Cooking help for a newbie!

[minerman]

Hello, this is my first post here. I'm tired of eating out! I'm a 22 year old guy fresh out of college with minimal cooking skills! I have a mission for you, should you choose to accept it:

I basically need a 5 day menu of easy to cook food that is not too high priced, and good tasting. By easy to cook i mean, can be prepared in equal to or less than 45 minutes. For example, one of my favorite things is Spaghetti, this is a perfect suggestion. However please avoid this one since im already a pro at spaghetti. Please include ingrediants, but i dont expect anybody to spend the time on telling me how to cook, just ingrediants please. If I get some help, I'll take the suggestion I like the most and i'll post a photo on here of each dish I attempt to make and include commentary. It should be some good comedy!

Thanks,

TJ

[Snoop Puss]

Welcome to DC. What kind of things do you like? Have you been to any bookstores and looked through any recipe books? Did any of them appeal to you?

[minerman]

I am definetly a traditional meat and potatos kinda guy, but i like a lot of variety and I would like to eat semi-healty. I have looked for cookbooks before but I just haven't found exactly the kind of book that suits me. Most seem to be either too fancy, diet books, or something cute (like 20 ways to make food with beer).... nothing for a normal guy like myself....

You have any recommendations? Any good free websites??

I do think it would be fun to have something like this one here, get a discussion going about how my dishes turn out.

TJ

[shpj4]

Welcome to DC. You are in the best cooking site on the internet and you will learn a lot from our wonderful cooks and chefs - it is also important to go to a bookstore and look through them to see if any interest you. If any standout definitely buy it.

Have a wonderful day!

[Half Baked]

I just bought a book for my niece who is on her own for the first time ever. I thought the recipes sounded great. It's only about $12.




by Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross

How to plan smart, shop smart, and cook smart. With 274 delicious, thrifty, friendly recipes.

[Snoop Puss]

It occurs to me that you could do a lot worse than follow the Today's Menu and Food Talk forum. Click on new posts and you're bound to see it. Today's thread is labelled "Dinner - Monday, October 16th". You're likely to find something you'll fancy eating tomorrow.
Good luck.

[Alix]

OK here's a quick dish for you.

Chicken thighs or breasts (4-6)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup salsa
tsp dried oregano

Dump the ketchup, brown sugar, salsa and oregano together, stir and pour over the chicken. Bake in the oven for 30 - 45 minutes and serve with rice and a salad. Quick and tasty.

Buy Cooking for the Rushed. Its available online, it caters to people who want to eat well and fast. You won't regret it. There are a couple of books but buy the blue one. Its the first one.

[kitchenelf]

Equal parts coke and ketchup - makes an 'ok' bbq sauce

Marinate a pork tenderloin (not the roast but the tenderloin) in a baggie with a can of fruit cocktail. Cook that evening in a skillet or in the oven (starting in a skillet) with the fruit cocktail.

I'll be back to post more - I've got to work (how rude!)

[Half Baked]

Parmesan Pork Chops

4 pork chops, 1/2" thick
4 each - thin onion slices and green pepper rings
1 tomato, sliced
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
paprika

Bake chops in 350 degree oven, turning half done. Top with onion and green pepper. Continue baking. Top each chop with a tomato slice and parmesan cheese, the last 10 minutes. Sprinkle with paprika.

Total baking time 1 hour.
Whoops, you said 45 minutes.

[Half Baked]

Beef & Cheese Pie

6 servings

1 lb. ground beef
2 packets French onion soup mix
1 cup warm water
12 slices American cheese OR Velveeta
2 cans refrigerated biscuits

-Brown beef in a skillet; drain; return to heat.
-Stir in onion soup mix until beef is coated; stir in water; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
-Spread beef mixture in a 13" X 9" X 2" baking pan.
-Lay cheese slices over beef.
-Lay uncooked biscuits in a single layer over cheese.
-Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12-16 minutes, until biscuits are golden.