I have made an amazing discovery. I am a pretty good cook (I am also humble). It is also much cheaper, and often better, than going to a restaurant. I thought I would share a few single guy recipes that have been easy and fun to make. I am also looking for ideas on other things to cook. I made my few fallback recipes over the last few weeks that I have been living alone, so I am up for suggestions.
Meal 1: One Pot Asian Stir Fry
Ingredients:
- Tofu, beef, or chicken
- Angel hair pasta or Asian noodle
- Veggies: any combination of onion, green/red/yellow pepper, bok choy (my favorite), cabbage, celery, hot peppers, other fresh vegetables that would work in a stir fry
- Soy sauce, oil, chicken stock (optional)
Directions:
Start by cooking the tofu/beef/chicken sliced up in a pan with a drop of oil for sticking and soy or teriyaki sauce for a base flavor. At the same time, saute onion and boil water for pasta. If you have enough pots and pans, you can start to cook the vegetables in a pan with a small amount of water with chicken stock and soy sauce.
Once everything is cooked, start mixing them up in a big pot with a small amount of water at the bottom over medium to medium-high heat. Douse everything in soy sauce and the optional chicken stock mix. Keep stirring so things don’t stick or burn to the pot. Once it is all mixed up, evenly flavored, and soy sauced to taste, take off the heat and eat.
The good thing about this, it is hard to screw up. Unless you over do the soy sauce, which I think is impossible, you will end up with a tasty meal no matter what.
Meal 2: Fajitas
Again, this one is guy-proof cooking at its finest. I made mine with tofu because I don’t mix dairy and meat, but the tofu can easily be subbed for beef or chicken.
Ingredients:
- The veggies: Onions, bell peppers, jalapeno (to taste)
- The protein: tofu, beef, or chicken
- The spices: Chili powder, a tash of garlic powder (optional)
- The fixins: Tortillas, chedar cheese, sour cream, green onions (diced), salsa
- For cooking: a splash of olive or vegetable oil
Directions:
Cook the protein with seasonings to taste. Saute the onion in a pan and mix in other vegetables when the onion is slightly browned. Let the vegetables cook until you are just about ready to eat them and throw in the cooked tofu/beef/chicken. Add more seasonings to taste and serve super hot.
Put into a large flour tortilla and put cheese, salsa, etc on top. Eat. Delicious.
Meal 3: Breakfast Burrito
Breakfast is easiest meal of the day to sleep through. It is also tasty when done right. You can do a little overlap between the ingredients here and the fajitas to have a Mexican themed day with no waste.
Ingredients:
- Eggs
- Tortillas
- Hash browns
- Salsa
- Cheddar cheese
Directions: Cook eggs and hash browns. Mix everything in a tortilla.
So ends the first ever cooking post on this site. The fun thing about cooking is being able to change anything you find to taste. I add salt to just about everything. Or garlic. Or onion. I like strong flavors. Others might go lighter on spices and flavors. That is why I didn’t put amounts on any of the ingredients, you can do with this shell what you like. Add, subtract, and meld the recipe to be your own.
What else should I try? Nothing that combines diary and meat products, but other than that I will give almost anything a shot. If you wonder why I don’t mix meat and dairy, here is a good explanation on Kosher eating.
These days, a lot of people in their twenties discuss “cutting the cord.” That cord, of course, being the cable cord bringing in dozens, if not hundreds, of TV channels. Reasons for cutting the cord have traditionally been either monetary or usage. People did not want to spend the money or would not use it enough to make the expense worthwhile. Nowadays, though, other options exist as a substitute.
One substitute to cable, that is totally free, is broadcast. A handful of channels, such as ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox, send their shows out for free in cities. The recent nationwide upgrade to digital broadcasting gives a higher quality than ever before. Most popular shows come in over network TV, and you can get local news from these channels as well. If you have a TV and no cable, this is the default option.
However, if you need a fix of “The Hills” or weekly Monday Night RAW, you need cable or a dish. Those pay channels only come in over cable. I enjoy being able to watch Law and Order at any given time on one of a handful of channels that always have it on. Beyond there, for true movie lovers, are the premium subscription channels like HBO, Stars, and Cinemax that give you 24-7 movies.
If you are a movie lover, there is a cheaper option. For $8.99 per month, you can watch any movie that Netflix offers streaming through your computer, PS3, X-Box, or a Roku or internet Blue Ray player. With high speed internet, the quality is great and $8.99 is much cheaper than HBO. If the 20,000 or so Netflix movies don’t include the one you want, that $8.99 gives you unlimited exchanges for 1 movie at a time. Up that to about $15 for 2.
If you are a TV show lover, most networks offer their shows online at their websites, or you can find most good shows on Hulu.com for free the day after the show airs live. I use the Hulu queue to ensure I don’t miss new episodes of my favorite shows like Lost and The Office.
So, does Internet let us cut the cord? Yes, potentially. However, it depends on what you want.
I like being able to flip through the listings and find a show I want on 100 different channels. I like being able to turn on a free movie or show on demand. I like TV. So, to me, it is worth the cost. For others, Hulu and Netflix or Redbox might suffice.
It all comes down to what you think something is worth, and what else could you do with that money that would make you happier. Yes, this is the good old economic concept of opportunity cost. If you can’t get a better value, or utility, from something else with a similar price tag, cable or a dish is a good way to use your hard earned money. If there is something you find more value in, do that instead.
Either way, it is good to periodically re-asses cable and other fix cost utilities. What do you all do? Cable or no cable?
Whenever I put something in the dryer, I clean the lint trap. I figured everyone did that. However, I can easily tell if my roommate was the last to do laundry if the lint trap has an inch thick layer on the screen in our dryer.
I didn’t think much of this, but I started to do a bit of digging. This is targeted to the guys out there, as (I know it is profiling but I don’t care) most girls seem to know how to do laundry already.
I did a little research on what can go wrong if you don’t clean the lint trap. It turns out quite a lot can go bad. There are two main issues with leaving the lint in the trap. First, the dryer uses more electricity to run and is not as good at drying clothes, often leading to a second run through. Second, the dryer can easily light on fire if the lint trap is full.
So, to recap (just like on MANswers). Clean the lint trap because it will save you cash and keep your house from burning down!
