1. [Popsicle mold] (http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-423-Ice-Pop-Maker/dp/B0002IBJOG/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1I2K5R72JAJH4&coliid=I20FE2039OP3J5)+[Rice cooker](http://www.amazon.com/Aroma-ARC-914SBD-Uncooked-Digital-Steamer/dp/B007WQ9YNO/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1RVSLW24JRHP3&coliid=I2ODNPW2IQ935B)+[Movie](http://www.amazon.com/Imagine-Me-You-Piper-Perabo/dp/B000F7CEBG/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=A4GUQA2KYJP0&coliid=I2CMOKDLTQ0DB8)+[CD case](http://www.amazon.com/TekNmotion-Capacity-Wallet-Not-Machine-Specific/dp/B001807P4A/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=A4GUQA2KYJP0&coliid=IR4RMW9MOFOUS)+[Skyrim](http://www.amazon.com/Elder-Scrolls-V-Skyrim-Playstation-3/dp/B004HYK8Y8/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2RJXE4EY7BMNV&coliid=I9HT5TIWKS2KP)=92.31
   
   
2. Using a pseudonym for her privacy. Farrah Higgins.
   Background: Farrah is one of the closest, if not the closest, friends I’ve ever had. She was my choir teacher in high school and much older than I am. I’ve always been rather mature for my age, so I get along better with older people. Well, we clicked and after I graduated we became super close. As you’ll soon figure out, I loved her in more ways than one.
   
   
   Reason: I don’t even think I have the words to properly describe how grateful I am that she is my friend, how much love I have for her, or just how much I admire her. I think she is absolutely amazing. I could gush on for hours about how amazing I think she is. She is incredibly friendly and loving. It is a blessing to know that God saw fit to create people like her and allow me to be blessed by her presence and faith. I think she is completely insane, well, maybe not completely (that’s reserved for me) but she’s up there.
   
   
   She was there for me, although not in the flesh, my first semester as a freshman in college. I had no friends and was incredibly lonely. We texted, talked, and/or messaged daily. Looking forward to talking with her is what got me through the day. She gave me new eyes to look through and a different perspective. I believe she helped me grow a lot as a person, challenging me to better myself and ask questions. She understands me better than anyone I’ve ever met. I could look at her and not say a word and she’d know what I was feeling and, if necessary, how to comfort me.
   
   
   I think she’s beautiful, externally and internally beautiful. External: I love her eyes. (Then again, that is probably because I have always been an eye person.) They are so expressive and so full of love. I love the way her lips pucker when she says and describes something she thinks is ‘beautiful’. I find it adorable. I love her smile. When she smiles, it seems as if all is right with the world. I love her passion for life and her passion for living it. I love her passion for God; it is inspiring and gives me faith. I love her passion for passion; it frightens and excites me. I love how humble she is. As often as people (and I) tell her that she is amazing, she never lets it go to her head. I love her sense of humor. I love how she’s not afraid to make a joke that is ‘wrong’ by every standard. I love how she is so unafraid to speak her mind. It’s so refreshing.
   
   
   Now to clear up any… issues. I was over 18 when I met her, so don’t fear of some illegal activity or whatever it is people jump to conclusions about. Secondly, although the love is shared, the romantic love is not and mine goes unrequited. We are still friends to this day although from a greater distance due to life taking us in different directions.
   
   
   
3. [Drawing] (http://imgur.com/a/nyISh) I'm pretty proud of those, I wouldn't call myself an artist, but I youtube-d some how to's so I could make it look better. The first one is without color, the second one is colored but it is hardly noticeable.
   
   
4. 7, of course.
   
   
5. Oh, why thank you. I hope yours is filled with wonder and joy as well.
   
   I'm really sorry about the length. If it's too long I can modify it.
   
   EDIT: Add drawing and items

Thanks! No blog, but what are you looking for? I generally tell people it's not actually about the recipes themselves (which is counter-intuitive), because everyone has a different palette & likes different things, it's more about:

1. Building up your own personal recipe database
   
2. Creating macros for that
   
3. Dividing up the macros for that meal or snack to fit your macros for the day
   
   This is the macro calculator I usually use for recipes:
   
   https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
   
   I typically set the serving size to "1" (one) and then set the serving size again to the standard size (ex. 24 brownies), that way if I want to cut 20 larger brownies in the future, I can just do the math on my smartphone, because I have the macros for both the whole recipe & for the standard serving size.
   
   Once you learn how to calculate your own macros (using a calculator, buy a scale, adopt a meal-prep system, etc.), the world is your oyster, because with IIFYM, you can make any recipe out there fit your diet! I do use a handful of modern tools to help me cook; in particular:
   
   
4. Scale
   
5. Instant Pot
   
6. Sous Vide
   
7. Vacuum-sealer (with these bags & these scissors to cut the plastic bags)
   
8. Baking Steel
   
9. Inverter microwave with Sensor Reheat (large or small)
   
10. Deep freezer (typically goes on sale for ~$629 FYI, and because it's an energy-efficient model, only costs ~$5 a month to run)
    
    That scale is the newer version of what I have. You can find cheaper versions for like $15 on Amazon, but I like this one because it does both imperial & metric (so whether the recipe calls for ounces or grams) & has a pull-out display for when you're measuring stuff in a bowl, like say chopped chicken - super convenient!
    
    The Instant Pot is an electronic pressure cooker (nice & safe, won't blow up like the old ones!) that gives repeatable results & cooks food mostly automatically; also great for liquidy meals like stews, chilis, soups, and bisques, for which I storage batches with Souper Cubes. Sous Vide is a bit more of an in-depth discussion (we can chat about that if you're not familiar!), but it basically involves vacuum-sealing your food (primarily meat & some veggies) & cooking them slowly underwater for perfect results every time. The vacuum-sealer is great for use with sous-vide (I vac-seal nearly all of my meats & stick them in my freezer) & also for storing leftovers, like shredded chicken & pulled pork.
    
    The Baking Steel is an amazing device that lets you cook incredible pizzas at home, as well as various breads (I do a lot of no-knead breads, which, if you haven't been introduced to that, is SUPER easy & gives you amazing results!). The Inverter microwave is a newer microwave design that can actually module the power level (most microwaves only operate at like, full power, and "blink" it on & off to simulate a different power level). The main difference with an inverter model, and this one in particular, is the the "sensor reheat" feature, which actually does a ridiculously good job of figuring out how to reheat your food properly, instead of just being hot & rubbery on the outside & still frozen in the middle. The deep freeze speaks for itself...just a place to store my raw & cooked food; I get huge costs-savings because I can buy food in bulk, vac-seal it, and freeze it literally for years.
    
    Now, keep in mind, this is all stuff I've built up over years of cooking, so first, don't feel pressured to buy anything, and second, don't feel like you need to get everything all at once. I enjoy cooking, but most of the time, cooking is a chore, and anything I can do to make that chore easier means that I'll do it more consistently because it's not such a hassle. Like, I can dump an 8-pound pork shoulder (bone removed & chopped into fist-sized chunks) with 1/2 a cup of water into my Instant Pot basket, set it for 70 minutes on Manual, dump it into my electric mixer bowl & shred it in about 60 seconds, let it cool down, and then vacuum-seal up 8 one-pound packages of pulled pork, which is good for 2 to 3 years in my freezer (vac-seal = no air = no freezer burn!). I can then use that pulled pork for BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, quesadillas, loaded baked potatoes, etc. & calculate my macros based off the quantity that I use.
    
    A lot of people take the meal-prep approach of making 25 trays of the same food, but man, I get pretty sick of eating the same thing all the time, haha! So that's why I use appliances (to make it easy) & picked up a deep freezer (to store raw & cooked foods in). Again, most people are pretty shocked when they start tracking how much they truly, actually spend on food every month - everything from grabbing snacks at the gas station convenience store to the extra goodies you get at the grocery store to the quick take-out stuff you get for lunch or on the way home - and once I realized how much I was spending, it was pretty easy to justify some home kitchen equipment purchases over time to help me in both saving money in the long-term & in hitting my macros.
    
    Once you get a personal recipe database built up & create an efficient workflow, IIFYM is actually fairly easy to stick with. I literally eat better than anyone I know & have a better (lower) food budget than most people I know. As far as eating schedules, you can do one meal a day, three meals a day, six meals a day, doesn't matter, as long as you hit your macro numbers for the day! I like to do 7 "meals" (more like snacks, really), as I have reactive hypoglycemia & find that eating smaller meals every few hours does a better job of keeping my energy up than just 3 big meals a day.
    
    part 1/3

The "all or nothing" personality is something I struggled with. I recognized it, as you have, but what really made the biggest difference was making it my primary focus. The reason I never seemed to reach my goals, time and time again, was because I burnt out. I was fueling myself with the initial rush of motivation, forgetting that I would soon have to switch fuels to something I wasn't ready for: discipline. So, it's important for us to start small. Have you read "The Hobbit"?

Bilbo Baggins didn't go straight from his comfortable little hobbit hole straight to the Smaug's lair. His first step was simply leaving his hobbit hole, which he never would have done if he knew from the start that he'd be facing a dragon.

So, you need to start small. You have these goals, which are great, but they are the long-term goals. We need to break these things down into small, do-able goals that won't result in burnout. You need to leave your hobbit hole before facing your dragon.

---

You want to start going to the gym, among many other things. Going to the gym involves:

(a) convincing yourself to go to the gym, even on a rainy day or when you're super comfortable at home

(b) getting off your ass, into the car for ~15 minutes, into the gym where you would feel guilty for working out less than 30 minutes since you drove there, driving back home for ~15 minutes

(c) paying for a membership

Is this sustainable right off the bat? Remember, this is about building habits. We want to make this so easy that you will have no problem doing this. So start small and reduce the barriers of entry that will likely burn you out after your 2 weeks of motivational fuel runs out.

I did this simple routine. You can do it at home, it takes 20 minutes max, and all you need is a pullup bar. How much more doable does this sound?:

(a) convince yourself to get off your ass and walk 10ft to your pullup bar

(b) do pullups, pushups, and squats for 10-20 minutes

People may chime in about this program is missing this or that or how barbell squats cured their cousin's cancer. Fuck 'em. Doing something consistently is infintely better than doing the "ideal workout" inconsistently for 4 months before tapering off working out altogether. And guess what? Once you have built the habit of working out and want to go to the gym, you can!

---

You want to keep up with housework. So, using the same principles, start small! I mean so fucking small that you would laugh at yourself if you couldn't even do that. Turn on your favorite song and do housework until that song is over. You aren't obligated to do any more than the length of that song. Sure, you may not have cleaned the entire house, done all of your laundry, and roasted a fucking turkey. But, you may have done the dishes, or at least half of them. Again, something consistently is infinitely better than nothing. And, again, guess what!? Once you have built the habit of doing housework for the length of a song, you can play two songs!

---

You want to be healthier and take better care of yourself. Well, working out and doing some housework certainly falls under this. Let's address healthy eating. Again, we want to make this as simple as possible. Here is what I do that has been working really well:

Toss the following into a pressure cooker:

Meat (Choose 1):

• Chicken breasts
  
• Chicken thighs
  
• Pork
  
• Turkey
  
  Veges & stuff (choose 4):
  
  
• Green beans/Asparagus/Cauliflower/Brocolli (choose 1)
  
• Mixed greens
  
• Mushrooms
  
• Carrots
  
• Baby potatoes
  
  Sauce (choose 1):
  
  
• Curry (+ variety to choose from)
  
• Salsa (+ variety to choose from)
  
• Marinara/Spaghetti/Tomato sauce (+ variety to choose from)
  
  Seasoning:
  
  
• Garlic
  
• Onion
  
  I don't even cut anything. If anything, I just use my hands to split the green beans, carrots, etc. Again, low barrier of entry. Keep it simple!
  
  At the same time, on the stove or in a rice cooker, make something to put this all on top of:
  
  
• Brown rice
  
• White rice
  
• Orzo
  
• Quinoa
  
  It takes about ~30 minutes to make a ton of healthy and tasty food. I do this twice per week.
  
  For breakfast, I toss 1 cup of oatmeal in a bowl, 2 cups of water in that bowl, cover and microwave it for 4 minutes, and add a tbsp of brown sugar and maybe some peanut butter. Simple, easy, fast, little barrier of entry.
  
  ---
  ---
  ---
  
  We've added quite a few (doable!) things for you to work on. You said you want to start studying programming. I would caution you to not start doing that now. You don't want to burn yourself out. Remember, start small, we're building habits here.
  
  This doesn't mean you won't ever study programming. In fact, what if you start now? What if you burn out in 1 month and don't touch programming again? What if this leads you to stop working out, stop doing housework, stop cooking? It's not worth it.
  
  So how do you know when you're ready to add studying programming? Read this. Only make 3 cards: workout, housework, cook.
  
  Once you are done with these 3 cards, you can create a new one for programming. But make sure you follow the same principles of starting small! Only commit yourself to 10 minutes a day. You can always do more, but 10 minutes is success.
  
  -
  
  Enjoying this? Looking for another adventure to go on after 7 weeks of programming? Fix your sleep schedule. Make a card for light's out at : pm.
  
  -
  
  At this point, we're getting closer to facing Smaug. You want to add another thing? Add meditating. Again, start small! Start with 5 minutes a day, or maybe less! Whatever sounds so doable that there is no way you couldn't do it. I don't give a shit if that means 1 minute per day.
  
  ---
  
  Don't feel bad if you don't fill out these cards perfectly. Remember, something is better than nothing. If you only have an X for half of those days, you've still improved yourself enormously.
  
  There will be fuck-ups. Bilbo fucked up, but he still got to Smaug's lair. Use your fuck-ups. Fucking abuse those fuck-ups. When you fuck-up (which you will, it's part of the process), make it a point to learn from it. Make yourself glad you did it. Didn't workout today? Do something you otherwise wouldn't have done that day: maybe go for a short 5 minute walk, or call your mother to tell her you love her, or send an email to your favorite band or author and thank them for existing, or read a short story on /r/writingprompts, or write a haiku, or tell yourself you're fucking awesome. It doesn't have to be big, but I guarentee it will be worth doing.
  
  
  
  Remember, the first step is coming out of your hobbit hole. There will be many, many challenges along the way. You might have to fight some spiders in Mirkwood, you might have to get in some barrels to escape some wood-elves, you might find a ring. Your life is a book, you aren't going to go directly from your hobbit hole to Smaug's lair. Along your journey, you likely won't even be thinking about Smaug's lair, because you should be focusing on the present, your 3 minute dishwashing session, your 10 minute workout. There will be a point you will look back and see how far you are from your hobbit hole. Before you know it, you'll be standing in front of a dragon's lair and realizing that back in your hobbit hole, you never in 100 years would have expected to be standing right there.
  
  
  
  Now go take your first step toward becoming Bilbo.
  

Well, there are a lot of ways to do it, depending on your budget. It's pretty simple if you buy the right equipment, but "the right equipment" is expensive and improvising is fiddly.

I'd recommend looking this site over some, they have a lot of introductory guides and such. /r/roasting is also an awesome sub in general.

The biggest issue with home roasting is that the beans need to move continuously, for the entire roast, or else they get burned. There are some ways to do this with improvised equipment though:

-Using an air (popcorn) popper. Assuming you have the right model, it does get hot enough to roast coffee, and the beans are light enough to blow around in the interior chamber nonstop. It gets pretty messy though, and you don't have much control. You also can't do huge batches of coffee all at once.

You should have a dedicated popper just for coffee, since you don't want the different oils mixing. Also, some poppers aren't powerful enough, and many modern ones have safety features that'll automatically shut off before it gets hot enough. Some people have fun with disabling those features and/or modding their poppers to give them more control.

"The Poppery II" is a commonly-suggested model for air roasting like this. They don't make them anymore, but they were made like tanks and so you can often find them in thrift stores.

This is a good, cheap, intro way to do it, though the lack of control is annoying. The flavor develops in part based on how long it's kept at each temperature point, and an air popper gives you very few options for adjusting temperature.

Alternatively,

-Using a stovetop popcorn roaster, like this. It has a handle that allows you to stir the coffee continuously, and it can work pretty well. The main drawback is monitoring/nailing the temperature, which is tricky. It's easier with a gas stove.

There are other methods as well, like using a heat gun, but I've never tried them and can't comment. I should also point out that everything I've just explained is a fire hazard, as is coffee roasting in general - the beans need to get quite hot, and they give off a thin, paperlike substance called chaff. I've never had a fire, but it's something you need to be aware of and plan for accordingly.

-If all of that sounds like too much of a hassle, you can just buy an actual coffee roaster. They make it way easier, and you can generally roast much larger batches at once. Sadly, they tend to be pretty expensive.

I'd recommend this one, which is actually on the very inexpensive end for a roaster. It's good quality though, and I've had one for over 1.5 years now without issue. Also note that the site I linked includes 8 pounds of free coffee when you buy from them, and (at least when I bought mine) they charge the same price for the unit as everyone else. So that's nice.

I really like roasting my own coffee. It can be a pain at times, but it means I always have fresh-roasted coffee available. Unless you buy from a local roaster, you've probably never had fresh coffee before. Whole bean coffee goes stale in like a week, and grocery store coffee is much older than a week. Pre-ground coffee goes stale in like minutes or hours.

They cover the stale taste up by burning the shit out of their beans, and so almost everything you see in a grocery store is only 1-2 stages removed from being charcoal. This page shows you what the beans look like at every stage, and you can see how "french roast" actually means "burnt to hell."

Man, long post! At any rate, roasting your own coffee can be quite nice. Green coffee beans run around $4-6/pound normally and you can sometimes find it for even cheaper. At least where I live, even burnt grocery store coffee is often much more expensive than that. So you're paying less for better quality -- as long as you don't mind improvising, or a big up-front investment.

Edited tl;dr: It's a good way to save money and get better coffee, though it can be either annoying or require a big upfront investment. This page has a lot of good introductory info on the whole process.

For the ice cream base:

• 5-8 egg yolks, for date ice cream, I use 5. For regular vanilla I use 6.
  
  
• 2 cups of Heavy cream
  
  
• 1 cup of whole milk
  
  
• 2/3 cup of sugar
  
  
• A pinch of fine salt. I use the morton brand fine sea salt, but if you can't find it, you can always put salt in a grinder.
  
  
• 2 vanilla beans
  
  I like the balance of this recipe, but my best friend loves super dense super rich ice cream. When I make batches for him, I use 8 egg yolks, 2 1/2 cups heavy cream, and 1/2 cup of milk. Tinker with the ratios to fit your taste.
  
  I also use honey instead of sugar for his ice cream, because it makes him happy. I've been asked about using date sugar for this specific ice cream, but since I haven't gotten my hands on it, I can't speak for how much to substitute.
  
  How to make it:
  
  Scrape the vanilla beans and put the scraped flesh and pods into a saucepan with the cream, sugar, salt, and milk. Simmer the mixture until all the sugar is dissolved. Don't boil, simmer.
  
  Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl and slowly whisk in some of the hot cream mixture. Don't do it too fast, you don't want to curdle the eggs. Then whisk the egg-cream mixture back into the rest of the cream mixture in the pan. Cook the mixture until it coats a wooden spoon. It should be fairly thick. If you draw a line with your finger on the spoon, the mixture should stay separate. Like this
  
  If you did everything well, you shouldn't have clumps. If you have clumps, you'll get better after making it a few times. Strain in through a fine mesh sieve and let it cool. Once it's cool, put it in the fridge to get cold. I usually cook at night, so I just leave it in the fridge overnight.
  
  I used to have this ice cream maker before someone stole it. :( It was a gift. I couldn't afford a new one, so I got this. It's adequate. The bowl needs to be pre-frozen for 48 hours, though I do it for 4 days. It's important to keep it straight so it freezes evenly. You pour the mixture in, and 20 mins later, done. You now have soft serve vanilla ice cream.
  
  The dates:
  
  I puree 15 dates in the vitamix, after making sure there are no pits. I chop 5 dates so that there are nice little chunks here and there.
  
  I try to buy moist dates, but if they aren't moist, I sometimes add a few tsp of water or bourbon while pureeing.
  
  Now all you do is swirl it into the ice cream, and put it in the freezer to get hard. Some people like soft serve, I like mine hard and slow melting.
  
  
  
  
  

OK, so it has some startup costs due to it needing a rice cooker and crock pot plus Quinoa is expensive if you buy it in smaller amounts, but you're a bachelor so it's likely you've got a little extra money.

A rice cooker is going to be an important addition to your cooking tools because fuck using the stove and burning shit or having to stand over your cooking. It's easy to use, easy to clean, and it's pretty much automatic, you fill it up, plug it in, flip it to on...and blam that shit's cooking. When if flips itself to off, your rice or quinoa will be done.

A big ass crock pot will serve as the main cooking device for your meals. Again, screw the stove, you don't want to have to stand over the damn thing...pour stuff into this bitch flip it on and go to work on what you'd rather be doing. The bowl comes out and goes right into the dishwasher. I'd have starved to death without a slow cooker when I was a bachelor. As you're making meals for several days here...your mother's little 5 quart version isn't going to cut it, spend the 35 bucks and get this one. The reason you aren't buying a bigger one...they don't make one bigger that isn't 200 bucks.

Quinoa This stuff becomes your "rice" except that it's MUCH better for you than rice. If you're poor or don't care all that much about nutritional value, then by all means, buy rice. But seriously...25 pounds of dry quinoa will last you a long fucking time. Get a big tupperware container, pour the quinoa into it, and leave a 1 cup measuring cup in it. If you're looking to cut some costs but still get some of the nutritional value, mix it half and half in your tupperware so you don't have to mess with it when you're making the meals. The water to food mix is the same for both, 2 cups water, 1 cup quinoa (or NON instant rice).

Meat...buy whatever is on a good sale, never pay more than 3.99 per pound for beef (we aren't buying steaks, look for top or bottom round and buy what's on sale, after 12 hours in a crock pot you won't be able to tell a filet from rump roast), or 1.99 per pound for chicken, pork, or 80/20 ground beef (for the love of your colon don't go worse than 80/20.) Shop the sales, have your mother or sister or grandfather or thrifty co-worker look at the sales fliers and find coupons if you don't have time. Buy in bulk, but freeze in smaller quantities ~ 2 pounds each in generic 1 quart FREEZER bags, not the cheap sandwich ones or you get freezer burn. I buy the Walmart brand freezer bags in boxes of like 100 and they're fine.

My wife still laughs and says she can always tell when I find good sales because when I do, I revert to bachelor shopping style. Thursday I came home with 12 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts from Stop and Shop because they were on SUPER cheap sale as they were getting close (3 days) to expiration date, they were a buck a pound, I bought as much as I figured I could fit in my freezer.

Vegetables. This is where you're going to get a good chunk of your nutritional kick. When I was a bachelor I would go to the grocery store on Sunday morning and hit the "it won't last much longer" shelf in the produce aisle. I would buy pretty much whatever vegetables they had if I could chop them and toss them into the crock pot, and because I was going to start cooking it in like an hour, I didn't give a shit that it wasn't going to last another 5 days. I found that I was eating a ton of shit I had never heard of, but it was almost always delicious and amazingly more nutritious than eating from a box.

Vegetables that you should always keep on hand are onions, whole carrots, sweet potatoes, and turnips. They're all cheap regardless of sale, they last a long time if stored properly too. I would buy 10 pound bags of onions, 5 pound bags of carrots, for sweet potatoes and turnips I just made sure I always had like 5-10 pounds. To keep these lasting a long time, get a wire cart thing from Staples or Walmart for like 20 bucks, the wire mesh keeps them open to the air and dry, to help prevent rot. It's also on wheels so if the onions make a mess you can move it and just vacuum under it plus you can drag it over to the kitchen with you when you cook.

To make your meals, you start this the night before you want to eat.
Take out 2 beers, start drinking one, pour the other into the bottom of the crock pot.
Cube your meat (or if it's still frozen then fuck it toss it in whole,) chop your vegetables and add both to the crock pot at about a 1 to 1 portion ratio, if the meat is frozen pack the vegetables around it evenly, if you remembered to thaw the meat and cube it (which will improve your meal quality) then mix them in the crock pot. Season this any way you like. I buy spices cheap from Atlantic Spice Company as they're better quality and a lot less money than grocery store spices. I like the smoky meat flavor so I also add a capful of liquid smoke or toss it with Taco Seasoning once in a while, regardless this is up to you, but when in doubt, onion, garlic, oregano, parsley, salt, pepper. Once you've got like 2 pounds of meat and 2 pounds of vegetables packed into your crock pot, put it on low then walk away. I normally started mine at like 8-10pm.

About 30 minutes before you want dinner, toss 2 cups of quinoa into the rice cooker with 4 cups of water along with some salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder. Push the cooking thing down on your rice cooker and walk away. If you were cooking a frozen chunk of meat instead of cubed meat, take this time to shred the fuck out of it inside of the crock pot, no need to mess up any more plates or anything, use a fork and a big ass knife and get the meat evenly shredded to like a pulled pork consistency, then stir the vegetables into it.

When it pops up then take a ladle of the meat and vegetable mix over a scoop of your quinoa and enjoy a badass meal. You'll find that you can fill tupperware containers with the quinoa and the meat/vegetable mix and freeze them or toss them into the fridge for lunches/dinners throughout the week. I would often freeze half of mine and set the other half in the fridge for lunches, the frozen ones would get rotated out so I wasn't eating the same thing lunch and dinner 5 nights a week. If you freeze them, at least date them. I never bothered to label what it was other than that, but they keep like 6 months in the freezer and it's nice to have a mix of different meals.

Sorry I didn't see this until now. I hope it's still relevant to you!

1. Buy a rice cooker from Japan. The "from Japan" part is important. (Korea is also OK.) I like Zojirushi; I have this one: https://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-NS-ZCC10-Uncooked-Premium-1-0-Liter/dp/B00007J5U7.
   
   
2. Buy rice. I like short-grain white rice that's fairly glutinous, since it holds together well. Calrose Botan is good. You should try different kinds; once you get fancy, you can match your dish with different kinds of rice. Or you can just buy 20-lb bags of the rice you like.
   
   
3. The rice cooker will come with a cup for measuring rice. Don't lose this! Put one measure of rice in the bottom of the rice cooker.
   
   
   
4. The inside of the rice cooker will have lines for the amount of water to add. Add water to the line marked "1", because you used 1 scoop.
   
   
5. Open 2 regular-sized cans of pinto beans or one ginormous can of pinto beans. Drain out the liquid. (You can use a collander if you're fancy, but I kind of hold the opened lid down to prevent the beans from sliding out and shake it over the sink. Rinse the beans once or twice with tap water, drain the tap water, and add the beans to the rice.
   
   
6. This is your basic prep, which you'll add things to. I like to use pre-cooked chicken, because I do not have time to cook my own chicken. Rotisserie chicken is aces - rip off little bits and throw it on top of the beans. Those pre-cooked strips are good, too. Or use the internet to find directions for cooking boneless chicken breasts, cook them, cut them into cubes, and throw them on top. DO NOT put raw chicken in this prep unless you enjoy food poisoning.
   
   
   
7. If you want your spinach cooked, mound it in there on top of the beans and rice. I like to fill the bowl almost to the brim - it'll cook down.
   
   
   
8. Don't add cheese before cooking!
   
   
   
9. Press "Start" on your rice cooker. If you got the Zojirushi, it will play you a tune!
   
   
   
10. When your rice cooker is done (it plays another tune), gently mix ingredients together. Or dig down through the layers, lasagna style. Put this in a bowl, or a tortilla. Layer cheese, guacamole, sour cream, chili pepper flakes, and/or salsa on top in the proportions you like. I like salt, so I usually add a little salt.
    
    
11. That's it! The permutations are kind of endless; canned tuna, Rotel tomatoes, frozen vegetables, a raw egg. Sure, the frozen broccoli is better steamed separately, but you're a grad student with limited time and patience, so throw it on top of the rice! It's still good! If you're really short on time, skip the rice and just make beans plus whatever else you want - it'll heat everything up and keep it warm for you and kind of simmer stuff. I think it tastes better that way.
    
    
12. For oatmeal, add oatmeal instead of rice, set the rice cooker setting to "porridge", and add water to the line that says "1: porridge". Add whatever combo of sweet/savory you like.
    
    
    This is all pretty forgiving, so you can experiment a lot to figure out what works for you. I pretty much use mine for everything except baking and boiling water. (Reheated leftovers in the rice cooker requires putting the leftover in the rice cooker and then turning it on until hot. It's aces for Chinese and Mexican food.)

Sounds like fun! I'll have to do this later

1.) Something that is grey: Pelican Gray Nail Polish. (on private WL)

2.) Something reminiscent of rain: Shower Curtain is a barrier between the bathroom tiles and cascading, rain-like, waterfall that flows from the showerhead. (on dream WL)

3.) Something food related that is unusual: Candy Mold. Chocolate frogs, anyone? (on under $5 WL)

4.) Something on your list that is for someone other than yourself. Tell me who it's for and why. (Yes, pets count!): Ice Cream Maker. No ice cream for me because I started keto last week. My friends and family would benefit from this when I make them some delicious ice cream. (on dream WL)

5.) A book I should read! I am an avid reader, so take your best shot and tell me why I need to read it!: The Knife of Never Letting Go. It's book one of the Chaos Walking trilogy, which has rave reviews. Apparently it's a dark, dystopian book full of suspense. (on high priority WL)

6.) An item that is less than a dollar, including shipping... that is not jewelry, nail polish, and or hair related!: Laser Finger Beams (not on WL)

7.) Something related to cats. I love cats! (keep this SFW, you know who you are...): Westside Warrior Nail Polish. Lions, which are really big cats, are warriors of the jungle. (on under $5 WL)

8.) Something that is not useful, but so beautiful you must have it: Origami Star Paper. I like folding these, but once I make them into stars, I literally have nothing to do with them. There's jars of them all across my house and all I can do is look at them (on under $5 WL)

9.) A movie everyone should watch at least once in their life. Why?: Song from Iron Man 3 Soundtrack. Everyone should see it because Iron Man + Tony Stark + RDJ = <3 (on digital WL)

10.) Something that would be useful when the zombies attack. Explain.: Spin-the-shot. If zombies attack, I would need to be drunk, so this would come in handy for some last minute fun before I turn into a brain eating zombie. Let's face it, I'm not surviving a zombie attack... (on $5-$10 WL)

11.) Something that would have a profound impact on your life and help you to achieve your current goals: Coconut Oil. Everyone on the keto subreddit raves about this stuff. Being a newbie to this lifestyle, I feel that if so many people had great results using this oil, that it would help with my goals. (on $11-$25 WL)

12.) One of those pesky Add-On items: Anti-stress face mask (not surprisingly, found on my add-on WL)

13.) The most expensive thing on your list. Your dream item. Why?: Globe Bar. I would feel like a super cool James Bond-esque spy who would have a secret room hidden behind a bookshelf. Plus I love alcohol and globes. (on dream WL)

14.) Something bigger than a bread box: Desk Easel. (on $11-25 WL)

15.) Something smaller than a golf ball: Earrings. (on private WL)

16.) Something that smells wonderful: Pink Punch Baby Lips (on add-ons WL)

17.) A (SFW) toy: Kindle. I would consider this a techie toy. (on dream WL)

18.) Something that would be helpful for going back to school: Fun Colored Pens. (on add-on WL)

19.) Something related to your current obsession, whatever that may be: Paints. My current obsession is painting! (on $11-25 WL)

20.) Something that is just so amazing and awe-inspiring that I simply must see it. Explain why it is so grand: Mug. I love love love this literature mug. I not only love the varying typography all over it, but I think that there are some really striking first lines of literature. (on $11-25 WL)

BONUS

1.) Real name: PM sent

2.) Made in Oregon: Handwarmer Mug

Edit: raffle phrase - fear cuts deeper than swords

If you dislike vegetables here are a couple of good ways. They aren't recipes but are good and easy habits I found when trying to do the same thing. Luckily in my case I'm younger but want to try to avoid trouble later on. But I'm a picky eater too so maybe it will help you

• Do stir-fry and eat it over rice. You can try it with various sauces for different flavors while still eating a good variety of vegetables in each sitting. I do this, and use a good quality rice steamer that can hold rice at eating temperature for up to around 5 days before needing to change it out.
  
  You can stir fry some vegetables in a few minutes and have rice ready to go as soon as you finish, and is very fast when done this way.
  
  If you go to a normal place like Safeway\Frys\Kroger\Giant Eagle\Bashas you can probably find a sauce brand called Soy Vay that makes some fairly decent ones right out of the bottle.
  
  
• Another good way is salads. Just try to eat a small salad with each meal. The lettuce won't give you what your doctor wants, but if you put some vegetables in with it it will help.
  
  Also, try eating them cold\raw. I'm not a big vegetable person either but find that some things like spinach, broccoli and such taste better when only lightly cooked like in stir fry, or cold out of the fridge as a side dish. Like for example try dipping pieces of brocoli in something like a salad dressing, especially something like Italian dressing if you like it because the calories will be lower.
  
  
• An honorable mention would be in soups. Some vegetables I don't like on their own such as celery I have no problems with at all once their flavors have been blended in a soup.
  
  The best way for someone who dislikes them to get them into your diet would be to have them be a side dish. Make a sandwich or dinner or something that isn't too unhealthy but is something you know you like. Then have a bit of soup, steamed\stir-fried vegetables or whatever on the side as a piece. Then add in a third thing thats really fast such as a piece of whole grain bread.
  
  I think giving yourself a couple things to go back to between vegetable bites can make it easier as well.
  
  

If cost is a factor, definitely consider getting a dehydrator. I have this one.

The case:

1. It's easy. There are recipes all over the Internet, and many are slightly intimidating, but it basically comes down to "Get food without big chunks, spread it out on the tray, and turn the dehydrator on."
   
   
2. It's cheap. Check out the cost on dehydrated bulk items. Compare with the cost of fresh items (a little tricky because of water weight, but compare per calories). Grocery store food is inexpensive and your dinner leftovers are practically free. Dried bulk items cost a fortune.
   
   
3. You can make more calorically dense foods by including fat. Dehydrated meals tend not to have much fat, because it goes rancid over a period of weeks or months rather than the years that people expect backpacking food to last. If you dehydrate your own food, though, you can make your stuff a few days before your trip and have it be fattier and tastier. Yeah, you can also just add oil during rehydration, but that does mean you'll have to carry a dreaded extra container. (And it's not as tasty in many recipes.)
   
   
4. Better food, straight up. Food I've prepared at home and then dehydrated is delicious. It's way better than anything made from pre-dehydrated ingredients. You can get all the spices and sauces perfectly adjusted BEFORE dehydration instead of tossing raw ingredients together and hoping that they come together in beautiful symphonic unity when you rehydrate them. Meat that's been simmered or slowcooked with herbs is waaaay yummier than meat that's been rehydrated with herbs.
   
   
5. There's a lot to be said for dehydrating fruits and vegetables at the absolute peak of their ripeness. I'm currently obsessed with banana jerky (banana slices dried to a leathery texture). When I do our weekly grocery shopping, I buy several bunches for about $2, all in, and watch them patiently. On the day that they're first lightly speckled, I toss them into the dehydrator. I cannot describe accurately how good this shit is. I'm not kidding. It's fucking up my diet.
   
   
6. More options. This is somewhat addressed in point 1, but doing your own dehydrating frees you from the tyranny of foods that rehydrate easily. I can have normal spaghetti if I want it -- I'm not stuck with ramen because it'll rehydrate without simmering.
   
   
7. Healthier food on trail. This is a knock on from everything else, but after getting the dehydrator, I found my food choices drifting away from candy and toward healthy, real food. Well-made mango leather is way tastier than Skittles. I'm sure there's no meaningful health benefit over the course of a short trip, but it just feels pleasant and right to be eating real, natural foods on trail. It's a wrinkle I hadn't expected. I still like Snickers bars here and there, but it's become a treat rather than a staple.
   
   
   

TLDR; Calculate cost per meal. Eating out: $10-$15 per meal. Cooking at home: $1-$5 per meal

If you're serious about cutting back on food costs, my personal take on that is all about cost per meal. This includes eating out AND cooking at home.

When eating out, I try to make sure I save enough leftover for a proper meal portion to reheat the next day. Sometimes I can stretch it to 3 meals even, but that's not very common. So now instead of $20 for one meal, you're looking at $20 for two/three meals ($10/meal or less). That one step alone would at minimum halve your "eating out" costs. I know that might not be practical for every meal you buy, but you get the gist.

Now contrast that to cost per meal when cooking for yourself. Depending on how "fancy" of a meal I'm looking to do, my cost per meal, cooking for a family of 4, ranges anywhere from <$1 per serving (for a simple salad + protein) to ~$8 per meal for a nice steak dinner (grilled ribeye + fresh corn on the cob or any other veg + creamy mashed potatoes). The steak dinner is a bit of a splurge and definitely on the higher end of the cost scale, but you'd easily spend $25+ on something like that at a restaurant.

You don't have to be a wiz in the kitchen though to start learning some basic techniques/recipes and making tasty food that you'll enjoy. Get yourself an Instant Pot - $50 on Amazon! and make some chili. Here is a perfectly good Instant Pot chili recipe - skip the step about the fancy chicken stock mixture, just use straight up chicken stock.

I won't rehash the whole recipe, but here's what you would need at minimum for a decent chili:

• 1 lb ground beef ($3)
  
• 1 onion, diced ($0.50)
  
• 3 cloves garlic ($0.10)
  
• 2 cans of pinto or kidney beans ($1 per can)
  
• 2 cans of diced tomatoes + chiles (like Rotel - $1 per can)
  
• 1 packet of chili spice mix ($2? I'd usually just use my own spices but you might not have your own atm)
  
• 1 cup chicken stock ($2 for qt)
  
  So that comes out to about $12 for all ingredients to make a literal gallon of chili! Let's just assume an 8 oz bowl per serving, and this recipe makes at least 8 servings of chili, coming out to ~ $1.50 per serving! Even if you doubled your portion because you were hungry and ate 2 bowls each meal, that's still only $3 per serving! If the thought of eating a bowl of chili for 8 meals in a row bums you out, there's so many other things you can do with chili - chili dogs, chili burgers, chili over rice, chili mac & cheese. Or simply take a break from chili and eat something else you've prepared.
  
  Point is, obviously eating at home is far cheaper. But the real question is just how much cheaper, and if you're serious about tracking your food costs, this is what I've found to be the most helpful for me. Yes, you should budget for weekly groceries, but it's also important to have a plan for how you're going to stretch that $50 (or w/e). It won't do you any good to focus on groceries and home cooking if you let some of that go to waste by not using it before it expires.
  
  The cost per meal is simply too good to beat - unless you're only eating off the $1 menu at McDonald's, in which case you probably wouldn't be having this problem in the first place.
  
  If you're interested in any more cheap meals or tips w/ Instant Pot etc... just let me know I'd be happy to share.

Woohoo! I've been waiting for this one. I talked in the IRC for a bit about my new best friend: The InstantPot!

If you don't know what it is, a quick run down: It's a 7-in-1 electric pressure cooker that you can use as a slow cooker, rice cooker, sauteeing pan, yogurt maker, steamer, and warmer. The only thing is won't do is dehydrate!

If you don't know what a pressure cooker does, it can essentially cut your slow cooker meals down from 4 hours to 25 minutes. For the standard "jar of salsa + chicken breast/thighs" recipe, we have shredded chicken in front of us 30 minutes after it's in the pot. So far I've made succulent pulled pork, amazing shredded chicken, and beans from dried in record time.

My favorite recipe really is the salsa chick (so simple, so versatile), and I end up making 2 pounds of it to spread throughout dinner,s my work lunches, and a little leftover in the freezer for a rainy day. It makes meal prep unbelievably easy. I haven't made a good chili or anything yet because it's summertime, but I know it's going to be awesome.

But the best part? Throwing out my rice cooker (I am a cook of many talents, but perfectly fluffy rice in a pot somehow eludes me) and slow cooker, and thereby decluttering our kitchen/pantry.

I promise I'm not a salesperson (I feel like one, I just LOVE this thing!) but here are some recipes I've tried that are simple, basic, and what I feel are the most useful with my IP.

• Pressure Cooker Kalua Pig
  
• Salsa Chicken
  
• "Roast" Chicken
  
• Beef Stew
  
  Anyhow, it's just been a valuable asset to my cooking game!

• Wine Oakland raiders sunglasses these sunglasses would help in so many ways. First they will help me get the golden snitch. Flying around, the snitch is within reach but oh no the sun is in my eyes! NOPE!!!! I win! Also sunglasses will help me in awesome spell duels. I wont be blinded by the brightness of the spells.


• Broom Beer Pong Belt Buckle well the belt buckle is a bottle opener so there is that! But also other house will tremble in fear of my amazing beer pong skills. Ron was good at chess and look what it did for him. Ill have the courage to step up and save the day if need be.

• Hat this pizza baker we gotta eat something! Why not pizza

• Bookpopcorn maker popcorn is a low calorie snack and is delicious and portable. What if we were hungry but need to do something, we can pop some popcorn and not be late for class.

• Trunk-finding nemo funko pop nemo can be our mascot. The lessons from the movie can be applied to life, just keep swimming for instance! Also it will help me sleep better which will help my studies
• Cape- this movie What are we gonna do on out downtime? Everyones bringing stuff that will be helpful but remember this is a school and sometimes we need to relax and I personally like to relax with Anna Kendrick and the cups song



Mischief Managed

Yay! I'm so excited that you're getting your own place! That's such a good feeling!

/u/Pinalope4Real and /u/dnd1980

Startup an excel spreadsheet and make a budget for yourself. I find that once I have a budget setup I pay even more attention to my money and figure out new ways to save. I have helped my roommate and my boyfriend setup a budget. :o)

The meat market can save you sooo much money and make you more conscious about the items you are buying and motivate you to cook more.

Crockpots are awesome and help you save time during the week. I know you work from home, but ready-made food throughout the week is awesome!

The Magic Bullet or Nutribullet are both great to have in the home for smoothies! Of course you can blend other items in the cups as well.

I have this Himalayan Salt Lamp and I love it. I also have this Himalayan Salt Candle Holder....actually everything I'm linking you is something that I own and love, something I have experience with, or a similar model (the crock pot was a random model) lol


Oh and this tea because it's delicious.

Lots of good suggestions in here, but I'm going to add two things: canned soup for a cheap meal in 3 minutes, and getting a slow cooker for some of the easiest recipes you'll ever make.

In terms of simply making a super-quick, cheap, hot meal, keep some canned soup in the pantry. Not the condensed stuff (the kind that needs to have water added); get Campbell's Chunky or some other such canned soup. They usually run under $3 a can, and you can get them under $2 on sale. I stock up on about a dozen anytime they're on sale, and anytime I need a quick meal, it's ready in 3 minutes (or a little longer on the stovetop). Most soups are going to have meat, vegetables, starches...a good well-rounded meal. If you want something solid to go with it, add a grilled cheese (two slices of bread, slice of cheese, and butter on the outside--to make it a little tastier, spread a little mayo on the inside of the bread; cook over low/medium heat, a couple minutes each side).

Now, if you want some easy home-cooking, buy yourself a slow cooker (aka a Crock Pot). [Here's a perfectly good one for $30] (http://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCCPVL600S-6-Quart-Portable-Stainless/dp/B003HF6PUO/ref=lp_694666_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1407627658&sr=1-1). Crock Pot recipes are the easiest thing you'll ever make -- basically throw some chicken or beef in the pot with some broth, add vegetables and/or potatoes, and then let it simmer all day while you're at work. When you get home, you've got a hot meal ready to go, and you'll have leftovers for a couple days.

Just with some googling, here's [a simple pot roast] (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/maries-easy-slow-cooker-pot-roast/), here's [one for chicken noodle soup] (http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/chicken-pasta-soup-00000000039971/index.html). Best thing about a slow cooker is you really can't screw it up -- it's just putting your ingredients in broth and letting it simmer all day. You can also buy seasoning packets at the market that help with more complicated things like pulled pork by mixing all the spices you need -- all you do is add it to a couple ingredients and put the meat in the pot.

I can totally relate to your situation, I myself have no ability to clean my house, do anything hygienic, and have no job. So I am highly dependent on many, if not all of the services that you are looking for.

I first just did a simple Google search for "home care based services colorado", and came up with quite a few results that might work for you, including what's called "Home and Community Based Services (HCBS)" and "Aging & Disability Resources for Colorado". Here is a link to A List of Colorado Programs. If Colorado's ADRC is anything like Washington's, call up your local Social Security office and ask about starting the process for an ADRC social worker, and to have them come out to your house to assess you for home care services. Because your boyfriend is on actual disability, he might have an easier time going through the process. I do know of people with schizophrenia and other such mental illnesses like depression, that have been able to receive this service as well. After you are approved, they will assign you with a care company that sends out a caregiver for a preapproved set of hours a week to help you with cleaning around the house, cooking meals, etc. An added bonus is that you can get a doctor's note to pronounce your pets as medical necessity, like Seeing Eye dogs are, but these would be "emotional service" cats. Then after that your caregiver would then be able to clean the litter boxes for you as well from then on.

Since you both are not married, you both will have to go through this process separately and I'm assuming would be assigned a separate social worker. Meaning one person may be eligible for more things than the other, and I'm sure the social worker will be more than willing to help you through all this.

As for the food, I too really hate reheating food in the microwave and get tired of processed foods. I invested in a FoodSaver | non, which vacuum seals food and extends their shelflife by months. I'm sure you can easily find a used one on craigslist or goodwill. The bags are a little spendy, but you can reuse them quite a few times if you wash them well. Just pull a preprepared meal or vegetable from the freezer and warm it up in a pot of boiling water. I'm sure there's a bunch of YouTube videos with good "How to" guides for getting the most out of a FoodSaver.

As for finding work as a person with a disability, I can totally relate to this, and have a few blog posts floating around in this sub getting into the different things that I do to make a little money to survive. Like using referral links – as I did above – to make a percentage off Whatever purchase is made from that link. I also make designs and post it to my RedBubble store for people to buy them on T-shirts, posters, pillows, etc. Totally not trying to link bait everyone. It can be really slow or really good passive income, depends on how much time you put into it. A good subreddit for making money online is /r/WorkOnline.

I hope all this helps, sorry I don't know Colorado law and there couldn't be more helpful with that. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Assuming you aren't drinking alcohol frequently, good job.

Use MyFitnessPal to start tracking EVERY piece of food that you eat. Fast food nutrition isn't going to be super accurate (Which is another reason why you shouldn't eat it) but definitely track it.

Consider buying a cooler box so that your lunch stays fresh in the car.

Use the cafeterias! I don't have any idea what they serve or the quality so you need to use your own judgement. Do they have healthy options? If so, load up there instead of at ChikFilA.

Grilling chicken is easy and delicious. I like to get a pack of chicken, soak them in worcester sauce with some salt, pepper, lemon, and garlic. Grill em and store the leftovers. Serve with rice or veggies. For the week throw em on a couple slices of whole wheat bread with some olive oil and salt or a little mustard/ketchup/mayo.

Check Amazon for crockpots (They are cheap). Here is the extremely simple chili recipe. I reccomend putting 2.5lbs of meat instead of 1.25lbs


I wish you the absolute best of luck on your fitness journey. If you have a long way to go, you didn't post your numbers, you definitely should take pictures of yourself now. You will not recognize yourself in a few months if you don't!

Here's what you do for each of these problems:

> Rice constantly sticks

Get one with a non-stick pot. Don't ever scrape it with something metal, always use a wooden or plastic spoon to remove the rice. Add enough water so it doesn't burn on the bottom. Usually this will be enough, but some high end cookers allow you to control the exact temperature they cook at, in which case, you'd use a lower temperature and cook for longer.

> it leaks

Hinge-top cookers tend to leak less than lid-top ones all else the same, but the big problem here is using too much water when cooking. Ideally, you want to use as little water as possible, just enough to cook the rice through. Maybe even a little less, leaving a tiny "bite" in the middle, like al dente pasta. So experiment by using: the same amount of rice, the same brand and type of rice, and the same cooker- but reduce the amount of water you use until you reach that "just cooked through point". This should 1) Use a bit less water 2) Cook a bit faster 3) Leak a little to a lot less 4) Make rice with a little more interesting texture

> it's difficult to clean

Knowing which are easy to clean or not really requires looking at the inside of the cooker and seeing where water and steam are allowed to go. Hinge top can control what happens more, but you also look for large overflow inserts. (You also clean out the overflow insert thingys every time you cook). In the cooker I linked, it's hard to see, but it's a clear, plastic, thin "cup" on the right side of the first and second last pictures. They pop out of the side of the cooker for easy cleaning, and their purpose is to catch overflowing water/steam.

> only makes 2 cups of rice (uncooked)

Buy a larger cooker.

-----

I recommend Aroma cookers for this price range. I've had a lot of success with them over the years.

8-cup capacity is probably what you want, but if you need to cook really large quantities of rice every day and counter space isn't an issue, they also have a 20-cup capacity one for not much more money.

They have: the capacities you're looking for, non-stick pots that work, overflow insert cups for if you do add too much water, and two different settings for white and brown rice, which is nice.

Anything under 100$ doesn't really do anything better than this. If you really want a cheaper option than the Aroma, go with the cheapest glass lid one you can find, and really work on getting the water added right (minimized), would be my only advice.

And if instead you wanted a more expensive one, you could spring for a Zojirushi, which have a really good reputation for consistent cooking, and have some neat features and stuff (I don't know I haven't used many of them), but are usually quite a bit above 100$.

My own two cents:

I own a zojirushi rice cooker ( http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-NS-ZCC10-Uncooked-Premium-1-0-Liter/dp/B00007J5U7/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1407830834&sr=1-1 )

I purchased it on craigslist for $30 and I'm not sure how used it was at that point, but having had it for over 6 years now, it still works flawlessly. If you plan on cooking rice at least 3-4 times a week or other things in it, I'd recommend buying one. Yes they are expensive, but they also last a LONG time. It will pretty much cook anything and will keep it warm/good for several hours on end. I've had rice left in the pot on warm mode for over a day and it was mostly still fine.

Just a minor note, make sure all your components are made in Japan. (Sent an e-mail to the company if you're wondering this too). I've heard, but never experienced myself, that the ones made in China are not nearly as good in quality.

A lot of people tell me "What?! $150-200 bucks for a rice cooker? That's insane!" Yeah but you're buying quality and eating food you've made yourself (which is healthier in the long run too) and honestly $150-200 bucks is less than most people spend on other things in a week, at least this will last you a decade most likely. Most people who I've known who don't think its worth it don't eat rice often, like once a month. I'm Viet and I cook oriental dishes 5 days a week, so rice makes up about 15-20 meals a week for me. I've cooked both Jasmine and Japanese short grain rice, both come out excellent. The rice cooker is good at making various kinds of rice and keeping it warm/edible for at least a day (after that I'd recommend using it for fried rice).

One tip, make sure you keep it plugged in. There's a battery in the machine for the clock, but the machine uses power from a socket if it can. The battery is a pain to replace and most likely not worth it, so best keep it plugged in.

Last, but not least, the most important thing you're buying is consistency. Using a Zojirushi means getting the same perfection every time you use it. You don't have to worry about if it'll come out dry, burnt, or soggy. The machine does almost all the work for you as long as you know how to measure. Rice and everything else you'll cook in it will taste the same on day 1 or day 2000.

Canned vegetables and meat are cheap. Chicken and tuna particularly.

Frozen vegetables are better than canned and comparably priced, but obviously not as shelf stable

Chicken thighs - learn to love them. I get a dozen of the skin-on bone-in thighs for like $4. Season liberally with salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. Bake at 350 for like an hour skin side up. Skin will be nicely crisp, and the thigh is delicious. If you don't have a meat thermometer, get one. Pull the chicken when it temps out at 165F right next to the bone and in the big pad of meat.

Cabbage is cheap, nutritionally dense, and very good when treated properly. Get two smoked sausages (the kind in packages are fine), and slice them in half-inch slices. Chop a head of cabbage into bite-sized pieces (note: they shred it here, just chop your pieces bigger, maybe a square inch or so). Get two large cans of diced tomatoes, and some blackened cajun spice. Dice an onion and 3-4 cloves of garlic. Put some bacon grease at the bottom of a large (8qt) sauce pan and get it hot. Add your garlic, onion, and sausage. Saute that until the sausage has some crispness to it and the onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes with the juice from the can, and stir to deglaze your pan. Add 4tbsp of the cajun spice, 2tsp salt, 2tsp black pepper, stir well. Add your cabbage in handfuls, stirring every time to ensure even mixing. Stick a lid on it, and cook on medium heat stirring every 10 minutes or so until the cabbage is tender. The cabbage will release a lot of liquid, it'll turn kinda soupy. That's ok, the broth is very good. This recipe freezes very well portioned, too.

Edit: Your first place on your own will have a small kitchen most likely. Read some Alton Brown stuff to make sure you don't buy useless kitchen gadgets. One gadget I do suggest getting, however, is an Instant Pot. They don't take up much room and are remarkably versatile. Learn to use it at /r/instantpot

Do you have an ALDIs store where you live? If so, you can quite easily eat decently on a budget. If not, then try and look around online for the cheapest store which sells items I am about to mention. I wouldn't go with the Dollar Store/Dollar General as they have higher prices usually. If you have a dented food store, commonly ran by Mennonites, you can save some decent money on food. Make sure to check the dates. I ran across an item before where it was 2 years past expiry.

Do you have a rice cooker by chance? You can pick up an awesome one on Amazon for $30 and it will more than pay for itself. You can also find a decent slow cooker for $50. Once you have these two items, you will never go back to Ramen and Mac.

The trick is to cook once for several days. If you are like me and work 10 hour days, you are pooped out and just want to crash, so having time to cook is rare. You can cook in bulk ahead of time and save time, money, and eat healthier. That $1.50 box of Mac and Cheese can be replaced by a bag of rice and some I currently only have to feed myself and I do it for between $100 and $150 per month on average. This includes things I don't mention here. I don't coupon, but I do watch for sales. I don't know what your budget is or what your dollar store carries, but here are some of the items I eat and what I do.

• Chicken
  
  Chicken is a very healthy and affordable protein you can buy to use in many items. I normally buy boneless, skinless breasts or thighs when they are around $1.29 to $1.99 a pound at whatever nearby store. I will buy about 4 packages of them and break them down into meal-sized servings and freeze for later use. The reason I don't go with bone-in chicken because the price difference of boneless makes up for the loss of meat from the weight of the bone and the time spent picking it off when using a slow cooker. However, it is more of your own preference. You can find drumsticks and thighs with the bone for as little as $0.59 per pound.
  
  Once you have chicken, you can do lots of things. I like to bake it and then slap on some Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce for a few minutes towards the end. You can always saute it with vegetables and make a stir-fry. You can throw it in the slow cooker and make some amazing dumplings while you sleep or at work. You can throw it in a bowl with some rice and a vegetable and cook plenty of meals in advanced. Example.
  
  
• Lentils/Rice
  
  Lentils and rice are a very good and cheap option as well. A one pound bag is like a dollar and easily covers four meals for a single person. You can make lentils into soup, make and mix with some other protein, or eat with a little bit of salt. Rice can be used in many things. I like making this recipe (with half of the cilantro) and eat it with baked chicken.
  
  
• Pork/Venison Roast
  
  You can often find pork butt roast on sale for as low as $1.19 per pound. I buy a 5/10 pound roast and split it into 2.5 pound portions to later slow cook. I normally throw some vegetables (carrots, celery, mushrooms, onions, etc) at the bottom of the slow cooker, then throw the slab of meat on top, throw a can of root beer or Dr. Pepper in, and then leave it on to cook when I go to bed/work. Here is what it would look like before I throw it on, but I don't have any after pictures. You can either slice it up, make into stew, or pull it apart and make BBQ sandwiches. This will feed me for several days.
  
  
• Homemade Protein bars
  
  I work night shift, so I don't have a normal breakfast. Even days I wake up in the morning, I still don't. What I do eat is protein bars which I found a recipe for off of Reddit. I think they were about $0.40 a piece after factoring in all of the ingredients. I eat one for breakfast each night on the way to work and have one spare just in case I end up working through lunch.
  
  
• Simple Freezer Meals
  
  I came across this Reddit post awhile back. It is really simple to do and cheap. You can mix it up and switch out the vegetable or replace the chicken with beef, and add rice to make each meal more filling. Here is the aftermath of my last round of making these.
  
  I would write more, but I have been called into work to deal with an emergency. I hope these helped you or at least gave you an idea of items you can do.

ooh ooh finally something I can give insight on. I am a hot chocolate lover as well.

I would buy an immersion/hand blender. Here is an amazon link to the one I use and its awesome. The hand blender will blend mexican hot chocolate and chocolate bars into milk you heat in the microwave or blend right in a pot and froth it nicely. Try to use a big glass jar. Don't add chocolate to a pan that is on the burner, if you burn the chocolate it tastes really bad and you don't need that much heat to blend chocolate.
amazon link

When you heat milk it needs to be hotter than you can drink because when you use the hand blender it will cool it down. Also be careful with it boiling over.

I'm Hispanic so I was accustomed to Abuelita and Ibarra and I realized over time the flavor changed, recently I looked at the ingredients and they were made cheaper. You have to be careful with some Mexican groceries because they will substitute cheap ingredients.

I suggest Tazo hot chocolate if you want that Mexican Style Hot Chocolate, they sell them at whole foods or at their website but their shipping is ridiculous.

Another hot chocolate I like is called Wicked Hot Chocolate
here is the link to the website

Godiva serves hot chocolate and I love it from there.

What I do normally though is buy a huge quality bar of chocolate like at Trader Joes and chop it and put it in a jar. I dust it with some cocoa powder so it won't melt to the jar. If you ever see a good flavored chocolate bar get it and use it in hot chocolate. Remember to look at the ingredients and make sure it has cacao butter not palm oil substitute. Also be careful when buying things with "flavor" in the end. Like Cinnamon "flavor" means there is no cinnamon in it, just something with that flavor.

For sweeteners I prefer raw sugar or maple syrup. But normal sugar is fine. I like to add sugar and keep tasting and add more as I go in teaspoons. I've found 1 Tablespoon of sugar to 3 Tablespoons of chopped Chocolate to be my favorite. If you measure the milk, chocolate and sugar and have the measurements down you can make them really quick.

Also I like to add a pinch of sea salt to finish the chocolate. And I also eat it with Hawaiian bread, when you dip the Hawaiian bread in the chocolate it coats it and is delicious.

These are primarily lunch and dinner, though I may eat an extra one throughout the day. For me, and usually it's personal preference and how risky/not picky you are, these usually keep about 5 or 6 days in the fridge. I've had them on the 7th day and while they don't smell super great right out of the fridge, after they're heated up in a microwave they smell fine.

I've also froze some and then will thaw those out after the 5th day so I have a few more days worth. They aren't nearly as tasty than when they're fresh but this is more about nutrition and fuel over taste.

My advice to you is get a crockpot and a rice cooker and then learn to cook and bake. You can make a lot of bulk meal style items in the oven as well you just need to be prepared to spend around 4ish hours on a Sunday or when ever so you can get this all prepped and sorted for the week. It may seem like a lot of time but it's so much easier to stick to a clean diet when your meals are sitting there ready to heat and eat.

This crockpot ( http://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCCPVL610-S-Programmable-Carry-Cooker/dp/B004P2NG0K/ref=lp_289940_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1451329826&sr=1-1 ) is very similar to the one I have. Having a programmable crockpot that you can just set to forget is the best and makes everything much easier. You can throw in your ingredients set for how ever many hours it requires, then it's done by the time you get home.

For recipes check out /r/slowcooking , the sidebar has some great limited ingredient recipes.

Don't forget to pick up a few different types of spices, don't be afraid to experiment with some smaller portions then just scale up if you like what you've made. I really just like to wing it for the most part and usually everything turns out alright.

As for a rice cooker the one I have now is crap, rice is constantly burnt at the bottom and it spews rice gunk everywhere, so I'm looking at getting a different one. I'm not sure which I'm going to get but probably one of the higher end ones to avoid the mess cheaper ones seem to cause.

Hope this helps answer some of your questions, I recommend browsing and exploring this sub as well as /r/slowcooking /r/EatCheapAndHealthy & /r/fitmeals start getting ideas and get out there and experiment!

If you're looking for more info on general nutrition, fitness and wellness check out the /r/Fitness FAQ in the sidebar and browse around /r/nutrition

First, the Instant Pot brand of electric pressure cookers (multi-cookers) are excellent for keto, or for any other ways of eating and for lots of foods. And they have loads of advantages.

Note however that this is the largest Instant Pot model, the 8 qt. Most of the IP models are 6 qt, with one older model of LUX being 5 qt.
One of the 6 qt models went on sale very briefly yesterday, and one or more of them could still go on sale at some point today but who knows? (The last few big Amazon sales saw the best-selling DUO60 6 qt --see below-- on significant sale for the whole period.)

The 8 qts are very good for certain types of situations:

...large family size or cooking for lots of people at the same time (e.g., more than 4 people, and might be good for 4 if one or more of those people were teen males)
...those who like to "prep" and otherwise make large amounts then freeze for later
...those who like to have loads of leftovers from virtually anything they cook
...those who make large quantities of stock and do that frequently
...those who have plenty of countertop space (and perhaps won't be keeping the unit under cabinets), or who have large/tall areas in cabinets, etc, to store them
...those who don't have a problem with the larger/heavier inner pot re cleaning and carrying when food inside (will be more difficult to rinse/wash in a sink, even with a reasonably tall spout)
...etc.

P.S. For those who don't know, the sale is only for those who have Amazon's Prime. But it's fine to just sign up for their free trial of Prime, buy during the sale and maybe later too, then cancel the free trial before it's due to end.

This is so far the most-sold model, and still really excellent:
https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-Multi-Use-Programmable-Pressure/dp/B00FLYWNYQ

Yea I didn't really know anything about it until I got it home and researched it. The people that owned it before were grinding flavored beans (i.e. coated in syrup) so it was kinda gross, but cleaned up easily. This is the grinder. I guess it's up to $100 bucks haha. STEAL!

Popcorn popper roasting is pretty easy. You have to do fairly small batches (about 1/3 cup per ~5 minutes), but it's not a big deal. It's kind of relaxing and I enjoy the experience. This is the one I have. I found it on sale for around $14. Totally worth it. The only details I had to get down were blocking the exit chute with a piece of foil and cutting some vent holes in the side. You have to do it outside since the chaff goes EVERYWHERE, and it's hot here, so the machine kept overheating and shutting off. Other than that, you just put the beans in, plug it in, stir them around a little (I just use a long stick I found outside..still going strong) until they get light enough to auto-stir, then listen for the crack and watch the color.

It's immensely satisfying roasting your own coffee, and places like Sweet Marias are very knowledgeable and have great selection. I usually order their sampler packs of 3-4 pounds. I save one cups worth of roasted beans from each sample then when I'm done with all of them I do a taste test. With an AeroPress it's super easy to brew multiple cups of coffee at once.

Two things that I use all the time that I don't see mentioned:

Stovetop Smoker. With all the meat I cook, being able to smoke it gives it a whole new depth of flavors without adding any carbs and makes even simple dishes special. Very inexpensive too once you buy the initial smoker. I bough a bunch of different types of wood chips and they've lasted me about half a year now. Even in my small apartment there's hardly any smoke leak (although I do crimp foil around the edges to help keep it in) and I've never set off the smoke detector with it. If you do have an big outdoor smoker this one is nice for doing smaller portions or if the weather's not great outside. Highly recommend it if you like smoked foods.

Vacuum sealer is the other item I use all the time. I like buying certain staples from Costco in bulk (chicken/beef/pork/etc) and being able to portion it out and freeze it has helped cut down on the cost of keto a lot. It's also useful as a good timesaver or to keep food fresh for longer even if you don't freeze it. For example, I often only use about a quarter of an onion in a lot of recipes, but I'll chop the whole thing and seal the rest so it stays fresh for the next few days. I'll then take however much onion I need out the next day and re-seal the bag.

I don't have a brand I recommend over another, I personally have a Rival that I got for Christmas. A lot of people really like Foodsavers and I see them at Costco all the time. They can be inexpensive (~$40) for a basic one or more costly if you want extra features like canning or automatic sealing or different speeds. I do recommend not using whatever brand of bags they tell you to use however. What I do is buy cheap bulk bags such as these and use them instead. Zero problems with them and much cheaper than the brand name ones. I do keep a roll of 'cut your own' around in case I need something bigger, but I find for about 90% of what I do the smaller bulk bags work fine.

If you keep an eye out on meat sales and buy in bulk or buy a lot of meat that's about to expire for cheap, I think the vacuum sealer will pretty quickly pay for itself.

And tossing it out there, one item that's not necessary but in the 'nice to have' category is the immersion blender. Great for thickening soups since we don't add cornstarch or other traditional thickeners, and it's nice for other things like making your own mayonnaise. I also use it for making my own marinara sauce - mine has zucchini and cheese blended in. Again, not necessary and you can probably use a regular blender for this, but the immersion blender is really nice and convenient.

I don't live in one of those places anymore but I remember having to drive 150 miles round trip to get some significant groceries once a month.

For Ice cream how about making your own? it's pretty easy and this machine makes it really easy. I have one. I have not made vegan ice cream yet but can't be too hard to change out some ingredients

https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-ICE-21-Quart-Frozen-Yogurt-Ice/dp/B003KYSLMW/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=Ice+cream+maker&qid=1558035628&s=gateway&sr=8-4

​

like this

https://www.copymethat.com/r/fS44bra/vegan-vanilla-coconut-ice-cream/

​

Trader Joe's they have a GREAT vegetable fried rice (in the freezer section) won't hurt anything if they thaw a bit.

they also have some pretty good vegan cheeses, I like their soy sauce it's very low in sodium, their olive oil is pretty cheap too been using it for years.

I don't know of too much more vegan stuff that is over there. I am still learning what they hav that is vegan.

I bought my cheapy old reliable rice cooker for just about $15 in a local True Value store (kinda like Harbor Freight/OceanStateJobLot but for appliances housewares etc,) and it's not fancy but I've had it for 2 years and it's still going strong. It makes pretty good rice, though I am just as used to making good rice on the stove it is just easier to have 1 burner free if I need it. Rice doing its own thing off to the side.

I've only used plastic or wooden utensils in my rice cooker pot and wash it gently after a soak, with a soft sponge. Basically never scratching it if I can help it, and it's held up very well.

I live in a very poor household, believe you me, but there may come a month where you do find yourself with an extra $15 in your wallet. Instead of buying those few coffees, one CD a month, 2 six packs of beer, whatever your vice; invest in getting yourself some things that make life seem more normal once in a while. Things that keep you well fed, well rested, and able to find transportation should never be looked over ;)

There's a slow cooker subreddit.

/r/slowcooking



If you like rice get a Zojirushi Nero Fuzzy Rice Maker. It's one of the easiest ways to stay alive. My search made this one show up. I've seen them in the $100-120 range. It keeps rice perfect for 2 days, and good enough for another day. You can make jasmine, basmati, etc. Since the rice is ready after an hour and good for 2 days, it can be quick. Heat up some beans, put on rice, make little stirfrys, put on rice.

The other big one for me is a big toast oven. I have this admittedly expensive one. Note you can use a 20% off bed bath and beyond coupon to bring it down to $200. I bake in it, make pizza (from scratch, or store boughten), can braise in it with a 3.5 quart enameled cast iron braiser. I make bread in it in a 2 quart enameled cast iron dutch oven. Make chicken in it.

This recipe is a great go to. It's 'fancy' but easy as hell, and cheap. It's the greatest cheapest meal you can make probably.

You can make baked potatos in a toaster oven that taste great. You can make a baked potato in a microwave. Or you can even make a baked potato starting in the microwave and ending it a toaster oven that's a pretty good compromise. Just make sure you turn on the toaster oven first thing, then prep the potato, then microwave it, then the toaster oven will be good enough. Salsa keeps in the fridge easy, can throw some on the baked potato. Just throwing out some ideas.

Also have an eating strategy based on how much time you have to eat, and shelf life.

level 1 (takes 1-2 min)

protein shake (long shelf life)

special k & milk (short shelf life (milk))

handfull of nuts.

level 2 (5-7 min)

Heat something up and put it on your rice that is already ready.

ramen (long shelf life)

level 3 (10-15 min)

baked potato in microwave (medium shelf life (potato))



level 4 (30 min or so)

kraft mac (long shelf life)

You can make a plan that makes sure you eat if you have no time or lots of time. It's always best to eat something healthy before you are hungry, because if you don't you will get hungry and be willing to eat something bad.

consider literally making a chart. Look down the chart to how much time you have, and then look over to the short self life, and long shelf life options. Revise the chart around your schedule. This is how I think, but hell I should make that chart.

I don't really have a recipe, but this is how I'd break it down in a very explicit manner:

1. Buy a 3-lb bag of frozen chicken thighs (boneless+skinless is easy mode, and frankly, I'm not convinced that it's worth the effort to get the bone+skin version after switching to boneless+skinless). Also buy some BBQ sauce. I usually use Sweet Baby Ray sauce.
   
2. 2 days before you want to cook it, put it in the fridge in a big bowl or something (avoid leaks in your fridge).
   
3. After ~2 days (you could do 1 probably, they'll just be kinda frozen still), put all of the chicken into your slow cooker (I have a 5-qt one, 4-qt is probably fine too).
   
4. Squirt some BBQ sauce on it until the top layer of chicken seems adequately covered. I don't really measure, but I can use a medium-sized bottle like this at least a few times.
   
5. Put it on "low", and come back 6 hours later.
   
6. Turn slow cooker off and remove chicken. Put it on a cutting board or something. I have a flexible plastic cutting sheet. Rip it up with forks a little bit so it's not in super big chunks. If parts seem dry/unflavored, you can spoon a bit of the cooking liquid onto it. As you're ripping it up, maybe filter out the yucky looking fatty bits and throw 'em out. (When I use the boneless+skinless chicken, I end up with way less "yucky" stuff at the end.)
   
7. That's it.
   
   I have also let it cook for ~30 minutes longer, or let it sit on the "Keep Warm" setting for ~2 hours, without a noticeable change in the results. The "keep warm" is nice if you have a programmable slow cooker and you start it in the morning before going to work.
   
   Alternatively, this is a very good pulled pork recipe that I've done. What I'm doing now is skipping the soda and applying BBQ right away, and subbing in chicken thighs for the pork for health reasons. Also, I don't think I've never used the full 18oz of BBQ the recipe calls for. Seems like a lot.
   
   Also, ~30 minutes before the slow cooking is done, you can start up a batch of rice and nuke some veggies. I haven't explored adding the veggies to the slow cooker yet, but that's probably an option too. If you don't have a rice cooker, I have this one and I love it (4 cups of rice is enough for 6-8 meals depending on how much you like rice). Looks like it's cheaper than when I bought it too.
   
   Lastly, /r/slowcooking is probably worth checking out.

Buy two pressure cookers, a 4qt stainless-steel stovetop model like this one and then wait for a sale to buy a 6qt electric one like this one. The Instant Pot has sold for as little as $70 on sale. You could get a 6qt stainless stovetop model as backup for the 4qt and while you're waiting for a sale on the electric one, since it uses the same lid and gaskets as the 4qt.

4qt is usually a better size for individual meals for 1-2 people. The smaller size is faster to get up to pressure and release. There are pressure cookers as small as 1-2qts, but it's important not to overfill the pot, so 4qt is a better balance of usable cooking space.

Think of a pressure cooker as a slowcooker with an 8x fast forward mode. You get the same results or better without the slow part of waiting. Stews, chili, beans & meats all in about 45 minutes or less. Rice, vegetables, potatoes cook in 5-10 minutes.

I also recommend getting a convection rotisserie oven like this one or a Cuisinart CMW-200 that does the same thing with a combo convection + microwave. Buying whole chickens cheaply and doing your own rotisserie in less than an hour is very practical for eating part of the chicken freshly roasted for one meal and using the rest for leftovers. Save the bones in the freezer to use in a pressure cooker to make chicken stock, stew and pot pies.

The Cuisinart Griddler has been on sale for under $40 during the Amazon Prime day sale. It's great for grilling and griddling. You can buy waffle plates separately for it, which I bought too. It's nice to be able to brown and crisp sandwiches and other finger foods. The removable plates are dishwasher safe. Waffles are getting damned expensive in restaurants for what should be very cheap. Waffles are good for breakfast, dinner and dessert. Tater tot waffles are a really good savory side.

I realize that this is quite a list of equipment, but they all serve very different purposes without much overlap. Each one is very versatile for its own roles. They also allow a variety of cooking methods that won't easily get boring in the long term. They all cook quickly.

An electric pressure cooker. I have one and I have suggested this to many of my older friends and they seem to like the ease and safety.

As long as you put the prescribed minimum of fluids in them they are easy and pretty fail safe. The one I have not only pressure cooks, but also slow cooks and brazes. It is quick and easy and you don't have to stand over it to make sure it doesnt burn the food. The one I bought and has an easy to clean stainless insert rather than a questionable "no stick" one.

The one I am referring too is an Amazon #1 best seller. (Instant Pot IP-DUO60 7-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker with Stainless Steel Cooking Pot and Exterior, 6-Quart/1000-watt, Latest 3rd Generation Technology)

I use mine at least 3 or 4 times a week and really like how easy it is to use (set and walk away - if you are busy when it finishes it goes into a keep warm setting) and it's easy to clean. I would buy another asap if anything happened to this one.

For most people the best one is the one at a garage sale or Goodwill for $5. Can't beat that, it's what I did and i've had great results. If you really want the best of the best however, that's without a doubt the Instant Pot. It makes just about everything under the sun along with slow cooking. Best part is it has a stainless steel bowl so you can brown meat and get a good sear before you slow cook it, all in one pot. And if you don't have all day to cook something it's a great pressure cooker. Along with rice, yogurt etc.

That being said you definitely don't need to spend $100 on a slow cooker either. Something like This would be great, as long as 4 quarts isn't too small for you (best for 1-2 people, not for a whole family)

Published on Aug 18, 2017

Recipe for Instant Pot Braised Pork Belly: http://bit.ly/IPporkbelly

If you are interested in buying the Instant Pot, get it here: http://amzn.to/2xgKLLa (affiliate)

Marinated soft boiled egg: http://bit.ly/shoyuramen

Just like the famous red braised pork belly in mainland China, lu rou fan (卤肉饭/滷肉饭, braised pork belly with rice) is one of the most popular comfort foods in Taiwan. There’s another variation that uses ground pork instead of pork belly.

Braised pork belly over rice is an iconic Taiwanese comfort food. The pork is cooked in a sweet and savory sauce until the skin is melt in your mouth soft and unctuous, making the meat even more succulent and flavorful. This is one of our favorite dishes that we hope you'll love as much as we do!

Making lu rou fan in a clay pot or regular saucepan on the stove top can be tricky sometimes. Since it has to be slow cooked for at least 1 hour to make the pork belly tender and juicy, you need to keep an eye on the water level during cooking and stir occasionally so that it doesn’t dry out and the bottom is not burnt. I’ve made these mistakes before. Also if the cooking time is too short, the pork belly will be dry and hard.

Traditionally, you can add cooked eggs to the pot along with the pork and make soy eggs, but I don’t like the overcooked egg yolks. So I make the soy eggs separately using the tare sauce from this shoyu ramen recipe for marinating soft boiled eggs.

Please make sure you read the notes at the end of the recipe for extra tips and substitution suggestions.

If you make this recipe, please share a photo of your creations and use hashtag #iceorrice on Instagram and Facebook! We’d love to see them. Thank you!

You're an adult now, just cook. It can be tough cooking for just one person because but it's doable.

Learn some basic, cheap recipes and get comfortable eating leftovers.

Here's one for you:

Hamburger Gravy

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef (get the cheap stuff 75%/25%, you're a poor student)

1 1/2 cup white rice (uncooked)

1 family size can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup, (low sodium is healthier but doesn't taste as good).

Cooking

I cook my rice in an Instant Pot, it's very fast, easy, and requires no supervision. Takes about 10-13 minutes depending on how much rice I'm making. I used to have an amazing Zojirushi Fuzzy Logic Rice Cooker that was the most amazing thing ever, but an ex-girlfriend stole it, so... Use the Instant Pot, it's cheaper and faster anyway.

Rice cookers and Instant Pots typically come with a cup for measuring rice which actually measures about 3/4 of a cup, and the inside of the cooking vessels have graduated measuring lines showing you how much liquid to add for the amount of dry rice you're cooking.

Put the two "cups" of rice (1.5 cups actual measure) into the Instant Pot and fill it with water to the "2" line. Close it up and make sure the pressure valve is closed (I've failed to properly cook my rice too often because I am dumb and don't check this). Once everything is set, just hit the "rice" button.

While the rice is cooking put the soup in a sauce pan along with a can full of milk, any milk works but I prefer whole milk myself. Put the sauce pan on the stove, medium low and stir frequently.

Now that the rice is cooking and the soup is warming put the ground beef in a skillet. I like a good [cast iron skillet] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006JSUA/) myself, they're cheap and indestructible, and because of the heat transfer properties of iron they tend to cook foods evenly without burning.

Cook the beef on medium high until it's browned, then drain all the water/grease out into a Tupperware container, do not pour grease down the drain! you can seriously make life hell for yourself and your neighbors if you do.

Add the beef to the soup, increase the heat to medium/medium-high and continue to stir frequently. You want the soup hot enough to bubble a bit, but not a full boil.

By now the rice should be just about done. Let the pressure out, take the lid off, wait a few seconds for the steam to abate then, with a large plastic spoon (you don't want to scratch the bottom of the Instant Pot), "fluff" the rice, just scoop and turn the rice in place, loosening it up, and letting more steam out.

To serve, scoop some rice on a plate, ladle some soup onto the rice, season with a touch of black pepper, and eat.

The rice is enough for 2-4 servings depending on your appetite, while the gravy is enough for maybe twice that. Typically it would be enough for two dinners for me, a 6'4", 225 pound man) and my girlfriend who is pretty petite.

Cost:

Beef: get the cheap stuff, depending where you go and the quality you get, this can be between $2-$5/lb. If your super poor, get a 10 pound tube of ground beef at Smart and Final for like $25, then break it up into 1 pound portions and freeze, otherwise it's about $5/pound most places. So let's say $5.

Rice: the cheapest food on Earth, and it's healthy too! You should probably plan on this being about $1/pound. Get a 10 or 25 pound bag and you'll be set for at least a quarter. Pro-tip: rice goes with literally everything. Add it to all of your meals for some good, clean carbs. Pair it with smaller portions of what you'd normally eat to get the same caloric intake but healthier and cheaper. Anyway the rice in this recipe has a marginal cost of maybe $0.15.

Soup: I think Ralph's usually has the family size can of Cream of Mushroom soup for $2-$3.

So, all in for one person, you could probably make at least 5-6 servings for $8, and it takes maybe 15 minutes to cook.

Store the rice and gravy separately in Tupperware in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Mix together in a bowl and b reheat in the microwave for 90 seconds to 2 minutes for leftovers. I prefer to make fresh rice each day, but making one larger batch then reheating it works as well.

Alternatives

• You can swap the rice out for a baked potato or mashed potatoes if you're feeling fancy.
  
  
• I've tried it with shredded chicken breast and Cream of Chicken soup, but it takes a bit longer, is a bit more work, is a little more expensive, and I don't like it as much, so I basically never do it, but you do you.
  
  There you go, cheap, quick, not totally unhealthy home cooking.

Personally, I'd skip the very expensive Excalibur units at this time. Stick with a cheaper and more basic ones at first to see if it's something you'll continue to do over time.

I have only had 1 dehydrator; the Nesco FD-75. I bought it about 1.5 years ago and I absolutely love it. It comes with 5 trays but can be expanded to 12 trays. I bought 2 extra trays because I need 7 trays to make a 5lb (beginning weight) jerky batch. I use is probably twice a month for jerky, dried fruits, or to dehydrate meals for backpacking. I think the biggest surprise was a backpacking Ratatouille. I made this for backpacking but I've used it more for pot lucks and dips for guests.

It has a temperature control but not a timer which, for me, isn't an issue. If I need a timer then I use one of these timers because I already have 3 of them for other uses. Clean up is easy since the heating and fan are on top. Everything below can be either hand washed or go through the dishwasher.

The best thing about this unit is the price; less than $70. This made it a reasonable investment at the time so I could see if I would use the dehydrator like I planned. I didn't want to spend a couple of hundred dollars for something and end up not using it. So far I've used this dehydrator for about 20 months and it looks like it's going to last for a while longer. I haven't had the first issue.

Rice cooker my friend! They're great and super easy. Just load it up with stuff like rice, lentils, beans and add some spices and you've got some really easy on the go food that can be made in your dorm. In a real hurry there's always nuts and fruit.

Like you say, dairy and eggs are just a habit you have and habits can be changed and replaced with new ones. If you're motivated to go vegan (which is awesome!) I recommend just trying to make some changes and see what works. Try a tofu scramble in the mornings super fast and super easy. And just keep trying different veggies and different fruits prepared different ways. You'll find there are so many great foods out there that given some time and experimentation going vegan can be a breeze!

I bought a dehydrator from Amazon, not the best but not the worst. I usually get the flavored Great Value bacons like peppered or maple smoked. Or you can make your own "sauce" to leave it in overnight...but a lot of the recipes I've found on the internet are pretty sugary. Sometimes I'll add garlic salt or what not. Then, I cook it on a draining pan in the oven. Afterwards I toss it in my dehydrator. It's definitely a trial and error process. But it's nice to bring it with me on hikes or road trips.

Thanks for the heads up on the burgers; I hadn't thought about fillers... I need to retrain my brain to see outside the nutrition box. I usually just crunch numbers and see if it fits. I haven't been to KFC in forever, so I will swing by and taste the non-breaded varieties. And buffets are also a great choice since they are usually close to interstate exits. Thanks for the tips!

upvote for zojirushi with fuzzy logic.

we have had this one from zojirushi for ~3 years and use it almost every day. we cook all sorts of rices in it, basmati, sushi, medium grain, and it does an incredible job every time. we also love to put steel cut oatmeal in it before bed to be ready for breakfast in the morning (cheapest meal ever and our 2 yr old loves it). this rice cooker is a wonderful investment and worth every cent.

edit: things we love about the zojirushi - retractible cord, easy clean up, easy to read, functionality, timer so that we can set it aside to be ready when we get home from work or wake up, cooks every rice we've tried perfectly, highly versatile, it's cute and plays twinkle twinkle little star.

I just posted this comment elsewhere, I have had a good experience with this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-Snackmaster-Food-Dehydrator-FD-75A/dp/B0090WOCN0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418357260&sr=8-1&keywords=nesco+snackmaster
It can be used to many so many different cool snacks, and the best part is that YOU made them!
it works very well for making beef jerky. It dries evenly.
If anyone is interested, heres a quick list of useful things:

1.) The beef jerky you make should cost about 35% of store bought beef jerky.

2.) Use large freezer bags to marinade the beef jerky.

3.) Try to time your day out when you make jerky, put the jerky in marinade overnight and then right when you get home put it into the dehydrator, that way you can stay up a little bit late if it takes too long, or take it out when it's ready so it doesn't overdehydrate and get brittle. You don't want to be away from home with it running in the dehydrator, because sometimes it will go quicker and then it may get overdried. It seems like it would take a LOT for that to happen though, a few hours past the correct time.

4.) Make sure to cut the meat across the grain, it will be super tough if you cut it with the grain. My best results are having the meat cut at 1/2 inch thick, across the grain, with "eye round roast" beef.

5.) Make sure to clean the dehydrator well when you are done. Be careful that you don't deform or melt the plastic trays in the dishwasher.

6.) Follow this recipe for jerky, it worked great for me http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Docs-Best-Beef-Jerky/

You can often get different types of fish fairly cheap. I know I can often find frozen salmon for $5-6 USD/lb. Its not as cheap as chicken, but if you just have one fillet(~1/4 lb) it stretches. You can dress fish up many different ways as well. I think it might help if you narrow down the type of food you like.

One useful food "hack" that I used a lot in college is a rice cooker with attached steamer, such as this one.

Its quite useful for fast cooking and you can make a variety of meals quite easily in it.

Chopped onions, peppers and tomatos + rice, broth and spices = spanish rice. Throw a piece of fish in the steamer on top, add a little lemon and you have a nice meal.

You can do rice and beans as well. I have even used it to make pasta. If you get a smaller one, you can just make single portions and eat out of the cooking vessel after you remove it.

If you can point me toward what kind of food you like, I can perhaps be more helpful.

Must Have Kitchenware:

• Measuring cups. Until you get better at "eyeballing", stick with measuring cups. Additionally, it gives you a good starting point if you see a recipe online or such.
  
  
• A rice cooker. This one (EDIT: I lied, I meant this one. For $7 more than the above one, it has a slow cooker function) doubles as a crock pot as well, if you're smart about it. Leave some veggies and let the rice go, easy meal. Which leads into the next point:
  
  
• A crock pot. If you want something more extravagant than rice and beans, try learning how to use a crock pot. It's easy to make ribs or pulled pork: just leave some bbq and pork in the pot and go to class. I know I had some trust issues leaving a kitchen appliance going for hours at a time, but once you get past that it's a life saver.
  
  

  Places to Shop:
  

  
  

• The Meat Lab (scroll down to the bottom). Great prices, and great quality. It's food right from the farms at school. As the name might suggest, you can get meat and eggs from there.
  
  
• Far East Grocery. Fave place to get my oriental groceries and everything you could ever want. It's cramped, very confusing, and has sketchy lighting-- reminds me of home.
  
  

  General Tips:
  

  
  

• Clean while you cook.
  
  
• Don't buy ramen because it's "the college kid food." One cup of (filling) ramen is ~$1, maybe 60c if you're lucky, or 40-60 bucks assuming you eat 2 meals a day. In comparison, 20lbs of rice is $10, and a month's veggies+potatoes+eggs is $15, and soy sauce is $5.
  
  With all of that, you can make a month's supply of some really damn good fried rice.
  
  
• When shopping for a recipe, write out what you need. Nothing sucks more than coming home and realizing you forgot turmeric.
  
  When I'm super lazy, here's my go-to meal-- Rice, salt and pepper, cumin, with a tomato sitting at the top, and maybe some carrots. I just toss them all in the rice cooker and watch some TV.

A Sous Vide cooker will decarb for your perfectly every time as well, and will have a million other uses in the kitchen as well.
Anova Sous Vide Cooker
Case (Optional but nice)
Reuseable Vacuum Bag Kit

So for a couple bucks less than a "unitasker," you can decarb perfectly as cited by Drama_Derp's link; You can take that decarb and do a perfect butter immersion with the same device, and you'll also be able to make perfectly cooked steaks, salmon, vegetables, perfectly poached eggs right out of the shell, etc.
Serious Eats has a lot of great material for Sous Vide cooking if you wanna browse how much more you could do on top of decarbing with the same device. :)

If you're a regular backpacker, a dehydrator is a worthwhile purchase. My personal favorite is homemade, dehydrated chili but it's also nice to dehydrate a bunch of veggies to have on-hand to beef up ramen (I get nice stuff from an international grocer) or couscous for impromptu trips. Bagels with avocado or cream cheese packets are great for breakfast and I also like granola and instant milk. I love salty snacks and pretzels (especially peanut-butter filled ones) are bae. Fresh fruit and avocados are pretty much always worth the weight, although on longer trips I may dehydrate my fruit instead.

Oooh. All good suggestions.

The metal basket on a stick thing you're talking about is called a "spider" and yes, it should go on the list. I'm adding it to mine. :)

I should have added a slow cooker to my list because I use mine a lot especially in the winter and when we have family over, but it might go under those "you might or might not need it items". As would the food processor, which I also use fairly often, but a lot of people wouldn't or could get away with a mini-prep machine.

I also left off a good roasting pan, a rolling pin, kitchen shears, and mixing bowls. Duh!! (Geeze, my list is crap!)

I go back and forth on a griddler/waffle iron, but if you do get one, get one with removable griddles or where you can reverse them. I have this Cuisinart one that has removable/reversable griddle plates, plus an extra set of "waffle iron" plates. I've used it, but probably not as often as I could. Still fun for brunches once in a while.

Brita pitcher or similar brand. Yes, a thousand times yes. I use it for coffee water, for tea, for cooking, and a dozen other things besides just drinking water. It helps keep the scale and hard water out of the coffee maker especially.

Vacuum sealer. Also another big yes (although under the "if you think you'll use it" column especially if you're in a small apartment with limited freezer space). But I love mine and use it all the time both for meat in bulk and freezing leftovers.

Good additoins and thoughts.

I couldn't tell you if it is BIFL yet, but I just bought a cuisinart immersion blender. It works great. The blending portion is super easy to clean, and I believe it is dishwasher safe. The design is really comfortable and easy to use.
Check I out, it's not too expensive:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ARQVM5O/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1395250389&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40

buahahaha - I thought the same thing, but honestly I'm a total convert to it now!

Here's a link

The basic gist it that it's a hot plate with a removable stainless steel lining. The top has a gasket on it to make it a pressure cooker, and you can get a different lid for it so you can use it as a crock pot as well.

Pressure cooker basically does the job of a crock pot in about ohhhh 20-45 minutes depending (not necessarily including the time it takes for the content to get up to a boiling temperature and create the heat/pressure). Pressure cookers can be a little intimidating because back in the day they used to explode a lot. Instant pot has a lot of safety features to prevent that.

Last night I made bacon and corn chowder in mine - cooked the bacon in the pot on the "browning" feature, pulled that out, and added onion, potatoes, leftover grilled corn, garlic/salt/pepper to the bacon fat in the bottom of the pan and let that cook for just a few minutes then added flour as the thickener, and a whole box of chicken stock and less than 20 minutes later had soup that tasted like it had cooked all day. I finished the soup off with sour cream/milk/cheese and top it with the bacon I cooked before and some chives - seriously amazing.

Also instant pot would've worked great for your dr pepper pork! And it likely would've taken less time than anything else. Also cooked potatoes for your potato salad in 1/4 of the time as well. ;)

This is the recipe I made two weeks ago using my instant pot It turned out so good we made it 4-5 more times since then.

And as one more "holy moly big sell" here, I take chicken breast from the freezer, put it in the instant pot with a whole jar of salsa and a packet of taco seasoning and set the instant pot for 40 minutes, and I'll have perfectly shredded chicken. :)

Seriously, this thing is a life saver!

Random ramblings:

I recommend IKEA. Most of their stuff is decent quality, and very good for the price. Don't try for the cheapest they have; go a bit up in price. As an example, their SLITBAR Chef's Knife ($50) is made in VG-10, one of the best steels there is. I believe this knife is better than the one I have, which cost me about $250.

Consider non-stick skillets to be semi-disposable. I've stopped buying expensive non-stick skillets; I've tried the absolute top end, and even when I really baby it, it stops working in a year or two. Non-stick pans I've not had the same problem with - I bought some nice TEFAL ones (not the "professional" ones, one step up from that, I unfortunately can't remember the names), and they've so far lasted for over five years.

For cast iron pans, I've not found a difference in quality - anything I've bought has lasted a long time.

For mixing bowls, I recommend getting a bunch of cheap metal ones. I got ten bowls at two euro each about five years ago; one of them has gotten discolored, apart from that they're working fine still. Having lots works wonders. In the US, these are easy to buy at Vietnamese stores.

For plastic stuff, it's hard. IKEA has it, but it's sometimes expensive. I've had some luck with cheap stuff, but you have to look at it really carefully. Quality don't really go with price, but the very cheapest stuff is usually crap. A simple rule of thumb is to go to a cheap place, then look at what the cheapest you can buy is, and then buy something that costs twice that (at the same place). This will usually get you good quality; buying something that costs 10x more somewhere else don't give you any guarantee.

Thermometers are all over the map; go for a digital one, and read reviews. And you DO want a thermometer - it makes all kinds of things easier.

The chef's way of filling a kitchen is buying relatively cheap stuff, and having lots of it. I've copied that - for everything I care about, I buy ten of it. Things usually stack, so they don't take that much space, and having ten of everything means I can work without having to try to wash things in the middle.

You don't want "any" single use tools; they take space, and are a waste. I've got only two single use tools: I've got a garlic press and a WhirleyPop. The former is because it is way faster; the latter is because it is the only way I've found to make Kettle Corn without burning it.

For appliances, garage sales can be great. I paid $20 for my high end KitchenAid (battered but perfectly functional); and I only paid $20 because I didn't have the conscience to take it for the $10 they suggested.

Minimize the stuff you get at first; it's so easy to get lots of stuff, but most of it you hardly ever use.

Your link doesn't work for me but were you pointing to the Dash Go Rapid Egg Cooker by chance? If so, then I whole-heartedly agree with you. I love mine and use it everyday. Even the rest of my family are eating more eggs due to how easy and consistent they cook. I've used the poacher and personal omelette parts as well and they are great. Best $20 I ever spent.

If I had to make that small an area work, I would rely heavily on countertop appliances.

Forget a built in burner, takes up too much room.
Get a gas or induction hot plate for use in the summer, and use the black oven in the winter.

Make outlets readily available on the counter. Best place would be the underside of any cabinets, or just the wall.

You can do a lot with one of those combo griddles. Cuisinart makes a cheap one, but you can get nicer ones from others. Breville is one, but I am sure there are others.

Build your knife storage into the counter, a la Alton Brown. Saves space, and makes them always available.

Don't skip the dishwasher. It'll take up valuable storage space, but working in a small kitchen like that will be much more bearable if you don't have to wash dishes by hand.

Make sure you get plenty of prep bowls, and have storage space for them. Mise en place will be very important with a small space, and they will help a lot.

A Magic Bullet type blender is really handy for cooking for 2, and for a lot of tasks that would otherwise take up more counterspace (chopping onions, beating eggs, chopping herbs, etc).

Make the whole countertop out of end grain butcher block (or side grain if you don't want to/can't spring for end grain) so that you don't have to deal with cutting boards at all.

If you don't already, try cooking sous vide. Takes little space, and good for summer cooking as it won't let too much heat into the space.

Have a hood vent for your black stove, and in the summer, put your hot plate there. The vent needs to be the type that goes outside, not the filtering one.
You don't want a small space like that filling with smoke from cooking.
Actually, depending on how you build the kitchen, you might be able to just put the vent in the middle of the room. Have the ceiling slope towards the center a bit.

Don't skip the garbage disposal in the sink - you'll regret it. Also, stick with a single sink instead of the traditional double. You're better off with one normal sized sink than two half sized sinks.

Skip the microwave, and just get a large toaster oven instead, one of the deep ones that can fit a 12" pizza. You can do most everything you can do in a microwave in the toaster over, it just takes a bit longer.

Skip the coffee maker, and get a hot water ketttle with a gooseneck spout like this. Learn to do pourover, get an Aeropress, or a Chemex. Saves you counterspace, and you can use the electric kettle for other cooking things too.

I would definitely add cartilage into it. I would also recommend cooking it for a lot longer than 50 minutes. I'm talking hours here. Also remember to add apple cider vinegar. It helps break things down easier.

However, if you don't have the time....like me....then I recommend getting an Instant Pot or the Power Pressure Cooker. I have the instant pot and it works wonderfully. I turned the Thanksgiving Turkey carcass into 10 cups of yummy broth. Wife hated it but the dog and I loved it. I've had wonderful success with Chicken both cooked and uncooked.

Here are a couple of websites that have good Bone Broth recipes you can use as a guideline for you.

Mommypotamus

and

Stupid Easy Paleo

Stovetop roasting was probably the thing that got me into roasting my own coffee. I bought a whirleypop for $20 and got an aeropress to brew with. For about $120 I was making coffee that (I thought) was better than most local offerings and (for sure) better than grocery store brand coffee. Not to mention I was theoretically saving a lot of money because of how cheap greens were.

However, if you are willing to commit a bit more startup cash, I recommend the freshroast series of roasters as a much better method for controlling your roast profile.

As someone who is starting out, I'd say happy mug is the best supplier for greens. HM has nice coffees at good prices but Sweet Marias has a lot of unqiue vareitals and there's a number of really good coffees on there. The thing is that as a new roaster (and I am still in this category), you probably won't have the cupping skills or the roasting skills to appreciate all of the nuance that SM's beans offer, so HM is a better deal for $4.00/lb and 3-day flat rate shipping.

What are you brewing with?

not a meal, but seriously it'll make your life better.

get a rice cooker

no, not a $30, break-in-a-year, dry-out-your-rice, POS

a real, fuzzy logic, badass rice cooker. they work better, last decades and are ultimately cheaper in the long run.

like this one

and this one

best part about a good rice cooker? set it to be done at 5pm and leave for the day. second best? never ever deal with burnt rice again. ever. also the rice is better quality than you make in your laughable stove-top pot (ha ha ha ha).

You should briefly check out the “Instant Pot”, which is currently 2nd in Amazon’s “most wished” list of Small Appliances, and 6th in the Best Sellers List.

---
Instant Pot has 1900 reviews total between 2 of their models.

---
http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-IP-DUO60-Programmable-Generation/dp/B00FLYWNYQ/ref=cm_rdp_product


Their Bluetooth enabled Instant Pot Smart model was just released on the 24th.

---
http://instantpot.com/announcing-worlds-first-bluetooth-smartcooker-instant-pot-smart/

It debuted at CES 2014, and comes with an iOS/Android app.

With that particular model, you can program, store, and activate your own customized recipe scripts on your mobile device.

---
>Instant Pot Smart Bluetooth-Enabled Multifunctional Pressure Cooker, Stainless Steel (To be shipped on the 2nd week of Dec.

2014)

>Instant Pot Smart is a multi-functional fully-programmable Smartcooker combining the benefits of a Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Porridge Maker, Steamer, Sauté pan, Yogurt Maker, Food Warmer and more.

---
>A free iOS app (Android app to be available soon) lets you program complex cooking steps in recipe scripts on your smartphone/tablet and execute on the cooker wirelessly.

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A good pressure cooker can replace a lot of microwave and stove use.

It’s much faster than the stove, and it's steam and moisture, so it doesn’t dry like in a microwave.

---
E.g.

cooking times for beans go from 100 minutes to 10 minutes.

Bean dishes are an inexpensive, healthy protein, so it could also be a good investment.

You don’t have to stir or monitor your food.

Lastly, boiling food can strip away a lot of the nutrients.

---
I was subscribed to the newsletter, and they emailed me an earlybird coupon code of "ipot" to get $100 off.

It’s valid till the end of December, or until the first shipment sells out.

---

I think that the interesting thing about the app is that you can apparently control the exact pressure and temperature, and change it at certain times.

E.g.

very high heat for amount of time to get ready for sauté

get notification, and pause script so that you can sauté

sauté, and then resume script high pressure at certain temperature and pressure for certain amount of time

automatically switch to slow cook at a temperature for an amount of time.

keep warm at a temperature for amount of time.

---
You can see the “hold pressure”, “hold temperature”, “pause” app commands on the picture on the right: http://instantpot.com/blog/

I have made banana ice cream with an immersion blender plenty of times! You can make pesto in it but I prefer a mortar and pestle, You can make pico in it, but I generally think pico gets ruined if you use any sort of blending/processing. If you want easy clean up, I'd get an immersion blender- it's great for soups and blending directly on the stove top! Theres a cup you can use to make the banana ice cream. If you want to do bigger batches, I'd get a cheap processor - great for making things like hummus, grating cheese and veggies, dough, etc.

This is the $45 processor I have and I like it.

This is the $30 immersion blender I have and also like.

Copying and pasting for you my recommendations to a friend the other day who is starting Keto:

Your friends:
Avocados (very good fats + potassium), eggs, butter (I think you're allowed clarified butter on Whole30), veggies, fish, coconut oil (I get this at Costco), coconut milk (the pure stuff in a box or can), macadamia nuts (in limited quantities), Swerve / erythritol, sparkling water (La croix is fantastic), decaf or herbal tea - (green tea especially is great because it helps with fat-burning, balancing blood sugar, lowering appetite, and has lots of antioxidants), Cauliflower rice - this saves me, Roasted vegetables

Suggestions/links to purchase:

Magnesium supplement I use (should also help a bit with sleep)

Potassium additive - NoSalt or NuSalt - add it to your food if you're not getting enough Potassium in your diet (most people don't) - you can probably find this in the grocery store for less $$, but I don't know for sure

Decaf green tea I drink 3 times a day - it's decaffeinated with CO2, not chemicals, and it's organic.

SWERVE erythritol sweetener - 1 pack or 2 pack

STUR water flavor drops - for keto champagne or just to add to water

Miracle noodles - they are definitely available at Whole Foods, or you can also find them at a few asian grocery stores (shiritaki noodles). These taste bland and almost gross on their own, but if you add sauce and meatballs, they do a pretty good job of passing for spaghetti if you're desperate.

Silicone candy molds for keto fudge and other keto candies - they seem superfluous, but after you try making keto fudge in a regular pan, you'll realize how much easier these are for portioning and for getting out of the pan.

And finally, the INSTANT POT - I recommend this to everyone I know. My partner and I use it multiple times a week, it is amazing, it does everything. Pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, browner, yogurt maker (also makes julienne fries!!). Seriously you cannot go wrong with this thing.

Keto Recipes:

Keto Fudge

Keto champagne

Cauliflower Rice

Maria Emmerich has an impressive collection of recipes and I've been using the sweet ones especially for a craving / fat bomb

edit - formatting

Buy an Instant Pot on Amazon. Get the 8 quart version if you can afford it.

Buy some silicone baking mats on Amazon.

Get a cheap food processor.

Then, stock up on dried beans (black, kidney, great northern, pinto, etc), dried split peas, dried lentils, dried chickpeas, and dried pasta.

Buy some better than bouillon style vegetable base. (Not a whole food, but it's used in small amounts and making your own vegetable stock doesn't seem worth it.)

Buy some frozen corn, peas, broccoli, and spinach.

If you can, buy some frozen berries for putting in oatmeal.

Buy some canned tomato products like diced, crushed, sauce, etc.

Get some nutritional yeast from the store, and if you like it, buy it in bulk on Amazon.

For fresh stuff, get potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, and sliced mushrooms. Then whatever greens you want, fresh fruit, and maybe some peppers as you need them for recipes.

From there, you can make all kinds of food in the Instant Pot with minimal effort. Chili, soup, stews, pasta, pasta sauce, burrito filling, taco filling, 'cheese' sauce, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, refried beans, and hummus.

You can find lots of recipes on youtube, but once you know the basics you can make lots of stuff.

Want to make some pasta? Toss in 3 cups of water, 1 tablespoon of vegetable base, 1lb cup of whole wheat penne, a 28oz can of tomato sauce, mushrooms, peas, broccoli, and whatever else you want. Set the instant pot to cook for 5 minutes on high pressure, and about an hour later you've got a few days worth of pasta.

You don't even have to soak beans when making them in an Instant Pot. Just toss them in, look in the manual for how long to cook them, and walk away.

It also works as a slow cooker, rice cooker, and yogurt maker. And because of the keep warm setting, you can put something in to cook, head off to class, and have a warm meal when you get back.

Pressure cooked beans and lentils taste better than canned, and the chickpeas will be softer and creamier. You'll also save a bunch of money this way.

Hope that helps!

My honest opinion: If you can read, you can cook. Literally. Basic cooking is simply reading instructions and following them. Once your comfortable with how things taste together, timing, and what spices taste like, then you can move on to more advanced dishes.

I think a fun part of learning to cook is gearing up. Since most people here will give you a grocery list, I'll give you a list of helpful items that I use daily.

• 1 large, sharp kitchen knife and basic sharpener
  
  The knife if a bit on the pricey side, but trust me when I tell you it's worth it. You only need 1 and as long as you hand wash and dry regularly, it can last forever. Sharp knives won't cut you as often as a dull knife that sometimes slips.
  
  
• crock pot. This is good because it doesn't require any sort of culinary skills. Mostly just mix and wait.
  
  
• Liquid Measuring cup
  
  
• Dry measuring cups
  
  
• Flat spatula
  
  
• Other spatula (for stirring and wiping out sauces/batter/etc.)
  
  
• Tongs
  
  
• Very basic non-stick pots and pans I have a cheap set I bought from Costco that has lasted me 8 years and counting. Be sure to ALWAYS use wood or plastic utensils with non-stick or you risk scratching the non-stick surface and fucking it all up.
  
  
• Wooden Utensils These are nice because you can leave them in a pot of sauce and not worry about them expelling chemicals or melting.
  
  
• Also a holder for your kitchen items
  
  I assume you have basic dishware and silverware, so I've only included common cooking items.
  
  Hope this helps! I'll update if I can think of anything else you'll need.

There are just two of us, and I end up freezing often. If I've made a large batch of soup/stew kinds of things, I usually freeze in these freezer containers or quart-sized ziplocs, so they are in batches of one or two servings each. To reheat, it is easiest to put in a pot on the stove (run under hot water to loosen it from the edge of the container or bag), but you could leave in the fridge for a day to thaw then spoon into a bowl or mug and microwave.

When I made a big pork shoulder, after shredding I added bbq sauce to about 1/4 and we ate that for a few days. The rest I froze in three FoodSaver bags - unseasoned except for the rub I put on before cooking. Used one bag to make carnitas, the other two are still in the freezer...little blank canvases. =) For thawing the FoodSaver bags or Ziploc bags, I put them in a big bowl of cold water. Once they are soft (half hour or so?) you can reheat however you want.

Pasta is OK to put in the freezer, but its texture will be a little different once you reheat it. If you're going to eat it soon or if you aren't feeling like taking the extra steps, it would be OK to freeze it with the chicken/stew. I personally would prefer to make just enough pasta to eat for now, then just freeze the extra stew/meat and, when you decide to reheat and eat it, take the ten minutes to make some fresh pasta. It's worth it. Good luck!

An Instant Pot (from the official brand, not an off-brand one) is kind of an all-in-one type of device. It can be a slow cooker, a rice cooker, or a pressure cooker based on the settings. It can cook thick meat quickly, but it's not too great for vegetables. Also, they are large so they're not great for a small kitchen with limited counterspace. Here's an article that goes into more details and also has links for where to buy one: https://www.delish.com/food/a51371/things-you-should-know-before-using-an-instant-pot/.

A slow cooker does not have as many functions, but they are often much cheaper than the Instant Pot and you can still cook a lot of dishes in them. This device doesn't really have the capability to cook things quickly though. The minimum time I've seen on a recipe is 2 hours. But this is ideal for putting stuff in before work and coming home to have dinner done. There are a variety of sizes so you can get one appropriate for the amount of food you want to create at once. That also makes it easier to keep in a small kitchen. This is a list of tips to make the most of the slow cooker and some things that recipes may not tell you: https://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/articles/14-tips-for-slow-cooker-meals. Here is a great option for $25 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCCPVL600S-6-Quart-Portable-Stainless/dp/B003HF6PUO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1549838488&sr=8-3&keywords=slow+cooker.

Other easy cooking methods include baking/broiling with sheet pan or casserole-type recipes. These are really great for meal prep or feeding a crowd. One problem is that the prep may take a long time. For example, lasagna requires many cooking steps before you throw it in the oven, which may not be ideal for a beginner. It may also be difficult to get the type of browning you want on meat or knowing when bone-in meat is done. I'd be careful with this cooking method and just make sure you feel confident about the instructions.

Overall, I would recommend slow cooker for a beginner, but focus on what your needs and preferences are. The cheapest option is probably baking/broiling while the easiest is probably slow cooker or Instant Pot.

> zorjirushi brand rice cooker

Also have one, specifically the Neuro Fuzzy. It's a bit pricey but it's the best rice cooker we've had and well worth the price if you cook enough rice. Also, besides working well, the machine looks very nice. A bit silly but it does seem smarter to trust an Asian company to make rice cookers.

The multi-purpose are nice. I've got a 6 quart Instant Pot that I use quite a bit but if you're just looking for a crock pot you can definitely get one for less. I've got a 4, 6 and 8 quart that I also use and they were all between $25 and $35 (US). It's nice to have different sizes for different applications. I recently did a small batch of chili in the 4 quart and have a big batch of 15 bean and ham soup going in the 8 quart that will be ready when I get home! Perfect timing because we're expecting about a foot of snow by Friday. Crock pots are perfect for winter comfort food.

As fellow apartment dwellers, we also kept our list limited. Below are the very best gifts we received and still use regularly:

A fuzzy-logic rice cooker. In the first years of our marriage, we ate from the rice cooker 4 times a week. The number of things you can make in one is astounding! Avoid bulky, single use appliances.

A few good knives should see you through all of your kitchen needs; you can always add a bread knife at a later date.

Nice everyday plates. Like other posters here, I strongly recommend against china. Most of us don't entertain on the scale to make it worthwhile. It is delicate and it takes up space. Find some semi-formal daily use plates that are still nice enough for holiday dinners.

We also received this Anolon cookware set which I love, partially because it was half that price when it was gifted to us, and after four years of daily use, I've learned which pans are the ones I use regularly and can replace them with higher quality ones that fit my needs.

The best thing I got when I started cooking was a slow cooker

They are simple and very VERY forgiving.

You can just rinse the chicken off, throw it in with all the other ingredients, and then let it do it's thank for about 8 hours. The chicken will just fall apart and dinner will be ready, and left over are amazing as well.

It will help you get a sense of how much you eat versus how much you make and you can play with spices and additions. It's fun!

I bought a Cuisinart [ice cream maker] (http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-ICE-21-Frozen-Yogurt-Ice-Sorbet/dp/B003KYSLMW) a month or so ago. A couple scoops of Casein and a couple cups of milk will make almost a quart of soft serve ice cream.

I've been tweaking the recipe to get the best taste, so far this is my best mix:

• 2 scoops chocolate Casein (I use Allmax Casein FX)
  
• 1/2 scoop unflavored whey (comes out smoother than just plain Casein)
  
• 1/8 tsp salt
  
• 2 tsp cacao
  
• 2 cups milk
  
• 1/2 tsp guar gum (thickens and reduces ice crystals, but not critical).
  
  Changing up the dairy source (or using a milk substitute) can tailor macros to whatever you need. Coconut milk is particularly good for rest days, and if you use half and half you can let it freeze to hard ice cream. (Low fat milks are best eaten within 1-2 hours of freezer time otherwise they get too icy and hard).
  
  There's something pretty awesome about eating four bowls of ice cream... can make any day feel like a cheat day.
  

I usually cook on Saturday or Sunday, sometimes both days. The last few weeks have been rough, but this coming weekend I am going to get back into the routine.

I am going to give you some advice, buy a pressure cooker. You can make something that would take 8 hours, in about 2 and a half hours. That means you can have awesome pulled pork sandwiches, with a homemade cole slaw in about three hours total, including prep time.

I mainly love my pressure cooker, because I can make my pulled pork, clean it out, then make barbacoa and if I start all of this at 8 AM, I can be done with it all by 2 PM or so. This includes making side dishes, and almost anything else I need. I'll usually clean my house at the same time, play a video game, or whatever else I might want to do. I sometimes even take a nap, and wake up to the smell of cooked meat.

> If you're not getting good rice, the problem is not the rice cooker.

I disagree. I used a $30 Sunbeam rice cooker for a decade. It made acceptable rice. When it finally flaked out, I replaced it with a Zoji NS-ZCC10. Beyond having a number of other useful features, it simply makes better rice. The moisture level is perfect every time, regardless of rice type, batch, or age.

Does the difference matter? It depends on your needs. It's not a night-and-day difference, but it's there. I upgraded more for the capacity, extended hold options, and timer capability than for the rice quality. But the better rice quality is nice too, especially given how much Asian we cook here.

OP, I had similar needs as you when I picked the ZCC10 - I really just wanted top-quality rice with some convenience options (hold and timer), not a steamer/baker/multi-purpose tool. I also considered induction models. But induction matters most for mixed rice - rice with veggies/meat mixed in. The ZCC models don't have induction or a bunch of extra cooking modes but do have a spherical heating element and better sensors and logic than Zoji's cheaper models. They're also made in Japan and not China. They're more expensive than the entry level models but a bit cheaper than the high-end induction ones. I'm completely happy with our ZCC - it does exactly what I wanted, which is make really good rice in quantity and provide the convenience options I need.

I have heard that some of the newer ones do tend to run "hot," but I haven't had that problem. I also always cook my food on low for 7-9 hours instead of on high.

I recently bought a new one that I absolutely love, off Amazon.
Mine is $49, with the lid that clamps down so you can travel with it: http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-33967-6-Quart-Programmable/dp/B001AO2PXK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345472575&sr=8-1&keywords=Hamilton+Beach+33967+Set+%27n+Forget+6-Quart+Programmable+Slow+Cooker

But they also make one that isn't for travel that's only $40:
http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-33966-6-Quart-Programmable/dp/B000GHGKXS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1345472575&sr=8-3&keywords=Hamilton+Beach+33967+Set+%27n+Forget+6-Quart+Programmable+Slow+Cooker

It's programmable and super easy to use. I love mine.

Programmable light switches are super handly for when you're out of town and want to make it look like you're home, and if you're forgetful about turning off lights.

Keypad deadbolt never worry about getting locked out. If someone is house sitting you can give them the code and then change it when you get home.

Energy saving outlets are great for things like charging cell phones or computers and keeping your power bill lower.

Wifi thermostat. I think Nest is overrated and expensive for what it is.

Electric crockpot-pressure cooker-rice cooker-yogurt maker. This thing does it all, seriously. Pressure cookers are awesome for getting things cooked quickly so you can buy cheaper groceries (dried beans vs. canned). Slow cookers are great for tough pieces of meat, roasts, soups... They're also great in summer as they don't heat up the whole kitchen. It being multi-purpose is a bonus for kitchen space.

I have no idea what you ate, but what you are describing is now easily achievable with sous vide. For chicken beer cooler sous vide works until you decide you want a rig. A few years ago I decided to get an Anova and am glad I did. In the summer I use it about once a month; in the winter about once a week; around the holidays, it never gets put away. The cooking style is totally different, so I recommend a slow start with things like the beer cooler method to see if the results are the ones you like, but if you do, the timing freedom for busy folks is a game changer.

I've used this for two years now, and I've never had anything but perfect rice every single time.

I'm sure I could get better rice if I dropped $300 on one, but the price is good and the quality is perfectly fine to me.

I copied my reply to another post but still holds up

I borrowed a dehydrator from a friend and it had an on/off switch and that was it. I had no idea how warm the thing got or anything. I tried dehydrating a few different things with it but the results always varied and sometimes cooked/burned more than dehydrated. So I would definitely recommend one with adjustable temperatures.

One temp definitely doesn't fit all purposes. I ended up getting a Nesco off Amazon. I got this one. It's a little pricy than a thrifted one but I haven't regretted it and have made perfectly dehydrated mushrooms, fruit leather, and herbs. I still want to try an onion (outdoors!) and jerky.

In my actual article, under the "egg salad" I have way more details such as how I soft-boil the eggs. Here I'll copy paste it:

There are MANY ways to soft boil eggs but this is what I do:

• Put water and eggs in small pot.
  
• Turn heat on high.
  
• When it starts boiling vigorously (takes about 5-6 minutes), I turn off the heat and cover the pot and set a timer for 3 minutes.
  
• When the timer is up, I pour the water out and pour in cold water to halt the cooking process. It’s best to just transfer them to a bowl with cold water.
  
  If you’re on the go or don’t have much time to make sure it's perfect, some people use an electric egg cooker like this one which makes it a brainless activity to cook the eggs to the desired setting (soft, med, hard) without having to tend to it if you’re getting ready for work.

Try:

1. dealextreme.com / dx.com (same place) or focalprice.com for infrared thermometers (their prices include shipping, and yeah, when you look up iphone cases, you'll be upset if you've ever bought one in NA at a mall stand) - the dealextreme.com place has a ton of electronics stuff, arduino-esque stuff too if you're wanting to get fancy
   
   
2. food-grade vinyl tubing at plastics/marine/hardware store; there are different types so ask until you're comfy with what you pick; if you ask at your local head shop, about the glass ends available for this sorta thing, there are several. For my Arizer (something like that), there are a bunch of glass fittings (compatible with other glass fittings I've seen) -wait, here's a link http://arizer.com/store/8-extreme-vaporizer-parts (I just picked up a $20 kit at my local shop with the whip, glass mouthpiece, Elbow to connect to the cyclone bowl, um...the screens for same...and another glass stirring tool... I believe that the 'connections' of the cyclone bowl, and so on are standard scientific-type connections; if you check out science-supply sources, you can find a range of glass 'bowls' you can use that connect to them; if you're in the US, you can even get them shipped to you cheaply...the nice thing, they're certified to not react, to deal with heat to a certain temperature, etc. and aren't going to melt/gas plastics, etc., when you're using them. This may allow you to heat directly on the glass itself (just drop to the bottom?) - think 'lightbulb vape' but not likely to kill you....
   
   here's an example - http://www.amazon.com/Chemglass-CG-1512-09-1000mL-Single-Evaporating/dp/B005WVRHFS/ref=sr_1_82?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1348542044&sr=1-82
   
   For that, it takes a standard glass connector (I think similar to that found in the Arizer packages) - but you should be able to get one with two holes, if you want (or a 2 way connector than plugs into the top to allow airflow etc. (you could actually put this on top of a cheap hotplate to get it going (scientific ones are $150+, but hell, you just need evenly distributed heat). If you really want to get fancy - check out these: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=node%3D318083011&field-keywords=20%2F40+joint&rh=n%3A16310091%2Cn%3A%2116310161%2Cn%3A317970011%2Cn%3A318049011%2Cn%3A318083011%2Ck%3A20%2F40+joint
   
   Anyway, I've not followed through with my plans, but that's some of the stuff I found when I researched it a couple years back.
   
   edit: oh there are also mason jars, of course, which tend to put up with heat fairly well. I did a quick test the other day, just punching two holes in the metal lid, and tossing some pot at the bottom of the jar - I held the base (with the pot) over the edge of my gas stove's flame, and presto, vapor ... I'd do some checking to see how much heat/the limitations for this stuff.
   
   edit2: if you're really temperature picky, invest in a calibrated hotplate - then you'll know exactly what you dial in is what you'll get. Hmm...now I'm wondering if something like this: http://www.amazon.com/1800-Watt-Portable-Induction-Countertop-8100MC/dp/B0045QEPYM , with a mason jar sitting on an old cast-iron pan (or does it need to be steel?) may just work...the conductive stovetop heats the pan, which heats the glass (this is where a flat bottomed boilign flask would be best, since the heating would be even), which heats the pot, which you then enjoy :D
   
   edit3: Depending on your 'container/bowl', would a simple flatiron (be it for clothes, hair, or craft (the tiny ~1inch square ones)) be sufficient to heat things up? (without all the noise of a heat gun?) ; you can also look into mesh/fibrous materials that you could heat that don't actually come into contact with your pot - (grab some inexpensive copper wire, roll into small ball with air spaces galore that fits at bottom of your cyclone bowl, attach the ends to a 9v battery and presto - a heat source, not in contact with your pot, that you can suck heated air through (that get's heated) to vape? And yeah, I'm at 7 after experimenting with the bong I just made out of a container for 2kg of Whey protein powder, some spare tubing, and a metal bowl/shaft I had lying around unused. HEll, there's enough room there for a bag of ice, and space to spare, I dont' think I'll use my 'real' bong ever again - this capacity was perfect, and it's so easily cleaned. Tomrorow I'll have to get some silicone to create better seals...thanks for prompting my creative energies tonight.

[This is for you] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OICLVBI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ba90Ab25AP3XJ) because I read in your comments that you have a new guy that you're excited about. I have found that keeping a mate happy is MUCH easier if you know their love language. 😍

[This is for me] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DDXWFY0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Ud90Ab86J7VHE) because I have been doing Keto diet to lose weight and EGGS ARE LIFE on this diet. 🤓

[This is for /u/Miss-omnibus to read when she has insomnia] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1596433973/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_cp90AbX8407XZ) because she was sweet enough to summon me to introduce herself in another thread and we had a good conversation. 😘

AND I think there is still money left over for you to get a little something extra for yourself or save it for another contest! 🤩

What works for me:

I have this rice cooker.

It has a timer which is really helpful. Every morning I wake up to freshly cooked oatmeal, which is a dope way to wake up. I usually throw in some cinnamon and honey. If I have nuts, berries or seeds around, I'll add those too.

At meals I'll have a portion of whole grains-- barley, brown rice, quinoa, pretty much whatever your heart desires. I personally like these more than white rice because they have more texture and make me more full (not to mention the nutritional benefits).

I enjoy stir frying vegetables and some chicken or eggs and adding it to the grains. When I'm getting bored I'll buy some sauces or make some sauces and use those. Generally when I'm stir frying vegetables I like to vary the colors and textures/juiciness of the vegetables I use. Some that work for me: carrots, broccoli, broccoli, kale, sprouts, mushrooms, tomatos, zucchini, corn, and avacados. Avacados are the shit.

If you get a rice cooker you can also cook all types of legumes, and beans in there. With these you can make soups, stews, and many kinds of dishes.

I don't think I really used to like this simple of foods; now I really enjoy what nature has to offer though. I found myself in a similar position as you and walked in to the produce section and thought to myself, "wow, I can eat any of this...and, it's relatively cheap."

You can cook them in shell. Set the water bath to 170f, drop eggs directly into water. Remove after 14min or so, and you have perfect poached eggs. Crack to serve.

Sous Vide is slow cooking done perfect. It will give you an exact result, each time. Its consistent, which is a rare feat in most cooking, and makes amazing dishes. Chef steps has some great tutorials and recipes.

I use the Anova in a 10Qt soup pot. Works great. Note that the price does drop to about $130 at times, so if you want to save a bit of money, wait it out. If you want to save a lot of money, you can DIY a sous vide cooker yourself.

I bought a ton of hops and have no idea how I will ever get through them unless I make a ton of big IPAs. On hand, I have 1 pound of centennial, columbus, and belma. About 14 ounces of cascade. Maybe 2 ounces of citra, and 4 of simcoe. They take up a lot of room, but not THAT much room. In my side-by-side fridge, they take up maybe a shelf. The centennial are whole hops and are like 2x the size, so you have to take that into consideration.

For storing, they go in the freezer, vacuum sealed. I didn't want to buy a big vacuum sealer, so I bought one of these ziploc hand vacuum pumps as well as a jar vacuum pump valve thing and that way I can do a kind of quick ghetto vacuum seal on bigger hops bags and store the smaller amounts of things in vacuum sealed jars. It's not amazing or as great surely as a regular foodsaver type vacuum, but it's way smaller and cheap, even compared to the foodsaver version of the hand pump.

Gainz or also this. I don't have the first but Ive heard its pretty amazing. I do have the second and I can attest to rice cookers being fucking awesome. I use mine for cooking noodles, rice, soups, wontons, etc.

Alternatively if you want it to be purely lifting related I hear that Donnie thompsons recently started selling his bowtie and formal bowtie. Which are for people who bench a lot and have ache-y shoulders and ive heard its good.

Failing that maybe think of lifting clothes that are comfy that they might want? Ive heard a few pots talk about wool socks being amazing (though i dont know if you wear those to lift in or just in boots?). Also some companies like strideline let you put your own logo onto the socks themselves. So maybe get the weak elephant logo and put it on socks?

This is the one I have, and it makes great rice. What I really love is using the timer function on it. That way I can put my rice in way ahead of time and have it finish exactly when I plan to serve. It's also great for making fresh oatmeal for the next morning. There are more expensive ones with more settings and features. For example, I know there is one for $220 that uses induction heating and has a "quick" setting. There are some that also have an "umami" setting. I can't vouch for those features specifically, especially since the one I linked (that's already expensive) is cheaper and makes great rice. I'm skeptical of how much stuff like induction cooking improves your rice. That said, whatever Zojirushi you get, just make sure it's made in Japan.

Buy an Insta-pot from Amazon. It will make cooking easier for you and motivate you to keep up healthy eating. You basically chop up whatever veggies you like, add beans/legumes and whole grains like quinoa or farro, and add stock, set it for 30 minutes and go about your day. What's really useful is that you don't have to cook the grains beforehand, the pot will do that. I cook all of the time and I have great original insta-pot recipes. If you get one message me and I'll give you some meals to start with.

Instant Pot DUO60 6 Qt 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Steamer, Sauté, Yogurt Maker and Warmer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FLYWNYQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_3irIDbF4QYKWS

I am in a similar situation and I own this which I highly recommend. It's more pricey but I literally use this everyday and it works perfectly. Very easy to clean and can fit a good amount of food on there. Plates are reversible (grill/griddle).

> Wednesday: Yellow curry with potatoes, carrots, and spiced chicken.

> Other common dishes are "one pot" type for weekdays, such as curried lentils and sweet potatoes over coconut rice

You might want to look into a good modern pressure cooker like an Instapot or a stovetop one like a Fagor Futuro or Kuhn Rikon models.

Great for making quick curries and other "one pot" meals. We use ours all the time to make various dishes, from Spanish rice, to Moroccan Chicken, to poached chicken breasts, steamed vegetables. Also good for breaking down vegetables into pasta sauce.

Also great for making chicken stock: throw the bones, skin, and cartilage from 2 rotisserie style chickens in, cover with water, maybe a bay leaf or other herbs (no salt, there is already enough on the chicken). Pressure cook for an hour and you have the BEST gelatinous stock.

I am actually in love with my stick blender - it's super fast and effective, and waaaaay cheaper than the Vitamix. It makes really smooth baby purees and can do smoothies too, and it can also be used for larger volumes like whole pots of soup (so it's versatile too). I swear I don't work for this company, I just really love the hand blender. :-)

My favorite slow cooked I’ve had so far has been this one: Crock-Pot SCCPVL610-S-A 6-Quart Cook & Carry Programmable Slow Cooker with Digital Timer, Stainless Steel https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P2NG0K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_pfvsDb3CAJH1X

Great size and features for most recipes! I will say, however, that I have not touched it since I bought my instantpot. I have the ultra 6qt, and I’m able to do everything I could in the crockpot but also a lot more. It gives me the opportunity to make soups in an hour and a half that taste like my all day slow cooker soups (although it does have a slow cooker function as well! I occasionally use it, and recommend getting the glass top for it if you plan to use it at all). Hope this helps!!

1.) This [Workout DVD]
(http://www.amazon.com/Tracy-Anderson-Method-Post-Pregnancy-Workout/dp/B008DL4IZQ/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=39MD4F4AQ4MXM&coliid=IBHX7FVYXEOG0) would help me sweat to get rid of baby weight.

2.) [ICE CREAM] (http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-ICE-21-Frozen-Yogurt-Ice-Sorbet/dp/B003KYSLMW/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=3S72V8PR4PYO1&coliid=IUHB38XALOEBE)

3.) No picnic would be complete without [a picnic basket] (http://www.amazon.com/Household-Essentials-Willow-Picnic-Service/dp/B000P4UUQK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376949246&sr=8-1&keywords=picnic+basket).


4.) I desperately want to go to the [Aran Islands] (http://www.amazon.com/Muckross-Button-Cardigan-Medium-Heather/dp/B008B5VD2K/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1376949608&sr=8-12&keywords=aran+sweater).

5.) We had an awesome squiggly sprinkler like this one


6.) [This] (http://www.amazon.com/Lady-Elegance-EZ-Female-Urinal/dp/B004ANM6C8/ref=sr_1_79?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1376950560&sr=1-79&keywords=camping) because peeing in the woods is the worst.

7.) Nothing is better than [fun shaped pancakes] (http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Nonstick-Bear-Pancake-Pan/dp/B001LUMNJO/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1376950868&sr=8-12&keywords=bear), especially cute bear shaped pancakes.


8.) [This] (http://www.amazon.com/Im-Gonna-Be-500-Miles/dp/B000T1EJ0W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376950942&s=dmusic&sr=1-1) is on every road trip mix I've ever made.

9.) I have had to throw away so many of these because I always forget I have it!


10.) [BABY COWS!!!] (http://www.amazon.com/Beanie-Boos-Daisy-The-Cow/dp/B005SSA798/ref=reg_hu-rd_add_1_dp)

BONUS #1 – Mickey says [Happy Birthday] (http://www.amazon.com/Lenox-Mickeys-Happy-Birthday-You-/dp/B0019FEC7C/ref=sr_1_43?ie=UTF8&qid=1376952067&sr=8-43&keywords=june+birthday)

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Some of the best memories are made in flip flops.

Thanks for the fun contest!!

So there are two main types of vacuum sealers; External sealers and chamber sealers. External sealers are like your garden variety food saver. The bag stays outside the machine and the machine draws air from the open end of the bag. Upsides are they are inexpensive and quite effective for sealing dry or frozen goods and they are small. Down sides are that they use corrugated bags (which are pricey) and don't work well with moist food (or at all with liquids) because the suction draws the liquids from the food and prevents the bag from sealing. Chamber sealers have a chamber that the whole bag/food combo sits inside of and the chamber is evacuated. Since the vacuum is on the inside and the outside of the bag there is no pressure differential so you can vacuum pack anything including a bag of liquid. The bags are also much cheaper because they are simple smooth plastic. Downsides are that the machines are MUCH more expensive, require maintenance (oiling) of the pump, and they are quite large in comparison to external sealers.

Now, the quality difference between a <$100 external and a $200-300 external are going to be things like durability, vacuum pressure, and sealing bar width. More expensive units usually have dual piston pumps that evacuate faster and to a higher level of vacuum, wider sealer bars for a better seal (for instance I always do two seals with my food saver to be safe), can seal more bags continuously without over heating, and have more features like adjustable vacuum pressure, marinating modes, and various sealing options.

You can get over priced externals that sell on points like built in roll storage, various (usually useless) accessories, and fancy looks but you are wasting your money. This is an excellent entry level external. It is a single piston pump with no fancy features, but it works perfectly fine on most things. You'll generally have to let wetter meats set up a bit in the freezer first so they don't leak liquid, but that's true for most externals without a "wet" or "low vacuum" setting. This would be a higher end external with dual piston pump, cooling fan and a bunch of settings. This guy here is about as cheap as you will find for a dual piston, but it will not be nearly as durable or versatile as the Pro350.

Chamber sealers, you can spend $500-15,000 on but for most home users this is the gold standard. Inexpensive (for a chamber sealer at least) and has a well proven track record. Come see us over at /r/sousvide we have a ton of threads discussing sealers.

I have this instant pot in 6 quart, and it's worked really well for us. Honestly haven't used too many of it's features, just saute, slow cook and pressure cook, but it has done all of those very well. It's great right now, as I am super pregnant and since it has a saute feature, I can do a lot of my cooking sitting down at my island, instead of standing at the stove. My only regret is not buying the 8 quart one for my growing family.

​

It pressure cooks well, I've made a whole baked chicken in half an hour, chick stock in an hour (instead of three), rice is so fast in it. I also really like that in the summer heat, I can put it on the deck, and then I don't heat my house up at all (this is actually what convinced me to get it). I mean you could do that with a slow cooker too I suppose, I just used to use my stove and oven for everything.

An air gun is a fun gift for a young guy. It's not something you would buy yourself, but they're fun at parties.

Alternatively, you could buy him something for the house, since he just got his own place. A rice cooker is super handy and easy, especially if you don't cook well/often.

Whirley-Pop all the way! It has a thin aluminum bottom that distributes heat evenly but doesn't retain heat so that as soon as it's done popping, you can take it off heat and the popcorn on the bottom won't burn. The swirling arms also make sure that you get pretty much 100% poppage and that everything pops at the same time. It's amazing because normally in a pot or a wok, there's a gap of maybe a minute or so between when the first kernel pops and the last one does. With the whirley-pop, it all shoots off at once. Like, a five second interval start to finish. It also makes distributing melted butter very easy.

Pro-tip: clarify your butter. The water content is what will turn popcorn soggy.

I buy bay leaves, yeast, and an assortment of dried chilies in bulk and freeze. They are always in my freezer.

So far I've just been browsing Kinja deals and had one recommendation as well as interested in others' recommendations. Here are some:

$52 Instant Pot 3 quart. Love the 6 quart version, but it's huge. I think 3 qt would've been fine for me.

$26 dinnerware set don't know this item.

$37 Lodge enameled cast iron dutch oven. Considering this. Anyone own it? Do I need a cast iron dutch oven? Is it better than a stainless steel one? Already have a cast iron pan.

$25 Stick blender

The sous vide immersion circulator was sold out but will be back, let's hope.

The best way to make popcorn is with oil. You can use a covered pot you shake, or better yet something like a Whirley Pop. Unfortunately, using a tablespoon or two of oil doesn't exactly make it a low-calorie snack you want to eat regularly on a reduced intake.

The lowest-calorie method is to use an air popper, then apply a measured amount of whatever toppings or seasonings you prefer. My go-to recipe is to weigh out 20 g of popped popcorn, then carefully apply 3 g of melted butter, stirring constantly to distribute it well. I then sprinkle on sea salt that was ground to a fine powder. This gives a nice 100 calorie snack with just enough buttery flavour to be satisfying.

Unless you are specifically using large crystal salt for the crunchy texture, you probably want to use fine "popcorn salt" to avoid the gritty feeling of regular table salt. You can buy this pre-made, or grind it at home in a blade grinder or mortar and pestle. It has the side benefit that you use less salt because there is more exposed surface area.

There are many, many ways to season popcorn. Sriracha is pretty popular, but you can also use any combination of spices and herbs, or even stuff like nutritional yeast. You will probably get some great suggestions here, but a quick Google will get you a tonne of recipes you can modify to your heart's content.

I have the basic model found at target. I got it about a month ago, dont remember the exact cost but I think it was somewhere around $55-65. Also got the [jar sealer] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00005TN7H/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_9WXjyb40EXJ9H) attachment and about 4 dozen jars divided amongst quart, pint & half, and pint sized.

I loaded up on these bags: [Commercial Bargains 2 Pack 11" x 50' and 8" x 50'] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GG5I5AK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ASXjybDZAJ08T)

The 8" perfectly fit my burritos. I'd say I'm using about 6 inches per burrito so if I'm careful I'll get at least 100 burritos out of a $12 roll. Also you can use regular ziploc freezer if you trim off their zip lock seal. The vacuum doesn't agree with the thin ziploc bags every time but it's surely good enough for freezer burritos.

Zojirushi.

I've had many other rice cookers, from the target and Walmart brands to black and decker.

Zojirushi is just plain and simple worth it. It will consistently give you perfectly cooked rice...every...single... time.

The reason is it has this thing called fuzzy logic where it's computer can determine how to cook things depending on the weight and what not (not sure how it works exactly, but it works great!). The initial buy in is a bit more expensive than other rice cookers but it's worth the investment. It will last very long.

For steaming, you could use the vegi steamer tray for a pot. It's honestly 100x faster because you don't have to wait like 15 minutes for the water to boil.

This is as good one: http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-NS-TSC10-Uncooked-Cooker-1-0-Liter/dp/B0074CDG6C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1394815672&sr=8-2&keywords=zojirushi+rice+cooker


This is the one I have: http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-NS-ZCC10-Uncooked-Premium-1-0-Liter/dp/B00007J5U7/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1394815672&sr=8-4&keywords=zojirushi+rice+cooker

I can't praise it enough.

Also, this for steaming veggies. Works amazing, I've had it for years:http://www.amazon.com/Amco-Collapsible-Steamer-Stainless-Steel/dp/B000Q4N2LO/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1394815756&sr=8-9&keywords=steamer+tray+for+pot

I have two general tips for anyone who wants to live a tasty, healthy, and affordable plant-based life:

•Make the investment and get an instapot($99): this just helps save time, money, and can really help you make meals in bulk which is huge for lunches and dinners.

•Start buying your beans, grains, and anything you can in the bulk section of grocery stores. This just saves a lot of money and helps ensure your variety and nutrition is on point.

Other than that I think everything else has been mentioned. Definitely check out YouTube, blog chefs, and what really helped me was watching cooking shows (great British bake off, mijd of a chef, chefs table, Anthony Bourdain, (essentially anything on Netflix lol), etc. Those all really help inspire you since you get shown a lot of brilliant ideas and cooking styles.

Also, good for you! It's great to see. Wish you nothing but the best of luck on this endeavor 🙏

I started when I was around 23 (27now) and haven't looked back 4+ years now.

It is actually incredibly easy! Although some people will tell you to season the meat, we haven't found any dog that doesn't like it as just chicken.

We slice chicken breast as thin as possible. My dad works at a meat counter so he's got super sharp knives, but if you pop them in the freezer for ~20 minutes you can slice them more easily. Place them on the dehydrator trays, turn it to 160 and let it be for 6-10 hours (or longer depending on how thin you got your slices). The jerky is done when it..you know..looks like jerky. We make ours really dried out because it lasts my dog longer when eating it. We also keep it in the fridge, because we don't salt it and don't use other preservatives it can mold on a counter top with any kind of humidity, it has never molded in the fridge.

We have given the chicken jerky as gifts to other people that frequent the dog park and haven't had a dog turn up their nose yet and they are good for dogs that have sensitivities to additives in other kinds of treats. The chicken we buy is hormone and antibiotic free.

This is the dehydrator I use.

You look wonderful today, did you do something new to your hair?

You should get this can opener is made of good thick steel, it's heavy in the hand and I have never had a problem opening a can with one. Bonus, it has a bottle opener on it.

And this is an excellent liquid measuring cup.

You may also want some of the following:

Hand soap for the kitchen and bathroom sinks, hand towels.
You need basic first aid stuff, like adhesive bandages (band-aids) and rubbing alcohol, good tweezers. Include basic pain meds, stuff for an upset stomach, allergy meds, or any prescription medications you need.

Sponges and scrub brushes. If you want to use a swifter type thing, I'd like to recommend this I have used it to clean offices and it works. The handle is pretty heavy duty and you can make or buy extra cleaning cloths, then you just put them in the washer.

Oh a colander, I will admit I picked that one because it's cute.

I love my rice cooker I use it to steam vegetables or cook rice at least once a week. I have the larger version but that one would probably work, or the larger one.

I could use one of the following: Notebook or Scissors or a Book.

There are definitely plenty of vegetarian meals out there for slowcookers. You can get a basic one pretty cheaply, and if you wait for Black Friday (or Cyber Monday) you can usually get a really nice one for under $20 too.

I use this one, and have been really happy with it. We've only got 2 adults and one toddler in my family, but this cooker does a good job with smaller meals and still gives me the flexibility to cook massive meals with lots of leftovers or feed 8-10 people when we have company.

As someone else has mentioned, you don't even need a slowcooker for most slowcooker recipes. Just about any of them can be modified for the stove or the oven. You can't really beat the convenience of tossing a few things into the pot in the morning and coming home to a ready meal, though. :)

We purchased the EatingWell Healthy in a Hurry cookbook about 3 years ago and it has been a great addition to our routine. There are some great quick and healthy recipes in there. Some take longer than 30min, but most are pretty close. Family favorites include:

• Wok-Seared Chicken Tenders with Asparagus & Pistachios Current Favorite
  
• Almond Crusted Chicken Fingers
  
• Sweet and Sour Tofu
  
• Vietnamese-Style Beef & Noodle Broth
  
• Portobello "Philly Cheese Steak" Sandwich
  
• Warm Quinoa Salad with Edamame & Tarragon
  
• Beer-Battered Tilapia with Mango Salsa
  
  We generally do at least one stir fry (with a Zojirushi rice cooker that cooks the rice before we get home--worth every penny!) every week. We also try to use the crockpot at least once a week, but that usually means you have to cook 2x in one night, but we usually manage after bedtime.
  
  Edit: Just for reference we both work full time and have a 6 year old and a 3 year old. We generally eat out at least once during the weeknights. To limit the complaints, we usually let each kid pick out a dinner (the cookbook has great pictures btw) for the week.

If you're looking for something pre-packaged and healthy, I feel like you might have a difficult time. As far as something simple goes, frozen fish is a favorite of mine. Thaws in five minutes, cooks about in about the same time, and you can throw it on some rice. Or into a taco.

My sister-in-law is also a fan of home made sushi, and it really isn't hard. Just some avocado and a little bit of that fish you've cooked up. Light mayo and sriracha make a great sauce.

Speaking of which, this is why I want this rice cooker. I myself have been looking to eat healthier and can't cook rice for the life of me. It's a quick and easy thing and you can set your rice concoction to cook for the day so you have a meal to come home to as well.

I for one know that if I had rice on the ready at all times, I would spend less money eating fast food.

Also wraps! Spinach or pumpernickel with turkey...and maybe some alfalfa...oh god I'm hungry.

This is the one I have and I love it! It's super light weight (except for what you put in it of course) and the lid locks so it's easier to transport for pot lucks and things. It takes up quite a bit of room but I usually store it when I'm not using it. I'm a huge fan of crockpots because I usually run out of energy in the evenings but I do love to cook.

Get rice cooker/steamer. Basically It's just a rice cooker but it has a steamer pan as well. I use it to cook rice, chicken, and broccoli all-in-one. Less dishes and pretty much the "set it and forget it". I happened to get an extra steam tray for mine because my roommate left it with me.

Also, near apartments, I noticed that when my neighbors move out at the end of their lease (most people are Aug, Sept year leases so the time is now) They dump all their unwanted stuff near the dumpster. So far I scored a few decorative boxes, a couch, a couple desks, a couple lamps 2 suitcases and a really nice big gym bag, a few shelves, 2 shoe racks... You get the idea. For me, no shame in dumpster diving! D: haha.


Also cruise on craigslist, you'll come across super needy people selling awesome stuff, or angry girlfriends selling their BF's xBox, TV, etc


If you wanted to get an awesome TV (don't know if you have the money, but this happened to me), Go to Best Buy, get one of the clearance TVs. Most times they are clearance b/c they are open box returns. Return policy needs the TV to be back in 15 days. My TV had the last owners Netflix logged in. And her Pandora (good music taste). But yeah... That was cool.

Good luck! Keep us posted. Health and happiness to you and your family. Sorry to hear about the ex, he sounds like a prick.

As for the hassle of cooking, the instant pot or a good crock pot is your best friend.

I personally would get the following way sooner if I was building my kitchen all over again.

Also if there is a place you can get bulk spices near by I would go there for your spices, because if you havent already noticed spices are pricey at your local megamart.

Lavatools Thermowand - Same form factor as the much more expensive thermopen but at 1/3 the price.

Lodge cast iron skillet - great for searing meats or as a good starting pan.

OXO Bench Scraper - Makes prep work much easier and safer as you don't use your knife to scrape your food off the cutting board.

Immersion Blenders - When you dont want to use your big blender or want to blend something in your pot or pan.

Stainless Steel Cookware - Has a little bit of a learning curve but is great after the fact.

Aeropress - Life is too short to make shitty coffee.

Edit: added a thermometer/spelling

Oh god please... What is, in your opinion, the best recipe someone at home can use to make delicious homemade ice cream in something like [this] (http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-ICE-21-Frozen-Yogurt-Ice-Sorbet/dp/B003KYSLMW)? A custard recipe? Just old fashioned uncooked cream with milk and sugar?

Thanks for making amazing ice cream!

33 year old here who hates cooking checking in. While I can't give you a magic potion that will solve all your problems of eating and diet, I CAN tell you what I've been doing to solve my disdain of cooking. Buy an Instant Pot! What? BUY AN INSTANT POT WHICH CAN BE FOUND HERE ON AMAZON. I'm not kidding. It's like cooking made easy for idiots and the lazy 101. Better yet - search for "Instant Pot Dumping Recipes" on Reddit. They. Are. Everywhere. It's a bunch of shit you just throw into your Instant Pot, go jerk off for a bit, come back and BAM!! You have mostly delicious food ready to scarf down so you don't starve to death. And if you're lazy like me, you'll make sure to dump a lot in there so you have some leftovers for the next day! I'm not saying you're going to transform into that angry chef guy from TV and become a foodie, but you will most definitely take the necessary baby steps to building confidence to cook healthier meals and feel better about yourself. Good luck!

If "easy recipe" can include buying some mixed ingredients ahead of time, here are a couple of my favorites.

1. Mini Tacos - see my recipe here
   
2. Stir Fry - (a) Make some rice. A rice cooker makes this extra easy. Recently bought this one for $17 and love it. (b) Throw tofu and mixed veggies in a pan (no oil needed). For tofu I like firm, diced. For mixed veggies, Trader Joe's sells fresh asian stir fry veggies--a huge portion for maybe $4. (c) Toss in some sauce. I've been mixing the following together: Soy Vay's Hoisin Garlic, lime juice, fresh minced or dried/ground ginger, fresh minced or dried/ground garlic, honey, red pepper flakes. (d) Put all three parts--tofu, veggies, sauce--on high heat until veggies cook through. (e) Pour cooked mix over rice.

It is so sweet of you to try do this for her!

With the coconut and nut allergy you’re going to have to make the ice cream. You’ll need a small ice cream maker. I have this one and it works well for small batches.

Cuisinart ICE-21 1.5 Quart Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream Maker (White) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003KYSLMW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_GDs4DbG40WRR3

You can make it out of any safe milk. Ripple milk is good, it’s made out of peas and it’s the closest to dairy milk. Just find instructions and substitute the safe milk for dairy milk.

It will probably take a few batches until you figure out one that tastes good.

After that, the candy shell. The recipes I have seen are all chocolate + coconut oil. You could try to substitute crisco, the organic vegan products like crisco, or even lard. Enjoy life makes allergy friendly dark chocolate chips you could use. I don’t know if any of these would work but you can try! If they don’t work you can always just have ice cream with chocolate sauce or chunks.

If you want a great book on allergy cooking check out this one.

The Allergy-Free Pantry: Make Your Own Staples, Snacks, and More Without Wheat, Gluten, Dairy, Eggs, Soy or Nuts https://www.amazon.com/dp/1615192085/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_WNs4DbNSA7B0S

Let us know how the ice cream (and hopefully Klondike bars) turns out!

http://www.amazon.com/Wabash-Valley-Farms-25008-Whirley-Pop/dp/B00004SU35

this is my best friend, i can make IMMENSELY healthy popcorn (sorry non-carbers :( ) and completely control the oil and salt in it, it's not calorie-free but it is an awesome easy (and CHEAP) munchy that won't totally break your diet.
munch on my friend (but only reasonable portions!)

I own the Cuisinart ice cream maker. It makes about 1 quart at a time and works quickly. Freeze the bowl for 24 hours, pop in the ice cream maker, pour in your ingredients and let be for 20 mins. Makes great ice cream, is not as loud as other machines (although don't expect it to be whisper quiet). They sell extra bowls so you can make more than one patient a meal each day.

I'd also like to thank you for your work with dementia patients. My grandmother recently passed away from Alzheimers and I really wish she had such great care as you are providing.

congrats on your progress!!

if you are looking to spend some money to make life a little easier, grab an instant pot! there are quite a few AIP recipes where you basically just dump everything inside and set it to cook. there is also an older model without the yogurt function that's $90 (i keep telling myself i'm going to make my own coconut yogurt but it has yet to happen, lol).

This recipe is a current favorite of mine. Super easy plus BBQ!!!

If you're cheap like me, or have no more space for appliances, like me, you can get the vaccuum lid sealer for Mason Jars, and a small hand pump that will attach to the lid. I'm sure they don't do as good a job as the electric model, but they work fine for me. I also store them in a freezer.

Interestingly, my hand pump came with the jar sealer, but I cannot find a listing like that on Amazon anymore. I only see the jar sealer with the hose attachment for the electric appliance. Just don't get the Mason lids with the nozzles built in. The attachment I listed will do it on standard Mason lids.

You should look into getting a microwave and a contertop stove like this for things like cooking. The baby swing is a good idea, you could also look into pack-and-plays for overnight stays!

Getting rid of unnecessary furniture is also a great idea, just make sure you have good places to store everything. I had a day-bed and I stored all my clothes and my son's clothes under it while I lived there.

Would it be possible for you to draw up a diagram of what your bedroom looks like currently in MS Paint? I can give you a few more pointers if I have a clearer picture.

The great thing about prep after surgery is the small amount of food. More fits into the fridge. You cook once a week or every 2 weeks and just heat it up.

Get some containers you can microwave. I bought some cheap containers on amazon with compartments so the stuff does not mix (in case of souce/gravy) or invest in some that last longer. These

The first time I prepped I made some meat plus sides of cauliflower and broccoli. It started to smell badly after day 4 in the fridge so I had to throw it away. I should have frozen the food and not just used the fridge. I think if you don't eat it in 3 days you should freeze it.

Perfect for prep is shredded chicken (or beef or pork) or meatloaf or steak (cut in very small pieces). The shredded chicken you can mix with all kinds of tastes like teriyaki or curry... whatever you prefer. It all heats up nicely in the microwave.

Stews or soups are good too. Instantpot is your friend. I use mine for all the meat or vegetables. Especially in the beginning you need as moist food as possible. Dry chicken will not sit well and if it is in a stew or with some liquid it works.

Some stuff is just too much work to prep. I make them fresh like eggs for breakfast.

This is how I started but I got lazy. It is a lot of work to prep for 2 weeks. That whole day is gone.

So... What I do now... And that is just me. I have small 5 oz plastic cups with lids. I put the meat in there and freeze those. Or I make little meatloafs (8 loaf sheet pan) with turkey and freeze those. Vegetables I buy now in a steamer bag (I got too lazy to prep vegetables) but one steamer lasts for 2 meals. And when it's time for dinner or lunch I just grab one meat item and a steamer and am good. The meat container I have already calculated and added to MyFitnessPal App. One click and the diary is done.

Variety is important or it gets boring. And... All this is for the stage when you can have all foods. :-)

I hope you did not want to prep for the whole family... That would be soooo much work. I am single so it is easier but really... Instantpot.

(sorry for the unstructured answer but I just wrote what was in my mind and that was not in any sequence.)

I would debate that, other than the meat (which was the expensive part in my opinion), you need to eat the other ingredients in large quantities to get the health benefit. Yes, they're cheap. However, you need to be willing/able to cook to turn them into something edible. I eat a very nutritious, veggie rich diet on the cheap myself. OP sounds more like he wants a 30 sec solution for 20 cents a pack. You can't grate a carrot into ramen and fix the the macro/micro nutrient content.


If I were the OP, I'd ditch the ramen and buy the following: a bag of rice, soy sauce, a dozen eggs, an assortment of frozen veg, some carrots and onions (which are super cheap). I'd then live off of fried or steamed rice instead of ramen.


OP - you can buy a rice cooker with a steamer to prepare a number of things (including steaming meat and veg!) for $16

Get the Cuisinart Griddler instead. It works much better than a GF for panini and does a pretty good job if you need to cook mass quantities of hot dogs, hamburgers, or grilled cheese sammichs for, say, a gang of rugrats if you're having friends over. If you open it all the way, it even does a good job as a griddle.

Also, crockpots are awesome.

I mean yes.

But really, something like this is fine. Some things to look for are a temperature control and a timer. They help with getting various foods dehydrated perfectly. Mine has neither, I just keep an eye on my foods a little more. At this point I know how it runs so I know what food I can set and leave for 8 hours and what foods I need to rotate trays every 2 hours.

I will say, I borrowed and Excalibur when I was prepping for a long distance backpacking trip and it was AMAZING. It dehydrates much quicker and much more evenly than my cheapo unit. But I would probably never buy one myself. For that particular trip I was running both machines pretty much around the clock for months making meals. For the occasional use, my cheap machine is fine.

I posted this in your LPT thread, I think it is worth reading so here.

A few years back, and even some today, I set out to find out how to make popcorn like at the movie theaters. Alton's recipe does not sound terrible and uses items most people will have on hand. However to make it better (read: more like movie theater popcorn) You will need to buy a few items for this.

1. Gold Medal Flavacol popcorn salt
   
2. Coconut oil for popcorn
   
3. Whirley-Pop
   
   All total the items are under $40 (excluding popcorn) and all but the coconut oil will last a long time. Flavacol is a must have for this to work. I have not been able to find it locally near me. the 35oz carton will last you just about forever.
   
   The coconut oil is a bit on the messy side just because of the container, you can get different amounts which will come in a different container. I have noticed some differences in taste of some coconut oils and the one linked is the brand I am currently using.(note: Coconut oil solidifies at about 76F)
   
   If you are just toying with the idea of better popcorn, try Alton's method of popping. It cuts the total price in half and for a test run\proof of concept it should work. I have tested several poppers and settled with the whirley pop or similar design. Some outdoors shops sell these but charges about $10 more for them. Note: Yes it has a turn handle, but the gears are made of plastic, so do not hulk smash it.
   
   As for popcorn, not all popcorn is created equal. The artisan fancy colored stuff generally does not pop well in my experience. I have experimented with many different kinds and have mostly settled with Orville Redenbacher. This can be purchased off the shelf at most grocery stores or from Amazon. You can try others to find one you like better.
   
   
   
   
   **
   As a note
   I do not have a set amount for any 1 ingredient. I just eyeball it, maybe one of these days I will get this down to a science with numbers and such. When starting out follow Alton's recipe but substitute the above items in it.
   
   

1. nice graphing calculator (i'm an engineer and i couldn't imagine life without it).
   
2. BACtrak breathalyzer (the assurance is worth the cost).
   
3. Hamilton Beach 33969A Slow Cooker Made meals much easier to do during the week, and has a ton of party uses.
   
4. Photive CYREN Bluetooth speakers inexpensive and work surprisingly well. i take them everywhere and people are always appreciative.

Lipavia Sous Vide Container - 26 Qt works perfectly for me. It's too big for 90% of what I do but when I want to do several racks of ribs or steaks for the extended family, the extra size is great. I also use it to hold all my sous vide stuff (vacuum sealer, Joule, bags, etc) when I'm not cooking in it.

https://www.amazon.com/LIPAVI-Sous-Vide-Container-Polycarbonate/dp/B014U596GO?ref=ast_p_ep

This foodsaver works perfectly for me.
https://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-Vacuum-Sealing-System-Starter/dp/B0044XDA3S/ref=sr_1_9?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1518471516&sr=1-9&keywords=food+saver

I tried using an electric bucket heater to assist boiling 6 gallons on my electric stovetop, but wasn't able to get quite enough juice to get a heavy rolling boil. YMMV depending on your stovetop power and boil volume and other such parameters, obviously. But I'd imagine with a temp controller hooked up it'd work well for mash temps, probably even on it's own without the stove power.


That said, what I did after the bucket heater failed to hit a rolling boil was buy one of these purpose-built Hot Rods. I got the 1500w stainless element + cable and plug from them, and paid the labor charge they offer to put it all together for me. Works great, boiling 6+ gallons in combo with my stovetop in under an hour.


For the mashing end, what I recently did for my mash that worked really well was to use a Sous Vide cooker (like this one) in place of my Hot Rod. A Sous Vide cooker is basically a heating element + temp control + water circulator all in one. It's meant to be used for precision temperature cooking of food immersed in water in vacuum-sealed bags...so it seemed like a perfect fit for a mash. And it really was! I do BIAB, so the grain stayed separated from the Sous Vide device to not clog the circulator. In my open-topped kettle I was able to maintain a mash temp of 151.5 degrees +/- 1 degree for the full 60 minute mash. And the bonus is I can still use it for it's intended food cooking purpose!

I use these blender bottles, they divide up a day's Soylent into 4 500 cal portions which I prefer, and are easy to clean by hand:
http://www.amazon.com/BlenderBottle-Classic-Shaker-Bottle-Black/dp/B00M1VNJO0

I replaced the original 68oz. Soylent bottle with this glass pitcher, Soylent now seems to last a little longer due to a better seal, you can dump the full bag into it when you're making it unlike with the stock bottle, it too is easy to clean by hand, and there's no risk of having a leak due to overtightening:
http://www.amazon.com/Bormioli-Rocco-Frigoverre-Glass-Pitcher/dp/B00PT7239A

Lastly, consider investing in a stick blender such as this one for the best possible Soylent consistency:
http://www.amazon.com/Conair-Cuisinart-CSB-75BC-Blender-Brushed/dp/B00ARQVM5O

Another option is an induction cooker. These won't be quick, but they'll do better than your stove. Note that while it's less power than a typical large electric stove element (1800 watts vs ~2200 watts), it is far more efficient because it sends all the heat to the pot rather than a lot being lost to the surrounding air.

If you check this blog, in the comments he said it took 1hr and 15min to get 6 gallons to a boil starting at 85. If you used full hot tap water at 120 or so it would probably get that down under an hour. Or you could try to find a more powerful induction burner but that might get expensive.

One key note, induction cookers require a pot with some iron content. Easiest way to tell is use a magnet, if it sticks to the pot it's good to go. Aluminum is right out, but many stainless steel pots will work.

I have one I spent $150 on and it was the best ever. Worth it a thousand times over. It cooks white or brown rice perfectly every time.

For a parent, it's a fantastic device to own. Add rice, water, hit cook and after a while (it does take longer to cook, but you can program it up to 24 hours in advance) perfect yummy rice. I've had it almost 6 years and it was cheaper than the link below, which is a slightly smaller model for the same price.

Link

They're not appliances, but I could not live with my stoneline pots and pans. They cook like cast iron, but are so much lighter, are completely non-stick (I can wipe off burnt cheese and caramel sauce with a damp paper towel).

I also love my slow cooker, I use it at least once a week if not more.

My cuisinart griddler, it's like a fancy George Forman, but the plates are removable and dishwasher safe. It also opens flat so I can use it griddle. I also have the waffle plates.

a slow cooker may be too slow. i would get a rice cooker which doubles as a slow cooker but can also cook and steam much faster. for around $30 you can get a http://www.amazon.com/Aroma-ARC-914SBD-Uncooked-Digital-Steamer/dp/B007WQ9YNO don't get the larger one if you are only cooking for 1-2 people. an ever faster slow/rice cooker is an electric pressure cooker, but they start at more than double this price range, so i would not bother on a student budget.

once you have a cooker, familiarize yourself with the wide variety of affordable starches, hard veg and proteins that cook best in it. locate the indian and asian grocery in your area where you often find the best deals on a wide variety of rice, pasta and dry beans for your cooker. when buying hard and root veg, don't be afraid to buy 1-2 of each veg at a time - often buying big bags of them to save money does not work out, as you may not have the space, and they may spoil before you get to cook them. if you have the freezer space, you can stock up on your proteins if once home you make portion size ziploc baggies and freeze them properly. no need to defrost them before use as the rice cooker will take care of that.

For heating water, fire is better than electricity so just get a good camp kettle and forage for dry wood while you're out enjoying nature. If you want hot water right when you wake up and are stealthing, go heat it over a campfire somewhere the day before and throw it in a thermos. Adjusting your lifestyle a bit is part of becoming a vandweller after all...

For blending, I'd suggest one of these since it only uses 200W, is easy to clean and takes up little space. I use it to make delicious smoothies using a frozen banana (plus blueberries, yogurt & whey protein - yum). A frozen banana is a lot tougher to puree than most raw veggies, and 2-3 minutes of blending with that is all it takes. My guess is a blender that can turn bricks into sand is probably overkill for most of what you eat.

Just to add, you can get a really good dehydrator for about $65 that will do virtually anything you want. I've done jerky, fruit leathers, veggies, etc but you can also dehydrate cooked meals with great success. It's crazy how easy it is, you literally pat stuff dry, cut it into small/thin pieces, and plug it in. It's really that easy.

This is what I do, but it's not really cost efficient, I think I get about a lb of jerky for 3lbs of flank steak, or about $23-$24 per lb of jerky. I need to experiment with other / cheaper cuts.

Buy a dehydrator (I have this one with some extra trays: https://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-75A-Snackmaster-Dehydrator-White/dp/B0090WOCN0/ref=sr_1_5?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1484277570&sr=1-5&keywords=Dehydrator)

I think I spent $75 on the dehydrator plus extra trays.

After that, it's $7/lb flank steak from costco for me.

Trim the flank steak
Freeze it for a while to make it easier to slice
Slice it and experiment with slicing against / with the grain. Against gives you soft, crumbly jerky that chews easy, with the grain gives you hard jerky. Also experiment with thickness. I've found I like a thicker cut that is sort of diagonal across the grain a bit. You can also try using a mandolin but I've found it doesn't slice nicely.

There's a giant vein in the flank steak that you'll want to work around and remove, although the smaller veins of fat you can leave in.

Experiment with marinades, but a pretty simple one is 1 part soy sauce, 1 part worcestershire sauce, black and red pepper. They key is really to make sure you've got plenty of salt.

Marinade for 12-24 hours.

Dehydrate on the highest setting, mine has the minimum for beef jerky marked on it.

You can't over-dehydrate it so let it really dry out. I've run it for up to 24 hours before.

Blot the pooled oil off the dried meat before storing in an air tight bag, as it will make it go rancid faster (plus its greasy).

This makes easily some of hte best jerky I've ever had and is price competitive with some of the really nice jerkies I've had but like it doesn't compete price-wise with pemmican or jack links or whatever the hell basic jerky you might be eating.

You might be interested in the Dash Go Rapid Egg Cooker then. It was the best $20 that I've spent in a while and the whole family has been eating more eggs because of how easy and consistent it is.
 
Thanks for sharing the recipe and tips. I'm definitely going to try this out.

I absolutely love this one by Hamilton Beach. I've used plenty of slow cookers over the past few decades and this is simply the best. It's large enough for every recipe I've ever made, programmable (by time/temperature), reliable, easy to transport and easy to clean.

For small DIYs, I use that setup: hot plate with some sort of pot/tub holding water, silicon trivet, and beaker. I use a digital thermometer to check it every few minutes and adjust the temp that way.

For larger DIYs, I use a sous vide machine. I just get a big plastic tub (I like the Rubbermaid Commercial ones), fill it with water, and let the sous vide do its thing. It's the BEST - it holds an exact temperature indefinitely, it pairs with an app so you can adjust it remotely, and it keeps water circulating so you don't have to worry about different temps in different places. It's maybe overkill for small personal projects, but I super duper love it.

well, I agree with the sous vide if you have a vacuum sealer. you can get a foodsaver one on amazon for the price of a couple ribeyes. This is the model that I have and it's suited me very well. It's also great if you like to buy in bulk. I've found that I've saved a lot of money using this thing. However, I'd say put it somewhere where you'd see it or else you're easy to forget about it. /end mini commercial

The sous vide makes the meat really tender and you can add your marinade right in there when you vacuum it in, saving yourself a ton of time. I usually finish it off using a cast iron pan or under the broiler.

I know I'm late to the party but I think I have some meaningful input for you. I purchased an electric pressure cooker on black friday, and it has completely replaced my slow cooker. This is what I purchased, and it is amazing. It has all the settings my old slow cooker had and then much more. You're able to quickly cook food if you want to and you still have all of the slow cooking and program settings you'd expect from a crock pot. Just my two cents, good luck with whatever you get!

you can, but you're right it's just a hassle. before i got my anova i used to use a lobster pot and a candy thermometer and just tinker with the flame until it maintained a certain temperature.

i'm sure there are tons of videos online about doing sous vide without any special equipment.

it does take about twice as long to get to the meat to desired temperature without the water-circulation, however.

by the way anyone interested the anova sous vide thingy is great and costs way less than gaben's

Be a single 22 year old software engineer who eats nothing but cheap beef and rice, barely owns any furniture, wears the same high quality clothes I bought in college 3-4 years ago (that still look dope), and buy everything at Costco.

I could literally build a new computer every week with my cheap as fuck lifestyle.

Edit: To anyone reading this that wants a good tip: buy an instant pot, it lets you make really good food out of really cheap cuts of meat (think like $4.99 / lb or just vegetables if you're one of those people). Eating out like 3 times a week for lunch at work adds up really quickly. Making a whole lot of food in one of these bad boys is the easiest way to save money, and best of all, it's quick and you need approximately 2/10 kitchen skills. There's a cheaper one than the one I linked, but I have that one and basically everything I eat comes out of it.

I wouldn't recommend less than 4.5 Quart for size people like to cook for parties and have left overs. Anything less than 4.5 would be too small for me.

They have programmable slow cookers which cook for the time set and then automatically set to warm after the time is up good for someone who works all day and can't watch it. If your mom is typically home all day you could get away with a 3 setting one low high and warm.

Also if your mom goes over to friends houses often with food they sell the travel slow cookers with latching lids for transport.

The brand Slow Cooker are good also Hamilton beach is a good company.

locking lid NOT programmable

Locking lid and programmable

Standard slow cooker no frills comes with dipping sauce warmer

basic slow cooker

So basically you can purchase on what you think your moms needs are Its not a bad idea to go for the programmable locking one since its a gift but when I buy for myself I typically want to save the most money possible and get the cheaper one but they will all cook the food the same.

I'll post some of my wife's snack food recipe's when I get home. Low carb cookie's and stuff like that. This link has been a good resource: https://imgur.com/TUJSkVn

https://lowcarbyum.com/low-carb-crock-pot-roast-beef-recipe/ this one is also good bc you can really put any veggies in that you want.

There's only two of us, so I usually freeze half of each meal that i make in the crock pot, then you have an easy meal a week or so later too.

Here are some low carb ice cream recipe's too. https://peaceloveandlowcarb.com/20-low-carb-keto-ice-cream-recipes/
We bought anice cream maker like this one, which makes it super easy: https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-ICE-21-Quart-Frozen-Yogurt-Ice/dp/B003KYSLMW/ref=sr_1_5?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1518119266&sr=1-5&keywords=ice+cream+maker&dpID=41jGxV8aDPL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

First, I would recommend these tasty protein bars. They have two flavors (cookie dough and cookies and cream!) that are net 3 carbs for a bar. I find them to be very filling, and they'd be awesome with a morning coffee.

If you want to do coffee and can handle some fat in the morning I love BPC, and it keeps me full until lunch time.

Everyone seems to have their own take on it, so here's my recipe:

• 12 oz hot coffee
  
• 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
  
• 1 - 2 tsp of coconut oil
  
• a few splashes of vanilla extract (the fake stuff)
  
• cinnamon to taste
  
• 1 - 3 Tbsp heavy whipping cream depending on how much cream you prefer in your coffee. I find more makes it creamier!
  
  I use a cuisinart stick blender (but mine only has 1 speed unlike the one I linked), to blend it all together. The more you blend it and the more heavy whipping cream you have, the more deliciously frothy it gets.
  
  It tastes like baked goods! I've found I need to be careful with how much coconut oil I put in, when I put in too much it gets this weird oily texture that I hate. But with the right amount its awesome.

That's my model :)

I ordered mine from Amazon for the same price as your link (plus $4.89 for a 2 year warranty) with free shipping because the order was over $25.

To answer your question, I don't have a conclusive answer... yet. I just got it! That being said, from my first use, I can say that I'm very happy with my purchase. What initially swayed me were the reviews on Amazon. Also, I really like that it has a thermometer probe which reads the actual temperature of food as it cooks. I hope to get a lot of use out of that feature!


TL;DR: ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉraise your dongersヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ

Get yourself an ice cream maker and then make Kahlua Coffee ice cream in 2 hours with this uber simple recipe. Get tipsy and eat ice cream!

I absolutely love my ice cream maker. I got it for $40 at Costco and use it a few times a week. I particularly like making fruit sorbets...I get a different fresh variety at the farmers market every weekend, and I experiment with adding fresh herbs...my sage peach sorbet was to die for!

Bonus: This Ben and Jerrys ice cream cookbook is excellent!

Absolutely. There are some caveats though. My wife and I have this vacuum sealer (Amazon link) and we also have a smoker so we'll do 30 pounds of pulled pork at a time and that sort of thing. Here's the catch though. There can't be any moisture when you vacuum seal or it just pulls the liquid out and won't seal. So, you end up having to slightly freeze everything (about an hour or so) and then seal it. It isn't a big deal but it does take a bit of time.

The other thing though is that it does give us the freedom to buy in bulk when stuff goes on sale and really helps pay for itself very quickly. Costco sells the freezer bags and Amazon does as well. Those seem to be the two cheapest places to get them.

Like /u/skwibby said, it's an essential kitchen item.

Slow Cooker Soy Chorizo Chili

See full recipe with additional stovetop instructions at https://veggiechick.com/soy-chorizo-chili/

​

• 2 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes (Sometimes I might use flavored cans of diced tomatoes, such as “Garlic and Olive Oil”, “Fire Roasted”, etc.)
  
• 1 (15-ounce) can organic tomato sauce
  
• 1 medium white or yellow onion, diced
  
• 1 (4.5-ounce) can green chiles
  
• 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
  
• 1 (15-ounce) can sweet corn (no need to drain)
  
• 15 cherry tomatoes, halved 
  
• 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
  
• 1/2 package (6-ounces) Soy Chorizo, casing/outer wrapper removed*, I prefer Trader Joe’s brand but you can use other brands of Soy Chorizo.
  
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
  
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, or regular paprika
  
• 1 teaspoon cumin
  
• 1 cup water
  
  Optional Toppings:
  
  
• crackers
  
• chopped cilantro
  
• vegan sour cream
  
  

  INSTRUCTIONS
  

  
  

1. In a slow cooker, add all ingredients (the order doesn’t matter) and stir. Important: be sure to remove the outer casing of the chorizo before adding to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-7 hours. When ready, scoop out into a bowl and enjoy! Add crackers, chopped cilantro or even some vegan sour cream. Store this chili in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
   
2. Note: you can also cook this on your stovetop. See stovetop instructions in the Notes section below. 
   
   

   NOTES
   

   
   

• *I use only 1/2 of the 12-ounce Soy Chorizo package, as it’s very spicy and also high in sodium. If you want to add more, you can taste it when it’s almost done cooking and add more if necessary. The soy chorizo should be already cooked (check the package to make sure), so it’s ok to add in at the end of the cooking process. Or, use the remaining chorizo in other recipes, such as a topping for this Spicy Baked Potato with Broccoli and Vegan Queso recipe. 
  
• This recipe makes a lot of chili, around 13 cups total, so you’ll have plenty for leftovers during the week.
  
• If you can’t find Soy Chorizo, you can make it without. But if you do, be sure to double (or triple) up on the spices, as the soy chorizo adds a lot of flavor.

Okay, I thought I did this already, but I guess I didn't LOL My standard housewarming first place gift is a rice cooker and a spice rack. Crockpots are awesome as everyone says. Just make sure it has the removable crock and same thing if you go for a Foreman Grill type implement or Waffle Iron, make sure that the plates are removable. OH and don't forget a plunger LOLOL

I am really happy that you are super happy. Did something special happen or are you just in a really good mood?

I really want to get this for my daughter because she LOVES popcorn, but I just learned that it's really not healthy to eat the microwave popcorn all of the time because of some chemical in the bags.

Here is a really cute picture!

Cooking patience is easy, get a slow cooker. Slow cooking is the easiest and most delicious type of cooking.

1. Get a slow cooker, preferably 6oz 6qt, like this, not necessarily this one, just that size.
   
   
2. Get some pork shoulder, a medium sized onion, your favorite bbq sauce, and some hamburger buns. You can add additional stuff if you want, but I prefer using simple and delicious recipes versus complicated easy to screw up recipes.
   
   
3. Chop the onion into quarters
   
   
4. Add the pork and onion to the slow cooker and fill it with water until both are just barely covered by the water.
   
   
5. I usually wait until a couple hours before I go to bed to start because I cook it on high for an hour or two, then put it on low and let it cook while I sleep (6-10 hours, honestly it's hard to fuck this up)
   
   
6. Once you wake up, or 6-10 hours later, take the meat out and put it in a big mixing bowl. Take a couple of forks and just shred it, it should fall apart super easy and be some of the softest meat you have ever seen.
   
   
7. Add BBQ sauce of your choosing. If you are saving it for later, just leave it in the bowl, cover it with a lid or saran wrap, and put it in the fridge. If you are eating it soon, dump it all back into the slow cooker (after dumping the rest of the onion water out), put it on high and mix occasionally until its warm all the way through.

Real talk? A whirlipop popcorn maker, it makes the best damn popcorn I've ever tasted! I make a bowl or two a week and its amazing how consistently good it is. If you like your popcorn a bit saltier there's this stuff on Amazon called Flavacol which is the seasoning they add in theatre popcorn, I put about a teaspoon in with the oil & corn usually.

https://www.amazon.com/Wabash-Valley-Farms-Whirley-Pop-Stovetop/dp/B00004SU35

https://www.amazon.com/Gold-Medal-Prod-Flavacol-Seasoning/dp/B004W8LT10/ref=sr_1_1_s_it?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1479915964&sr=1-1&keywords=Flavacol

This is of course not factoring in the price of oil and kernels, let me just say that coconut oil will make the popcorn taste x10 better than any other kind of cooking oil.

>I received the northern Brewer starter kit,

I am curious which starter kit you got, the currently on sale $99 home brew starter kit?

> Propane burner to heat up the wort faster.

FYI, My electric range tops did not work at all with 5 gallon kettles, but I am curious the take of the community on this one, I personally use a induction cocker Duxtop 1800, and 5 gallon stock pot and it works pretty fast to boil, and I have been able to walk away for 30 minutes while boiling the wart without fear. I assume the gas would not be able to set and forget. I have done a few whole grains with a brew bag, and that worked really well. Did my first saach' rest whole grain, and the temperature settings on the Duxtop didn't seam to work well enough for that. I am looking to find a way to insulate the pot for the next brew, to see if that fixes this problem.

I'm saving up for this crock pot. I'm saving up for it because I would really like to be able to cook dinner while I am away for the day; I've been ending up eating dinner super late recently because I can't get it started very early.

Saving Private Ryan is a good movie! Thanks for the contest! :)

I got this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FLYWNYQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It occasionally will drop to $70 (prime day) but usually sits around $80. You can look up the price history on camelcamelcamel.

8 quarts is pretty big if it's just for one person, but not necessarily so much if you meal prep multiple meals. You can also prep stuff, freeze it, and then cook from frozen.

In my opinion they're somewhat overhyped if you're already an experienced cook and enjoy cooking, but work well for quick and easy meals.

I recently bought a new crock pot with a timer that switches to keep warm. It also has locks on the sides which makes it easier to transport. I am really happy with it and decided to get it even though my older crock pot was still working just fine.

The model is: Crock-Pot SCCPVL610-S Programmable Cook and Carry Oval Slow Cooker, 6-Quart

It's $50 on Amazon prime.
http://amzn.com/B004P2NG0K

I also recently bought an outlet timer (to use with a fan) on Amazon for around $15. Unless you're planning to use the outlet timer for other reasons, I think it's worth it to get the crock pot with the timer and have an extra crock pot on hand.

I have this one, Hamilton Beach

It is really easy to use, simple to clean, and I literally set it and forget it. The programmable screen is pretty nifty and so far I have not had one problem (knock on wood). The price is a good and the reviews are plenty, which justified me buying it.

there are a few on amazon but they are much higher than usual pricing.

I recommend the instant-pot.
Instant Pot


It generates 12.8 PSI at high pressure(verify?) but whatever i cook in it comes out great as i use timing from
America's Test Kitchen pressure cooker
or
Lorna Sass Pressure Perfect
or
Bob Something From HSN Fast cookbook(built for electric units).

I also use a meat thermometer in case to verify safety in case the meat was somewhat frozen or not.

PM me for any questions?

And for those of you who see time as money: this popcorn maker is a good investment. Occasionally it will go on sale for $10 (which is how much I paid for mine). It's nice because you can basically put the popcorn in, go do something else, and just listen.


I completely agree with OP, popcorn is the best frugal snack ever. You can pay $3 for a bag of potato chips or you can pay $2 for a huge bag of popcorn kernels that, when popped, basically equals... Idk, like 25 bags of chips? Just add butter and salt (or whatever seasoning you like, but with an air popper you can't use oil, so I like to melt a bit of butter for mine), and it's a great snack! (Not to mention a much healthier alternative to chips).

A pressure cooker makes eating a diet heavy in beans and grains much easier. I'm going to shill without compensation for the Instant Pot IP-DUO which is a popular countertop multi-function cooker (pressure cooking, slow cooking, hot plate saute mode, yogurt making) you see recommended on a lot of food blogs for good reason. It's convenient because you just punch in the cooking time and let it do its pressure thing without monitoring a burner. You can cook most any dried bean variety in an hour (tastes better than canned and cheaper), long-cooking grains like barley and wild rice take about half the usual amount of time, and whole white and sweet potatoes steam up in 10 minutes. I use mine all the time to cook rice, dried beans, and one-pot dinners. Think chickpea curry, fast rice pilafs and lentils, wheat berries, risotto without all the stirring, and homemade hummus. It has been going on sale on Amazon pretty often: yesterday was down to $72 and has been as low as $69, is $99 right now (honestly still worth it even at that price but keep your eyes peeled if you're looking for the best deal).

edit: $79 today (12/20): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FLYWNYQ

Until that time this one will cook for up to 24 hours at desired temp and switch to warm for another 12.

Not that you'd want a recipe in for 36 but the 12 hour warming time is great.

Edit: Watch the pricing on this on. I've seen them as low as $49.99. I got a refurbished one off of Woot for $14.99. Lost the original in a divorced but came away with the Griddler!!

I had 3 other slow cookers that were mine so I kept those, I just really like this one for it's size and features.

This slow cooker. It changed my life. I use it multiple times a week and love /r/slowcooking for recipes. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EZI26GO?ref_=hit_wr_dt_vr_md_pt

Also, check out Sweethome. It's a blog that lists the best brands of certain products. I based a lot of my registry around what they said was best.

Honestly, if you're going to spend more than $100 or so just get the Instant Pot - the large 8 quart should be fine for families. There's the added functionality of using it as a pressure cooker, rice cooker, etc. It has a removable insert and it's very durable. There's a reason why the Instant Pot has gotten a huge cult following so fast - you can do a lot with it. But even if you just use it as a slow cooker, it's pretty great.

However, if you want to stick with a just a basic slow cooker, this site has pretty reliable reviews and rankings in my experience.