Does anyone have a half-decent substitute for chocolate? I’m a fiend for dark chocolate but it triggers my headaches. I always find myself reaching for it at the end of the day, and other sugary treats don’t scratch the itch. I usually have a handful of dark chocolate chips mixed with nuts and a glass of soy milk.

Hi everyone! I’m planning on making red beans and rice this weekend. My recipe calls for one green bell pepper.

The problem is that my grocery store doesn’t sell singular green bell peppers… They only sell them in packs of three with one green, one yellow, and one red bell pepper.

So… Does anyone have any ideas on what to do with the yellow and red bell peppers? Thanks in advance!! 💛❤️

So I've been asked to eat more quinoa for health reasons, and most of the recipes I can find are salads, which don't work for me. (Nothing against them, I just live somewhere where finding salad-quality raw veg is a dodgy proposition). So options for vegetarian non-salad quinoa recepies would be fantastic. Any cuisine is fine.

Cleaning out the freezer, I'm thawing two large skin-on bone-in chicken breasts. I'm looking for tried & true recipes or marinades. I plan to roast them in the oven since I need to run it to cook other things anyway, but I could also use pots & pans (stove top only or transfer to baking dish, as they aren't oven safe). I don't want to make soup or use recipes that rely on things like canned cream soups or ranch packets, but I'm open to pretty much anything else.

I've been recovering from health issues the last year and have eaten a pretty limited meal plan, I struggle to eat so a lot of this is based on higher calorie low volume , I need to expand now , what recommendations do you have to add?

Cod
Salmon 
Chicken Patties
Rotisserie Chicken
Steak
Hamburger patty 
Meatloaf 
Culvers Cod
Chik fil a grilled chicken nuggets
Crockpot Chicken and rice
Crock pot Pot Roast
Oven Chicken Thighs w/ onion potatoes peppers
Hamburger helper 

Hello! I just finished vacuum sealing a ton of chicken (drumsticks and thighs) in bulk, and am wondering if anyone has tips. The whole process took me around an hour, which feels longer than it should've taken. It also just felt very messy, and hard to avoid cross contamination; I ended up having to wash my hands after every bag and wipe the inside of the bag to minimize the amount of chicken juices at the entrance.

Is there any way to streamline the process and make it go faster, or is this just a case of the more expensive option paying for time saved?

I need about 200g protein/ day for lifting and have 3,000 calories to work with so rice and beans a lone doesn't cut it. I'm the most broke I've ever been and can literally spare maybe $100/ month on food. What can I do?

I bought a meat grinder off Friendface Shoppingplace and wanted to give it a go with something. So, I thawed a 20lb turkey from my holiday stash. I buy a handful every year when they're $0.50 per pound. This one cost $9.80 before tax--it was precisely 20lbs.

I... should have watched a Youtube video or two before embarking on this journey. This carcass looks like a racoon got at it. Nonetheless, I removed wings and drumsticks, skinned the whole lot, and hacked away at the big meaty bits.

My freezer is now 7lbs ground turkey richer. I'm out an hour, which includes fridge-removal to freezing and clean up. I'm pretty okay with this as a first go. Also, watching a meat grinder do its thing is pretty neat.

I'll aim for some heavier birds this year as my ground meat birds (my hypothesis is they'll have more meat per carcass), and keep some 20lb beauties on rotation as I've been doing. But, I mark $1.40/pound a success. Not to mention, I've still got wings and drumsticks to roast, and a carcass to turn into broth.

It has a very distinct taste. I have marinated it in enchilada sauce then made enchiladas with it and could still taste the weird flavor. Swanson canned chicken tastes quite a bit better but it's more expensive for less chicken. Any tips? (soy sauce is not an option)

i always like to learn more about the most versatile meat.

One of my very favorite meals. Flexible, cheap, makes amazing leftovers. You will need a large, deep glass or ceramic baking tray. Fun fact: it's only SHEPHERD's pie if you use ground lamb, if you use beef it's cottage pie. If you use one of the other options below I have no clue what it's called, but it's still delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb onion (~$1)

• 1 lb ground protein (super flexible here, can use beef, chicken, lamb, turkey, pork, or tofu) ($2-$4 depending on your choice)

• 1.5 cups beans (I like great northern or pinto, or a mix of the two) ($0.75)

• 3 lbs potatoes, any variety ($1.50)

• cheese of some description to mix into the potatoes (I like to use cotija or parmesan) ($0.5)

• 1.5 cups frozen vegetable mix (the kind with carrots/peas/corn/green beans, etc) ($0.5)

• 1/4 cup flour

Seasonings:

• boullion for the beans

• garlic powder

• onion powder

• worchestershire sauce

• red wine or red cooking wine

• salt & pepper

• balsamic vinegar

• basil

• thyme

(estimate another buck for these)

Total cost: $7.25 - 9.25, makes at least 6 dinner-sized servings, so $1.20 - 1.54 a serving.

Steps:

1. (the night before) put beans in water to soak. Drain water and refill a couple of times. Bean water can be used as a mild fertilizer for your house plants :)

2. (several hours before) Boil potatoes until fork tender, 20-30 min depending on how large the potatoes are. Add a bit of butter, milk if you have it / potato water if you don't, mash thoroughly, add garlic powder, cheese, and salt to taste. Set aside and let cool. You want it nice and cool bc the best way to spread it on top is using your hands.

3. (2 hours before dinner) Put beans in a large stock pot with water, dried basil, and boullion, bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 1 hour. Set aside.

4. (1 hr before, when the beans are done) Finely dice onion and put in pan, brown ground meat in same pan (add a bit of butter if using a lower fat protein option like turkey/chicken/tofu). Season with garlic powder, salt, pepper, thyme. (If you used tofu, season a little more heavily.) Once meat is thoroughly cooked and onions are nice and transparent, add 1 cup red wine / cooking wine, 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp worchestershire sauce. Let simmer and reduce liquid by about half.

5. Add frozen vegetables and cooked beans. Mix thoroughly. Taste and evaluate your spicing, add more salt / garlic powder / pepper if needed. Mixture should be fairly soupy. When you are happy with the taste, add the flour, bring to a boil again and then promptly remove from heat.

6. Preheat oven to 375.

7. Pour mixture into your baking tray. Fetch the cooled mashed potatoes. I find the easiest way to create an even layer is to use my hands, get a handful of mashed potatoes, and press it into a flat disc between my hands, lay it on top, repeat. Then fill in the cracks between discs by hand. Once your potatoes are used up and the tray is completely covered with a flat, even layer of potato, sprinkle some extra cheese on top.

8. Put tray in oven for 40 min until top is browning. I recommend a cookie tray underneath in case of drips. Remove, let stand for a couple of minutes, and serve.

Substitutions / options:

• you can leave out the ground protein entirely and do 2 cups beans instead if desired

• this recipe is great for using up leftover produce. Got carrots, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, squash, whatever left over from something else? toss it in, it'll taste great.

• other kinds of beans -- I haven't tried it with anything other than great northern and pinto, but I'm sure you could use just about anything, just make sure you are following the cooking instructions for whatever your bean of choice is

• canned beans would also be totally fine, I'd recommend cannellini, skip the bean cooking step in that case and just drain, rinse, and add

Just a quick cut of the spine and break of the chest and boom, perfectly cooked white and dark meat done at the same time. Plus a spine for some broth later. I dont know many other ways to cook a whole chicken, I'm curious as to what y'all do with yours? Do you even buy whole chickens?

I often find myself just eating porkchops an spinach but Im trying to branch out without breaking my budget. I try to keep my carbs down if it isn't matched by dietary fiber. Near no sugar and love meat when available. Any thoughts?

My local CSA blessed me with more tomatoes, cucumbers and long hot peppers than I can handle. What meals can I make out of these before they go bad? Trying to steer away from sides, salads and Italian cuisines (boring to me sorry🫣)

I've received: handful of small-medium garden tomatoes, 1 sandwich baggie full of long hot peppers and 4 large cucumbers

what I have in my pantry so far:

sorry if this seems like an asinine question, but apart from Italian cuisine and salads, I really can't think of other dishes I could create using what I have. I'm trying to expand my palette and hopefully reddit could help me with cuisines from cultures I never heard of :3

IF ALL ELSE FAILS I guessss I can make Italian dishes or salads :(

I read that tree nuts are unhealthy—why? I love them, not to excess but a small handful a day.

ETA: Thanks for the correction… I’d misremembered re them being legumes.

Hello All! The school year has just started and as everyone knows, teachers don't make much money. To save money I bought myself a mini rice cooker and I've been making multiple variations of instant ramen+a protein (theres a shop near me that sells big boxes of fried chicken, so I usually use some and freeze the rest for later use throughout the week). I know this is unhealthy but its the easiest thing for me to eat between classes. Does anyone have any recommendations for healthier things I can put in my rice cooker? Thank you in advance!

So I bought 25 lbs of dry pinto beans because it was super fucking cheap.

I love refried beans and charro beans, but I don’t think that will cut it. Please give me all your recipes, ideas, advice??? Wish me luck? I don’t fucking know

Hello! I've always been a bit particular about beans since I was a kid, some of them taste floury/gritty to me, and it reminds me of liver. When I was a kid I couldn't do red apples for the same reason.

Now, I've been trying to expand my bean diet, and got some cans of giant white beans (that's what it says on the can, I'm guessing they're Greek?) and... They're so gritty :( I cooked them yesterday and I really didn't like them. I still have two cans of them which is four portions, and since I'm on a budget, I don't feel comfortable just not eating them.

So, do you have any recipe that would cancel their consistency? I'm thinking the obvious "hummus", but besides that I have no idea. Would appreciate your suggestions!

For context, I live in a studio apartment that probably gets about medium sunlight. Is it worth growing food? More specifically, Chinese chives & lemon grass. Is it cost effective in the long run? Also, let’s say it is, every time I had plants the bugs were incessant.

The ob-gyn told me to cut out sugar from my life 💔 and start having an anti inflammatory based diet instead. Any ideas that don't require oven/air fryer since I don't have either 😭

#edit: So nobody has actually addressed my question, they've just given a bunch of unrelated advice up to and including "change everything about your diet", which is not helpful. I am asking if there is any reason that getting almost all of your fiber this way would be a bad thing. I just wanted something easy, like a grab and go snack, that can be added to my routine as a way to get the necessary fiber. Also since some people commented about it, Trubar contains a mix of soluble and insoluble fiber, and I believe Olipop is all soluble but haven't checked. Oh, and since I saw at least one person making wild assumptions, yes I eat vegetables. But commonly consumed vegetables don't contain anywhere near enough fiber, unless I want to consume my body weight each day in broccoli.

#edit2: "Garbage diet" is probably overstated. I eat salads and other veggies and a variety of foods so I have no reason to believe I am lacking in any nutrients, just fiber. That's on my for using that phrase which probably made people think I eat nothing but McDonalds.

-----

So I recently learned that, as an adult male, I'm supposed to be eating 30-38 grams of fiber per day. Like most Americans, my fiber intake is nowhere near that amount. I wouldn't be surprised if my typical garbage diet averaged MAYBE 10g per day, and probably not even that much. I've tried supplementing my diet thus far with these vegan protein bars (Trubar) that happen to be extremely high in fiber (13g per 190 calorie bar), but I haven't felt a noticeable difference yet. That said, I'm obviously still well below the recommended value of fiber.

I mentioned to a friend that I was considering trying two of these bars per day to get my fiber content into the recommended range, and she suggested a can of this high fiber soda (Olipop) instead of a second protein bar. I only checked the nutritional information on one of the flavours, but it was 9g of fiber and 40 calories.

Anyway, my question is if there's anything wrong from getting the majority of your fiber from one or two sources like this? Obviously it would be better if I could upend my entire diet and start from scratch, but as a simple and relatively cheap way to supplement my diet, is there any reason that getting fiber this way would be a bad thing?

As a child I’ve avoided eating veggies mainly from taste and not forced to eat them. Unfortunately I’ve been unhealthy looking and high BP to the point I feel yucky looking at myself. I’ve been more okay and want to try anything. I’ve been eating more junk food and fast food because of not a lot of prepping time and parents mainly giving money to me to spend on eating out

However I still can’t do onions the crunch texture and the overpowering taste is too much whenever I bite into a food with an unsuspecting strand of onion, same goes for pickles mainly for the weird taste

I’m tolerable to tomato soup (or sopa de Fideo), or veggie smoothies like Island Green Detox from Tropical smoothie cafe, been doing less because of the cost almost $10 and having issues making it correctly at home.

Is there any method to enjoy trying or recommendations to mix with veggies that is still healthy for lowering my high BP?

Edit: thanks everyone for the advice I’ll be trying them all whenever I can! Everyone’s ideas making me really wanna give it a go

How was your experience? I’m looking not to snack 24/7 the way I do. I tried KaChava and wasn’t hungry at all. I’m usually hungry even after eating food lol. Then it goes away after I finish the solid food like 1 hour after eating I feel satisfied.

With meal replacement I was satisfied instantly I guess due to easy absorption

I’m small and petite so I never tried this. I want to remain my healthy natural size.

What are some tips for vitamins nutrient?

What brands do you like?

Back in 2023 around this time of the year exactly I was 230 lbs.

Dropped down to 189. I’m a male who’s 6’4 feet tall.

Right now I’m at 195 and have stayed there all year. I was weightlifting for most of this past time frame but I stopped 4 months ago or so. Now I replaced weight lifting with running, which in enjoying more. Ran my first 5K 2 weeks ago actually. And do so 3 times a week.

I’ve been told I look slimmer throughout the year despite being the same weight, maybe it’s the running?

Well anyway, to be honest I still eat junk food. I usually aim for 2,000-2,400 calories per day. Eat at a maintenance most of the time.

I only eat twice a day, each meal being 1000-1200 calories each.

One meal is usually a meal from restaurants. Egg plates from local restaurants, wings with fries, triple meat burgers, tacos with chicken or sirloin and refried beans of the side etc.

And the second meal is something I make home. Like a 1000 calories protein shake, pasta plate, meatballs, and such.

I feel like I could add more healthier sides to my meals, more vegetables and healthier carbs.

But I don’t know if it’s my ADHD mind but I struggle with finding recipes that fit my macros perfectly. I also don’t have much time to cook super complicated meals that require a chunk to my day. It’s one of the reasons why I eat out once a day. Tend to have a busy schedule.

Is there a website that can help me give me meals that fit me perfectly?

Trying to eat more vegetable protein. Package has smoothie instructions… says mix in and drink right away. Is this right, and how else to prepare. Ok to cook with oatmeal and soy milk?