Pre-cooked meal ideas - Help I suck at cooking!

Veil5577

I am no good at cooking either and I don't have the time to do it anyway, so I got a Crock Pot. On my day off, I'd choose a recipe, go get the ingredients, simmer it in the pot all day, and then put a week's worth of servings into tupperware containers and refrigerate them. Works great. I stopped doing it when warm weather hit because I'm eating cold foods now, but come fall the pot comes out again.

perpchaska

I found that pre-cooked meals were my key to success with weight loss. I lost alot of weight about two years ago from this (and working out). I made sure to eat my pre-made stuff M-Friday lunch - then sort of free for all Friday night/sat/sun. I found that the longer i did this, the better choices i made on the days I gave myself off. I also worked out M-F so i had a nice steady weight loss. I'm someone that loves to cook but don't always have the time or energy, so this plan worked out well because i had the weekends to come up with some more creative stuff that may not always have been chicken-breast-with-rice level healthy, hah. as far as the cooking stuff - the more you try it, the better you'll get. just try not to be intimidated and run with it! I also watch alot of cooking shows - it helps you learn. When i was doing premade meals i would cook up a giant pack of chicken breasts from sams club and portion them ( i have a huge portion control issue) out in the ziploc freezer containers with a serving of veggies and wheat noodles or brown rice. I also made myself some soups and then froze everything. I prepared a weeks worth of small salads to eat with dinner and lunch every day - you can do these in quart sized mason jars. If you put the dressing on the bottom ( i make mine homemade with just garlic and salt mashed together, vinegar -red wine, rice, balsamic, apple cider - any will work - and olive oil) and then the hearty veggies on the bottom with the lettuce on the top. the lettuce wont touch the dressing until you shake it up so it wont wilt. these stay good in the fridge all week. i also keep ready made snacks handy - low fat greek yogurt, hard boiled eggs, and natures valley 2x protein bars. For breakfast i make alot of egg cups - just mix in a bowl about 12 eggs, veggies, and some diced up turkey bacon (i cook this ahead of time) and then dump them in a cupcake pan and bake. Breakfast all week!

nroth57

I'm on this thing right now with Spaghetti Squash. to make a bunch ahead of time, buy two good size spaghetti squash (they are yellow and oblong...and CHEAP!) slice them in half, and season well with salt and pepper. put them in 350 over and bake flesh slide down for about 30 minutes, until they are soft. Let them cool off completely and then with a fork, shred the flesh inside into a bowl, discarding the skins. Then season a little more to taste. Experiment with Mrs Dash is sodium is a concern, I like the Italian seasoning one.

I will recommend investing in a panini grill. I can cook 2 chicken breasts with a nice sear on it without oil in 7 minutes on that thing. Cook those up, dice and store in fridge.

So then it's a matter of compiling a bowl of squash that now resembles spaghetti, the chicken and add-ins. I use 2 Laughing Cow wedges - I like the garlic herb or Swiss, but anyone will work according to your taste, then add a few sun dried tomatoes (They are usually near the canned tomatoes in a grocery store. I buy the dry ones, not the oil-packed ones). Sometimes I also saute zucchini or squash and throw that in. I keep all of these components separate until I am ready to eat or pack for lunch. Then I have this really healthy, low calorie lunch for work for the week that takes just a couple of minutes to assemble each time.

Don't be intimidated by cooking if you are new to it. Recipes can be easy to follow, just always read through them first before diving in. If something doesn't make sense, google it, watch videos, etc. Once you get confidence in the kitchen dude, everything will be cake.

lolabluola

I am no good at cooking either and I don't have the time to do it anyway, so I got a Crock Pot. On my day off, I'd choose a recipe, go get the ingredients, simmer it in the pot all day, and then put a week's worth of servings into tupperware containers and refrigerate them. Works great. I stopped doing it when warm weather hit because I'm eating cold foods now, but come fall the pot comes out again.

I love cooking - but YES crock pots make life easy!!!

perpchaska

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writerelrick

I'm a big fan of soups as the weather gets warmer, or even occasionally during the summer. If you cook them yourself with some low sodium broth of choice (beef, chicken, veggie, mushroom) you can moderate your salt intake and add the flavors you want. Some simple dried herb mixes work really well with your meats or veggies of choice - I love a good tomato barley, miso soups, or even a garden veggie with pesto. All this freezes well.
Cooking and freezing your veggies also works well, and if you have a mic (I don't, but I like to cook on the stove a lot) you can just reheat these in a matter of minutes (I do this at work a lot). If you want to make it really easy to just grab and go, put in plenty of prep time during a weekend, and add some music or game for motivation (if you've got kids, it's a thought to get them to help and see what's healthy).
Leafy salads are great to just distribute into several Tupperware containers and then put a dressing on the day of. I enjoy a mixed lettuce with red onion, strawberry and balsalmic vinaigrette; romaine with tomatoes, feta, garbanzos, red onion and fish oil with lemon juice; spinach/arugula, beets, artichoke, avocado and pistachios with balsalmic; and you can add meat, fish or veggie burger patty of choice with these too (just heat up in the mic and add).
One last thing - overnight oatmeal. This is GREAT! You can do all sorts of stuff with this. No cooking or reheating necessary. Just have plenty of mason jars or small containers on hand and a variety of ingredients of your choosing: oats (of course), maple syrup/honey, berries (blue, rasp, cherry, straw, black), dark chocolate (yes!), peanut butter/nut butter, nuts/seeds of choice, other fruits (bananas, peaches, nectarines, papaya, dragonfruit, kiwi, etc), yogurt and/or milk, then mix and match. My favorites so far: oats (1/4-1/2 cup), strawberries chopped (3-5), 1/4 cup yogurt, and about two-three pieces of dark chocolate chopped up; oats (1/4-1/2 cup), blueberries (1/4 cup), 1 small banana, 1/4 cup yogurt, 1/4 milk, nutmeg and almond flavoring (or nuts); peanut butter (2 tablespoons), maple syrup (1 teaspoon-tablespoon), 1/4 cup yogurt, 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 cup oats, spice of choice. And the best one yet: the brownie http://dashingdish.com/recipe/brownie-batter-overnight-protein-oatmeal/
(There are so many more here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/samimain/overnight-oats-recipes-to-restore-your-faith-in-breakfast?bffbfood#3v2dmqr)

perpchaska

I'm on this thing right now with Spaghetti Squash. to make a bunch ahead of time, buy two good size spaghetti squash (they are yellow and oblong...and CHEAP!) slice them in half, and season well with salt and pepper. put them in 350 over and bake flesh slide down for about 30 minutes, until they are soft. Let them cool off completely and then with a fork, shred the flesh inside into a bowl, discarding the skins. Then season a little more to taste. Experiment with Mrs Dash is sodium is a concern, I like the Italian seasoning one.

I will recommend investing in a panini grill. I can cook 2 chicken breasts with a nice sear on it without oil in 7 minutes on that thing. Cook those up, dice and store in fridge.

So then it's a matter of compiling a bowl of squash that now resembles spaghetti, the chicken and add-ins. I use 2 Laughing Cow wedges - I like the garlic herb or Swiss, but anyone will work according to your taste, then add a few sun dried tomatoes (They are usually near the canned tomatoes in a grocery store. I buy the dry ones, not the oil-packed ones). Sometimes I also saute zucchini or squash and throw that in. I keep all of these components separate until I am ready to eat or pack for lunch. Then I have this really healthy, low calorie lunch for work for the week that takes just a couple of minutes to assemble each time.

Don't be intimidated by cooking if you are new to it. Recipes can be easy to follow, just always read through them first before diving in. If something doesn't make sense, google it, watch videos, etc. Once you get confidence in the kitchen dude, everything will be cake.

Have you tried zucchini noodles? I was on a big spaghetti squash kick and got burned out - so i started making zucchini noodles. you can get a slicer for about $10 on amazon and one zucchini is enough for a meal so i just make a bunch at once! They are even more like the texture of pasta!

oedipa_maas

I normally just cook a bunch of chicken breast, salmon, green beans, broccoli, sweet potato and asparagas on the weekend. store them in tupperware and then just prepare my dish that day. It's really simple and you'll feel accomplished

That sounds simple enough that I think even I might be able to handle that! Haha! I'm just a total noob at cooking. Maybe this weekend I'll give something like that a shot. I'll get myself some new tupperware containers and some extra food when I go grocery shopping and see what I can do. If you hear about a house fire in the Detroit Metro area, then you know who's house it was haha!

I don't have one, but I think another poster mentioned using a slow cooker. I'm thinking of looking into buying one, since all it requires is a little chopping and throwing in the foods and waiting--pretty simple! Maybe you want to look into one of those. And as silly as it is I LOVE buying new tupperware! Totally motivates me

Some of my "shortcut/simple" foods are meatloaf (I can make it for dinner and then make cold meatloaf sandwiches w/ ketchup for lunches, yum), poached chicken breasts to mix with veggies and mayo/guacamole/whatever for chicken salad, and always make sure I cut up lots of veggies and fruit so they are all prepped and ready to go for lunch or if I want to cook something with them in it.

ValGogo

you don't suck at cooking. you haven't learned the language yet but it's ok.

I like to eat lots of veggies, but I don't like them raw (like broccoli, cauliflower, etc.), so I get eggplant (cut into cubes with skin on), broccoli slaw in the bag (it's GREAT), zucchini or any long squash, onions, snow peas, even grated cabbage, whatever is good and I stir fry it in a big frying pan or wok with a light oil. Sometimes, while the oil is heating, I throw in seasonings (italian herb mix, thyme, pepper (black and red flake kind), garlic and toss it on the oil before I toss the veggies on; it really brings out the flavor. Now, you can do it this way and leave it plain and throw it over salad or warm rice or you can get some tomato sauce or paste and toss a coupla spoons in it to loosen it up and make it "juicy."

Make a bunch of that and keep in in a container in the fridge. *kitten* like that lasts for days at a time and you can eat from it continuously.

That's my go-to veggie mix.

Or you can make soups.

ValGogo

I see "I suck at cooking" all the time on the forums. I translate this as "I want to justify eating out a bunch." Seriously, you don't need to prepare a 5 star meal like you're cooking for some fancy restaurant. Even the biggest idiot can do the basics. I mean, if cavemen were able to figure out how to cook for themselves shouldn't a person with access to, among other things, Google, cookbooks, recipes on packages, etc etc.

THIS!!!

ValGogo

I'm on this thing right now with Spaghetti Squash. to make a bunch ahead of time, buy two good size spaghetti squash (they are yellow and oblong...and CHEAP!) slice them in half, and season well with salt and pepper. put them in 350 over and bake flesh slide down for about 30 minutes, until they are soft. Let them cool off completely and then with a fork, shred the flesh inside into a bowl, discarding the skins. Then season a little more to taste. Experiment with Mrs Dash is sodium is a concern, I like the Italian seasoning one.

YES< YES< YES<<<<

(screaming) YESSSSS Spaghetti squash is the bomba!

Live_To_Win

Quick, easy and filling option is rice added to a can of soup.

prestigio

Canned kidney beans, canned tuna and salad (lettuce, tomato and cucumber for example)
Or (if you have some grilled chicken in the fridge like I always have), microwave some potato's, steam some veggies and defrost the chicken (or grill if you still need to).
Can be done in about 10 to 15 minutes.

dawnmcneil10

A crock pot is the perfect place to start for someone with limited kitchen skills. Bonus is that most crock pots come with little cookbooks inside the box. Most recipes are meat and veggies with seasonings, don't be scared the worst case is you cook something that tastes awful.

A good one is beef with broccoli, buy the stir fry beef from the meat department, grab a bunch of broccoli or buy frozen broccoli florets and toss in the crock pot add about 1/2 cup orange juice. Until your skills improve buy the precooked minute rice bowls, brown and wild rice is amazing and eat the beef and broccoli over that. I never just add broccoli, I'd add red peppers, carrots, mushrooms and onions for example, the more color the happier I am with the meal. Need more beef flavor toss in a beef boullion cube at the start and it'll mix with the OJ and create a nice gentle sauce.

in_this_generation

Homemade Burrito Bowls- Carnitas
In a slowcooker, cook a pork shoulder on high during the day or low overnight until the meat falls apart. I season mine with salt, garlic/onion powder, ground cumin, ground coriander and a little bit of cinnamon (it smells amazing).

Meanwhile, cook a pot of rice. If you don't own a rice cooker, simply pour a bit of rice into your pot, and the correct amount of water will be up to your first knuckle if you stick your finger in the pot (don't push through the rice though). Rice should be simmered not boiled and make sure to check on it so it does not burn once the water is gone.

Portion out the carnitas, rice, and some black beans (canned or cooked in the slowcooker is fine) and freeze or refrigerate. Then you just need to keep add ins on hand such as cheese, salsa, cilantro, lime, sour cream (I found that greek yogurt makes a good substitute for this).

geneticsteacher

When I was single, I didn't have a lot of time for cooking. I would shop on Sundays and come home and do meal prep for the week. For me, this meant freezing proteins in 3-4 oz. portions, trimmed of all fat (usually boneless pork loin or sirloin, boneless turkey breast, sirloin steak, shrimp, etc. I don't like chicken.) I also bought bags of frozen stir-fry vegetables, broccoli, broccoli & cauliflower, sugar snap peas, spinach, and whatever else I could find. I would cook a big pot of brown rice and stick it in the fridge.

Meals were easy - defrost in the microwave and stir fry the protein in a tsp. of oil, add the frozen vegetables, and when everything was cooked, add some rice. A little soy sauce and that was dinner.

HeidiCooksSupper

Cooking is my hobby but I am, at the base, a lazy cook. You can make really good meals and still not spend too much time cooking them.

I like to have many meal-sized portions of meat, cooked and raw, in the freezer and veggie drawers full. With that, you are set to go. It also saves money.

Buy chicken when the family-sized packages are on sale, even if you are cooking only for one or two. Throw all the chicken in a big flat roaster, skin side up. Spinkle on salt and pepper and throw the chicken in a 375F to 425F oven and bake until a thermometer confirms its done.

When it's cool enough to handle, separate the meat from the bones, sinew, skin, etc., and divide the meat into meal-sized baggies or containers. Throw the skin, bones, etc., into a big bag and start collecting such detritus in the freezer for making chicken broth or just heave them in the trash.

Those meal-sized containers of cooked chicken can turn into almost anything. Thaw slowly on a fridge shelf or really quickly in a sink of water -- just make sure the container is water tight. Or, just throw the frozen lump of chicken in a pot and melt it into whatever you are serving it with.

One of my favorite super quick meals when I really don't want to cook is to put a meal-sized lump of frozen chicken or frozen pork butt in a soup bowl, dollop on some bottled BBQ sauce, and nuke in the microwave until hot. This is very good served with your basic microwave-in-bag veggie. If I really want to be "fancy," I'll shred some cabbage to make slaw while the microwave does its thing.

Or stir-fry veggies and add some thawed chicken or pork when you add the sauce ingredients just to heat through. Later, when the weather is colder, you can take homemade chicken stock, a package of frozen chicken, some veggies, and a grain or starch and voila! Soup!

I have a variety of short cut recipes on my hobby cooking blog:
http://heidicookssupper.com/blog/2009/11/05/chicken-rice-base-a-pre-cooking-shortcut/
http://heidicookssupper.com/blog/2011/01/03/shredded-beef/
http://heidicookssupper.com/blog/2010/06/25/riccio-di-tacchino-turkey-hedgehogs/
http://heidicookssupper.com/blog/2009/08/13/pulled-pork-pulled-chicken-at-the-same-time/

Or just click
http://heidicookssupper.com/blog/category/stocking-the-freezer/

Will_Run_for_Food

My fiance and I cook enough chicken breast, vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, beans, peas, carrots...pretty basic) and boil enough eggs to have for lunch all week. In the cooler months, I'll make soup or chilli that is usually good for two meals each. I don't follow any one particular recipe - too many to try!

Ideabaker

I normally just cook a bunch of chicken breast, salmon, green beans, broccoli, sweet potato and asparagas on the weekend. store them in tupperware and then just prepare my dish that day. It's really simple and you'll feel accomplished

^^
Have I met my MFP cooking twin? I make the same (plus brussels sprouts when in season), plus brown rice (cooked in a fool-proof rice cooker using store-bought low-salt chicken broth rather than water... more flavour). Sometimes I cook up taco mince using ground chicken or turkey with the usual packet of taco seasoning (low salt) and use it for taco bowls, or in soft or hard tortillas for tacos.

Am also a huge crockpot fan and toss in chicken (shred once cooked), salsa, tinned black beans (drained) and frozen corn with low-fat creamed cheese on low for 6-8 hours... I use it to make layered chicken enchilada casserole (with fresh corn tortillas), as a dip, in tacos, etc. After it cooks, I divide it into smaller portions and freeze... lasts for months in the freezer!

I also keep plenty of fresh fruits and greens on hand (I wash them before putting into the fridge so they are ready to grab and go), plus avocado, baby tomatoes, baby carrots, and tins of individual servings of flavoured tuna, beef jerky, fruit rollups, individual servings of almonds or other nuts, peanut butter, and Babybel Lite cheese circles for easy snacks.

OP, thanks for a great question. Am always looking for more ideas of ways to make nutrition convenient and easy!

mrogers52

Skinnytaste.com has great meals that are easy! Get a crockpot too