Overwhelmed. How to cook healthy for one when you're extremely busy?

marialou891

5th day tracking now. I have been eating frozen meals (low sodium ones) for lunch and dinner most days. It's working for me mostly except I can't help but notice so many people say they are terrible things to put in your body. I guess I'm looking for other ideas for meals I can prep for my busy weeks. I work afternoons and evening so breakfast I can do at home.

Laurend224

Can you do a bulk cooking day and freeze in individual portions?

marialou891

Laurend224 wrote: »

Can you do a bulk cooking day and freeze in individual portions?

I could yes. I just have no idea where to begin or what to cook.

Laurend224

Cook what you like to eat!

agal129

Yeah, you can cook a large batch of things (chicken breasts, soups, beans, chili, lean meatballs, pasta dishes with sauce) and freeze them in individual portions. Make your own "frozen meals". Frozen vegetables are great too.

queenliz99

What you ate before but less of it

Snooozie

Maria. use the search feature at the top of the recent discussion page and search terms like "cooking for one" "meals for one" "quick and easy" etc... you will find at least half a dozen threads on the cooking for one alone, with lots of tips and ideas... also check out skinnytaste website; lots of simple healthy and quick recipes for one or two.. hope this helps!

PRMinx

Ok. I'm on my own. On Sundays I typically prep a bunch of stuff:

Hard boil some eggs (enough for 2 a day)
Grill 5 chicken breasts
Blanch some veggies (broccoli, peppers)
Wash a bunch of fruit
Make some spaghetti sauce that I can freeze in individual portions
Make a soup that I can freeze in individual portions
Marinate some meat in individual portions, freeze

I also buy every other week:

Single serving yogurts (so they are easy to bring to work)
Cheese
Salad stuff
Frozen shrimp
Individually frozen fish (tilapia, cod, salmon)
Dried fruit
Peanut butter
Sweet potatoes
Veggies that are easy to sautee or roast quickly (asparagus, brussel sprouts, zucchini).

For lunch, grilled chicken with salad
For snacks, yogurt and dried fruit....or fruit....or fruit and peanut butter

For dinner, I just take something out of the freezer in the morning and cook it when I get home. As long as everything is in a single portion, you are good to go.

sheldonklein

marialou891 wrote: »

5th day tracking now. I have been eating frozen meals (low sodium ones) for lunch and dinner most days. It's working for me mostly except I can't help but notice so many people say they are terrible things to put in your body. I guess I'm looking for other ideas for meals I can prep for my busy weeks. I work afternoons and evening so breakfast I can do at home.

Frozen meals are not "terrible things to put in your body." I rarely eat them because I like to cook and home made food tastes much better, but if they satisfy you and work calorically, don't listen to "so many people."

lynndot1

I bulk cook every Sunday. You don't have to do anything crazy or take too much time of your day depending on the recipe.

My advice is get a crockpot if you don't have one, and find some easy crockpot recipes. Stews, soups, roasts, etc. When it's done at the end of the night divide it up into however many servings you want and freeze. I do this every Sunday. This week was oyster stew, last week was jambalaya - sometimes I just cook a bunch of chicken breasts and then throughout the week do something different with it. Shred it over salad, stir fry it with veggies, etc.

There's two of us here so I cook 10 servings of lunch and then some kind of breakfast food that will last us throughout the week. Usually I make egg muffins (the base recipe I use is here http://www.averiecooks.com/2014/05/100-calorie-cheese-vegetable-and-egg-muffins.html but you can do whatever fillings you want) and then I might add oatmeal or a smoothie to my breakfasts if I want more than that.

Dinner I just cook the same day, but if you want to cook a few dinners ahead, go for it!

My routine is to pull down the next day's lunch from the freezer when I get today's out of the fridge. So for instance I just pulled down the baggie of oyster stew for tomorrow when I pulled today's out for lunch. Some things freeze better than others, so keep that in mind. If any dish needs a cheese dressing or something similar I would just omit that until you actually eat it. Potatoes don't always freeze well - mash them first if you do - and milk based sauces might separate a bit and look weird but will taste fine.

You can also cut/wash some veggies to have in the fridge on hand so you don't pick convenient "bad" snack foods.

For tracking, I just make a recipe on myfitnesspal for the bulk food and add it to my diary so I don't have to figure out calories the day of. My jambalaya last week was about 450 calories per serving. MFP makes it easy to add your ingredients in and calculate servings.

pplastics

Try this website, http://onceamonthmeals.com/, or do a web search for once a month cooking.

marialou891

Snooozie wrote: »

Maria. use the search feature at the top of the recent discussion page and search terms like "cooking for one" "meals for one" "quick and easy" etc... you will find at least half a dozen threads on the cooking for one alone, with lots of tips and ideas... also check out skinnytaste website; lots of simple healthy and quick recipes for one or two.. hope this helps!

I will do this for sure thanks! I appreciate everyone's help so much. I'm so new to all this!

marialou891

PRMinx wrote: »

Ok. I'm on my own. On Sundays I typically prep a bunch of stuff:

Hard boil some eggs (enough for 2 a day)
Grill 5 chicken breasts
Blanch some veggies (broccoli, peppers)
Wash a bunch of fruit
Make some spaghetti sauce that I can freeze in individual portions
Make a soup that I can freeze in individual portions
Marinate some meat in individual portions, freeze

I also buy every other week:

Single serving yogurts (so they are easy to bring to work)
Cheese
Salad stuff
Frozen shrimp
Individually frozen fish (tilapia, cod, salmon)
Dried fruit
Peanut butter
Sweet potatoes
Veggies that are easy to sautee or roast quickly (asparagus, brussel sprouts, zucchini).

For lunch, grilled chicken with salad
For snacks, yogurt and dried fruit....or fruit....or fruit and peanut butter

For dinner, I just take something out of the freezer in the morning and cook it when I get home. As long as everything is in a single portion, you are good to go.

Thanks so much!

marialou891

lynndot1 wrote: »

I bulk cook every Sunday. You don't have to do anything crazy or take too much time of your day depending on the recipe.

My advice is get a crockpot if you don't have one, and find some easy crockpot recipes. Stews, soups, roasts, etc. When it's done at the end of the night divide it up into however many servings you want and freeze. I do this every Sunday. This week was oyster stew, last week was jambalaya - sometimes I just cook a bunch of chicken breasts and then throughout the week do something different with it. Shred it over salad, stir fry it with veggies, etc.

There's two of us here so I cook 10 servings of lunch and then some kind of breakfast food that will last us throughout the week. Usually I make egg muffins (the base recipe I use is here http://www.averiecooks.com/2014/05/100-calorie-cheese-vegetable-and-egg-muffins.html but you can do whatever fillings you want) and then I might add oatmeal or a smoothie to my breakfasts if I want more than that.

Dinner I just cook the same day, but if you want to cook a few dinners ahead, go for it!

My routine is to pull down the next day's lunch from the freezer when I get today's out of the fridge. So for instance I just pulled down the baggie of oyster stew for tomorrow when I pulled today's out for lunch. Some things freeze better than others, so keep that in mind. If any dish needs a cheese dressing or something similar I would just omit that until you actually eat it. Potatoes don't always freeze well - mash them first if you do - and milk based sauces might separate a bit and look weird but will taste fine.

You can also cut/wash some veggies to have in the fridge on hand so you don't pick convenient "bad" snack foods.

For tracking, I just make a recipe on myfitnesspal for the bulk food and add it to my diary so I don't have to figure out calories the day of. My jambalaya last week was about 450 calories per serving. MFP makes it easy to add your ingredients in and calculate servings.

Thank you! :-) much appreciated.

TimothyFish

A baked potato is one of the easiest things to fix. You wash it. Prick it. And leave it in the oven for 40 to 60 minutes and it's done. Frozen vegetables, you pull them out of the freezer, dump them in a pan with water for a few minutes until the water boils and they're done. Fish fillets, you thaw them in the microwave for a few seconds, put them in a pan and cook them on both sides. Steak, you sear on both sides and put it in the oven for 15-20 minutes. And most of it you can do while you're doing something else. You can throw some rice in a pan with some water and chicken breasts (seasoned to taste), put it in the oven for long enough to cook the chicken and the rice will be done as well.

RoxieDawn

Bulk cooking (chilli, spaghetti, soups, casseroles, etc..) I cook for two every Sunday afternoon for the entire week. Use the recipes and make my own entries too.

It is cheaper and you can add things to it if you want. Easy logging once you in put the recipe.

Snooozie

p.s. on the main newsfeed page.. on the right hand side... is a link to the "hello healthy" blog on MFP here..there's different categories on the blog (eat, move, live, etc) but in the eat section there's a lot of recipes there that can be easily converted to one or two portions, and you can add the recipe to your food diary with just a click of a button as well (I made the balsamic pork chops the other day for the first time and halved the recipe as I was only using two piggy chops lol) here's the link in case you can't find it... i remember when i first started being a little overwhelmed trying to find my way around http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/.

getstrongkaylen

literally the best place to find meals that you can make ahead of time in pinterest! i go there ALL THE TIME!(:

oncem0re

I had the same problem, then I started my weekly planning and I actually cook them every morning when I wake up or the night before. Here's what mine looks like - sorry this is not SUPER healthy I have 2 kids that are a bit picky eaters, so we kinda work around them and just eat in proportion on those days that I HAVE TO HAVE Spaghetti in our week meal!

oncem0re

I can't post the picture! oh well maybe later!

seltzermint555

For awhile when I first started MFP, I was solo Monday through Thursday, although it was kind of the reverse (worked 8-5) and I was able to cook dinners at home.

Not everyone can stand eating the same stuff over & over, but I am that type of person who really doesn't mind as long as it's not every single day.

Most weeks I did some version of the following...

French toast w/ fruit and veggie bacon

2-egg omelets of all types (my favorite being spinach & feta) often w/ toast or English muffin

tuna salad sandwich or tuna on a salad, lots of extra veggies like baby carrots & sugar snap peas, and then a small "treat" like an ice cream bar

nachos with sliced avocado & pico de gallo (sparingly used chips & cheese, piled on veggies)

brown rice, veg (usually broccoli or asparagus) & salmon fillets (frozen ones thawed the night before, then seasoned & broiled in the oven for just a few minutes)

burrito bowl - some combination of rice, beans (cooked on the weekend usually), chicken or shrimp, shredded lettuce, sautéed veggies, salsa & either sour cream or Greek yogurt

For nights when I may have overindulged at lunch (like a workplace lunch out), I had my favorite go-to as well. Mushrooms, onions & bell pepper sliced thin & sautéed in a little olive oil or grapeseed oil, topped with Sriracha and a little bit of mozzarella. Super low calorie but much more filling than half a sandwich in my opinion.

Hope this helps...I see you have gotten many great ideas from others but this was just the easy quick stuff I counted on.

SconnieCat

I absolutely loving taking weekends to "meal prep" and make freezer meals. I'll pop stuff in gallon sized ziploc bags that I can either put in the fridge to unthaw while I'm at work and cook up in a pot or a skillet, or I make things that can fit in my crockpot while I'm at work. The key is really just planning ahead and working with your time constraints. I also like to make a bit extra of everything else so I have leftovers the next day.

Soups usually freeze really well. You can make a batch and freeze in single-serve portions in Tupperware containers for whenever you want some.

AlyssaJoJo

You can eat whatever you want as long as you're willing to eat it agian. We have a house hold of two so I normally eat dinner and then end up eating the same thing for lunch. I just make sure to make things I'm ok with eating over and over. Taco meat in bulk can be tacos or taco salad, soups are always a hit, roasts help bump up my protein, etc.

Also, if you want to continue eating frozen dinners go ahead! No ones eyes should be on your plate. I just suggest home cooked meals because to me they taste better and keep me fuller longer - but I do understand that they are easier/faster.

Roxiegirl2008

The crock pot is my go to for meals that I can portion out and freeze. I also love it because I can just put stuff in it and go to work and come home and yay a hot meal is waiting.

MagicalGiraffe

I second what was mentioned earlier, get a slow cooker. Twenty minute food preparation, 8 hours cooking whilst you get on with work etc, meal +X other portions depending your ingredient load and portion sizing, freeze.

Azexas

The crockpot is your friend I can make a weeks worth of meals in the crockpot and then freeze them for the work week.

I also second the weekend meal prep. It makes life very simple throughout the week.

RebelDiamond

If you enjoy cooking and knowing exactly what's in your food it'll just take time and practice. You're getting heaps of great ideas on here so I won't go on too much.

I started out on those frozen meals because I wasn't sure how to cook low calorie meals. Over the past three or so years I've learnt how to make things taste good (according to my taste) and low calorie enough to lose 20kgs.

My best tip for you is this: Food prep takes a bit of time out of your day, but if your weight loss is important to you it's worth it in the long run (and cheaper than buying frozen meals).

Sydking

Just how you cook unhealthy when your extremely busy?

missiontofitness

I meal prep several times per week. Right now I am marinating four meals worth of steak, I'm about to marinade another 4 meals worth of chicken, and have 2 servings of premade chicken salad sitting in my fridge as well.

Prep when you buy. Meal prepping for several meals means less cooking over the week. I am busy with graduate school and two jobs, but I make time for it several evenings a week.

I would personally avoid freezer meals regularly; not because they are "bad", but because they are so expensive, and you could easily make what's inside of them for a fraction of the cost. The portion sizes are tiny for what you're paying, and you can easily make those recipes with your own ingredients, and get more for your macros.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Frozen meals are fine if you like them-- they can be a little high in sodium but that's it. I prefer to spend Sundays prepping meals for my lunches though just because it's tastier. I like to make a lot of soup this time of year. This week is chicken florentine soup. I get most of my ideas from Pinterest.

GothyFaery

Feel free to look at my diary (I took the last 3 weeks of December off). I batch cook my lunch every Saturday and for dinner I usually have about 60 minutes to cook/eat/clean up. I've never really had a problem making it work.