I am in no way a good cook, so I use 2 methods for my evening meals. I either fry it or I boil it. An advantage I have is I am not a finicky eater and can eat just about anything.
I hate doing dishes so I will sometimes eat out of the pot if I have boiled the meal.(like spaghetti with added sauce)
Or when I boil carrots, potatoes, turnips, mushrooms, onions, shallots, together for about 35 minutes.
I will leave the leftovers in the pot ,put the pot in the refrigerator and reheat and eat the leftovers on another night.
Frying will make another dish necessary.
I will take a steak and marinate it in a plastic bag, using an Italian salad dressing. Then put seasoned bread crumbs on it and fry it for 3 min one side and 4 min the other side and remove the steak, and then throw in some canned baked beans to heat them up. Pretty basic , no grilling or oven in involved.
I am only looking for very simple suggestions and don't want to get involved with thing like get a ribeye steak, sear it on the grill both sides then put it in a 350 deg oven etc. Too complicated.
I am using peanut oil, virgin olive oil, and butter in the fry pan. In the boiling pot I will add in some meat flavoring cubes.
Any simple suggestions that involve a fry pan and a boiling pot will be appreciated. -Tom
Frying is not good and not necessary.
Breakfast is a good one-pan meal; I think I could eat breakfast for any meal.
By the way - your shark page is very interesting - and that was a lot of work!
Get an air fryer.
In the last twenty years I have tried to add a lot of fish to my diet. I put Paul Prudhomme’s Salmon seasoning on store bought salmon and trout fillets. Light the grill, sprinkle seasoning on rinsed filet, hit the grill with a brush, spray the grill with Pam for Grilling, slap the fillet on the grill skin side down for 5 minutes, turn for 3 minutes or less. No pan to clean, just burn the grill off during the next pre-heat.
If you can get a crock pot, you can throw a lot of ingredients in there and let it cook all day and do little of the work. Pretty darn good meals. Pot roast is a family fave. One caveat is that you need to brown the meat in the fry pan before putting it in the crock pot. I highly recommend this, and it will open up new avenues for you until you improve your skills. You can find decent ones at Thrift store like Goodwill if money is a problem, but new ones aren’t too terrible.
When I was a kid in college, I cooked a lot like you do now. All I had was a hotpot and an electric fry pan. Microwaves were allowed but I didn’t have money for one. Bought my stuff with Green Stamps (does anyone remember those?). It was all I could afford. I made Steak Diane in my electric frypan for my boyfriend, now my husband, as well as hamburger stroganoff, and chicken cacciatore. One pot meals is what I call them. My mom thought I should’ve written a cookbook. Maybe I would be rich now if I had but I bet there are a lot of one pot cookbooks out there. You can make some tasty and even elegant meals in one skillet or sauce pan. Good luck!
One of my wife's favorites, chicken stir fry with green peppers and onions and then boil some good rice and you're all set.
“I hate doing dishes so I will sometimes eat out of the pot if I have boiled the meal.”
You’re not alone. Those are soup or my mac and cheese days.