Ideas for meals? New to clean eating! Help!

MrsFarrow

Hello everyone! I'd like to start to eat clean, or get as close to clean as possible! Here are my obstacles:

1. My husband and I carpool, we work an hour away from where we live. We leave the house around 8:00-8:30AM and don't get home typically until around 9:30-10:00pm.

2. Husband is VERY meat and potatoes. Doesn't bother me, but I'm definitely open to trying new things more so than he is. I'm looking to lose a decent bit of weight, and he's so-so about it. If he loses, he loses.

3. I need simple things to make. I don't mind setting a slow cooker overnight for breakfast (oatmeal and such) and I don't mind cooking when I get home, but simplicity and time are definitely factors.

Any recommendations? Any kind of fruit leathers or anything I can make for snacks at the office? Any help would be super appreciated! Thanks everyone!

tanyab1990

Time is of the essence for my work schedule as well. If I had to cook after work, I would never work out. What works for me is cooking two meals on Sundays (one in the slow cooker and one conventionally) in larger volumes. For example, today I am making a slow cooker potato soup and also grilling some steaks to a not quite done temperature. I will alternate bringing each meal to lunches or having them for dinner through Thursday. The steak will be for different types of meals too...steak tacos, steak and blue cheese spinach salad, etc. You get the idea. This way, all I have to do is heat leftovers and put together foods during the week. No cooking required!

Today I am also experimenting with a make ahead snack for the week. A chocolate chia seed pudding. We'll see how it goes!

tanyab1990

I meant to post some clean eating websites for you as well. I like these:

http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/

http://detoxinista.com/

http://www.eatingwell.com/

MrsFarrow

Good ideas! All of them!

I'll check out the websites, too! Thanks so much!

mamarundrc

I work 40 hours a week and have 2 kids (3 yo and 9 months) so I definitely understand the need to find simple, quick ways to eat clean.

Check out the cookbook "Well fed". There are a lot of delicious recipes and the entire first part of the book is how to make it work for your schedule. They talk about the weekly cookup which is taking a few hours on Sunday and getting everything ready so that you just have to finish it off on the day you are eating it. They also have a bunch of hot plates which basically takes a protein and a style (italian, chinese, greek etc) and gives you ideas on how to whip something together quick. My husband is very meat and potatoes and he really enjoys the recipes I have found in that book.

Some ideas of things you can bring for snacks
dehydrated fruit (I love apple rings and pineapple rings)
Make your own trail mix (This one is pretty simple http://www.thenakedkitchen.com/naked-trail-mix/)
hardboiled eggs
fruit leather (haven't tried this but i found it the other day http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/03/homemade-fruit-leather/)

I also found these two websites but haven't really investigated too much:

http://greatist.com/health/high-protein-snacks-portable/

http://greatist.com/health/paleo-recipes-list

It takes a while to get used to thinking ahead and being proactive, but once you are in that mindframe it gets easier. If you cook with a crockpot, you can double the recipe and freeze half to eat another day (or bring for lunches for the week). Another idea is to cook a crock of chili, or make a large batch of pulled chicken or pork and use it multiple ways throughout the week. For instance, I made pulled pork last week. We used it on loaded sweet potatos one day, sandwiches another, omelets for breakfast, and we had a little left the we froze and we plan to use it on a pulled pork bbq pizza.

Good luck!

henwoosa

I have also just started the Clean eating thing.
A few things that I have been doing is making a smoothie in the morning and drinking it on the way to work and when I get to work having 2 boiled eggs (which I have boiled the night before) Its super easy but I can imagine it would get quite boring if you like variety. another option when I get to work are little banana oat cakes that I make a few times a week - Its simply mashed banana and oats (you can also add peanut butter, nuts or chocolate chips if you like), roll into small balls and bake for about 10 mins. They are really good for snacks too!
I have also really made the most of my slow cooker, when I know that I will not be getting home until late as you do I will put my slow cooker on timer so it doesn't start until 6 hours before I get home so it doesn't burn (if your slow cooker doesn't have a timer you can get a adapter type plug that you can plug it into with a timer).
I am quite lucky in the sense that my boyfriend is doing this with me, he is quite slim and wanting to bulk up so i just add more carbs and protein to his meals.

I hope I have helped a little, as I said I am new to this as well so would really like inspiration my self, feel free to add me

henwoosa

Oh I have also been making bliss balls, they are a delicious snack and full of energy, let me know if you want the recipe

sphere720

My fiancé and I are in the same predicament as far and working far from home and minimal time left in the day. Plus we have children in sports so there goes most of the time in the evenings. We begin a workout regimen only to lose steam before its even hump day! I just joined this group and am really liking all the advice and links provided. I'm definitely doing to get with her and start changing the way we do food. We not only want to lose weight for our 'big day' but want to eat much healthier as well. Thanks for posting this!

firegirley

I'd love the recipe for bliss balls!!

RoseGoldDinosaur

My fiancé and I are similar. Day starts early and ends late with only 30 minutes to workout in the morning and a couple hours to relax at night.

First of all, I do all my shopping on Sunday. I usually shop with no list and it goes like this: huge box of salad, 3-4 types of hand fruit (quick stuff- apples, oranges, bananas, pears), 5-6 types of veggies (sides for dinner- asparagus, potatoes, broccoli, carrots), 5-6 types of meat with 4 servings each (main dish- chicken breast, buffalo steak, salmon filet). I keep eggs around to make leftover scramble and I keep milk around for the man to round out his calorie count.

Dinner is typically 1 meat, 1 veggie, and a side salad. I love throwing 4 servings of meat in a pan with BBQ sauce or garlic and pepper for 20 minutes for a quick main dish. Veggies I usually steam or roast. 20 minutes at 400 in the oven with salt and pepper for roasted. 15 minutes in a colander over a pot of boiling water for steamed. Plate with salad for a 20 minute dinner.

I pack leftovers for lunch at night when we're cleaning up after dinner. Lunch is a tupperware full of salad with the second serving of meat and any leftover veg thrown on top. Add dressing in the morning so it doesn't get soggy overnight. Also in our lunch boxes I toss in that hand fruit- apples, oranges, bananas- for snacks. I also eat breakfast at work so I'll add a ziplock bag of oatmeal to be heated in my coffee mug for breakfast.

It's tough when you only have a couple of precious hours per day outside of work, but you can eat clean on 30 minutes of effort a day! I only follow recipes on weekends or if there's a special occasion because they tend to take longer and call for more ingredients. Keep it simple for optimal efficiency. Good luck!