Meal planning and finding time to cook

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Hotgirl100
Hotgirl100 Posts: 7 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello everyone: I need a little help. I work with kids at my local YMCA. I work 7-8 hour shifts Monday-Thursday. I sometimes work on the weekends. I don't have time to cook breakfast from scratch. Lunch is also the same way. I usually don't have time to go home to eat anything healthy. I usually go to Jacks for lunch and I get the number 6 meal. That is their chicken sandwich with fries and a soda. I am also am a stress eater. Anyway my questions are as follows.

1. Does anyone know what breakfast ideas that are microwaveable like breakfast sandwiches, etc that are healthy or mostly healthy that I could eat. Also low carb and low calorie would be great.

2. What meals besides fast food that would be fast and very easy to make. (ie, microwaveable) I don''t have time to cook anything from scratch.

3. How can I find the best way to up my water intake during the week. I can't be leaving the room to run off to the bathroom every few minuets while at work.

4. Also I always seem to be hungry a few hours after I eat breakfast. How can I solve this issue?
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Replies

  • rockmama72
    rockmama72 Posts: 815 Member
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    You don't have ANY time to cook? What do you eat for dinner?
  • Apocalypz
    Apocalypz Posts: 155 Member
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    1. I enjoy fruit for breakfast. Portable. No microwave needed.
    2. Fish and veg cook up in 5 min. If you choose the pre-packed/cooked tuna, then even less time.
    3. Perhaps I'm misreading your question, but if you intake more water, then you'll need to exhaust more water. You'll need to visit the toilet more often. That's not too bad though, eh?
    4. Don't wait a few hours after breakfast to eat again. Pack loads of snacks. LOADS of healthy snacks. They can be small like oranges, bananas, small portions of nuts, etc. If you can eat every hour, then you'll not have those hunger pains.

    Hope this helps!
  • marcellomoo
    marcellomoo Posts: 107 Member
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    Soup! I get chunky ones full of meat and veggies. To make it more filling, i'll add a few slices of ciabatta or right now I have part baked mini baguettes that take about 7 minutes to cook. It'll get your water intake up a little too. Just avoid the high sodium tinned ones and get the fridge ones.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    What do you do the other 16 hours of the day? It takes 5 minutes to cook some eggs, make a healthier sandwich, or cook some meat in a pan and nuke some veggies.
  • gcbma
    gcbma Posts: 112 Member
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    1. Make your own breakfast sandwiches at the start of your week. Such as on Sunday, fix eggs, and put them on an English muffin with cheese. Wrap, and grab before heading off to work.

    2. Same for lunch. Prepare a few things, or take left overs from dinner. I do a lot of sandwiches and soups.

    3. Up your water, and find the time to pee.

    4. Have a snack after breakfast. Something light.
  • keywestsunset
    keywestsunset Posts: 139 Member
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    For breakfast sometimes I make my own sandwich. I use a thin bagel (110 cal), 2% cheese ( 50 cal), and an egg (90 cal). I have one of those microwave egg things so it takes 30 secs to cook and comes out round so it fits perfectly on the sandwich. So the total sandwich is about 250 cal.
  • sue_stef
    sue_stef Posts: 194 Member
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    Fruit , cut vegetables, peanut butter , toast, eggs,
    use a crock pot
    cooking from scratch does not have to be a huge time intensive thing
    make the time on the weekend to prep the food for the week
    as for the water thing if you want to drink more water you are going to pee more deal with it
  • amaysngrace
    amaysngrace Posts: 742 Member
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    When you get home, you can boil about 8 hardboiled eggs. Get a pot, fill it with water, sprinkle some salt in it. Place 8 eggs in it and turn the burner on medium high heat until the water starts to boil. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, let the eggs cook for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and cover the pot and let the eggs sit in the water for 15 minutes, then rinse them off, crack and peel. Now, when you go to work, you can grab a hard boiled egg to go.

    Oatmeal takes 5 minutes. When you walk in the door from work, you can grab a pot, pour some old-fashioned dried oats and the appropriate amount of water with a pinch of salt and put it over the stove top for about 5 minutes. Then, remove from heat. Then you can portion off a serving and make batches to put in a to-go container, so you can grab this to go as well.

    You can eat the oatmeal with the hardboiled egg and a banana, You can also preheat your oven to 350 degrees and put a batch of chicken sausage in the oven for about 10-15 minutes and there is your breakfast. This does not take time to cook all three of these things.

    The time it takes you to wait in the drive-thru in a fast food joint or wait in line, you could be at home prepping your to-go meals to grab with you out the door in the morning.
  • motivatedmartha
    motivatedmartha Posts: 1,108 Member
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    A portion of porridge (oatmeal US) takes 2 mins to cook in microwave - using wholemeal rolled oats - just as quick as the 'quick cook sachets'. Alternatively - look up refrigerator porridge porridge (oatmeal) You mix it up in a jar the night before - put it in the fridge and it's ready in the morning. Bowl of no sugar added breakfast cereal is quick ! Poached or dry fried egg is really quick too. The night before you could soak some cous cous in boiling water (with spices or curry powder) and add chopped and or dried fruit - take it in a box for lunch - 15 mins max. Chopped raw veggies and store bough houmous. Pitta pocket filled with salad and perhaps chicken pieces. If you were to spend an hour sitting down and making a list of things you like that you could pack up, work out their nutritional values and then just build you week's plan based on that. Just need to be imaginative and not think just in terms of sandwiches and fast food :smile:
  • tammcclure
    tammcclure Posts: 11
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    I have over an hour commute to work and so I understand your pain. Also I can't have eggs so a lot of breakfast foods just went out the window. Here is what I eat.
    1 cup low fat yogurt
    1/2 cup frozen blueberries (I pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds and they defrost)
    1/4 cup Fiber One Bran Cereal or Cherrios

    Or
    Low calorie maple and brown sugar oatmeal
    Sometimes I'll add raisins to it or eat a banana and a protein bar

    Or
    Bowl of fruit with nutella on toast

    LOTS of water. and STOP getting french fries with your lunch. Most fast food places have apple slices or side salads. You can eat under 500 calories even at McDonalds like a fruit and yogurt parfait sans granola, a regular cheese burger and a side salad with fat free Italian dressing. It makes me full when I have to grab something while I'm out but it doesn't completely KILL my diet.

    Pick grilled chicken over fried. Get the side salad instead of fries or like Wendy's a baked potato. Only eat the bottom bun on the sandwich if you are watching your carbs. If you have a Sonic in your area their grilled chicken on whole wheat ciabatta is only 450 calories with the mayo, get it without and it's even less calories. Say no to tots, fries or onion rings and get their apple slices with caramel sauce instead.

    Dinner - Salads are super easy and fast or get a crock pot/ Prep the food before bed then in the morning take it out of the fridge, pot into the crock pot and turn it on to cook while you are at work. There are TONS of recipes online for that sort of thing. Crock Pot fajitas are pretty darn yummy.
  • crystalflame
    crystalflame Posts: 1,049 Member
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    I'm not a morning person. I make protein shakes in the morning - takes 2 minutes to throw a scoop of protein powder, milk, fruit, and ice in the blender, and I can pour it into a cup to take with me. It keeps me full until lunch.

    As for lunches, I eat dinner leftovers. When I was on my own, I'd cook one dinner on Sunday to eat as lunches for the whole week, and one dinner Monday to eat as dinners for the week. 3 hours of cooking (max - 30 minute dinners exist, but I love cooking and trying complicated things), and done. When I started to cook for my fiance as well, I still made enough servings so we had leftovers for lunch the next day. Also, sandwiches are your friend - just bring all the ingredients to work and assemble there so they stay fresh.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    Consume more water after work? Other than coffee and diet dew I don't drink that much by way of liquids at work. It's not the best way to be but like someone else said , work is 8 out of 24 hours. Where there's a will, you can figure out how to complete the tasks that need done.

    My breakfast is sausage and eggs. The sausage is cut up into slices and stored in a freezer bag up to 2-3 weeks ahead of time.
  • MyM0wM0w
    MyM0wM0w Posts: 2,008 Member
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    I cook for the week on Sundays (or saturdays if I'm going to be busy on Sunday).

    I freeze lunch and dinner in reheatable container and I don't have to cook again for a week.

    Even if I AM busy both days I still have time to put soup or chili in the crockpot and then freeze it when I get home.

    Breakfasts I just eat cold cereal and/or fresh fruit.
  • wannakimmy
    wannakimmy Posts: 488 Member
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    When you get home, you can boil about 8 hardboiled eggs. Get a pot, fill it with water, sprinkle some salt in it. Place 8 eggs in it and turn the burner on medium high heat until the water starts to boil. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, let the eggs cook for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and cover the pot and let the eggs sit in the water for 15 minutes, then rinse them off, crack and peel. Now, when you go to work, you can grab a hard boiled egg to go.

    Oatmeal takes 5 minutes. When you walk in the door from work, you can grab a pot, pour some old-fashioned dried oats and the appropriate amount of water with a pinch of salt and put it over the stove top for about 5 minutes. Then, remove from heat. Then you can portion off a serving and make batches to put in a to-go container, so you can grab this to go as well.

    You can eat the oatmeal with the hardboiled egg and a banana, You can also preheat your oven to 350 degrees and put a batch of chicken sausage in the oven for about 10-15 minutes and there is your breakfast. This does not take time to cook all three of these things.

    The time it takes you to wait in the drive-thru in a fast food joint or wait in line, you could be at home prepping your to-go meals to grab with you out the door in the morning.

    Yep, make the time. It will be worth it in the end, honest!
  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,568 Member
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    Breakfast Sandwiches:

    I buy the weight watchers bagels, multi grain english muffins and pitas

    Turkey Bacon, turkey back bacon or turkey sausage which I take out of the casing and form into patties

    Egg whites in the carton - buy one of those microwave egg cooker dodads.

    I precook my turkey bacon or sausage for the week.

    In the morning it takes like literally 2 minutes:

    Throw your bagel or english muffin in the toaster
    Throw 1/4 cup of egg whites in the microwave for a minute or so
    Reheat your turkey whatever for 10-15 secs
    add cheese if you want

    a healthy and fairly low cal breakfast that keeps me going for at least 4 hours.

    As for anything else, pick a day and roast a chicken or chicken breasts, make a pot of soup, make some pasta sauce or whatever else you might want. It's all about planning, you could precook rice and potatoes for a few days worth of portions, prep your veggies and store in bags or containers in the fridge. If you are big on stirfry cut up your meats on shopping day and separate them into bags and add your marinade and toss in the freezer - take it out in the morning - good to go when you get home.
  • conniehv40
    conniehv40 Posts: 442 Member
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    breakfast: look for higher fiber in cereals, high fiber bread and peanut butter. bowl of cereal with milk and a piece of toast with pb on your way to work.

    buy nuts to eat after breakfast before lunch.

    drink more water on your way home, weekends etc. to get your body used to more water.

    lunch is something you will have to work at, if you want it... can you look for frozen weight watchers etc. in the freezer section?

    bananas, nuts, fruits, veggies!

    good luck!
  • cyncynmar
    cyncynmar Posts: 7 Member
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    Crockpot steel oatmeal with apples, raisins or fresh cranberries 1 cup of steel oatmeal make 6 servings...I spend one afternoon making lots of casseroles, chicken & broccoli, veggies lasagnes, stuffed peppers, baked chicken & veggies all sorts of great meals that keep well in the freezer...pack for the week so all you have to do is pull out and heat up lunch or dinner, adding fresh veggies, salads, soups. Losing weigh & eating right takes time & planning, skip tv and get your steps in, I usually get at least 6000-7000 steps cooking an afternoon. There are tons of sites that have great healthy meals. You said you have kids have them help you, they can measure, help mix all the ingredients and you will have some great family time together!
  • Hotgirl100
    Hotgirl100 Posts: 7 Member
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    Things that are microwavable like Progresso soup, breakfast sandwiches, etc.
  • Hotgirl100
    Hotgirl100 Posts: 7 Member
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    Thank you so much for your advice. I will take all your ideas to heart and use them.
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
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    I'm pretty sure I work a lot more than 7-8 hours a day. . . . more like 9+ as a public school teacher, plus all the lesson planning and grading on the weekend. I never cook during the week, but batch cook on the weekend. I portion everything out into individual containers, freeze some and then have a variety of meals I can microwave during the week for lunch at school and dinner at home.

    For breakfast i often microwave an apple with cinnamon and nutmeg and add granola to the top. Paired with a boiled egg or a little pre-cooked bacon, I have a breakfast that carries me through.

    There are many recipes that portion out a freeze well. My favorites are pork tenderloin with rice, chicken pesto pasta with walnuts, turkey chili, sirloin steak stir fry with veggies, chicken fajitas. I often grill several chicken breasts and then cut them into cubes for putting on baby spinach or salad greens. That makes a quick meal as well.

    Sometimes I even scramble two eggs the night before and put them in a plastic container.

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