Re: [fast5] Re: WOW.....

Congratulations!

It took me about a year to figure out how to "cook" and also have a life.

So many people I know ... not just Fast-Fivers ... eat out all the time because

"cooking takes too long". It's harder when you have a spouse and kids to feed too.

So, I looked into it ... and really, cooking doesn't take long at all IF you

have the planning done. What helped me a lot was looking at YouTube videos

for restaurant cooks. I mean, they do the WHOLE MEAL in 10 minutes sometimes.

Iron Chef is even more awesome.

1. Figure out your menu. What are your favorite foods? If you look at your eateries,

they only serve a few things, actually. They are set up for those few things.

2. Pre-cut ingredients. The main timesink is cutting, face it. This can go pretty

quickly if you learn how to use a knife well (again, there's good videos on that!).
But also, you can, say, cut a head of lettuce, dice some tomatoes, grate some

cheese, and dice an onion once a week. Those can go on hamburgers, tacos,

enchiladas, baked potatoes, or garnish anything.

3. Get a toaster oven. When I was single, I cooked most meals in my toaster

oven, or in one good skillet I had. I didn't even wash the skillet ... just wiped it down

(or reused the oil if it seemed ok).

4. Precook ingredients. Two of my main ingredients tend to be beans (which

I love) and steamed rice (ditto). I cook a big batch and then use it for a few

days. You can precook hamburger too ... it will keep. Sometimes I'd bake

one chicken and eat off it half the week (chicken salad, stir fry, or just

eat a drumstick). Costco cooked chickens are insanely cheap ($5 now?)

and quite tasty.

5. Learn to use spices. A few basic Penzy's or Costco spices will make

you into an expert! I recommend Montreal Steak Seasoning and Ozark.

Italian Sausage seasoning, added to hamburger, will make it taste just like

italian sausage.

6. Keep ingredients around. Identify what ingredients you need for YOUR

favorite meals. I read once in a book ... "All the pretty horses" about how

the Mexican workers would come to the ranch, with a bag of beans and a bag

of masa, and cook all their meals from that. Pretty good planning!

So for instance ... one of my favorite foods is tacos. So I'd fry up some

hamburger, then fry up a big batch of tacos. Wrap them up in groups of 2

(my standard serving at the time) and freeze them. When I got hungry,

I'd take out the foil-wrapped package, stick it in the toaster oven for

a few minutes. Then add lettuce, tomato, cheese, and taco sauce.

Yummm ! It was done in WAY less time than it would have taken to get

into the car and drive anywhere, plus I could eat while I did something else.

Anyway, if you can identify foods that are 1) your favorites and 2) the

ones you think you should eat, myself, someone else here, or someone

on YouTube can probably point you into how to cook that thing really quickly.

Think about it: your average restaurant cook likely spends less than

5 minutes on YOUR meal.

You can also go halfway been "home cooked" and "premade" by getting

frozen foods at Costco. Frozen vegies are actually even good for you.

Foods like frozen burritos etc. not so much, but they are still better

than most fast food offerings.

On Sat, Jul 6, 2013 at 5:45 AM, Sam <samdgood@yahoo.com> wrote:

i have lost 4 lb in one week. I am so thrilled. but it's hard. I ran out of my ginger mint tea and haven't gotten to the store so i'm drinking lemon water until I do. I think the water first thing then not eating fast food is why I lost so much. I can't lose weight when I eat fast food. at home I eat as much organic as I can and it's good and healthy and delicious. then I eat this horrible food because it's fast and easy and I hate to admit I like it! lol I have spent the week telling myself I can't have it because I like losing more than I like mcdonalds. and then I see a pizza commercial... it ain't easy but it's worth it when you step on the scales.

--- In fast5@yahoogroups.com, "tfoley926" <travis.foley@...> wrote:
>
> Thank you for the information Sam!
>
>
>
>
> --- In fast5@yahoogroups.com, "Sam" <samdgood@> wrote:
> >
> > the first thing I drink in the morning is ginger mint tea with lemon (my own concoction). I add honey for health reasons and flavor. if I don't have any I drink plain lemon water. this is outside my window but as much as I believe in fast 5 I think this is important. I will usually drink one or two more glasses during the day because I like it and I believe it helps with the weight loss not to mention all the health benefits of lemons, ginger, and I only use local raw honey.
> >
> > I started eating a tbsp. of local honey to relieve the symptoms of seasonal allergies. the bees pollinate the local flowers and by ingesting the honey I ingest a little pollen every day building an immunity. when the pollen count is high I would have watery eyes, runny nose and sneezing. after about 2 years of eating the honey, I have virtually no symptoms. local farmers markets almost always have a vendor with local honey. the local honey taste better too.
> >
> >
> > http://www.vixi.com/content/reasons-drink-lemon-water-morning
> >
> > http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/health-benefits-of-honey.html
> >
> > I hope you find this helpful and at least interesting.
> >
> >
> >
> > --- In fast5@yahoogroups.com, "tfoley926" <travis.foley@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Congrats!!!!
> > >
> > > Well, I'm on day 2 of drinking ACV and I have to say, I feel very good!
> > >
> > > Another strange thing that I noticed is that I have not drank coffe (or craved it) for the past 2 days either.
> > >
> > > On top of that, no headache from caffeine withdrawls. THAT is actually incredible and I know it's because of the ACV... I get headaches like clockwork when I don't have my morning coffee.
> > >
> > > Travis
> > >
> > > --- In fast5@yahoogroups.com, "mimarg" <mimarg5557@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Great info on the lemon and apple cider vinegar connections.
> > > >
> > > > I added the ACV to a "warm water lemonade" concoction. I drink it first thing in the morning...before my coffee....I find I am not as hungry the rest of the day...I can push my fast as late as I wish. I aim mostly for a 1 - 6 window.
> > > >
> > > > I started "counting" calories...I was not gonna go that route except sometimes ya need to be a little more attentive. I'm doing the 5:2...2 days a week with 600 calories...rest of the week eating "normal" whatever that may be.
> > > >
> > > > I am also eating EXACTLY WHAT I WANT. Being good to myself and choosing those things I really like, I can succeed.
> > > > I'm down 3.5 lbs...first time in years that I BUMPED DOWN....and I have been trying forever it seems. I will live and eat this way the rest of my life.
> > > >
> > > > CONGRATS TO EVERYONE....stick it out...it WORKS...
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

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