<--- Frozen Meal Junkie Hellllp!

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Denise8P
Denise8P Posts: 23
in Food and Nutrition
Starting MFP has been quite the eye-opener when it comes to all my quick, easy Lean Cuisine/SmartOnes/Healthy Choice meals that make counting calories seem oh-so-easy. I honestly didn't realize how much crap is in there :/ Same thing with some of the soups I thought were so healthy - yeah, if overdosing on sodium is your thing maybe. Uggh.

The problem is, I am super busy and also just don't like to cook. It is so much simpler and more enjoyable for me personally to have something pre-packaged and ready to go when I need it. This is especially true for my work lunches. My hubby and I do cook meals at night frequently, but if it's not something I want to spend my calories on I tend to grab a frozen dinner anyway.

Now that my eyes have been opened to the pitfalls of Lean Cuisine - I want to take baby steps toward making healthier choices. I am not at all ready to ditch the frozen meal thing and preparing everything from scratch ahead of time, but I DO want to give my body better fuel to work with. I saw someone mention Amy's frozen meals as a healthier option and plan to grab some this week to try out. Any other recommendations on better options for a frozen dinner addict?

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  • Denise8P
    Denise8P Posts: 23
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    Pretty please :D
  • lisamarie1780
    lisamarie1780 Posts: 432 Member
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    I would cook. It's healthier, tastier and more rewarding. It doesn't have to take hours. You can make a meal in under half an hour, freeze it and then it's there ready for when you need it.... you can make a whole bunch of stuff in advance. It's not only healthier but will probably save you money as well. I personally wouldn't feel healthy if I was eating frozen meals every day, even if I was losing weight. But that's my opinion. Get some recipe books and try new stuff. You might learn to love it.
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
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    I'm a lazy cook. I'll make the same meals over and over.
    Throw stuff in the crock pot all day, brown some chicken in a pan and then finish in the oven, roast some veggies, cook some pasta, make soup, breakfast for dinner, tacos are quick, meatloaf is quick. It honestly doesn't take that much time and you just have to make it a priority.

    For lunch? Bring leftovers, make sandwiches, make salads, bring soup, wraps, etc.
  • Denise8P
    Denise8P Posts: 23
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    Thanks ladies, I appreciate the input :D
  • DaphneinMaine
    DaphneinMaine Posts: 3
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    Once you get into the habit of prepping your own brown bag lunches and snacks it will become part of your routine. Buy a cute lunch bag and a bunch of different sizes of plastic containers and pack all of your food in the morning or even at night. Once you stop eating the dinners you will be really surprised because they will taste horrible to you :) and you will wonder how you ever even ate them in the first place. Good luck!!
  • thecakelocker
    thecakelocker Posts: 407 Member
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    I usually sautee something that cooks FAST (like fish) while microwaving a bag of instant brown rice or seasoned frozen veggies. I chop up an avocado or fresh tomato to put on top of the rice or microwaved veggies while the fish is cooking. Very fast and the only clean up is the pan.
  • Xiaolongbao
    Xiaolongbao Posts: 854 Member
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    As the world's laziest cook I can sympathise with you but with a small amount of effort it can be done.

    I cook every weekend. One giant pot of something (this week it's vegetarian lasagne, last week was a bean dish). Everything I cook can be done in a slowcooker (so only one thing to wash!) because that's all the space I have (Japanese apartment, no oven). I then divide it up into portions, one per day for lunch. The rest becomes dinners. I also make 5 huge salads and put them in tupperware (oh how I love tupperware) on Sunday.

    That's it. Healthy lunch for each day. Done. Left overs for dinner. Done. The dinners I usually eat with steamed vegies or more salad.

    When the dinner leftovers run out I'm allowed to eat avocado on toast for dinner. I love avocado on toast.

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