Hi everyone,

The facts:

• I'm pre-sleeve.
• I am single and live alone.
• I don't enjoy cooking because I'm not very good at it and I don't tend to eat leftovers. When I throw them out I feel guilty about how much is wasted.

It's clear that it will be much easier for me to be successful if I can make my meals at home. But they'll be so very tiny.

So I've been giving my Magic Bullet a try with Protein shakes. This can work.

Eventually I'll be allowed to have solid food. And I expect I will probably want to have it regularly, so I just ordered an ANOVA Sous Vide Precision Cooker so I can cook small portions. Does anyone have experience with sous vide?

Also, since I'm not very clever in the kitchen, can you recommend a good cookbook/website? I'm looking for something that has real-people food featured -- the kind that calls for regular ingredients that I can find at a typical grocery store, and doesn't take hours to prepare.

Thanks in advance!

Catt

{{scratching head}} I thought it was $8.99 a pound? That's what I've always paid for it.

I love to cook, but my life is so hectic that sometimes, I just don't have time to prep. If you live near a Whole Foods Market, on Mondays, many of WF's have meatless monday, all you can eat for $8.99 from their salad bar. I would go and fill the tray up with fruits, veggies and other that I would eat throughout the week. This lasts me through to Monday depending on the perishability of the items. The nice part is a large portion of their food is healthy, and also I don't have to prep veggies or fruit.

I just had surgery a little of a week ago, and I'm pretty sure I will continue doing this, just loading up more on tofu and veggies than their prepared foods.

@@swimbikerun - It is $8.9 a lb.

As for food prep. It takes finding your rhythm but I actually only spend an hour on Sunday prepping for the entire week. Since I'm on a fixed income it's much more economical for me.

{{scratching head}} I thought it was $8.99 a pound? That's what I've always paid for it.

On Mondays only they have a special where you can fill special containers for one price of $8 (or $8.99 depending on store). I know it is available in the Philadelphia and DC metro area WF's. The rest of the week it is $8.99 lb.

edited to add: It is only on Mondays between 4-7pm.

Edited January 17, 201511 yr by CleoSays

On Mondays only they have a special where you can fill special containers for one price of $8 (or $8.99 depending on store). I know it is available in the Philadelphia and DC metro area WF's. The rest of the week it is $8.99 lb.

edited to add: It is only on Mondays between 4-7pm.

Really? The only thing I've seen like that on Philly are the chicken wings.

@BLERDgirl I don't know if you have done this, but I am also in a limited funds situation. I think what would help is if we had some tips/hints on ways to help get cheaper healthy food.

That would be useful to many.

@BLERDgirl I don't know if you have done this, but I am also in a limited funds situation. I think what would help is if we had some tips/hints on ways to help get cheaper healthy food.

That would be useful to many.

I use multiple things to save money. Some of this may or may not work for you depending on where you live. I am in a big city so I have multiple venues to shop.

Farmer's market or produce stores for fresh produce. I can buy a bag of oranges for $1 and they used to sell eggs 3/$4.Last time I was there they were 2/$3.75.

Clip coupons. I don't mean extreme couponing, but I pick up the weekly circulars for coupons. I also check the manufacturer's website for products I buy regularly and sign up for coupon sites like Saving Start & Coupon.com

Phone Apps. I use Ibotta, Checkout 51, Berrycart, Shopminum and Target Cartwheel . With Ibotta, Checkout 51, Berrycart, Shopminum you get cashback on purchases, Target Cartwheel gives you additional savings back on purchases at Target.

Buy in season and freeze. In the summer blueberries can be a low as $1 a pint. All summer long I buy double. One to eat and one to freeze. I never have to buy frozen frui over the winter because I have a freezer stash.

Edited January 17, 201511 yr by BLERDgirl

@@BLERDgirl THANK YOU! Couple of questions: do you have pick your own farms? I do and its cheaper to get your own food and freeze it (jams, jellies, etc.) or dehydrate, etc. than buying. Applesauce is another thing I make, apple butter. The other is that I can trade veggies and give it to friends, and they'll cook and give me some. This also saves me $$$ in terms of healthy food and I have sides I can eat for a while that cost little.

I believe there are a few places out there that track what goes on sale and when. Do you know of any?

I love this thread! I could've written every word of the original post, except I've never heard of the Sous Vide. I'm going to look into that.

Thank you all for sharing all these great ideas.

Really? The only thing I've seen like that on Philly are the chicken wings.

Yep, I learned about it on their Twitter and also I went to a free vegetarian cooking class at the Philly main library that was hosted by the humane society in partnership with the City of Phila and they spoke about it there. I just called the Callohill store- since I haven't gone since the fall, I just wanted to make sure for the new year it was still ongoing, and it is.

If you are already know- apologies, but the Phila Main library opened a state of the art kitchen at the main branch last year, where they have all kinds of info sessions and cooking classes, some free, some low cost. http://libwww.freelibrary.org/culinary/. I am a competent cook and baker, but I love learning new things, and honestly, I am adding more herbs into my diet for flavor (still on liquids)- had surgery on 5th at Pennsylvania Hospital. As for low cost- I like to save $$ and I have a twenty year old relative living with me, so any way we can keep grocery costs low, we do!

So, this is kinda interesting, if you go to Acme, and use their coupon app, you can get a free yogurt (use by 19th). Only one, but it's free!

Thank you for this great thread! I just ordered a manual crockpot and sous vide! I feel much more hopeful about making meat that remains juicy and tender once I have these tools. I've heard that sous vides also make fantastic scrambled eggs. The sous vide I ordered was only $99 and you use it in a crockpot. It had great reviews and is much less expensive and more space saving then the $300-$400 machines. Great, great, great idea!! Thank you!

@@BLERDgirl THANK YOU! Couple of questions: do you have pick your own farms? I do and its cheaper to get your own food and freeze it (jams, jellies, etc.) or dehydrate, etc. than buying. Applesauce is another thing I make, apple butter. The other is that I can trade veggies and give it to friends, and they'll cook and give me some. This also saves me $$$ in terms of healthy food and I have sides I can eat for a while that cost little.

I believe there are a few places out there that track what goes on sale and when. Do you know of any?

Yes we have several in the area. I'm a city gal and the pick your own has no appeal to me at all. I've made jellies/jam although it's probably more a compote. I just cooked fruit with raw honey and reduced it until it was thick. We also have quite a few food coops. They are just hard to manage for a single person. I did one a few years back and had to split the single person's portion with a friend. Even then I was constantly giving stuff away.

@ - I must have overlooked it. I follow them on twitter/facebook/IG. Probably just a brain fart on my part. I was just at the Callowhill store on Monday. Pennsy it part of the UPenn family where I had my surgery done.

I did see the free yogurt at ACME but it's for yoplait and I don't care for that brand.

@ - I must have overlooked it. I follow them on twitter/facebook/IG. Probably just a brain fart on my part. I was just at the Callowhill store on Monday. Pennsy it part of the UPenn family where I had my surgery done.

I did see the free yogurt at ACME but it's for yoplait and I don't care for that brand.

@BLERDgirl. I purchased the Yoplait, but can't eat it because it has Splenda in it, so I gave it to my niece. She said it was horrible, like eating really sweet coolaid yogurt with an aftertaste. I usually only eat Fage 0%, so I'm really glad I didn't attempt it!

Jean McMillan's cookbook is great! Only problem is that many of the recipes make 8 servings. Too much for folks like us, but we can modify. I also like the Bariatric Foodie' s website and love her cookbook of bariatric protein shakes.