift on my 30th birthday, but I use it all the time....plus you don't have to worry about having food go bad, because the main ingredient is canned food.

Outside of that, lots of chicken breasts. You can prepare chicken tons of different ways. And Ramen noodles. Just had to throw that in there.

Ramen noodles are good eats, you can sautee some vegetables with meat, add the cooked ramen noodles and make a killer dish

**grogie** · 11-02-2007, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdoug445

im not a good cook. for example, i tried to cook chicken and some scalloped potato thingys the other night for me and my girlfriend around midnight when we got to my house. didnt turn out great. neither was even edible. my level of cooking max's at throwing a steak on the grill and throwing a potatoe in the microwave. other than that im screwed. i hope my future wife can cook. i even screw stuff up on the george forman. im about to buy a little charcoal grill soon, cause the summer before last me and my buddies would just chill at my house, drink beer, play basketball, talk about cars and girls, and cook steaks that we got for $1 in my driveway (my buddy is a meat manager at a local grocery store....he hooks us up). i could do that.

not to mention that was the best summer ever.

too bad i cant go back and do it all again, it was a blast.

Funny... I thought I would make my wife a nice dinner tonight (I'm unemployed at the moment). So I bought a really nice bottle of wine, a large steak that I was going to pan sear, a nice salad, crumbled blue cheese to make a dressing (mix it with cream cheese, mayonnaise, and a touch of lemon juice), and fresh whole grain bread.

So I proceeded to pan sear the steak after seasoning it with salt and pepper, which took two minutes on one side, and about five minutes on the second side. I wasn't doing it just right, so my wife took over and finished cooking it for me. I also got her to make the salad dressing. Then when I was cutting the steak into strips for us to share, she didn't like how I was cutting it, so she took that over too. So I just buttered the bread and poured the wine. After dinner I then got us cigars. I didn't really want to cook anyway.

**Matt Gertsch** · 11-02-2007, 06:31 PM

Shopping list:

beer
hot pockets
pot pies
beer
toilet paper