Reddit reviews An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace

Yeah. I am not broke, I don't need to stretch every dollar, and I don't want to account for every meals price per calorie. But I don't have infinite dollars and time to do silly foodporn over-the-top stuff. (not that it isn't fun, but that's a hobby).

For instance, roasting a chicken has turned out to be super-freaking-simple, to the point that it's a lazy night go-to. It takes wall-clock time, but very little interaction.

I can suggest reading "The Everlasting Meal" which is about "cooking gracefully" - where you make use of what you have. It's written fluffily, but can give you a good idea of week-long cooking, where you make a chicken tonight, stock tomorrow, soup out of part of it, risotto out of another part, and so on.

Chaining meals is an interesting approach to cooking for a week. The book also talks about how most every culture has a way to use leftovers that make them much more interesting (fried rice, quiche, bread soup, and so on). This alone has opened my eyes to how much food I waste.

Anyway, it's an interesting idea to start a new subreddit. Perhaps...

Here is a whole book dedicated to this subject-It changed my whole way of thinking about cooking:

http://www.amazon.com/An-Everlasting-Meal-Cooking-Economy/dp/143918187X

This is a great cookbook as well for getting into the routine of using food wisely while you're cooking, and using what you have instead of following recipes. http://www.amazon.com/dp/143918187X/ref=pe_385040_30332200_TE_item#reader_143918187X

When I was in my 20's I made a lot of simple things like stir fries, chili, curries using pre-made sauces. If you're not confident with cutting things up yet, you can buy pre-cut vegetables in great portion sizes at the market. Buy yourself or ask for a good knife and knife sharpener, and a wooden cutting board. Avoid fancy kitchen gadgets.

The big thing? Don't be afraid to fail. I think that's especially hard for ACoNs, but really, the world won't end if you screw up some meals. You eat more than once a day, so there's lots of opportunity to keep trying. Learn some basics, and just keep adding ingredients and recipes to your repertoire. And if your boyfriend knows how to cook, get him to show you a few things! Cook together! I did this a ton with my husband in the early days of our relationship, and it's awesome to see how far we've come since then. We have a local cooking school where they have date nights and you make a whole meal's worth of recipes. Great fun, and an excellent way to learn.