Easy (but tasty) Recipes and eating ideas for people living alone

[Clephas]

I developed most of my cooking and baking skills living alone, though I refined them with my family as taste-testers.  I used a lot of really simple recipes during my time alone, and I know what it is like to get tired of eating the same damned thing everyday.  So, I thought it would be nice to leave some of these recipes for those looking forward to someday living alone themselves (or those who already are).  Anyone who has ever figured out a tasty idea that is ridiculously easy and reasonably cheap to carry out should also post their recipes here.

Clephas' ultimate lazy man's dessert (that requires cooking)

Spoiler

Chocolate Graham Crackers

First, you have to make chocolate frosting (based off of the Hershey's recipe)

1/2 Cup of Butter

3 cups of powdered sugar

1/3 cup of milk (whole works best both for taste and texture)

1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract

Melt the butter in a pot

Stir in the cocoa until it is completely melded with the butter

Alternately add in the powdered sugar and milk, beating or stirring (I generally just stir it)

Keep stirring/beating it until it is thoroughly mixed and of a nice thick consistency

drop in the vanilla extract and mix it in thoroughly as well

Once the frosting is done, you want to spread out most of the box of graham crackers on some wax paper (for an average-sized American box of Honey-maid or store-brand ones) and drip the frosting onto the top of each one, making sure to cover them as much as possible without wasting the frosting.  Repeat until you've used up the frosting, then wait about thirty minutes for it to cool and harden before you devour them. 

Depending on how much you used on each graham cracker, you should have a pretty good load of chocolaty, sweet goodness that will be hard to put down.  Generally speaking, these will only last about two or three days before the flavor changes, but I've never met anyone who likes chocolate even a little bit who doesn't love these.  Finding people to foist your extras off on will be a relatively easy task, and if you want to eat them all yourself (for an incredible sugar high) that's your business.

Clephas' Ultimate Nachos... after hot dog night

Spoiler

Have you ever made hot dogs and found you had a lot of extra chili and a few extra hot dogs left over?  Well, there is a simple solution for those of you who are disinterested in eating more chili dogs but don't want them rotting in your fridge.  Simply cut the hot dogs - preferably already cooked - into small, little-fingertip sized chunks, mix them with the leftover chili and some caramelized onions (sauteed in butter or in coconut oil, depending on whether you buy into the meaningless act of trying to make sauteing veggies before mixing them with leftover processed meat healthy) and drip it over tortilla chips before covering it all with a layer of cheese (thickness of your preference).  Last of all, stick it in the microwave until the cheese melts and consume ravenously.  It is also possible - and actually tastes better - to make them in the oven... but it also takes longer.

Somebody else will have to do healthy recipes.  Almost all of my easy recipes other than curry are heart-cloggers made by a guy who didn't - and still doesn't - care about his weight.  I should say that the first recipe is generally a hit at parties (whether familly or business related... or normal ones, even), simply because it is simple, can be picked up easily at parties, and is unbelievably addictive once consumed.  That said, I suggest keeping it a once every few months thing... because you'll put on weight at a ridiculous speed consuming that stuff if you eat it regularly. 

[Deep Blue]

if is not a  heart-clogger food it probably wont taste good xD not a fan of chocolate but I will try the second one.

[SpecterZ]

I used to live alone too. Most of my recipes I usually do require a lot of preparation beforehand but it requires only few minute for cooking.

SpecterZ's lazy man's kimji

Spoiler

2 Chinese Cabbages, chopped into eatable size

2 Red bell peppers

1 radish, shredded

1 carrot, shredded

A few chilli, only if you want it spicy.

Garlic, mashed

Ginger, slices

1/4 cup of Vinegar 

Salt

sugar/syrup

- Put bell pepper, garlic, ginger and vinegar (Chilli is optional) into the mixer. Add a little bit of salt and sugar/syrup for seasoning. (It will be too sour if you don't)

- After you are satisfied with taste, put it into a big bowl. 

- Put Chinese cabbage, radish and carrot in that big bowl and mix it.

- After everything is done, put them into sealed container, make sure everything is under the water.

- Put it in refrigerator for 1-2 days

Then you have it. It could be kept for a month.

Taste is depend on your seasoning.

 

You can eat it raw, stir-fried it or used with other recipes. It is healthy (if it has less salt).

I usually eat it when I'm hungry in the middle of the night.

[Clephas]

Easy food that tastes good generally isn't healthy, in my experience... of course, Japanese food does have some reasonably healthy stuff that you can make (other than curry) that is almost easy, like nikujaga... but in exchange, some of the ingredients tend to be hard to find and expensive if you do find them.  Miso in particular is too expensive to eat as part of a normal meal here, though I made a nukadoko a few years ago and make nukadzuke pickles in it every day (usually eggplant, cucumber, zucchini, and cabbage).  Dashi in particular - which goes in just about every Japanese dish - is just too expensive for how much it gets used in easy Japanese cooking, and there isn't really a suitable substitute. 

[kingdomcome]

Where's the pictures people!

I attempted to make nukazuke takuan-zuke.. but it's the one where you put the daikon in the rice bran for 2 months +. After I checked on a few months later it completely composted. The horror (and smell).

In terms of cheap and relatively healthy (?) meals. Daikon kimchi (using soy sauce instead of fish sauce) is affordable to make, serve with rice. The Japanese tsukemono is also awesome. I haven't had success with the rice bran one but the soy sauce and/or vinegar tsukemono turns out great. A little goes a long way with rice since it has a strong flavor.

The good thing about kimchi/tsukemono is that you make a whole bunch in one sitting and then it last forever. No wastage, and very quick meals once it's made.

 

[Clephas]

You have to stir the nukadoko daily.  It isn't something you can just leave as-is.

[kingdomcome]

2 minutes ago, Clephas said:

You have to stir the nukadoko daily.  It isn't something you can just leave as-is.

I think I have the wrong name, what I meant is Takuan(daikon)-zuke: http://shizuokagourmet.com/2010/01/27/takuanjapanese-pickled-daikon-basic-recipe/

[Clephas]

20 minutes ago, kingdomcome said:

I think I have the wrong name, what I meant is Takuan(daikon)-zuke: http://shizuokagourmet.com/2010/01/27/takuanjapanese-pickled-daikon-basic-recipe/

Definitely the wrong name... it only takes two or three days (in the cases of some vegetables a single day) to make nukadzuke pickles in a nukadoko, and you generally don't have to make the nukadoko from scratch after the first time, as you are supposed to keep it alive through regular stirring and 'feeding' to keep bad fungi and bacteria from sneaking in.  My friend in Japan's mother has a nukadoko that has been in her family for just over a hundred years...

[Dark_blade64]

Why not searching around in the internet? There is many sites dedicating to cooking with actual recipes to look at. You can search for healthy ones there while making sure it might be something of your taste. There is also some youtube channels with tutorials of how preparing different foods you could also look there.

[Clephas]

The problem is, most of those sites don't really cater to people living alone... they cater to people cooking for others as well as themselves, and the actual stuff they present tends to have steps that are unnecessary for 'quick and dirty' cooking.  That's fine if you are just cooking for a special occasion or a once a month treat, but if you work all day and just want to make a satisfying dinner, a lot of the recipes that get posted on those sites take too much effort and time and/or require appliances and other tools that most people living alone aren't going to bother with.   When I was living alone, I had to sift those recipes for hours to find the ones that fulfilled my requirements (minimal effort, small number of stages, cheap ingredients). 

[Dark_blade64]

Well you could always try frying something in a pan like anything that is meat. And for other ingredients just anything that requires just to cut the ingredients like vegetables. Rice and soup are food that are easy to made or you could always go the easy way and prepare french toast or something.

[KuroganeHomura]

2 hours ago, Clephas said:

Japanese food

The easiest to cook thing I eat pretty regularly is cooked Japanese rice (generally sold as "sushi rice") + soy sauce + a raw egg + one or more sliced vegetables (I tend to use spring onions and chili peppers) + canned tuna or small shrimps or bacon. Takes very little time to make and depending on the toppings you choose it's cheap, too. Just be careful to use fresh eggs only.

Another recipe I use somewhat frequently is tuna salad.

Spoiler

- Cook somen or thin spaghetti

- Slice an onion and a small cucumber. Put the sliced onion into cold water and sprinkle salt on the cucumber slices. After about ten minutes, remove the onion from the water. Apply pressure to the onion and cucumber slices to get some of the water out. You can skip putting the onion in water if you want, depends on your tastes. I often do.

- Put the noodles, onion and cucumber in a bowl. Add soy sauce, mayonnaise, canned tuna and a bit of pepper. I tend to add some chili sauce or peppers, too.

I actually got both of those recipes from a book called "Harumi's Japanese Cooking", which has a number of other useful recipes, too. Pretty sure they're slightly westernized, but then you're just asking for something quick and easy to make here so that doesn't matter.

If you happen to have a gas stove, one more thing for quick cooking I could recommend is getting yourself a wok, specifically a thin one with a round bottom. It takes a bit more time to prepare the food since you'll want to use pretty small slices, but in exchange you'll be done with the actual stir frying very quickly. Takes a bit of practice, though. You can expect to eat some charred food in the beginning.

[Clephas]

I used a wok and a high-output gas camp stove to stir-fry veggies (generally carrots, edamame, sweet peas, bok choy, and onions) with egg noodles and fatty meat (usually pork) in peanut oil.  I sometimes made the noodles myself, but that adds a step you generally don't want to bother with unless you are treating yourself.  Most electric stoves and regular gas stoves don't have enough 'fire-power' to do that kind of stir-fry the right way...

I also used to make Japanese hamburg-steak, which is basically a mix of pork and beef ground meat (called aibiki) with chopped green onions mixed in to the patty and pan fried with a fried egg on top afterward (though the last is optional), served with various sauces... I generally used homemade tare... sometimes demi-glace sauce. 

[Maxel]

Where are the pics/vids? I was expecting some juicy pictures of food at least 

[Clephas]

I don't own a camera... or a cell phone. 

[DarkZedge]

Wow, this sound really good..I'll try the nachos since i'm a big fan of them ^^

[Down]

http://whatthefuckshouldimakefordinner.com/

And refresh until you find an easy recipe.

[SpecterZ]

Simple Okonomiyaki is easy to prepare and cook too.

You only need fine chopped cabbage, flour, egg and few slice of bacons.

[Dark_blade64]

Oh yeah I forgot. Unless you hate onions you can slice one and put it in a pan then after a little while you will have an easy to make tasty food waiting for you.

[CeruleanGamer]

Tired of that old cup ramen shit? Worried about the unhealthy shit that you put on your ramen noodles from that poisonous flavoring packet? Introducing...

Ramen Spaghetti!

Ingredients:

Ramen Noodles (Maruchan is great because they are cheap as hell - I get them for like a dime each! but feel free to use whatever)

Spaghetti sauce (any)

Cooked chicken breast or beef tip cuts or even small pieces of shrimp if you are vegetarian. 

Celery/Cilantro/Carrots/Corn/Peas/String Beans or any other vegetable you can think of!

Instruction:

1. Cook and soften the Ramen noodles as normal. Throw away that nasty flavor packet. That shit is poison, yo!

2. Drain the water, because you don't need that stuff. Nobody wants a soupy spaghetti anyway.

3. Now add spaghetti sauce! I like to use 1/6 of the bottle since I'm not really fond of too much sauce, but it's up to you how much you want.

4. Optional: You can add your meats and veggies. Make sure to rinse the vegetables and only use cooked meats. 

5. Put in microwave for 3 mins.

6. Pull that "delicious" meal from the microwave and enjoy!

[Fred the Barber]

Seems like the Fuwa expectation for "easy recipe" is a little stricter than mine, but here's one of my standards that is cheap, delicious, quite healthy, and very easy. it's only moderately time-consuming because chopping lots of vegetables takes a while. Also, don't flay me for it being vegan; as an omnivore, I can honestly say it tastes great, so don't knock it until you try it. Lastly, it's not a weeb recipe. If you don't like southwestern US flavors, maybe it's not for you (but you should probably reexamine your taste buds):

http://www.thugkitchen.com/roasted_chickpea_broccoli_burrito

Make sure to add plenty of avocado. If you don't like avocado, you have my deepest condolences.

[SilverLi]

I love this and it is really easy to make. This is a huge portion of food but because I do lunch boxes for several days it is perfect. But you can do smaller portions if you like.

Pasta fusilli with pasta sauce (+pork or mushrooms)

Spoiler

 

Pasta Fusilli (800g)

Leek (Whole)

Bacon (200 - 300g)

2 dl Creme Fraiche natural

2 dl Creme Fraiche with some kind of taste (chili/bell  pepper or mushrooms). If you don't have it you can just take two natural CF and spice it with some seasoning of your choice.

Fillet of pork (500g) (optional)

Mushrooms (champignon) 200 - 250g (optional).

The optional stuff is of your choice. You don't have to add it but it enlightens the food. I recommend one of them at least. If you add pork you may want a bit less bacon. But up to you.

 

1. Slice the bacon in shreds and fry the bacon. Slice the leek too. Add fillet of pork if you want. Slice the pork in slices too which is easy to eat.

2. Cook the pasta.

3. Add the leek and the mushrooms (I shop the leek and mushroom in edible parts) and after some minutes the Creme fraiche. Let it boil for 10-15 minutes or so. 

4. Serve whenever it looks ready

 

If you want I could add a picture tonight when I make it. 

[Forgetful Frank]

Oooh this stuff is great! Reading through these recipes has made very hungry.

I'm looking forward to trying them about and stuffing my guts!

[SajkoWolfe]

Wolfes Pepper Chicken for the extremely lazy:

 

-Diced Chicken Breasts

-Black or White Pepper

-Soy Sauce

-Mushrooms

-Green/Red/Yellow Peppers

Chop everything up.

Throw the meat in first

Sear it for a bit

Pour in a cup of water

Spray that pepper and soy sauce like your life depends on it

Boil the chicken for a few minutes

Throw the mushrooms and peppers

Boil for about 15 minutes

Marvel at how something so simple can taste so good.

[atorq]

Some pasta carbonara type shit:

Spoiler

Ingredients for one serving:

-Around 125 grams of spaghetti

-One lovely egg, only the yolk will be used though, fuck the white, literally if you feel like it

-Parmesan cheese, preferably grated because that means less work and no one likes work

-Bacon or pork belly, I usually use bacon because that is easier, the packages I buy are 170 grams so I eat half and save the rest for another day, you could of course take more or less, but it is a good amount for me

-Black pepper, preferably from a grinder because that tastes better

-A bit of salt, one eight of a byte in case you were wondering

-Olive oil and butter, you can skip one if you don't have both and don't want your food to be delicious

-Ketchup if you're feeling like a filthy peasant, I usually do

 

Boil some water in a big pot, when it boils throw some salt in that bitch, 1-3 teaspoons and then throw the spaghetti in and cook that shit according to instructions or preferably, taste that shit every now and then and get the perfect consistency.

Cut the bacon (if that's what you're using scissors are great) in to small pieces, they should be around 15 mm to 1 inch.

While you're waiting for that water to cook, heat a frying pan with and put a decent amount of olive oil (2-3 tablespoons or just pour some in until you feel satisfied with yourself) and about 1 (or more, more is never bad) tablespoon of buttery butter, when the butter has melted and sizzled away throw in the meat and fry until it's golden brown (not shit brown, if it's shit brown you failed). Then put it to the side.

Take your lovely egg and a deep plate, separate the yolk and white and put the yolk in the plate and throw the white away. Whisk the yolk a bit, add a bit of salt, the black pepper (about 5-8 twists on the grinder) and about 3 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese, whisk some more and hopefully it looks something like this shitty picture:

Spoiler

Put the spaghetti that hopefully is cooked by now on the plate and then add the bacon, mix around so that the yolk stuff gets everywhere and put some more cheese on the top because that shit is tasty. When you are done it could, and probably should, look something like this:

Spoiler

If you are a terrible person like me, add some ketchup for extra taste, and now you have yourself a tasty meal that doesn't look all that fancy and doesn't take long. Enjoy with milk because calcium is good for your bones.

Edited January 28, 2016 by atorq
Removed some cocks and whatnot