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Ask HN: got any food hacks?

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101–110 of 170 posts

Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#102

What you just asked for is a full-sized SUV that costs $10,000, rides like a Lexus, gets 45mpg city, and never loses the new car smell. If you don't want to cook or clean, that means someone has to cook/package for you. If you don't want processed food (and I don't blame you) where this is done by machine, then you have to pay for something done by real people. This will by-definition be not cheap, since labor is rel…

I don't think what you're saying is correct. Sandwiches can be tasty, healthy, and fast. So can pot roasts (once you get the hang of them). Ditto for baked meats - prepare the marinade, let soak while you work, come back and throw in the oven and set the timer, take out when done. You can then use the left over meat for sandwiches all week. Pasta is pretty easy too - boil, cut tomatoes and veggies and add spices to top it off.

Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#103
Chili. Make it in a slow cooker in a large batch, and refrigerate most of it for later meals. Here's what you do:

Brown these in a pan:

1 pound cheapest ground beef

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

some thyme, salt, pepper, any other spices you think are cool

soy sauce

Put the contents of the pan into the slow cooker. Then stick this stuff in the cooker after it:

1 Anaheim pepper, chopped

4 pods okra, chopped

1 can kidney beans

1 can black-eyed peas

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

some salt

1 tblsp cumin

chili powder, liberally sprinkled on top

enough habanero sauce to make it spicy. This is important.

a dash of fish sauce. Also important.

a dash of vigegar (optional).

Be sure to drain the beans first. Add a bit of water if it seems too thick. Add any other spices you think are nice. Stir and let it cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. Eat some, refrigerate the rest. Takes maybe 40 minutes to prepare, but it lasts for a while.

Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#104
Shameless self promotion.

Our startup (coming soon) helps solve exactly the problem you are having. In fact, one of the reasons we started building it was to solve the problems you describe, which we also suffer from.

http://delicioustasty.com

It will be free and as a tool, does some things we haven't seen done (very well) on the web before.

Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#105
Yeah, cooking can be difficult when you're time poor. I've found that:

A dishwasher helps.

Razor sharp knives that are properly cared for help. Blunt knives waste a lot of time when cooking.

Putting a bit of time into mastering quick recipes (e.g. stir fries) helps.

Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#106
post #3

In my bachelor days during my bulking phases, I'd do the following to pack in the nutrients I needed: 1. Buy several bags of chicken drumsticks (de-skin if you want to lower fat intake), poke holes with a fork, marinate with wine / vinegar / soy sauce / herbs and spices for a few hours, put into broiler. I'd cook 30 or so at a time, and it'd last me days. 2. Ham or turkey or peanut butter sandwiches. 3. bags of froze…

My list is similar. Healthy, cheap, and dead easy to prepare. 1. Cereal and milk 2. Oatmeal 3. Rice and beans - You have to soak the beans overnight before you cook them - After that, you cook them with rice in a rice cooker - After they're cooked, mix in some frozen vegetables and cook for a while longer to thaw the vegetables - Some kind of sweet and sour sauce is good with this 4. Noodles (all kinds) - You can als…

Awesome, I didn't know about pescatarianism. I wanna be a pescatarian, too!

Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#107
My personal favorites are frozen veggies and pre-washed salad. For a simple salad you don't need no time. Put the salad in a bowl add tuna (best cheap protein source), onions, corn or what to like; then add vinegar, oil, salt - then you are finished. Frozen veggies are great if you have a microwave - put it in, 5 to 10 minutes and they are ready to eat - they have more vitamins than fresh veggies. Frozen stuff is also good for meat and fish, but you have to cook it in a pan, so you need about 10 minutes. Often I would prepare things in the evening so you have to cook only once a day. This way you can have healthy food that is tasty and prepared in 15 minutes per day.

Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#109
Dried lentils are really cheap, wonderfully healthful, and much faster to cook than dried beans.

Peanut butter is already ready to eat, and pretty cheap.

Eggs are cheap protein.

You can pour milk right over uncooked, raw rolled oats and eat it immediately. (This is Quaker's (or store brand) traditional oatmeal or old fashioned oats or something like that. It's the kind that comes in a big cardboard cylinder.) Very cheap and it is delicious and takes only seconds to "prepare".

Re: Ask HN: got any food hacks?

#110
Fish fillets. Specifically Perch. I buy them frozen.

Defrost in 20 minutes by putting in a bag (or box) of tap water.

Put oven (or toaster-oven) on high heat so it'll be already hot when you need it. Put a bunch of butter on a porcelain/ceramic plate. Put in microwave for a minute to make it melt and cover the plate. Put the fish on the plate. Turn it over so it'll have butter all over it. Pour lemon juice on it. (Can use store-bought lemon juice from a bottle.) Put salt on it. Put it in the oven. Come back after 7-10 minutes. Ready to it.

Healthiness: Awesome. (You can use less butter.)

Price: Awesome. Where I live the whole deal is $4-$5.

Quickness: Mediocre. Total time is ~30 minutes, but most of it you can be away. No need to stir like in cooking. Also, no pots or pans to watch! You make it straight in the plate!

Tastiness: Awesome, assuming you love fish. (And I do, so that's good for me.)

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