Reddit mentions: The best slow cookers

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

This is super cool! I don't sleep, so this will keep me entertained for a bit!

1.) Something that is grey.

Well, it's more silver-ish, but it'll do! (WL)

2.) Something reminiscent of rain.

Because the sound of the rain is so peaceful :)


3.) Something food related that is unusual.

I know, it is unusual! We will be using it for liquid sugar that we make, to make our homemade Starbucks green tea :) (WL)


4.) Something on your list that is for someone other than yourself. Tell me who it's for and why. (Yes, pets count!)

It's for my boyfriend, and for the aforementioned green teas we make :) I have one, and he's pretty jealous of it. Not to mention he spills so! (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!

It's called Jesus' Son. It is really...interesting to say the least, and I can guarantee not at all what you'd expect! (Unless you're expecting drugs, and the main character to be called Fuckhead!)


6.) An item that is less than a dollar, including shipping... that is not jewelry, nail polish, and or hair related!

Clever? Or wrong. Lol.


7.) Something related to cats. I love cats! (keep this SFW, you know who you are...)

Because who doesn't miss these guys?


8.) Something that is not useful, but so beautiful you must have it.

I mean...he's beautiful, so.... <3

9.) A movie everyone should watch at least once in their life. Why?

My username is a big hint to what this movie is! It's just so happy, and makes me laugh every time I watch it (and I've been watching it multiple times every year since it came out, and I was only 5!). It's just a genuinely happy, feel-good movie, with great music :)

10.) Something that would be useful when the zombies attack. Explain.

You know, for heat/fire when there's no electricity! (WL)


11.) Something that would have a profound impact on your life and help you to achieve your current goals.

It might not be the norm, but it's a gift card. Reason being instead of something specific, is with a gift card I can buy food through Amazon. Times have been a little tough around here, and we barely make it through the month money, and food wise. To know I had a little money to spend on groceries somewhere would be a major relief, and put both my boyfriend and I out of stress. I know it's not a "goal goal", but our happiness is a goal of mine, and it's been a little shakey as of late :/(WL)


12.) One of those pesky Add-On items.

Because ours is torn, oops! (WL)


13.) The most expensive thing on your list. Your dream item. Why?

A nice, damn vacuum. Our current one sucks (bad pun), and I am really picky about a clean carpet. It would just be really nice to have a nice one, and that'll last instead of having to buy a new one every so often. (WL)


14.) Something bigger than a bread box. EDIT A bread box is typically similar in size to a microwave.

Because it never occurred to me you could buy this on Amazon!

15.) Something smaller than a golf ball.

Individually, smaller than a golfball!


16.) Something that smells wonderful.

I love, love, loooooove this perfume. I've had samples, but never the whole bottle! (WL)


17.) A (SFW) toy.

Not a toy per say, but it's definitely fun, and entertaining for hours! (WL)


18.) Something that would be helpful for going back to school.

Pens! Believe it or not, these have always been my favorite, and despite the fact there's a bunch in a box, I always ended up with none! That's why people should have their own!


19.) Something related to your current obsession, whatever that may be.

Because I...I'm...I'm a woman possessed. Normally I'm obsessed with Sherlock but since it's not out yet, I'm catching up on Doctor Who, and I can't. Just can't stop. Been talking in a British accent on accident for days! I also freaking love hoodies so it's the best of both worlds. (WL)


20.) Something that is just so amazing and awe-inspiring that I simply must see it. Explain why it is so grand.

BECAUSE LOOK AT IT! Making tasty foods on it for the belly! (WL)

Hey, this was a lot of fun! Regardless of the outcome, thank you. Thoroughly enjoyed myself :)

EDIT: BONUS: Anything made in Oregon.

It's a whole gift set! It's like it knew! I actually added it to my WL. My favorite jam was taken off the shelves, so I'm always up for trying new ones :)


fear cuts deeper than swords

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.
  

Cheap tips...

Rice Cooker, Slow cooker, Food Processor, Blender.

Zojirushi Rice Cookers are consistent and long lasting - I had one of these for 12 years, and it always got the job done right. When I moved in with my wife, she had a rice cooker that was old, but still worked (another Zojirushi). We recently splurged and got a really high end one. It's AMAZING, 10-15 minute perfectly cooked rice.

Cuckoo CRP-HV0667F IH Pressure Rice Cooker - For reference.

Anyways...

Get the simplest cheapest crock-pot - Less things to go wrong when it's as simple as this.

Get a cheap food processor

Get a decent blender - Don't go too cheap on blenders, you really get what you pay for in a quality blender. Blenders and mixers are the two things KitchenAid does best.

Now... The reason why I said get cheap stuff? Because you said you know nothing about cooking, and you might destroy a nice piece of equipment in your ignorance. It's bound to happen. Since you are going to be living on your own, if family gives you free stuff, don't feel bad about getting rid of it if the equipment sucks. They didn't want it anyways. Good tools? And you'll do a good job.

Watch this for other equipment...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-av6cz9upO0 - Gordon Ramsay may be a celebrity, but his kitchen knowledge is definitely high-end.

Personally don't skimp on the saucepans, frying pan, and the knife (honestly for 99% of jobs you just want a really good chef's knife, other than a pairing knife can do most everything). They will make your life easier if you have quality equipment. I disagree with him about the cutting board for 2 reasons (10 years in restaurants in the past here)... One, you are a beginner and might ruin a wood board. Two, wood boards can accumulate bacteria from meats if not taken care of properly. I advise this one...

OXO Grips Utility Cutting Board

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHRXUeVsAQQ - Great video showing you some good techniques in cooking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJy1ajvMU1k - Another video along the same vein, great techniques for cooking.

As others have said Budgetbytes is great.

Raw beans and raw rice are always going to be significantly cheaper than buying pre-made/pre-cooked. Use a slow cooker to cook beans overnight. Use google for a recipe.

Chicken skin-on, bone-in is always going to be significantly cheaper than not. Breast is usually drier/tougher but lower calorie per oz. Thighs are juicier/softer, but higher calorie per oz. Remove the skin if you want to be more calorie efficient. Keep the skin on for flavor. Personally? I always leave skin on, remove the bone (but use it for cooking to extract the flavors), and I always use a chicken thigh. Personal preference. A cool tip is to remove the skin, coat in olive oil, and fry by itself. Try that out, see if you like it. Fry till like crispy bacon. If you don't use the skin in cooking, you can use it like this as a snack later.

Seasoning things is really important. Don't over-season, less is more. Because you can always add more seasoning later. When I make chicken, I always put a pinch of salt on each side, grind some pepper (use a pepper grinder, it's always superior to that pre-ground pepper crap), slap that into it. Olive oil, don't skimp out on this either. Get stuff actually from Italy, larger bottles are usually a better deal. Chicken with salt, pepper, olive oil is simple and tasty.

Get some kinda meal prep containers...

https://www.amazon.com/Freshware-15-Pack-Compartment-Bento-Lunch/dp/B01IIINCRS - These should work great. I like having a separation point in the container.

Some simple recipes I like...

http://luckypeach.com/recipes/miso-claypot-chicken-no-claypot/

https://www.budgetbytes.com/?s=slow+cooker - Anything here.

https://www.budgetbytes.com/?s=easy - Again, using the search function at budgetbytes is huge.

One thing that helps is to develop your palate. If you will be doing okay for money, the occasional outing to a restaurant to try something new can be really beneficial. When you eat food out, imagine what possible technique they could have used to achieve a certain texture or taste.

I'm just rambling, but hopefully this will help a little.

UGH I JUST REMEMBERED TO FINISH THIS BRB

EDIT: Okay here it izzzz.

These are the items you are looking for... (everything listed is from my wishlists here! )

1.) Something that is grey. – The bike lock on my wishlist (that was already gifted (: ) This one’s grey!

2.) Something reminiscent of rain. These leggings are Doctor Who Cosmic Tardis Leggings are cosmic… as in galaxy… as in the universe… in which there is a water cycle…. Which is reminiscent of rain…. Yup. ;)

3.) Something food related that is unusual. – It’s not every day you get to have jagermeister infused gummy bears....... Freaking nom.

4.) Something on your list that is for someone other than yourself. Tell me who it's for and why. (Yes, pets count!) – A dog bed for my puppy!! He really, really needs a new one.

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! – YOU NEED TO READ THE HOUSE OF LEAVES IT’S SO CRAZY AND I LOVE IT AND … AT SOME POINTS… YOU READ IT UPSIDE DOWN AND CRAZY AND INSIDE OUT AND OMFG WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING READING THIS GO READ THIS NOW

6.) An item that is less than a dollar, including shipping... that is not jewelry, nail polish, and or hair related! This with the value of 95 cents ;) hehehe I’m sneaky.

7.) Something related to cats. I love cats! (Keep this SFW; you know who you are...) -- This cat bed, even though I don’t have a cat, was on my puppy’s list! My puppy (who’s really a 9 year old dog but I call him puppy cause he looks/acts/is one) is a 6lb pup who’s basically a cat ;)

8.) Something that is not useful, but so beautiful you must have it. – The Chuck Complete Series Collector Blu-ray is not necessarily useful to my life…But the show’s so gorgeous, the cast so beautiful, the plot so delicious…I love it and need it! :P

9.) A movie everyone should watch at least once in their life. Why? – TANGLED!! (OK, one of the only movie related pieces on my list :P) But really, Tangled is PERFECT, SO adorable, a real winner.

10.) Something that would be useful when the zombies attack. Explain. – Okay this may seem crazy but stick with me here. these bones would be super helpful once whittled down. You could use it to double tap those stanky ass zombies

11.) Something that would have a profound impact on your life and help you to achieve your current goals. I have lots of stuff for fitness and school and all my goals likes that, but I thought I'd use something a little different for this one. This skin corrective cream would allow me to cover up my stupid little burn marks on my leg that make me really self conscious in skirts and shorts. This would be a good step in my goal of being happy with myself and gaining self confidence for the first time in my life.

12.) One of those pesky Add-On items.– One of those pesky add-ons… The MSC Joie Simply Slice Strawberry Slicer on my WL is one of them pesky add-ons.

13.) The most expensive thing on your list. Your dream item, why? – A Bike. Why? Mine was stolen and its extremely hindered my mobility as I need it for transportation to school /:

14.) Something bigger than a bread box. – The puppy bed on my puppy’s wishlist within my own wishlist is most definitely bigger than a breadbox.

15.) Something smaller than a golf ball. -- These cable organizers HOLLAH at me, Tiger Woods.

16.) Something that smells wonderful. -- French Vanilla Green Mountain Coffee Portion Packs for Keurig Mmmmmmmmm, delicious.

17.) A (SFW) toy. -- Crock Pot COOKING IS LIFE AND HAVING A CROCK POT WOULD BE THE BEST OF TOYS. For something more traditional, I have hedgehog toys etc on my puppy's list.

18.) Something that would be helpful for going back to school. -- This beautiful backpack! Mine is shot to hell and I'm dreading buying a new one.

19.) Something related to your current obsession, whatever that may be. This Friends Milkshake Poster Print from my wishlist OMFG I AM OBSESSED WITH FRIENDS RIGHT NOW. IDK WHY BUT I AM. Also with the Chuck DVD on my dreams list xD

20.) Something that is just so amazing and awe-inspiring that I simply must see it. Explain why it is so grand.– The New York Window Print Poster on my wishlist is pretty awe-inspiring. Looking into the city "where dreams are made of" in whatever town your in.... In a place that's essentially the culmination of all your dreams and desires.... At least for me.

-------

BONUS ITEMS

1. [YOUR NAME IS……]() Amirite?! actually... I've messaged so many people trying to figure it out, and I could've sworn I knew it before, but I absolutely cannot remember it.
   
   
2. And this handwarmer mug – OCEAN TIDE was made in Milton, Oregon! This ones not on my WL however.
   
   Finally, some people say that fear cuts deeper than swords but does it? Who knows.

Plants! They're great to have, I have some bamboo right now. I love it. Here's a really pretty bonsai tree!

And you definitely need a crock pot! They're super handy to have, just throw some food in in the morning and come home to a super easy meal, plus leftovers!

An electric kettle is another essential! Especially if you love tea.

Cheap, cute end tables! I turned the top of mine into a chessboard! Fancy-s up my room a lot.

Here and here are some really nice shelves!

You definitely need a set of knives too!

A really awesome bottle opener!

Here are some really cool glasses.

Aaand the cutest sake set ever.

Okay I'll stop linking now. I just really love household-y things! :D

Thank you for the contest and I hope this list helps!

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!

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.

It sounds like a Multicooker (such as an Instant Pot) would be perfect for you. I just got one a few months ago as a gift. Before I started using one, it seemed kind of gimmicky and faddish, but it's been a game changer for us and now we use it for probably every other meal. Specifically for you, the versatility would be make it the kind of your options. It cooks rice and keeps it warm as well as a rice cooker, it can be used a slow cooker like a Crock Pot, it can be used just like a pot on a stovetop with the saute mode, and it cooks fast like a traditional pressure cooker. There's a model of IP on sale for Prime Day right now ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NBKTPTS ), and as a student you should already have Prime.

Once you have it, start buying super cheap staples. Rice, beans, lentils, etc. are always ridiculously cheap, and very easy to cook. Buy cheap frozen veggies to mix into what you're cooking for easy nutrition. Pork shoulder, chicken thighs/breasts, and sometimes beef roasts go on great sales. Find the discount areas in your grocery store, all of them. Mine has three: one for baked goods, one for meats, one for shelf stable stuff. Right now they have boneless pork loin for $1.50/lb, pork shoulder for $0.80/lb, and bone-in skin-on chicken thighs for $0.77/lb. Last week they had boneless skinless breasts for $1.25/lb.

After shopping for your cheap staples, start prepping components. You don't have to prep entire meals... just prep staples. Have containers full of rice or beans, and a protein. Last week I made 3.5lbs (prepared) of Mexican style pulled pork with a 4lb pork loin, a can of enchilada sauce, and an onion for something like $6.50. Stuck a third in the fridge, and two thirds in the freezer to pull out at a later date. Cook into scrambled eggs or put on top of rice. Side of homemade "refried" beans.

Get creative. Pick a protein (pork, beef, chicken, etc.), pick a "flavorful cooking liquid" (salsa or enchilada sauce for Latin American, teriyaki for Asian, broth for a soup base, etc.). Once it's cooked and shredded you can toss in a bag of frozen veggies and they'll thaw from the heat of the already cooked food.

Here are a few ideas:

• "Fried" rice w/ pulled garlic teriyaki chicken
  
• Scrambled egg with red chile pork
  
• Chicken and dumplings
  
• Cajun red beans and rice with crispy sausage
  
• Split pea soup with ham or bacon
  
  Feel free to message if you have questions or want a guiding hand.

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.

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!

Lots of people will say to look at the Instant Pot which is a combination electric pressure cooker/slow cooker/rice cooker ("multi cooker"). I had a bluetooth enabled "IP-SMART" 6qt model of theirs (actually three: first had a safety recall, second was dented on arrival, third still exhibited regulation issues). Lots of people are happy with Instant Pots, but I had a lot of issues with the pressure control being flaky for certain recipes. Additionally, much of what makes slow cookers safe when you are out of the house is their low wattage heaters... typically 250-400W... and low complexity (basically it's a small electric blanket that is wrapped around a very heavy ceramic pot). The Instant Pot has a 1000W heater, and is more complex (microcontroller + a thermocouple), so this negates some of the safety aspects of unattended slow cooking... though it is UL listed and has a thermal fuse in case anything goes wrong.

My recommendation if you are interested in pressure cookers and slow cookers:

1. Presto 8qt stovetop http://www.amazon.com/Presto-01370-8-Quart-Stainless-Pressure/dp/B0000Z6JIW $69 More volume than electric pressuer cookers (8qt > 6qt) which is important since safely pressure cooking needs lots of headroom between the food and lid valve so as not to clog. Typically headroom is 1/3rd volume for most foods, 1/2 for foamy foods like rice, etc. Thus a 8qt pressure cooker effectively has a volume of 4-5qt. When using it without building up pressure, it can double as a large 8qt stockpot. I ended up preferring stovetop over electric since I can get an initial brown on meat without having to use multiple pots, and I don't have to wait for an electric heater to come up to temperature (10+ minutes on the Instant Pot for me).
   
   
2. Hamilton Beach 6qt set'n'forget slow cooker http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-33967A-Programmable-6-Quart/dp/B00EZI26DW $50 Check reviews on thesweethome.com for it, but it beat out a lot of more expensive crock pot models. Oval shape lends itself better for some slow cooker recipes, such as mini, chocolate lava cakes, roasts, etc.
   
   $120 for both.. around the ballpark of the cheaper Instant Pots, you gain an additional pot for stove use, pressure cooker is of bigger size, slow cooker is safe unattended and a more conventional shape, and IMO will last longer. You lose automatic rice cooking capabilities but... by a $20-$30 rice cooker and probably get better rice, or just do it on the stovetop.
   
   By the way, no idea what food you like to eat, but these are two of my favorite cookbooks if you are getting started and wanted to build up some experience:
   
   

• America's Test Kitchen 100 Recipes http://www.amazon.com/100-Recipes-Absolute-Best-Essentials/dp/1940352010/ Good for in-depth explanation of 100 recipes across a pretty big range of techniques.
  
  
• Cook's Illustrated Cookbook http://www.amazon.com/Cooks-Illustrated-Cookbook/dp/1933615893/ Shorter explanations but lots and lots of recipes.
  
  And major shout out to Kenji's (from Seriouseats.com) new book if you want more detailed science information:
  
  
• The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking through Science http://www.amazon.com/Food-Lab-Cooking-Through-Science/dp/0393081087
  
  This post ended up being much longer than I expected, but those are my recommendations if you are just starting out. ;) The main thing I've learned since beginning to cook is that 90%+ of the recipes online (and even in print) are untested crap, and to look for recipe sources you can trust. The second thing is that a finished recipe is much more dependant on the technique (the steps you use to modify ingredients at specific times, temperatures, and textures) and way less dependent on the ingredients themselves (you can easily sub ingredients for many recipes once the core techniques are understood).

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.

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

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.

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!

If you aren't really a cooker yet and need something easy, you may enjoy investing in a crockpot! You can probably find one on your local craigslist for free or next to it, but if not, they are generally pretty inexpensive.

From there, you can just check out a site like pinterest for ideas. Crockpots are great because you can just throw things in before you leave in the morning and have a full, healthy dinner to come home to. If you have leftovers they're usually easy to freeze flat in ziplocks, and at that point you'll have quick lunches to grab on the go as well. There are even plans where you can 'prepare' all of your meals for the week on one day by cutting veggies and portioning your meats, throwing things together in a large freezer bag. This gives you several meal options on hand.

You need a good, basic knife set! (You could get by with a chef's knife, paring knife, and bread knife, but this is a great deal.) My husband's a chef, and these are some of his favorites because they're sharp, durable, and lightweight (and pretty!)--which is of the utmost importance if you're doing a lot of cutting. He uses them at home and at work. Pretty much everyone in our family has some!

You also will need a slow cooker! My mom was an RN for over twenty years, and she used one all the time when working long shifts.

And last but not least, you'll need this fabulous game to entertain your guests--because having a party on your own terms is awesome!

you're a big girl now!

If you want to use that approach, this sub heartily recommends http://www.myfitnesspal.com/. It has a smartphone app and a website you can use to enter all your foods. I've been using it for about 3 weeks so far, and it's great. It will help you set a goal for calories and divide it up by protein/fat/carbs etc.

Once you start tracking that, the calorie differences in things will blow your mind. For example, the other night my wife made this beef stew. I had small bowl of that and it was 286 calories, it felt like a good meal and had 32 grams of protein.

During the meal I drank 2 Coors lights, they were 204 calories (and 1g protein, who knew?) and certainly didn't feel as filling as the hearty bowl of stew.

After dinner I had 4 mini kit kat's b/c we have our damn Halloween candy sitting out, they were 280 calories. They CERTAINLY weren't more filling than the stew, or even the beers.

So out of 688 calories, less than half was that stew, and that stew pretty much offered 10x the nutritional benefit of the other garbage I consumed.

Slightly related, I've been pre-making and freezing this Chicken Chili for months now and quite enjoy it. Not only is it healthy, easy and tasty, it only uses canned ingredients so it's also easy to stock up for and pretty damn cheap. A $50 slow cooker and a $15 digital scale will be invaluable tools for you if you go this route.

Edit: While I'm going over diet highlights, for me a protein shake is another easy/lazy way to get a pretty filling and healthy snack in. Lots of people have their favorite, mine is this. It seems to be marketed mainly to women, but it tastes delicious either way when mixed with low fat milk. The $35 seems a bit pricey, but it works out to about $1 a serving which isn't too bad. If price is an issue there are definitely other cheaper brands that are fine. I tried protein shakes years ago and hated them. I probably wasn't mixing them well. One or two of these $7 mixer cups solves that problem easily. Getting two is nice so you don't have to religiously clean a used one.

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

Try to get in the habit of preparing food, instead of grabbing fast food while you're out. It will be tempting to just buy food while you're out, but it will kill your budget, and it's harder to make healthy choices when you're in a hurry. So try to pick out some easy meals to make ahead and store in the fridge, or things that can be thrown together and taken in a box or bag for lunch on the go. Establish food prep as part of your routine, so you don't feel like you have to find extra time to do it.

I'm sure you're on a budget as far as kitchen tools go. But if you can save up, or finagle a family member to buy you some supplies, it will help you tremendously to have some equipment. If nothing else, put them on your Christmas list and make do until then...

Food Processor - This little guy doesn't have a million and one functions, but it will pulverize rolled oats so you can have easy smoothies, and easy oat flour for muffins. You can also use it to make salsa, guacamole, hummus, bean dip. Shred veggies to make shredded salads. Mix dough for scones and biscuits. Heck, you can even make your own nut butters.

Hand Blender - Make smoothies the easy way. Blend soup bases. Puree fruits to make popsicles.

Slow Cooker - Roast veggies & meats. Make soups & chili. Bake things. Cook beans overnight. Slow cookers are awesome. You can chuck your stuff in there in the morning, and when you're done with class, you have food!

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.

---
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/

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

CROCK POT. My brother and sister both agreed that a crock pot will supply delicious food made from the most random vegetables and such.

Would you like a falafel with that?

Congrats on graduating!

If possible, I'd love some addition to my giftcard funds. I'm currently trying to save enough money so I can purchase costumes that I can wear local 5K's and halfmarathons! My current list of costumes I'll be trying to buy over the next few years is on this wishlist. I'm a highschool cross-country and track runner, so I promise I won't bring dishonor by being slow!

However, I completely understand if you want to gift me an actual item, so this duck tie (like from How I Met Your Mother) would be awesome! (It's on this wishlist)

This one! It's actually cheaper now than when I bought it but I'm positive they'll go on sale for the holidays also. We're a family of 3 but honestly I like the bigger size if you have the counter space. What will kick you over $200 is alllll the accessories! I bought a second pot to make cooking multiple things simpler (wash one, cook with the other), a steamer basket, a glass top for easier slow cooking, a stackable egg rack for hardboiling.... But every piece is 100% worth it. It's been such a game changer appliance. Especially when I was doing after school pick up after a full day of work and then had to find an easy to cook a hot dinner that wasn't "fast food."

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B1VC13K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_q4cDDbHPJH8R0

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.

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.

This Hamilton Beach 3-in-1 Slow Cooker with 2, 4, and 6 qt. crocks is the only slow cooker you will ever need.

Why this one?

• It comes with 3 removable, dishwasher-safe stacking crocks that stores compactly, a 2 qt. for dips and fondue, 4 qt. for soups and small stews / meats, and a 6 qt. to fit whatever you can stuff in it. It is engineered so the same glass & stainless steel lid fits all 3 crocks.
  
  
• No electronic displays. In my research, the ones with electronic displays failed at a much greater rate than the others. My conclusion was that heat + electronics don't mix well. I would avoid electronics for this reason.
  
  
• Other models appear to have temperature "hot spots" and burning problems. This one does not (check the reviews). There is a switch to indicate if a 2, 4, or 6 quart crock is being used to adjust the heating elements.
  
  
• Great Amazon reviews plus my own personal recommendation. I've owned mine for almost 2 years and I love it.
  
  
• The well-placed side handles make it extremely to carry to-and-from parties and storage.
  
  
• This model looks nice and cleans up great.
  
  Other Notes:
  
  
• They don't make 'em like they used to. My mother has a crock pot that is nearly 40 years old and still works. If you get 10 years out of any of these models sold today, consider yourself lucky. Adding electronics likely lessens the lifetime of the product.
  
  
• If you do break one of the crocks, you have 2 spares you can substitute until you order a replacement for the appropriate size.
  
  
• Amazon has it on sale for $52!

Do you have a crock pot? If you don't, that's likely the best way to spend these $15 for long-term easier cheaper food. Amazon Warehouse Deals is the best place to look (imo). The Crock-Pot SCR300-SS 3-Quart Manual Slow Cooker, Silver is $15.67 right now but there are a bunch of other options too. It makes cooking dry beans a lot easier, and is just overall a great kitchen tool for spending less money on food and making cooking simpler.

If food is the thing you need most, here's what I'd buy personally (I don't live anywhere near a whole foods, and Amazon Fresh is not available in my area). I'm focusing on convenience foods for this because the real basics- rice, beans, oats, flour, are at least twice as expensive on Amazon (for me) in comparison to local options. The three items listed below are the same price or cheaper on Amazon as they are locally, and total $14.02 .

• Maruchan Instant Lunch Chicken Flavor, 2.25 Ounce (Pack of 12) $3.84
  
• Tasty Bite Indian Entree Madras Lentils 10 Ounce (Pack of 6) $9.00
  
• Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Hot Sauce, 5 fl oz $1.18
  
  ​
  
  (Those aren't referral links, I don't have that kind of thing set up cause I've got other stuff to do.)

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.

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 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.

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.

Honestly? Nope. Not happy for you yet. Get one of these and then we'll talk recipes. :P

Uh-oh, I'm in the wrong forum...

Congrats on the purchase. Try this as a baseline recipe:

• 2lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (thawed if from frozen)
  
• Can of Ro*Tel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies
  
• 1 tsp. Ground Cumin
  
• 1 Tbl. Chili Powder of choice
  
• 1 tsp. Smoked paprika
  
• Salt and pepper to taste
  
  

1. Remove chicken from the fridge 30-45 minutes ahead of planned cooking to permit them to dry and come up to temp, apply salt and pepper
   
2. Put thighs in slow cooker, trying to keep them to one or two layers, neatly arranged
   

• for more refined and flavorful version, brown both side of thighs in a very hot skillet prior to placing in slow cooker
  

3. Sprinkle spices over thighs, attempting to provide even coverage, though this isn't strictly essential
   
4. Open can of Ro*tel and pour over chicken thighs in slow cooker
   
5. Cover the slow cooker with the lid. Cook until the chicken is tender and registers an internal temperature of 165°F, around 4 to 5 hours on low, or 2 to 3 hours on high; you want the chicken to be just shreddable without driving ALL of the liquid out
   
6. As soon as the chicken registers the correct temp, pull it out as cleanly as possible and shred with your favorite method
   
7. Return shredded chicken to slow cooker and mix chicken with residual liquid/solids from tomatoes
   
8. Enjoy!
   
   NOTE: The spices here are intentionally pretty tame. Some people prefer blander food. Please feel free to experiment and increase, decrease, add additional options, etc. This is a baseline recipe. I tend to add much more in terms of herbs and spices (for example, I add 1 Tbl. dried Mexican oregano, increase all the spices by about 3x, and I tend to add fresh and/or dried chilies, too). I highly recommend Penzy's or equivalent for the herbs and spices!
   
   There is nothing authentic about this recipe other than it's being relayed by a Latino gentleman of questionable provenance...

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

> 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.

Just some ideas from someone who finished college not too long ago (All gifts from Amazon).

• Fun Party Games such as: Drunk Stoned Or Stupid ($16.00) Or Exploding Kittens! ($16.99)
  
  
• Quartet Dry Erase Cork Calendar Board Combo ($14.99) - great for organizing as a student!
  
  
• A coffee maker! (find one that fits your price - plenty over and under $20.00) - Every college student needs a coffee maker, ESSENTIAL for late night studying! You can find a ton on Amazon for a good price!
  
  
• A 7-Quart Crockpot ($19.00) - Always great for cooking easy meals as a college student!
  
  

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!!

As stated, all your links are the same pot.

[Here] (https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-IP-DUO60-Multi-Functional-Pressure/dp/B01B1VC13K/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1486881326&sr=1-1&keywords=instant%2Bpot&th=1) is a link to the DUO pot, and a choice between 5, 6 or 8 qts.

[Here] (https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-IP-LUX60-Programmable-Electric/dp/B0073GIN08/ref=sr_1_2?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1486881326&sr=1-2&keywords=instant%2Bpot&th=1) is a link to the LUX. The main difference here is there isn't a yogurt function.

How large you want it is really your preference and how much kitchen space you want to use up. Whether or not you would like to spend a little extra for the yogurt function is also your preference. You can fit a chicken in both the 6 or 8 qt, obviously depends on the size of the chicken.

I personally have the 8 qt, with a 4 year protection plan, and couldn't be happier. I'm positive I'd be just as happy with the 6 qt. I'm pretty sure they stand by their product based on the many stories I've read of random issues, even some that seem user caused.

There's not real wrong answer here. I believe you may have a longer wait for the 6qt DUO, I've heard people are waiting 8-10 weeks or so for them.

If you can afford it, I highly recommend a multicooker (like an Instant Pot or another electric pressure cooker). You can make everything from soups, stews, carnitas, cakes, curries... the possibilities are endless. And it shaves a ton of time off of cooking. I'm not sure about other brands, but Instant Pot makes a small 3-quart size for smaller portions (looks like it's only $60 on amazon right now!). 6-quart is a pretty standard size for most multicookers :)

​

Don't get too down on yourself for getting tired of cooking. I get Cooking Burn Out™️ all the time and I used to cook for a living. Just keep going and with a little inspo here and there you'll rediscover the fun. Good luck!

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.

Next on my wish list. :)

Unfortunately, they're not cheap. I've considered the far less costly Presto Hot Topper, but it's more suited to sticks of butter than clarified. Plus, the capacity is too small for the amount of popcorn I tend to make.

Until that glorious day that I do have some extra cash to blow on a butter dispenser, I make due with a small slow cooker and a ladle. This easily accommodates 3-4 pounds of butter, plus it makes it very easy to skim the solids off the top after it melts. Enough clarified butter for gallons of popcorn! :)

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.

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.

For a non-cook, I think a good place to start is a vegetarian or vegan cookbook. Meat's pretty easy to cook. Vegetables take more technique. Just practice! :)

You don't have knives? Buy this knife. There are lots of great, expensive knives that you'll never need (I have a few). This one is the best, if you ignore the blade-heads out there who don't spend less than $150 on a knife.

Do you have a Crockpot? The most inexpensive cuts of meat require long cook times, and a slow cooker will knock that out while you're at work. If there are only two of you, a 2-qt. Crockpot runs $15.


Do some reading on paleo fats. Fat is what will keep you running throughout the day.

Enjoy your kitchen!

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. :)

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.

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.

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!

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!!!

You could look into getting a slow cooker. There are SO many things you can make with one, and generally the prep is quite simple, since the draw of a slow cooker is that you can walk away and come back to a finished meal. Another fantastic aspect of slow cooking is that you don't need to add cooking oil, which you typically do when sauteing.

Since you want to keep your calories down, I'd suggest looking at chicken or vegetarian recipes. This is a good one, for instance. In fact, the SlenderKitchen website has a lot of awesome slow cooker recipes. (Something to keep in mind when slow cooking meat: you really want to remove excess fat and skin, because the liquid-cooking will never get you that awesome crispiness.)

If you don't want to have leftovers, they make single-serving slow cookers which are remarkably cheap. This one is $12 and gets good reviews.

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.)

Get yourself two Dash minis and get on the chaffle bandwagon. Quick and easy meals....Breakfast, Chaffle egg sandwich, lunch.....chaffles and anything you want...BLT, tuna, roast beef...unlimited possibilities and they absolutely travel well, so pack your lunch with Yummies.

​

Dinner, just keep it simple, a protein and a veggie.

Having the right tools for the job is always important.

My absolute must haves items to make cooking bearable.

• Dash Mini , get two.
  
• Ninja , combo, pressure cooker, slow cooker and air fryer! I use the air fryer the most....so great!
  
• Veggie Noodles!
  
• Great sauces make great dishes, I buy these at my local supermarkets.
  
  ​
  
  Make it fun, experiment.....dont dwell on what you cant have, be happy for what you CAN have!

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.

Everyone seems to be asking all the wrong questions, and no one is giving you an answer.

For my wife and I, [this] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008GS8R3K/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1495471094&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=1.5+quart+slow+cooker&dpPl=1&dpID=41A9X2qAIsL&ref=plSrch) makes enough soup for two servings (American, so consider large-ish servings), with one more serving for lunch the next day. We commonly use it for beans, small stews, and soups. It has about the same footprint as a toaster.

It's also great for making chicken or pork stock that we add to our dogs food.

Scaling up, [this] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003UCG8II/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495471094&sr=8-1-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=1.5+quart+slow+cooker&psc=1) is twice the size of the example above, and it's our workhorse. Everything from chicken tikka masala to soups to large amounts of stock. It works especially great if you prepare two weeks of meals ahead of time.

Finally, [this beast] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00S5HIN22/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1495471716&sr=8-7&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=7+quart+slow+cooker&dpPl=1&dpID=41UWiMWgVEL&ref=plSrch) is for huge family meals , and Chili cookouts.

There really is a slow cooker for every need, and they're not very expensive, incredibly energy efficient, and they make wonderful food

worth the investment. This should be good for you. It's 20 bucks. Tons of recipes for it. but for now I'll still hook you up.

Whole wheat pasta

can of diced tomatoes

fresh (little cannister) minced garlic

olive oil

red pepper flakes

italian seasoning.

parmesan.

Cook pasta until your desired tenderness I like mine chewy. Add a small amount of olive oil and garlic(1 tablespoon maybe) in a skillet. Let it start popping and then add diced tomatoes(draining is optional but that's what I do). Cook the tomatoes and add the pasta. I use red pepper flakes to taste because I like my things with a kick. Same with the italian seasoning.

Cheap meal and takes less than 20 minutes to make. Add chicken breast if you want some meat.

Calories:

under 300 if you measure your pasta correctly.

I love a good crock pot and you can get a pretty decent one for under $20. It's the perfect remedy to having a busy schedule and dealing with winter blues.

Here's a funny book.

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.

A crock pot is ALWAYS necessary. I've already got two so I don't need one, but having one is amazing. You can make some pretty awesome stuff in a crock pot.

Crockpot lets you throw in a bunch of food and it does cooking overnight/workday.

The low temperature helps break down connective tissue on cheaper cuts of meat and makes it easy to not overcook your food.

You can get a Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker for $50. Forgot to point out that the programmable means you can set a duration or specific temperature for the food to get to. After the time/temp, it maintains a WARM setting that keeps your food at a safe temp, so you don't have to rush to get to it. Also, get the liners that make clean up a matter of seconds and no dishes to wash.

The size of a slowcooker, normally means that you make meals and have a TON to divvy up into containers to have handy for whenever you want to reheat them. It seems almost all crockpot recipes that I have encountered, also do well being frozen/reheated.

As an owner of every paleo recipe book that is highly rated/popular, let me know if you want some great starter recipes and what you THINK your favorite types of meat/foods are.

Other people have been recommending slowcookers, maybe invest in some slow cooker liners http://www.amazon.com/Reynolds-Slow-Cooker-Liners-4-Count/dp/B002U0KKK8


and maybe one of these bad boys that helps you chop and/or slice things. http://www.amazon.com/Freshware-KT-402-Chopper-Vegetable-Container/dp/B00FWLJOSG/ref=lp_289780_1_10?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1457687139&sr=1-10 I bought the 7 in 1 set when it was on sale, and I haven't done anything to it that didn't get cleaned off with a good wipe with a soapy scrubby.

I have a genuine hatred of slicing things. On occasion I have unsteady hands, and it happens the most often when I have a decent calorie deficit or around a certain time of the month. That chopper has cut... I'm going to say every onion I've used since we bought it. The only time I handle sharp objects anymore is when I peel veg.


Some questions to ask yourself when considering your path going forward:

Can I make myself clean as I go?


How often do I go out to eat?/How much do I spend on convenience food?


Would cooking at home but using disposable plates and cutlery be more or less expensive than how I eat now?


What kind of bad cooking experiences have I had? Are there tools on the market to help with those tasks? (kitchen timer, chopper, crockpot liners, etc)


What are some good food experiences? How did they stand apart from the usual blah?



IMO the most important thing you need to do right now is say that it's okay to eat the same thing like... all the time and set up a routine with that food choice. Say you want to have toast for breakfast. Get up every morning and stick some toast in the toaster. Grab it and put some butter or jam on it. Wash the knife RIGHT AWAY. Eat said toast. Rinse that plate RIGHT AWAY. Bam. Breakfast Survived.


For lunch, 2 pieces of bread, toasted. stick in there some slow cooker leftover, like pulled pork. Bam. Lunch. If you use slow cooker liners you might just be pulling a bag of food out of the slow cooker and putting the whole bag into the fridge in a really big tupperware. When you finish eating the leftovers just toss the bag and give the container a soapy wipe down just to be safe.


For dinner nuke a potato. Serve it with some nuked slowcooker leftovers.


Your biggest challenge will be figuring out what slow cooker recipe you want to put your time into.

I have this crockpot and I love it.

It locks the lid down tight.

You can program it. So, if you need to cook something on high for 4 hours, just program it as such. Once the 4 hours is up, if you have not kicked it off, it will switch over to warm. This feature I really enjoy, because I can cook while sleeping or at work. Other crockpots you just say High or Low, and you have to watch the clock on it. I've burned quite a few things like this before.

I've never had any problems with it.

As far as recipes, I really like the Betty Crocker website. It gives you a tidy category at the top so you can easily scroll through whatever you're in the mood to try.

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!

Basically. They have to be thawed but typically what I do is every other weekend or so, I get the 10lb bag of frozen breasts from BJs along with whatever other stuff I need (like their 4 packs of pints of egg whites), leave it in the sink overnight to thaw out, then the next morning, stick the whole bag in the cooker together because my mom is awesome and gave me her giant crock pot. Oh snap, forgot to mention, for even further laziness, these things are awesome, just put them inside like you were lining a trash bin, put the food on top of/inside the bag and then when everything is done you probably won't have much clean up (sometimes they break/liquids leech into the crockpot anyways, ymmv.)

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.

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

It is pretty good. Good size. Good brand. It is my second choice for slow cookers after this one. There is little difference though to be honest. I am just a Hamilton Beach fan for my slow cookers.

I have this and I think it's awesome. It's great when I poorly plan something and can use the thermometer to make sure my food cooks to 180 because I never cook and high. It's awesome when I can set it to a timer and go and it will auto switch to warm.

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.

My roommate and I are starting the Whole30 when we move in next Monday, and we're going to be relying pretty heavily on my slow cooker. We both have dining plans, but we're expecting to use that only for lunch. That means eating a healthy breakfast in the room (fresh fruit smoothies or microwaved eggs for me), a vegetable-heavy salad for lunch with fresh fruit on the side, and then eating in the room for dinner. If at all possible, I'd suggest avoiding the pre-cooked foods in the dining hall and doing your own grocery shopping when you can.

Here are a few of the recipes I've saved for the next month:

• http://everydaypaleo.com/smokey-roast/
  
  
• http://fastpaleo.com/recipe/crockpot-balsamic-roast/
  
  
• http://www.marksdailyapple.com/asian-pepper-steak-crock-pot-recipe/#axzz2byN7z5fP
  
  
• http://blog.stuffimakemyhusband.com/2010/12/chicken-with-40-cloves-of-garlic-slow.html
  
  
• http://marianutrition.blogspot.com/2010/08/italian-meatballs.html
  
  
• http://nomnompaleo.com/post/4807547385/slow-cooker-roast-chicken-and-gravy
  
  I'm going to downsize the recipes a bit to fit into my 3 quart Crock-Pot (I have this one), and some of the recipes will require a bit of tweaking to be totally Whole30 compliant, but they're a much better starting point than anything my campus has to offer.

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.

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 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.

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.

You can pick a relatively cheap 2 burner camp stove. Might not be practical for "wild camping" backpacking a distance into the wild (though I've seem people lug these things back into the Boundary Waters of MN - quite a luxury once you've set up camp). Single burner back packing stoves aren't all that expensive either but you give up the flexibility of being able to boil water and fry something at the same time that you have with a two-burner. Obviously you'll need a couple pots and pans and utensils and stuff like that. A wash basin is also a handy item.

Another option for showers is to check into local community pools or city/county parks on lakeshore beaches. They often have showers, sometimes free but usually not that expensive of a fee to enter the pool for access to the showers. Otherwise, wet wipes work.

Bring clothesline type rope for hanging things up to dry. Duct tape has many potential uses. If you plan on really long drives, maybe a 12-volt slow cooker might be handy.

Careful about two person tents if you want to share with a grown adult. They can get quite cozy if you expect to have two adults and gear. Understand the tradeoff though on wanting something light for backpacking. Maybe a slightly larger tent for the car camping areas and a hammock for backpacking if you're heading into areas with trees.

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?

Lots of good suggestions here. The meal plans are a huge ripoff compared to cooking for yourself. In addition to the dorm fridge and microwave that everyone seems to have I would recommend getting a small freezer, an electric kettle and a slow cooker/crock pot.The kettle is great for coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and ramen in a hurry. A ten lb bag of chicken leg quarters can often be found for under ten bucks. Throw half a bag in to the crockpot (and the other half in the freezer) and you have a meal for yourself and a few friends.

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

Love this recipe http://nomnompaleo.com/post/111934821818/pressure-cooker-kalua-pig

It’s great for chili either with chuck or ground beef

It’s perfect for boiled/steamed eggs

Also check out /r/instantpot for ideas

Currently on sale Instant Pot DUO Plus 6 Qt 9-in-1 Multi- Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Yogurt Maker, Egg Cooker, Sauté, Steamer, Warmer, and Sterilizer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NBKTPTS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_y5ehAbKY1YE4M

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.

If you can, get yourself a crock pot! I just found this one on amazon for 18$ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003UCG8II/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_9UUYDbJ6XPEA9

Hardly more than the price of one door dash meal! You can make anything in a crock pot! And you can easily use it to reheat soups, sauces, etc. I would be happy to send you recipes I use!

Also, bagged salad and a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store is a great dinner. I like to use the leftovers to make wraps with peanut sauce and rice (amazing even cold from the fridge), and use the carcass in my slow cooker to make stock for soup!

Consider a 7 or 8 quart - because: I often get brisket or pork shoulder (pork butt) from Costco. I have a 6 quart and trying to stuff a 6-7 pound piece of meat into the 6 quart is difficult. With a 7 or 8 quart it would be easier.

• 6 Quart: http://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCCPVL600S-6-Quart-Portable-Stainless/dp/B003HF6PUO
  
• 7 Quart: http://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCV700SS-7-Quart-Manual-Stainless/dp/B003OAJGJO
  
• 8 Quart: http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-33182A-Cooker-8-Quart/dp/B00EZI26C8
  
   
  
  The above crock pots are manual. I've had my manual crockpot for 10+years. I'm sure the programmatic's are nice and have some cool features. With manual I think less moving parts, less chance of breakage, easily fixed if it broke. The other benefit to the manual is if you get into the latest cooking fashion: 'sous-vide', you can use your manual crock pot for it, you can't use a programmatic.
  
   
  
  For sous-vide you would adapt your crock pot with something like this:
  
  
• ($99) http://www.dorkfood.com/
  
• As opposed to a dedicated sous-vide device ($199): http://www.amazon.com/Anova-Sous-Vide-Immersion-Circulator/dp/B00GT753W8/
  
   
  
  What's Sous-Vide?
  
  
• http://www.citizensousvide.com/
  
• http://modernistcuisine.com/2013/01/why-cook-sous-vide/

Thanks for the link! These look great and it's exactly what I was looking for.

PS: This little slow cooker is perfect for small meals and it's pretty inexpensive!

Morning ladies! I just got to work myself and I'm trying to savor my morning cup of coffee. I've narrowed down my current favorite cup to include Community Coffee breakfast blend, 1 tbsp of heavy cream, 1 scoop of Vital Proteins unflavored collagen, and 1 tbsp Skinny Syrups sugar free chocolate caramel truffle (found on my last Marshalls run). It's pretty much my only caffeine for the day since my sleep suffers if I have any in the afternoons and I'm trying to kick my diet soda dependence.

I can't wait to get cooking this weekend, I scored an 8 qt Instant Pot for $80 on Black Friday and I don't know what I should make with it first! I've been eyeing the Instant Pots for the past two years when they go on sale and this year I finally pulled the trigger since I've only heard great things from people who have one.

Unrelated to Keto I've been trying to work on recognizing when I let my anxiety get the best of me, it happens a lot. I tend to do this thing where I implode when I've got something good going, whether it be professional or personal success (my anxiety doesn't discriminate). I usually don't know that's what's happening until the dust of my mini meltdown seems to settle and that's definitely what happened last week with me and the guy I was talking to, my brother called me out on that shit (like any good brother would). I'm not too proud to admit when I'm wrong so I had an honest as hell conversation with the dude and god bless him he's still willing to talk to me. I'm tired of letting my anxiety ruin things for me, at least I'm starting to realize when I've done something dumb so I can deal with it but I'd prefer to recognize that's what's happening before I self destruct... Also if my shark week could calm down with the crazy hormonal swings this week that would be great.

We have this Hamilton Beach 3-in-1 slowcooker. It has 3 pots (a 2, 4, and 6 quart pot) that fits into a single base that heats it up. Its great, because you have a bitty slowcooker for fondu or dinner for 2, a huge one for when you have company or want a bunch of left overs, and a medium one. This is also helpful because many recipes are made for a specific size, so you don't have to bother scaling anything.

If I had to choose between the sizes, I'd go for the 6-quart. We seem to use it the most because we love reheating leftovers for lunch and many recipes are for a larger portion.

I've only cooked white rice, and it's a five minute cook with a natural release that takes probably five minutes more. Here's the link:

https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-Multi-Use-Programmable-Pressure/dp/B00FLYWNYQ

I'd encourage you to also just do some web searches and read the many ways people use it. For Easter I cooked 30 eggs (to make deviled eggs) at one time and it took something like a total of 10 minutes. I have a friend who is a professional cook; cooks lots of meals for families. She has SIX pots, and she's the one who turned me on to it about a month ago. I'm pretty impressed with them.

I'm in the same boat but I pulled the trigger because this also replaces my NuWave oven(wife's purchase long before we got together) that I ONLY ever use to incubate my own yogurt. This will save me quite the hassle of ever having to lug that thing up and down from the basement every two weeks. This and I have seriosuly limited cabinet space. This will help me out tremendously.

Also, if you live in an area that qualifies for PrimeNow through Amazon, order it through them(not the same site as amazon), get it delivered TODAY, and save another $15 if you use the code 15OFFNOW. Plus get another $5 credit for future use. Got mine for $66 including tax and delivery.

I mean this, it's a hybrid rice cooker/slow cooker/pressure cooker.

I know I'd use the rice cooker and slow cooker functions a lot, but I've never had a pressure cooker before so I'm not sure about that part, which is the feature that makes the pricetag worth it. But it cooks beans really quickly, which would be awesome, and being able to braise tough cuts of meat quickly also seems like a great feature.

Because I'm much lazier than these other diligent posters, I got the Instant Pot that makes yogurt. It's really easy and the pot pretty much walks you through it. Plus, this pot is a pressure cooker that is great for making all things lentil/bean. It can can things. It also acts as a rice cooker and even a slow cooker. But unlike conventional slow cookers, you can sauté and brown ingredients prior to slow cooking. If you get one, make sure you get the 7-in-1 so you have the yogurt making function. It's a bit pricey but super useful. And I'd advise that you get an extra one of the cooking bowls if you think you'll use it a lot!

Edit:
link

I use this Hamilton Beach unit and love it. Not only does it have programmable timers and a temp probe, both switching it to Warm when it's done, Warm actually means WARM, not "still gonna burn your food hot".

Between my own and my fiance's, we own three of these and love them.

there are some cookbooks on amazon for frugal student cooking
used copies plus shipping is about $5. and some have great reviews.

Obviously there some awesome websites for recipes http://studentrecipes.com/ http://www.budgetbytes.com/


What i found useful were recipes you could make from raw ingredients you could get easily cheaply and store well. this is why pasta, rice and noodles are popular. the base is always handy and all you have to do is add dressings. Cans of beans and nuts are also great ways to add a protein to your meal without having to worry about it going bad before you eat it.

Find about 12 recipes you like and can make easily and then just rotate them. That's enough to keep you from being bored, save MEAT centered recipes for once a week, such as in a crockpot and the rest of the week eat meat free. Because meat is the most expensive ingredient and the easiest to screw up and let it go bad before you remember to cook it. Essentially you buy the meat on the same day you cook it and the leftovers go in the fridge and have to be eaten before the next time you cook meat, so the leftover won't go blue and fuzzy.



Indeed a crockpot is essentia Proctor 1.5 slow cooker $13 but i'd get the biggest one you can afford. ...actually when i moved in this apartment i had no serious money and no stove. I started off with all the inexpensive items from Proctor Silex - usually sold in walgreens, cvs, and other cheap appliance stores... Proctor 1 liter electric kettle $14 Proctor Toaster Oven $22 Proctor Hot Plate $14 which does have a draw back for boiling large pots of anyting, it's really a more egg frying/ grilled cheesy thing. Black and Decker has a 3 cup rice cooker for $12

It is easy for your dorm room to get unkempt if you start cooking in it for real, so a dedicated foot locker perhaps upright with shelves banged in. Put everything away clean when you don't use it. Put a dishpan in the locker, 1st thing you take out put your dirty items in it as you cook and eat, then take it to the bathroom and wash everything and then bring it all back and put it in the footlocker and then put everything in on top.

One of my favorite books was Cooking in a Bedsitter by Whitehorn..an English cookery book, but the ideas worked. A bedsitter is a dorm room with no running water, no fridge and nothing but a gas ring/hot plate to cook on. So basically you have to really think out what you are going to make and plan ahead. My solution was to cook small amounts very often so i didn't have to store a lot of food or leftovers.

The biggest question is whether you want and electric or stovetop. Many people advocate for stovetop, but I love my electric and it doubles as a slow cooker as well as a rice cooker. It also has a "brown" setting so you can sear your meat all in one pot. Personally I've had this one on my Amazon wish list for a while. It's hard to justify though unless/until mine dies.

As little as possible. The more crap you have, the more it weighs you down.
That said, every home needs some necessities to get by. For me those generally involve cooking, sleeping, and repairs. I just finished watching Parks & Rec and am in a bit of a Ron Swanson mood.

For the kitchen (all recommended by America's Test Kitchen):

Victorinox 8" Chef's Knife

Victorinox Paring knife

CDN Instant Read Thermometer

Lodge 12" skillet - cheap and will last you forever

Crockpot, 6qt - the one kitchen appliance I'd cheat with. Easy delicious meals. Toss in a cheap cut of meat (chuck roast, etc), salt, pepper, garlic, onions, carrots, whatever. Let it sit for 6-8 hours. Dinner for 3 meals.

Tools:

I'd probably just pick up a cheap set of craftsman stuff (screwdrivers, hammer, sockets, pliers). Splurge on the ratchet and any power tools you need:

Bahco 3/8" ratchet - same as snapon F80 at 1/2 the price

Other misc. tools that are quite handy:

Magnetic stud finder - in a new place you're going to be hanging pictures, installing shelving, and mounting curtain rods. These are dirt cheap and super convenient.

Multimeter - Flukes will last you for life. If you need to do any electrical work, these are great. If you don't want to splurge up front just borrow them or buy a cheap $15 one at home depot.

Bedroom:

Get comfortable pillows and nice sheets. Don't get all caught up in the 1000 thread count crap, it's a hoax. Just get at least 400tc or so, and preferably egyptian or pima cotton. My favorite sheets are actually a super cheapo brand that are 60% cotton 40% polyester. I prefer them because they feel more "smooth and cool" rather than "soft and warm".

Obviously get real furniture: dresser, bed with headboard, etc.

Electronics

I won't go into too much detail here, but consider cutting the cord (/r/cordcutters).

A cheap Roku3 + netflix + an OTA antenna can go a long way.

If you have a lot of pictures/media/etc, don't forget about backups. I'd look into an inexpensive NAS, or at least a USB harddrive. They are dirt cheap and worth the insurance.

Insurance

Lastly, don't forget renters or homeowners insurance. If you are renting, you can get rather good coverage for quite cheap. I just paid around $50 for 12 months of coverage on my apartment ($15k coverage, $1k deductible). I shopped around at 5 different places and Amica came out the cheapest by FAR.

Other than that, you don't need much. Buy less crap. Don't buy some $50 automatic electronic wine opener when a $1 wine key will do the job. Same for a can opener.

Not sure what your budget is, could you swing a pressure cooker? This is the best gadget I own, just pop in a roast, chicken thighs, pork butt, ribs, whatever protein you like, set it, and 30min-1hr later it's all done cooking and ready to be sliced/shredded. Add to a salad with some dressing, perfect keto meal. It's electric so just plug it in somewhere (doesn't even have to be the kitchen), contains all the steam so there's very little smell to annoy your hosts, and really all your cooking happens in just the one pot so very little cleanup. It also makes fantastic bone broth.

I would suggest getting a Crock-Pot if you are up for it. I currently have http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-Forget-6-Quart-Programmable/dp/B001AO2PXK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312332306&sr=8-1 and it is definitely one of my best kitchen investments. There are tons of cheap and healthy meals that you can cook in a large batch. I tend to freeze half and eat the rest over the course of a week and it's perfect.

Yes! I have two tips. 1st, buy the extra-strong foil. 2nd, I have also tried (with decent luck) Slow Cooker Liners around the outside, with foil over that to hold it on.

But I would still have problems with it leaking and I think that is because it is condensation gathering down in from above rather than it actually leaking.

So now I make sure that my foil is extra long enough and I will fold it over the top just a little bit (like this) and make sure there is a tight seal at the top so that liquid can not condense inside the foil easily. That has seemed to work pretty well for me.

lol. well it must not be very popular then.

**checks amazon. #1 best seller in kitchen and dining.

https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-Multi-Use-Programmable-Pressure/dp/B01B1VC13K/ref=lp_3031632011_1_1?srs=3031632011&ie=UTF8&qid=1500240780&sr=8-1

loving your anecdotal evidence to the contrary tho. Izzat the scientific method you are using? :D

You should getA crock pot having one of these is amazing there is so much you can make with it.

Surprise me! Thanks for the contest! And congrats on the place.

Oh you are sooooo pretty!!!!!!

Not yet a parent, just someone who finds cooking really cognitively taxing. The things that have helped me the most have been:

0) Watching Alton Brown to get an idea of how cooking works.

1. Installing Paprika for grocery shopping and keeping track of recipes
   
   
2. Getting a slow cooker ^(I find the timer is worth the $30 difference) or even better an Instant Pot. See /r/slowcooking, whose recipes also work in the Instant Pot.
   
   
3. Treating your kitchen like a workshop and arranging it to match. An IKEA kitchen hook system for making kitchen tools more accessible. Before that, I tried pegboard, and hooks but it doesn't work as well.
   
   
4. For doing dishes that aren't dishwasher-safe, this brush is the best. The Scrub Daddy is also good.

These are awesome, I plan on buying one when I get out. You can get these plastic disposable liners and it's a no mess cooking operation.

Plus crockpot food is so fucking delicious.

But as far as food goes, I love chicken, it's cheap, and you can do a LOT to it to change it up and be different.

Edit: Also, I know we all come from different walks of life, so it might not be applicable. Whenever I go home, or my mother visits, we have mini-cooking lessons. So you might want to ask your parents (or... whoever) if they can help teach you a few easy meals that they know you like to eat.

while rks ratios are WAY off for a rice cooker, i agree that water:rice water:beans ratios are key. it's also a shame you don't invest in an electric pressure cooker. not only do they cook rice well, but pressure is far superior for doing beans. this 11psi ss model goes on sale under $110 pretty often and 6qt is perfect for single/couple cooking. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FLYWNYQ what you do with the basket is boil the rice below (stupid amazon has it legs up which is upside down), then layer vegetables and a protein above to steam while the rice boils. see /r/pressurecooking for more ideas - but to repeat, if you plan to live on dry beans, do NOT buy a rice cooker as they do an inferior job of softening beans unless it's little nubs like lentils or split peas - those actually can be cooked along with your rice.

How about getting a small cheap slow cooker like this https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004O07LRC/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1502716604&sr=8-7&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=slow+cooker&dpPl=1&dpID=41zIBOBEz8L&ref=plSrch

You can go about your day and come back to something delicious without any fear of setting off the hotel smoke alarms 🙂

Plenty of recipes to be found too http://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/g1903/slow-cooker-recipes/?

Have a great trip!

When I got my slowcooker, I wasn't looking for anything too fancy (electric timers, etc) so I went with the most basic one I could find. I ended up purchasing This one. I've been perfectly happy with it, and the reviews I've read seem to be generally right on with my experience.

Hopefully that helps.

Wow. That seems a lot to spend on a slow cooker. I can't think of any that are unsafe.

The Ninja seems pretty cool.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0093MRWJS?pc_redir=1412516198&robot_redir=1

Personally I'd like a slow cooker that has a latch down top for transport and has some programing features. Something like this.
Hamilton Beach 33969A Set 'n Forget Programmable Slow Cooker, 6-Quart https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EZI26GO/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_JFKoub0NQ90J3

Like a lot of people, I've been trying to eat healthier. There's a Crockpot on my apartment list that would be great for meal prepping. Right now I've been packing lunches to take to work, but being able to cook a big batch on weekends would be easier. Mostly, I see it being used for work day meals, so there's a home cooked meal waiting when I get back. It can be hard to find the energy to cook after a long day.

I've seen /u/mynthe around, and she is always so encouraging to everyone. Thanks!

Not sure how good these deals are, but they're things I'd love as a vegan

Instapot for $90

Vegetable spiral slicer for $22

Cuisinart Food Processor for $180

Blendtec total blender classic for $400

* edit - it isn't amazon, but Fry's also has a 7/11 sale and has the Zojirushi Micom Rice Cooker & Warmer for $90 (after a promo code you get if you sign up on their website). I hear this is the best rice cooker out there.

Don't skimp on the broth. This will give you PERFECT bone broth if you pack it with pork trotters and neck bones. I also like to add chicken feet. Add some celery and carrots and fill the rest up with water. Set it for 4 hours, strain it and you are done. Trust me :) https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-Multi-Use-Programmable-Pressure/dp/B00FLYWNYQ/

There isn't really a minimum size, I've just got one of the six quart instant pots, but using half pint jars I can only fit four of them in at a time without risking one breaking. The stove top ones are slightly more technical but have a much greater capacity which makes bulk techniques a lot easier.

An alternative to easier clean up would be using a liner, I haven't used them but know a few people that do and they love them.

Something like this.
https://www.amazon.com/Reynolds-Slow-Cooker-Liners-4-Count/dp/B002U0KKK8

My friend got a baby crockpot recently to complement his 5qt pot. I think it was this one. He's really happy with it and he said that it's quite useful for small servings.

Browing meats doesn't really matter (just ask the folks at /r/sousvide), however, if you would like to anyhow, you might consider a culinary torch to sear them up before you cook.

I ordered this one a couple weeks ago. Only used it twice so far but it is amazing! I actually have some chicken finishing up right now. Gonna be amazing.

Aw! I'd give you some if I could! I wound up buying this for Black Friday as an early Christmas gift for me and the hubby and just let it stay in there all day. Easy dinner lol.

I'm all about easy dinners lately. Cause I'm lazy and round haha.

I’m at a crossroads it appears lol

I can only afford a ricecooker or an instant pot.. I need your help in making a call. I have a big appetite, and I love making rice and soups.

Instant pot I’m looking at: Instant Pot Duo Mini 3 Qt 7-in-1 Multi- Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Steamer, Sauté, Yogurt Maker and Warmer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y1YD5W7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_XdcwDbE1Z5KH1

I personally love my Hamilton Beach Set n Forget programmable slow cooker. The locking lid makes it great for traveling (on days at work where we'll all bring something in to share), and the programmable features are nice for me to set it in the morning, and know that it will cook for only the time I specify.

If you live near a Bed Bath and Beyond, you could use a 20% off coupon to purchase it for $40 + tax!

Power drill set for sure - something I would never think of but oh so totally useful.

I make sure to recommend the Instant Pot every time this question pops up here. It's the most used gadget in my kitchen now.

We also put a NAS on the registry. If you don't have a good backup system, it's definitely worth figuring something out for all the wedding, honeymoon, etc. photos to come.

Since your lanlord doesn't allow ovens get yourself an instant-pot and enjoy delicious meals that are ready in 5-10 minutes! Much much better than a slow-cooker.

https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-Multi-Use-Programmable-Pressure/dp/B00FLYWNYQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1502884496&sr=8-3&keywords=instant-pot

Woo, I win! 28.31

Apparently I really won, its now 49.

Some slow cookers have features that allow you to sear and roast and even pressure cook. Something like that would definitely give you the most versatility.
My friend has this one and loves it. It even works as a rice cooker.

I use my instant pot to sterilize small supplemented sawdust blocks. Works well, you can find them pretty cheap on Amazon, and they are hella useful to cook lots of delicious stuff.


https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-Multi-Use-Programmable-Pressure/dp/B00FLYWNYQ

​

This is the standard one that I recommend to people. Clips for sealing the lid for travel purposes, manual dial so it doesn't reset if there's a minor power fluctuation, big enough to make big batches but perfectly capable of cooking for two without any issues.

I've bought a 6-qt crock pot off amazon. If you need recipes I encourage you to take a look at paleopot.com. There are also some recommendations on there for crock pots but it's up to you if you listen to amazon or them ha.

Things you have to ask yourself are

(1) do I want an analog or programmable pot (will you be out of the house while it cooks)?

(2) # of days, # of people, and how much food each serving will provide (ik you answered some of this)?

The general sizes they come in are personal (< 4 qts), 4 qts, 6 qts, and then there are some 7 or 8-qt ones. I would personally recommend 6 qts.

I have the Hamilton Beach Set it and Forget it 6 quart slow cooker.
I love it. I'd reccomend getting the 6 quart size even if you aren't cooking for a lot of people. It's very annoying to want to cook something in there and not have enough room, so 6 quarts has been pretty good for just about everything I want to put in there. I even once (barely) fit a whole chicken in that thing! Here's the amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-33969A-Programmable-6-Quart/dp/B00EZI26GO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1404759563&sr=8-3&keywords=slow+cooker

You are missing the point man. You keep it as sterile as you can and then sterilize after putting the gear in the vial and crimping it. Everything you do before hand is precaution. Once the air touches it the vial needs to be sterilized. The way you are doing it is more labor intensive and costs more and you aren't getting a benefit from it except for not having to presterilze your vials. Your beakers and stirring rods and everything else still need to be presterilized before every brew so this will give you a easier method if you are using small enough beakers and not using boiling flasks to do that as well. You put the rubber tops in the pressure cooker basket at a super low temp.

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-IP-DUO60-Programmable-Generation/dp/B00FLYWNYQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419233519&sr=8-1&keywords=electric+pressure+cooker

I've got two of these and they have been great for the price. The others I bought were 250plus and work the same.

I put it on high for glassware for ten minutes and low for a half hour for finished products. You could go lower temp for longer on a stove top version though.

How about both? I don't have one, but I have friends that swear by their instapots. Something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-IP-DUO60-Multi-Functional-Pressure/dp/B00FLYWNYQ

Does both pressure cooking and slow cooker and more. Not sure this is the best model, but perhaps someone else can offer more specific advice on models?

My advise would be to invest in something like an Instant Pot and some dry beans and grains. Between beans, whole grains, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolled oats, etc you can get a lot of calories and protein for pretty cheap and actually end up eating a really healthy diet in the process.

My recommendations from getting into cooking the past year or so. I'm not personally a stuffer but have accidentally gained weight with these two recipes, so figured I'd share.

For an actual meal- make broccoli cheddar soup. It has "soup" in the name, but good god. It's basically velveeta turned into a meal. If you don't have slow cooker... shame. Go buy one. They're cheap.

For dessert, or a meal (I'm an addict to this stuff)- pecan pie. It's basically just dark corn syrup, the pecans are just for flavor (and they have a ton of calories too). Use the classic recipe. The best part is that you only need to remember the corn syrup bit- the baking aisle of the grocery store, then the same recipe is on the corn syrup bottle.

This will do the trick, but is not healthy in any way at all.

I have had great success with something like this it's a 2 quart AND a 4 quart AND a 6 quart. So you can use the one that suits your needs at the time and you just press a button on it as to which quart size you're using. No timer though just high, low, warm but the different sizes work out great at least for me.

http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-33135-6-Quart-Stainless/dp/B000R8A1OK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410730027&sr=8-1&keywords=3+in+1+crockpot

If you don't have one already, I suggest an InstantPot. When I got mine, it was on the first Prime Day for $99, but last Prime day it was down to $69, so for Black Friday they'll probably discount it similarly.

I really like it because it's a great multipurpose appliance (quite necessary in my small kitchen!) and it's double the volume of my slow cooker, which means I can cook big batches of food in it. I make yogurt, stock from bones, cook beans from dry, cook rice, soups, slow cooker dishes, etc, in it. I probably use it about twice a week.

If you aren't going to cook large meals (and have leftovers), I don't suggest you get a 6Q. If you only put a little bit in, and cook it, there's a really good chance it will overcook. I used to have this problem, and there are other people who've posted with the same issue.

I suggest you get a 3Q. It's small enough to give you two+ portions, and it's a good size for potluck dishes, if you ever do that sort of thing. I have a 3Q and it's what I use when I'm cooking for 2. It's the size I most often take to potlucks. I have a 1.5Q, 3Q, 5Q and 6Q that I use often, so I've tried different recipes in all of these.

This is the one I have. Whatever you get, make sure it has a warm setting.

I have the instant pot !!! It's super great and has many other functions like rice cooking, you can sautee without the lid on and it even brings a little metal tray thing so you can steam veggies on! I pressure cook potatoes this way in under 15 minutes!

Instant Pot sounds like what you are looking for although I think it's more like $100. There's a subreddit for it - r/instantpot and most users seem pretty happy with theirs.

I think Instant Pot is also launching a sort of low price immersion circulator (about $80) if you want to get into sous-vide. Call up some friends and family members and force someone to buy you one because if they don't it means they never loved you.

would like this for phone fund but if we are talking about actual items then this be safe and come back soon =D

Get an Instant Pot. It is a good enough slow cooker, but it is an outstanding pressure cooker, and for the big majority of what you do that is better than a slow cooker. (And if you really want to hit that $150 mark, add a cast iron dutch oven)

On sale for $30

Recipes will normally suggest a 5 qt cooker, which is a decent size. Choose a size that you need and scale the recipe as best you can. Also, there is no reason to spend over $40 unless you plan on getting something adjustable or a large cooker, neither of which you probably need. Hope that helps.

My wife and I have been cooking rice on the stove for 8 years, comes out perfectly every time. I've never seen the need for a rice cooker.

We do use a pressure cooker (http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-IP-DUO60-Programmable-Stainless/dp/B00FLYWNYQ) which is pretty awesome that we use for brown rice, because that normally takes so much longer to cook.

I just picked this one up from amazon. they currently have online coupons for $10 off crock pot slow cookers (and i think a few other brands)

http://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCCPVL610-S-Programmable-Carry-Cooker/dp/B004P2NG0K

picked this one because i liked the locking lid for transport. it has a programmable digital timer that counts down (there is a similar looking crock pot that is $10 cheaper but you are locked into times based on the heat setting). also i prefer the stoneware insert....you can read up on that to see what your preference is as far as insert material. and the size is good for cooking big roasts or birds

hope this helps !

Sorry, I actually meant it's available for pre-order! Anyway, if you use the code "ipot" it's $100 off for a total of $189. Considering their most popular model is $135, I wonder if the Bluetooth functionality is worth the extra $54.

Regarding the sous vide option: on the FAQ page they say with calibration it can be accurate to ±1° Celsius. This isn't quite as accurate as I wish it were... but I wonder if there would be a way to improve it a bit more, maybe by adding some circulator pump. Still, I'm very intrigued.

EDIT: I've emailed them and asked if the sous vide option can be turned on without the lid being fastened (in order to use a circulating pump), and if the firmware for the iPot is able to be updated at all. I'll update the thread when I hear back.

EDIT 2: It WILL work without the lid on, and re firmware:
>"There may very well be some firmware updates in the future".

http://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCCPVL610-S-Programmable-Cooker-6-Quart/dp/B004P2NG0K/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1458227326&sr=1-1&keywords=crockpot

My first crockpot, pretty easy to use. I like it because it's simple and big, which helps cook in bulk. Just the right size for me.

I would love this crockpot for easy meals!

Thank you for the contest!

I have this Instant Pot, and it's amazing. Very easy to use. I also bought a second stainless steel pot, sealing ring, and the glass lid for other types of cooking.

It even has a yogurt function that works well. I like it because, while you can make it in the pot, there's enough room to make the yogurt in four 500mL glass mason jars. (Then I put the white reusable screw off lids on and put them in the fridge.)

We had a huge crockpot, but it ended up making too much food so the food always went to waste. I got this one instead http://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCR300SS-3-Quart-Manual-Stainless/dp/B003UCG8II/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420740570&sr=8-1&keywords=crockpot+scr300 and it's great because it'll make enough food for the two of us then we have leftovers for another meal. Beef stew is so easy to make as well. Just brown some stew meat with garlic and other spices, toss it in the crockpot with carrots, onions, worcestershire and it's good to go the next morning.

Something like this would work. I know that $20.00 can be a lot when you're on a tight budget, but it will save you a lot of money in the long run.

If you shop around, the one thing you want for sure is for your crockpot to have a removable inner/stoneware. If it isn't removable, it can be a real struggle to get it clean without getting the whole instrument wet (not advised).

Here are some ideas:

• Shun Nakiri knife?
  
  
• Microplane grate. This is what I use for finely mincing ginger and zesting citrus
  
  
• Spice dabba, indispensable for keeping whole (i.e., unground) spices in a compact form factor.
  
  
• Silpat baking mat, great for converting any baking pans into a nonstick version. I've used it to roast vegetables, bake cookies and even macarons.
  
  
• Mandoline, self-explanatory. Great for making uniform slices or strips of vegetables for gratins or casseroles. I made the ratatouille in Pixar's Ratatouille with this!
  
  
• Combination pressure-cooker/steamer/rice cooker/slow cooker. This is an electric pressure cooker that has the advantage of not requiring the same amount of babysitting as a typical stovetop pressure cooker. If your GF cooks with a lot of beans and lentils, then pressure cooking is something she'll appreciate.
  
  
• Plenty by Ottolenghi features highly inventive vegetarian cooking using a wide assortment of vegetables. The book has a middle eastern emphasis, but still contains recipes from all over the globe. My favorite is the Soba noodles with mango and eggplant.

You could try a portable slow cooker with a car adaptor. Here's an example car slow cooker

Or I would ask my employer if they had any issues with bringing my own slow cooker in to work and letting it cook while on my shift ( have done this before myself with great results). Good luck.

I went to Amazon and ordered the cooker with the best reviews. It is awesome. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AO2PXK/ref=wms_ohs_product

For the most part brand really doesn't matter end of the day it is a ceramic pot that sits on a heating element and they are all roughly equal.

Don't bother with fancy timers just look for something in the 6 quart range with a locking lid and removable insert/pot for around $20-30


One like this should be pretty much exactly what you need https://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCCPVL600S-6-Quart-Portable-Stainless/dp/B003HF6PUO/




If you have some extra cash I would HIGHLY recommend looking at an instant pot. They are a combo device that is a slow cooker, pressure cooker, and rice cooker for around $80.
https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-Muti-Use-Programmable-Pressure/dp/B01MFEBQH1/


As much of a craze as it seems I love my pressure cooker and use it all the time and my slow cooker has been on the shelf since last Thanksgiving. Chili from scratch in about an hour, chicken stock in 2 hours, Ribs in 30 minutes, stew in an hour, pulled pork/carne asada in an hour, yadda yadda yadda AND it is also a slow cooker if you want to let it go all day for something.

No, it's a slow cooker liner. ex: https://www.amazon.com/Reynolds-Slow-Cooker-Liners-4-Count/dp/B002U0KKK8

They're normally great to help with clean up and the like.

This is the one I have: https://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-33969A-Programmable-Temperature/dp/B00EZI26GO

It's really nice if you happen to bring food to pot-lucks frequently, since there's a lock that holds everything together. The Timer is nice as well. It cooks for X number of hours and then reduces temperature to "warm" until you are ready.

Here is the one I have:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001AO2PXK/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1374773312&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX110_SY190
It's kind of expensive but you could get a cheaper version without a timer and meat probe.
I like it because it has a timer that will cut the pot over to "warm" after however many hours you set it for. I am at work or commuting 11 hours a day so I need that, but you may not if you're not gone longer than 5-6 hours.
I also like that it has a meat probe. Sometimes I cook a whole chicken in it and set it to cut to "warm" once the chicken is at 165 degrees. Hope that helps!

I would highly recommend getting an Instant Pot while they are on sale today. It is a great slow cooker, but also a pressure cooker, rice cooker, and lots more.

This is a great article going over why a Pressure cooker is better than a slow cooker for most dishes, and with the Instant Pot you get both.

I have the Instant Pot Duo 7in1 & I love it!! I make big batches of both chicken & veggie stock weekly to freeze; I have a 6qt size & it is PLENTY big. I bought mine as a "New, Damaged Box" from Amazon Warehouse Deals & saved quite a bit. I use it a lot more than I thought I was going to so it has been well worth the investment :D