Ideas for eating more cooked veggies without daily cooking?
Options
Replies
-
How about making a green shake in the
Morning? Toss spinach and kale in blender or nutribullet with additions of choice and blend! Presto! Greens and no cooking, no refrigeration.
0 -
Womanvsfood18 wrote: »Frozen steam bag veg are a godsend, a few mins in the microwave and your done 👍
That sounds convenient, does it actually taste okay? I assumed that would just be like mush.
Depending on the vegetable they can be really good. I love edamame, asparagus, and artichoke hearts in steam bags.
Root veggies roast and keep very well. Also, if you chop them they take about an hour to roast, but it's not an hour of cooking, you can do something else in the meantime, and prep is very quick.
If you need the kitchen, assert yourself, you live there too!3 -
I make larger amounts of roast dinners so I have something for another day. No problem about veg lasting a few days then ‘ping!’ Nuke it in the microwave. Have you thought about an electric steamer...you could technically steam your veg in your room along with chicken or fish (subject to smells I suppose)0
-
If you have the funds and space in your home you could buy a small freezer unit for about $150-200.1
-
-
If you're worried about storing roasted veggies for a week (I wouldn't be, frankly - been doing it for decades), consider separating some out and putting a bit of vinegar on them for use in salads or stir-fries late in the week, if you like vinegar, then use the un-vinegar-ed ones first. The acidic environment is a bit of a spoilage retardent.3
-
If you're worried about storing roasted veggies for a week (I wouldn't be, frankly - been doing it for decades), consider separating some out and putting a bit of vinegar on them for use in salads or stir-fries late in the week, if you like vinegar, then use the un-vinegar-ed ones first. The acidic environment is a bit of a spoilage retardent.
Thank you! I've never tried keeping them that long so I'd have to see. Initially though I'm more worried about my mom seeing it and tossing it to protect me from the spoiled food. She's thrown out 3 day old vegetarian foods often enough I think that's the main thing to get past. (A conversation would not help, only call her attention to it and make it more likely she'd do it sooner). I could probably tuck it behind some things on the bottom shelf and hope it gets passed over. The first challenge is learning how to roast veggies...which I think should be straightforward I just haven't done it before. I may have an opportunity tomorrow so we will see.0 -
If you're worried about storing roasted veggies for a week (I wouldn't be, frankly - been doing it for decades), consider separating some out and putting a bit of vinegar on them for use in salads or stir-fries late in the week, if you like vinegar, then use the un-vinegar-ed ones first. The acidic environment is a bit of a spoilage retardent.
Thank you! I've never tried keeping them that long so I'd have to see. Initially though I'm more worried about my mom seeing it and tossing it to protect me from the spoiled food. She's thrown out 3 day old vegetarian foods often enough I think that's the main thing to get past. (A conversation would not help, only call her attention to it and make it more likely she'd do it sooner). I could probably tuck it behind some things on the bottom shelf and hope it gets passed over. The first challenge is learning how to roast veggies...which I think should be straightforward I just haven't done it before. I may have an opportunity tomorrow so we will see.
Here's a thought experiment that may be reassuring:
Do you know how to make sauerkraut? I've done it multiple times. You slice raw cabbage thinly, sprinkle it with salt, and pack it in a crock, weighting it down with a plate so the solids stay below the juice it releases. You put the crock on the counter (room temperature). You skim the surface daily and wash the plate & weight, and put them back. You leave it for like a month or six weeks minimum, right there on the counter. Then it's ready, and you eat it - raw, if you like. It's safe. (It's partly because of the salt, and partly because of the micro-organisms.)
If you have veggies in the refrigerator, and they don't smell bad or grow strange-colored fuzz or get super slimy, they're pretty much certainly safe to eat for a week, plus. Meats/fish are very different. I've been vegetarian for 44+ years now, and have always followed the "smell it and guess" rule, if in doubt, and I'm not dead yet.
Hiding it in the back from your mom is probably a good plan. If you're comfortable with deception, put a date on the lid for tracking, and date it a couple of days later than the actual (or surreptitiously change it as time passes), to better get along with toss-happy meat-eating refrigerator cleaners.
2 -
I have steamer bags and I LOVE them. Just pop in some veggies with a tablespoon of water, and microwave according to instructions printed on the bag. So, so convenient for when I don't feel like I have the time after work, or just feeling lazy. They even take sweet potatoes/regular potatoes. ETA they don't come out mushy. Potatoes are soft but not mushed, and corn/green beans/whatever usually are soft enough but not over cooked. As long as you follow the timing instructions.
2 -
Can you offer to contribute to the electric bill? it's easy enough to calculate what it costs to run. https://homeguides.sfgate.com/much-run-freezer-per-month-67647.html2 -
I like cooking but, those frozen steam bags that you just throw in the microwave seem like an easy option.0
-
Incorporate them into foods you already eat. For instance; I throw carrots, celery, peppers and onion in a magic bullet then add that to ground meat to make meat loaf. I agree with soup or stew - tons of options to get extra vegetables in that way.1
-
If you have the funds and space in your home you could buy a small freezer unit for about $150-200.I’ve been asking about this actually for ages but I was told it would drive the electric bill up too high so it’s not allowed.Can you offer to contribute to the electric bill? it's easy enough to calculate what it costs to run. https://homeguides.sfgate.com/much-run-freezer-per-month-67647.html
@kiela64 did your housemates give you actual numbers or do they just think it will cost too much? How much per month is "too much"?
Are these strangers or family?1 -
-
lynn_glenmont wrote: »roast a week's worth on the weekend (most veggies need little to no prep for roasting, especially compared to stir frying), store in refrigerator, then eat them cold (dressed like a salad) or refresh them with a quick trip through boiling water, in a frying pan, or in the microwave during the week.
Can you keep them overnight that long? My mom throws out refrigerated food after 2 days/one night.
I used to batch cook on Sundays and eat through the following Thursday. (I work from home now so don't need to do that anymore.)
You can also double check on https://www.stilltasty.com1 -
If you leave out the bean sprouts, https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/98129/hot-and-sour-cabbage-soup/ freezes well. It's especially good if you get sick in the winter. I halve the recipe.0
-
I make in big quantity (to use 2 to 3 times) if Indian curry paste at home.
So I need to just cook it in some oil, add vegetables, spice curry powder, salt... it can be eaten with rice. I use different vegetables / lentils every time, gives me variety.0 -
soup, chilies and curries are one way to get your veggies in. cook big batches and you can freeze meal portions.
you can clean and chop veggies on teh weekend and just cook in the evening.
you can buy pre-chopped veggies in most vegetables
you can buy frozen vegetables in various formats and mixes.
my go to is frozen cauliflower rice. nuke 5 mins then i add some laughing cow cheese. or soya sauce1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »If you have the funds and space in your home you could buy a small freezer unit for about $150-200.I’ve been asking about this actually for ages but I was told it would drive the electric bill up too high so it’s not allowed.Can you offer to contribute to the electric bill? it's easy enough to calculate what it costs to run. https://homeguides.sfgate.com/much-run-freezer-per-month-67647.html
@kiela64 did your housemates give you actual numbers or do they just think it will cost too much? How much per month is "too much"?
Are these strangers or family?
Family, and I’m not currently in a position to contribute, in school. I haven’t had numbers but I hear that we already spend a lot on electricity and running another freezer will be too much.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 393 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.3K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 937 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions