I read through all of your guys' post and think about what great and 
imaginative cooks you are, and then I think of what I cook and 
think "how boring".

How did this happen?

I used to cook a ton.  I think I am a decent cook too.  But when I got 
married, well I had a big problem:  Tim didn't like anything I cooked!  
Well that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but here are some of the 
specific problems:

He doesn't like anything spicy
He doesn't like mexican food
He doesn't eat any vegetables (Yes, that means NO potatoes, corn or 
beans even)(with one exception of salads, but he doesn't like my 
salads, only at a resturaunt)
He doesn't like cheese, melted on anything but pizza.
He'd eat pizza 7 days a week if I would let him.
He doesn't like nuts in anything.
He loves to eat out.  He would love if we ate out every meal. 

There are more examples, of course, but my purpose of this item is not 
to dog my wonderful husband, but to just talk a little bit about not 
cooking or cooking very simply.  Also, I do make a lot of things he 
likes, but they are limited, and we have a pretty set repitoire of what 
I will make him.

The other thing is, I have really tried to distance myself from food as 
much as I can.  The less I am in the kitchen, the better for my 
health.  So I make things quick, easy, and mostly boring. ;)  Our 
cooking consists of a LOT of grilling/broiling and steamed veggies (for 
me, of course)

So Friday, I was on my monthly costco date, and I bought the Ziplock 
Zip'n Steam bags.  I FREAKING LOVE THESE THINGS.  Saturday, we were 
going to a party, and Tim wanted to eat before the party (because he 
figured there would be nothing there that he would like, which he was 
mostly right) so I threw 2 salmon filets in with some teryaki sauce, 
and 3 minutes later, he was eating a nicely seasoned, tender salmon 
filet.

They are going to be great for easy, fast, healthy and tasty lunches.  
My goal is to not use them for every meal, but they make things pretty 
darn easy.  And for Tim, who eats a lot of chicken and fish, it'll make 
my life easier for feeding him.

So why am I entering this item?  Well I guess to rant a little, to find 
out what do you do that's easy and fast and not a gourmet meal that you 
all talk about?  Do you think less of me because I got sucked into the 
ziplock marketing scheme or that I don't cook gourmet meals anymore? ;)

23 responses total.

We eat a lot of microwaved or pressure cooked potatoes.  Microwave some
vegetable to go on top.  I doubt there is any overlap at all between our diet
and Tim's.  Does he eat grains?

not much. 

Does he get his cholesterol checked?

he does.  right now it's not a problem, but it will be as he gets older.
He does try to eat things heathly for him, but he just doesn't like 
much.  But believe it or not he is WAY better than his mom and brother.

I assume he takes vitamin pills, but does he eat anything with fiber in it?
COuld it be that he is allergic to many vegetables?   What is it he does like
about restaurant salads?  

I've not heard of these zip cooking bags?  How do they work?  Oh, and 
fast and easy is what I do most meals.  And I depend on leftovers to 
cover meals where even fast and easy is too much work.  So there! ;-)

I used to cook for a very fussy eater and it's no fun.  None.  Zip.  The 
only suggestion I'd have is to come up with variations on a theme of 
what you know he likes.  If pizza works, then try a calzone with 
refrigerated pizza dough for a subtle switch-out.  Then move on to 
bottled spaghetti sauce and packaged ravioli topped with cheese.  Is he 
a burger man?  Make baked ziti with, again, spaghetti sauce, ground beef 
and tube pasta.  Next try packaged breaded chicken cutlets, baked, then 
topped with spaghetti sauce and mozzarella.  A quick stop under the 
broiler to melt the cheese and you've got Chicken Parmesan. You then add 
on a bagged salad (for you) and you've got some variety, prepared at 
home, fast and dirty, with leftovers for another meal or two.

Anyhow, that's some of the tricks I used when I was way too busy to cook 
for someone who only wanted pizza, burgers or ribs.

re 5
Sometimes he takes vitamins, but yeah, not much fiber, though I do try
to sneak it in.  I have no idea why he will only eat restaurant salads.
 He has eaten them at home OCCASIONALLY, but I really don't know.  He
also will only eat certain brands of stuff, and no left overs.

But enough about him. ;)

What other easy meals do you guys make, picky or not?

On the ziplock bags, basically they are specially designed bags for
microwave cooking, and you can cook lots of veggies and meats in them. 
They have times and instructions right on the bag.  You just add spices,
oils, etc.  So far I like them a lot.

I am actually kinda glad I don't cook like I used to.  I don't need to
be around food.  I only bake once a year (holidays) and other than that
I clear my house of all temptations.  

Fruit usually has fiber.  I have microwaved apples with raisins.  Core them
first.  Put in a covered bowl.

(he doesn't like fruit either)

I have found that Trader Joe's has lots of pretty healthy prepared
dinners. They have frozen pizzas, burritos, and rice bowls. Lots of
frozen veggies too. I microwave all of that stuff. 

My brother has never liked vegetables either.  When he visited I asked for
a list of vegetables he did not like, but should have asked for the shorter
list of ones he was willing to eat.  Green beans.
How about nuts?  Does your husband have food allergies?  

no allergies.  Just doesn't really like to eat. ;)

re 10
Do they have much sodium in them?  I gave up pre-packaged meals about 3
years ago because of too much sodium.  

I buy chicken when it is cheap, roast 10 pounds of it, and pull the meat off
the bones.

I also cook up a huge pot of brown rice.

From this, I do an assembly line of small plastic containers for lunch, and
larger containers for dinner.

Layer of rice, layer of frozen veges straight out of the bag, 3, 6 or 9 ounces
of cooked chicken.  A dollup of bbq, or teriyaki, or pasta sauce on top, and
you have three very different flavor fuel-food boxes.  

Throw them in the freezer, and pull them out a few at a time.  

Not exactly gourmet, but you can change up the sauce and get a different
flavor.  Quick, easy, cheap, convenient.

This sounds sort of like what the Chinese restaurants do, but they buy their
sauces by the gallon.  

re 13
you're my kinda woman!

resp:12 I dont know if they have a lot of sodium. Some of them probably
do but others probably dont or at least they dont taste like they do. 

Which makes is all the funnier.  For all the sodium they have, you'd 
think you were eating a salt lick.

Ok, I looked up one of my favorites online. This is the Amy's brown rice
and vegetables bowl. This is one where I have suspected that they dont
use salt because it doesnt really taste very salty. It has 550mg of
sodium. So my guess is that all of the other ones probably have more
sodium than that. 

Amy's has a low sodium version of that same dish with 250mg. I cant
remember now if what I have been buying is the low sodium version or the
regular version. I'll pay attention the next time I pick up those bowls.
Ditto the Trader Joe's bowls

I like Amy's stuff.  I should look at getting those.  250 is good.  even
550 isn't BAD, but I'll check it out.

I just checked the Trader Joe's Kung Pao Chicken Rice Bowl. 740mg of
sodium

No doubt

Canned soup.
20-minute stew made with canned tomatoes, canned black beans, and canned
or frozen corn.
Garlicky black beans
Veggie dogs.
Mock tuna for lunches (mashed canned chick peas instead of tuna).
Mjaddara (about 45 minutes).
Hummus.
Cheese, onion, and mustard sandwich.
Fantastic Foods vegetarian sloppy Joes.
Baked or boiled potatoes and whatever - steak sauce, salsa, balsamic
vinaigrette, mustard, etc.
Quick homemade soups.

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