I need some really easy recipes to follow, but first a little explanation... For the past 10 years I have lived in Las Vegas. I got in the habit of eating fast food (quick, easy, cheap) for just about every meal. When I didn't have fast food, I ate frozen dinners or cereal. Well, after 10 years of this I am just about to hit 300 pounds. So I decided to make a change. I am walking to the bus stop every day for work (doesn't sound like much but for me its very hard to walk 3 blocks) and for 2007 I will not eat fast food. I am not dieting, I am just doing those 2 things. I need recipes that use regular, inexpensive ingredients that you would find every day at the grocery store. I made up one the other night... stick four pieces of chicken in a baking pan and dump a can of cream of mushroom soup and bake at 350 for 1.5 hours. Delicious! If you have any recipes like this, I would very much appreciate it. But please, no diet stuff... I can only do so much... at least for THIS year!   Thanks, DL

For the past 10 years I have lived in Las Vegas. I got in the habit of eating fast food (quick, easy, cheap) for just about every meal. When I didn't have fast food, I ate frozen dinners or cereal. Well, after 10 years of this I am just about to hit 300 pounds. So I decided to make a change. I am walking to the bus stop every day for work (doesn't sound like much but for me its very hard to walk 3 blocks) and for 2007 I will not eat fast food. I am not dieting, I am just doing those 2 things. I need recipes that use regular, inexpensive ingredients that you would find every day at the grocery store. I made up one the other night... stick four pieces of chicken in a baking pan and dump a can of cream of mushroom soup and bake at 350 for 1.5 hours. Delicious! If you have any recipes like this, I would very much appreciate it. But please, no diet stuff... I can only do so much... at least for THIS year!   I'm sure that if you do your own cooking for a year instead of eating processed food you'll be a lot healthier at the end of it, especially if you make sure to have at least one type of vegetable on every dinner plate. Since I'm a very lazy cook I love the steam-in-the-bag vegetables they have now - just toss them in the microwave for a few minutes and voila they're done.

Since I'm a very lazy cook I love the steam-in-the-bag vegetables they have now - just toss them in the microwave for a few minutes and voila they're done. Karen I just discovered those and I was amazed how tasty they were.  Not overly steamed.  I'll definitely get them again. Lynne

For the past 10 years I have lived in Las Vegas. I got in the habit of eating fast food (quick, easy, cheap) for just about every meal. When I didn't have fast food, I ate frozen dinners or cereal. Well, after 10 years of this I am just about to hit 300 pounds. So I decided to make a change. I am walking to the bus stop every day for work (doesn't sound like much but for me its very hard to walk 3 blocks) and for 2007 I will not eat fast food. I am not dieting, I am just doing those 2 things. I need recipes that use regular, inexpensive ingredients that you would find every day at the grocery store. I made up one the other night... stick four pieces of chicken in a baking pan and dump a can of cream of mushroom soup and bake at 350 for 1.5 hours. Delicious! If you have any recipes like this, I would very much appreciate it. But please, no diet stuff... I can only do so much... at least for THIS year!   Thanks, DL Well let me start of by saying congratulations. Baby steps are really amazing in that you don't feel like you're giving anything up, and yet you find yourself feeling better! Before I offer recipes, can I just give you a little word to the wise? Canned soups: use them sparingly. They are almost always loaded with hidden sodium (lots!) and fats. And read the labels on any canned stuff. If it says high fructose corn syrup , put it back on the shelf. Especially if that (or corn syrup, cane syrup, or sugar) is the *first* ingredient. I'm not saying give up sugar, it just shouldn't be the most prevalent ingredient...and you'll find your food tastes better too. One other easy thing is using Smart Balance in place of butter for alot of your cooking and eating. Ok, here's a really easy way to make pork chops: (Note: I make brown rice with this because I'm diabetic and it's better for my blood glucose levels. If you prefer white rice, make that...but the brown rice really is good!) Start your rice, following package instructions. Spray a skillet with Mazola or other non-stick cooking spray. Heat over med-high heat until it's clear, and the pan is hot. Add boneless pork chops. Brown on one side, flip and season with onion powder and lemon pepper. When 2nd side is browned, flip and season again, then add about 1/4 cup chicken broth or water. Let liquid reduce for a minute. Remove from the pan (including liquid) to a plate to cool slightly. In the meantime add 2 tbsp Smart Balance to the skillet and 2 tbsp flour. Stir until bubbly and just barely beginning to color. Add 1 cup of milk, and liquid from chops, stirring. If too thick, add a little more milk. Reduce heat to low. Adjust seasonings to taste (add more lemon pepper than you think you need, trust me). Slice chops thin or into chunks. Add to gravy. At this point you can either heat up a veggie (heating in the microwave is easy! Just add a little (very little) liquid and go) or make a salad, whatever you prefer. Serve the pork chops and gravy over the rice. You can use whatever milk you like and it will not effect the results much at all. I use 1% just because the appearance of skim freaks me out Another really easy thing to do is to take boneless pork loin chops or boneless, skinless chicken breasts and lightly bread them. You can use bread crumbs, seasoned or not, or crackers, or a combination of a little flour and very finely chopped nuts. Sauté them in a little olive oil and butter or smart balance. Add a veggie and a salad or side, and you're good to go. Here's some other things you can do with chicken breasts that are *very* tasty and quite simple. Start by asking your butcher to make the breasts into payard (pallard), or you can do it at home if you're comfortable with a knife. Basically, what you do is set the chicken breast flat on a cutting board and press on hand lightly over the top (flat-handed). Hold the knife parallel to the breast and carefully slice through, about halfway up the breast. At this point, depending on how big you want the chicken pieces, you can finish all the way or open it up like a book. Use a mallet or meat pounder to lightly pound so that it's even all over. Ok, now you have your chicken payard (pallard). You can do a million delicious things to them! Combine an egg and a little milk in a shallow dish. In another dish (or on a paper plate), put some flour and season it with a little salt and pepper. As you go along you'll figure out what other herbs and spices you like with chicken and can add these to the flour as well. I often add paprika and powdered rosemary. You're going to dredge the chicken in the flour first, shaking and tapping off the excess. Then dip in the egg/milk, and then back to the flour OR seasoned bread crumbs. What you're going for here is a light, even coating. Heat olive oil or smart balance in a skillet over med-high heat. Add the pollard after the pan is hot, browning on both sides. If you don't have your heat too high, they will be just done when they're browned. If it's too high they'll brown before they're cooked completely. Now you can do all kinds of things. If you used bread crumbs, you can cover each piece with some mozzarella and add good tomato sauce for a quick chicken parmesan. If you used flour you can add chicken stock, a can of cream of anything soup, a can of condensed milk and seasonings...the possibilities are endless! Here's a really good one: Top each payard (pallard) with a sage leaf, a slice of provolone, and a slice of proscuitto and place on a baking sheet with sides (use a cake pan if you need to). In the skillet you cooked the chicken in, sauté sliced shallots and a bit of garlic in a little bit of olive oil. When the shallots are translucent and the garlic is just barely changing color, add a tablespoon of the seasoned flour you used for the chicken, along with 3/4 cup each white wine and chicken broth. Pour over the chicken and put it in a 350*f oven for 20 minutes. The sauce will thicken and the cheese will melt and the flavors will blend and voila! You just made Saltimbocca. When you get sick of chicken , another easy thing to do is pasta. Pasta doesn't have to be just white or red sauce. Brown some ground beef and ground pork to add to a red sauce. Sauté some spinach and add it to a white sauce. Toss the pasta with diced tomatoes, and chopped garlic and basil. Dice a bunch of veggies and simmer them in red sauce. I hope this helps and I wish you the best. kimberly