Ladies, come in and help this young man.

Okay, here's the most important thing I've learned about cooking:

Be patient. If you turn the heat up too high, you'll ruin it.

So that's all I know about that. But if I may...

I guess you're probably doing this "bulking" thing either for sports or because you think it will improve your appearance, or both. I hope you're doing it under the care of a good personal physician, though (not just a team doctor), because a high-protein diet can be very dangerous, even to an immortal 21-year-old.

And for what it's worth: SOME ladies think big, bulky bodybuilders are not nearly so attractive as normal, ordinary guys who DON'T eat a whole side of beef for lunch. So maybe once in awhile, just... open a can of Spaghetti-Os and relax! :-)

Thank you for the recipes. They all sound great. Now I'll have to get the courage to try them.

Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

Okay, here's the most important thing I've learned about cooking:

Be patient. If you turn the heat up too high, you'll ruin it.

So that's all I know about that. But if I may...

I guess you're probably doing this "bulking" thing either for sports or because you think it will improve your appearance, or both. I hope you're doing it under the care of a good personal physician, though (not just a team doctor), because a high-protein diet can be very dangerous, even to an immortal 21-year-old.

And for what it's worth: SOME ladies think big, bulky bodybuilders are not nearly so attractive as normal, ordinary guys who DON'T eat a whole side of beef for lunch. So maybe once in awhile, just... open a can of Spaghetti-Os and relax! :-)

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I am bulking for boxing and mixed martial arts mostly, and a little for appearence.

I'm definetly not on a super strict diet, I just need more food, better food, etc. etc.

Its really great you are trying to be healthier! with people our age its mostly eating out and fast food.

Good luck with learning to cook. some of the best cooks i know are guys. Be adventurous and add seasonings you like as well as some you have never tried. the worst it can be is bad and then you will have to eat a sandwich or a salad instead!

Originally Posted by Phenomsmom

Its really great you are trying to be healthier! with people our age its mostly eating out and fast food.

Good luck with learning to cook. some of the best cooks i know are guys. Be adventurous and add seasonings you like as well as some you have never tried. the worst it can be is bad and then you will have to eat a sandwich or a salad instead!

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Cutting back on the fast food was tough at first, then I started seeing how much money I was saving and it kind of became addicting. Besides, I get sick of the same ol', same ol' here. We don't have very many fast food places.

I cold eat McDonald french fries every day! they are sooo good! But i havent had any for a while. like 2 weeks. that is really good for me!

My cookbook of choice is the Betty Crocker cookbook-my original one is from the late 70's when I was in college. Also remember the Betty Crocker cooking temp in the oven is 350 degrees-you are always safe with that temp!!
A crockpot would be a good investment for you I believe.
Do you have an outdoor grill??? We grill up lots of burgers and stuff at one time and them they can be re-heating in the microwave.
Also if you have a tech school nearby they usually have tons of night classes for cooking depending on what you are looking for.
I would recommend using lots of spices. (www.penzey's.com)
Also if you don't have the inclination to chop you can buy already chopped onions in the freezer section of the grocery store. Lots of good basic frozen veggies there too.
You should like you want to stay away from processed foods-hamburger helper pretends to be a quick meal but check out the sodium content and extra stuff in the ingredient list-doing it yourself is alot healthier and just about as fast. You can freeze lots of leftovers if you make alot of a item-in fact make your own TV dinners!!
Feel free to pm me as I have a nutrition degree and do lots of cooking (not baking), freezing, soups stews etc.....

Driven, if you have access to the Food Network you should start watching. That way you can SEE the steps rather than just reading. Some people learn better that way. I'm one of them.

Originally Posted by DRIVEN

I might need to get one of those.

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Yes, I HIGHLY recommend slow cooker/crockpot too. Even if you don't know what to put in there Banquet makes a bunch of Slow Cooker frozens.
Or if you want, just take pork chops and BBQ sauce in the Crockpot. In the end: you're at work and cooking at the same time!

Also, my favorite cook book is the Fannie Farmer Cook Book

It is very basic and has lots of illustrations like how to cut up a chicken and lots of other things that most cookbooks don't have or assume you know.

I second GailC's advice about the Betty Crocker Cook Book another favorite of mine is the Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cook Book.

Chicken breasts are a great source of protein, another thing you can get is a lean pork roast, or a nice beef roast if you prefer,cook it in a roaster or even one of those oven roasting bags. Throw in a few halved potatoes, some carrots and an onion or two, add a cup of water, teaspoon of salt, half teaspoon of pepper...put the temperature to 325 and cook for two hours.

One good thing about cooking is that there are tons of recipes out there on the internet and in cookbooks. Just be sure to read all of the directions through to the end before getting started, if you don't understand a term or know what a certain ingredient is look it up. Be sure you have all of your tools ie pots, pans, utensils and all of the ingredients to hand. I think once you get started you will be amazed with the results!

p.s. Don't forget to include some dark green vegetables!

We make Bison Fajitas in the crock pot (We're on WW, so it's super healthy)
It's more juicy than most fajita recipes but it's fan-damn-tastic. We had it yesterday, I think it's our new weekly dish. Oh! we get the bison flank steak for 7.99 /lb of meat so it's much cheaper than the beef alternative, and it's better for you and so.. beefy. It's beefier than beef and not as bad for you. ^.^
by weight the bison has 12 grams of fat LESS than the beef, and tons more protein. Bison is also fantastic if you like your meat rarer.. so much less fat!

I started out with a slow cooked like someone else mentioned.
Its not a lot of work, its tastes good, and there's a lot of it ready when you come home from work/school.

I really like the "Joy of Cooking" because it takes you through all the steps of making a certain type of food - for example muffins... you can't stir them too much because they'll be flat and hard. It also had lots of great recipies.

The Lemon Pepper chicken is one that I make quite a bit. Some other suggestions...

Thinly sliced zuccinni sauted (lightly fried) with butter and some salt.

Slice a porkchop into strips,
Thinly slice red, orange or yellow pepper, an onion, some garlic,

Saute them...

Cook rice (if you buy thai jasmine rice in bulk it's cheaper and better for you) and mix while still warm with the porkchop and vegetables

Season with salt and pepper to taste

With this recipie you can also add broccoli, zuccinni, peas.... anything that sounds good...


For a healthy desert:

(all fruit should be fresh, not canned)
Slice figs, bananas, strawberries, apple, kiwi
Mix in Wallaby vanilla yogurt (it has to be Wallabys, the taste just isnt' the same otherwise)
Stir and eat!

You can mix and match fruits too... I'll mix in pinapple instead of strawberries... throw in coconut chips... add grapes... Yum!

Cooking for dummies, seriously.
Great thing to learn. A woman loves a man that can cook!

Thank you everybody for all of your input. You're all the best!

Originally Posted by menagerie mama

Great thing to learn. A woman loves a man that can cook!

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Oh yes we do!!

Originally Posted by Phenomsmom

Oh yes we do!!

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And what's your favorite meal a guy can cook for you?

A filet Mignon with corn and salad and rolls and a really yummy dessert!

Originally Posted by Phenomsmom

A filet Mignon with corn and salad and rolls and a really yummy dessert!

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Hmmm, how bout a burger from Wendy's for now.