Fast, healthy meals

melizabeth1995

I am a working mother and I am going to school full time. I catch myself looking for the easy way out and getting fast food for convenience. I want to make my meals ahead of time. What are some things you guys prep ahead of time for lunch and dinner? That's my main problem. I'm good with breakfast, its after where I become lost. Any help would be great. Totally new to this.

joaniebalonie088

I use little bento box Tupperware containers and make a big batch of something like stir fry for the main compartment, and then switch it up for the smaller compartments (roasted veggies, cubes of cheese, a serving of almonds, whatever) so I won't get too bored.

CafeRacer808

I'm a big fan of cooking large batches of food and freezing them in individually sized portions for later. My freezer is currently stocked with soup, lasagne and enchiladas. It works out perfectly for the nights when I'm too busy or tired to cook.

For lunch while you're at school, bento boxes as stated above are great. I use a Mr. Bento, which is vacuum insulated so it keeps hot food hot and cold food cold. You can find them on Amazon.

endlessfall16

joaniebalonie088 wrote: »

I use little bento box Tupperware containers and make a big batch of something like stir fry for the main compartment, and then switch it up for the smaller compartments (roasted veggies, cubes of cheese, a serving of almonds, whatever) so I won't get too bored.

Do you microwave (reheat) your food in those Tupperware? I heard it's bad. I don't know but I never do it.

I don't like reheated foods so Carls Jr. , Subway, homemade boiled eggs, nuts are all good lunches for me.

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endlessfall16

Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »

endlessfall16 wrote: »

joaniebalonie088 wrote: »

I use little bento box Tupperware containers and make a big batch of something like stir fry for the main compartment, and then switch it up for the smaller compartments (roasted veggies, cubes of cheese, a serving of almonds, whatever) so I won't get too bored.

Do you microwave (reheat) your food in those Tupperware? I heard it's bad. I don't know but I never do it.

I don't like reheated foods so Carls Jr. , Subway, homemade boiled eggs, nuts are all good lunches for me.

I don't think there is anything left in this world we can do without someone saying it's bad for this reason or that reason. I am at the point now where i just go "you know what, if we never did anything cause this might happen, we would never leave the room"... things can happen from anything... if you eat, you might choke and die, if you fly in a plane it might crash, if you go on a boat, it might sink, ride in a car it might crash... can't worry about everything, things happen no matter what you do really.

I wholeheartedly agree with you in that attitude.

But it's easy enough for me to get a ton of foam boxes for packing and paper plates for microwaving to use and dispose after.

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ritzvin

Super quick: yogurt, cottage cheese, hard boiled eggs, egg salad, tuna/chicken/salmon salad (can skip cooking if buy canned), Clif bars, TV dinners (lean cuisine, healthy choice, etc), frozen veggies, snack vegetables.

A bit more work (but quick at time of eating): stir fry veggies, beans, rice/noodles, miscellaneous meat (batch cook and pre-portion, freeze), roasted veggies/beans/meat.

candythorns

It makes me look like a weirdo but I always have a mini can of flavoured tuna in my bag, I eat it right out of the can

isyssmommy1

I find myself busy a lot too and don't feel like cooking. I still eat fast food! I just go for things that are within my calorie range. There are a lot of fastfood spots that offer healthy options. Or sometimes I minus the cheese or even bun if I'm feeling funny about my cals. I keep lean cuisines on deck too lol.

nowine4me

I grill a bunch of chicken breasts and skirt steak on Sunday, cut up and portion into 4ozs in snack bags. Then I get pre-made bag salads (almost always on sale) that come with lettuce, fruit, nuts and dressing all included. The pear Gorgonzola and True Bleu are my favs. Mix all that *kitten* together with the cold chicken and just use half the dressing. Easy peasy. Dannon Light & Fit yogurt for dessert with berries. Lunch comes in at about 500cals.

joaniebalonie088

endlessfall16 wrote: »

joaniebalonie088 wrote: »

I use little bento box Tupperware containers and make a big batch of something like stir fry for the main compartment, and then switch it up for the smaller compartments (roasted veggies, cubes of cheese, a serving of almonds, whatever) so I won't get too bored.

Do you microwave (reheat) your food in those Tupperware? I heard it's bad. I don't know but I never do it.

I don't like reheated foods so Carls Jr. , Subway, homemade boiled eggs, nuts are all good lunches for me.

I do reheat right in the container a lot of the time, unless some parts need to stay cold to eat. I bought a pack of 12 bento boxes for 10 bucks or so and figure I'll get rid of them as they break down. I never thought of them being unsafe to microwave but I'm ok so far

lulalacroix

Do you have a slow cooker? There are tons of recipes and you can throw the ingredients in the cooker in the morning and the dinner will be ready when you get home.

fitoverfortymom

Many times lunch for me is a variation in dinner leftovers. I am also really into soups, either homemade in my crock pot or a few store bought ones I really like. I second the bento box. I usually make a lunchable type thing with crackers, laughing cow cheese, lunch meat, a fresh veggie, and fruit. I also find packets of salmon very helpful. I can whip this together in the AM pretty quickly while packing lunch for Hubby and boy kid. I usually pack them close to the same thing, just different portions. I weigh all my food, but just eyeball theirs.

It was really hard at first to get it all down, but once I established my staples, I always have the food I need around the house to pack what I need. I used to eat out almost every day at lunch, so I am sure I have saved hundreds of dollars.

fitoverfortymom

There are a few Costco finds I am really loving right now. One is the chicken skewers and the other is green chili chicken soup. We also keep the spinach artichoke dip around that I use with the Costco size multigrain/seed crackers.

I've been on a Fiber One bar kick lately, so those are easy to pack and good for those afternoon snacks.

Lounmoun

Sandwiches
salad
eggs
pasta
Bean and cheese burrito
Soup