quick, easy, and cheap!

amcmillan730
amcmillan730 Posts: 591 Member
edited September 25 in Food and Nutrition
I'm really struggling with some of my food choices lately. So I AM getting back on track! I'm finding some accountability buddies...and I am determined to be 199 by May 18th! I'm about 12 or so lbs away (depending on the day... errr)

I think part of my issue is I'm bored with what I'm eating.... and don't have any new ideas! HELP!

I need ideas to be on the cheap side, relatively quick-ish (though crock pot foods are welcome... I just mean not a lot of prep time!), and not too difficult. If I see too many ingredients I get overwhelmed, and I wont make it.

Ideas Please!

Breakfast I've been having a hard boiled egg and weight control oatmeal... not sick of that yet! Tho the egg may start to get old soon haha. My main issue is lunch and dinner. There is a microwave available at work... and a VERY small fridge! So bringing food ahead of time for the week is not an option.

Thanks :)

Replies

  • nikkigiesige
    nikkigiesige Posts: 33
    Lunch...I always do Lean cuisine or smart ones/salad with pre grilled/baked chicken breast/fruit bowl/subway sandwichs or turkey sandwiches on 2 low cal wheat bread/vegetable soup (great to make a big batch and freeze)

    Dinner- Go to www.allrecipes.com and under the healthy recipes there are 300 calories or less per serving!! My favorites are Mushroom pork chops, potato & ham soup, chicken capreese, and there are lots of really good ones for crock pots!!
  • gatorflyer
    gatorflyer Posts: 536 Member
    Lean cuisine meals are pretty cheap for lunches. Some quick and easy things for dinner inclue: add a roast to a crockpot, add veggies and let cook, voila, done at the end of the day. I also do homemade paninis or if you don't have a panini makes, in essence a grilled cheese sandwish, althout you can add whatever you want to it. We've been doing low calorie burgers using half lean ground beef and half ground turkey, put on 2 45 calorie pieces of bread and some fat free cheese, as well as salads, and soups. On weekends I might cook a big pot of chili or soup and separate it into calorie-counted portions, freeze some and have some later. Baked fish is pretty easy to do as well.
  • katonya31
    katonya31 Posts: 1 Member
    Hey for breakfast I've been eating fresh spinach omelette with turkey bacon takes about 10min to cook very good........ for dinner I include sauteed shrimp/ chicken breast/ or sauteed fish with fresh spinach and baked potato........takes about 20 min to cook very quick and easy.
  • barefootbeauty
    barefootbeauty Posts: 188 Member
    bump!
  • RoxMyWorld
    RoxMyWorld Posts: 127 Member
    Chicken Quesidillas (sorry about spelling) are pretty easy and not pricey and good for protein and you can make smart choices to make them even healthier.

    I use Whole Wheat wraps, fat free all natuaal salsa, chicken, skim milk mozza cheese and fat free sour cream. They are tasty and super easy, even good on the barbeque!

    for lunch one of my favs is a broccoli salad. It is easy and I make it on the weekend and can eat it for a couple days. I have one of those slap choppers (best kitchen tool ever) I chop up, really small, broccolli and cauliflower, add just enough fat free mayo to mix it all together I add raisins and sunflower seeds and sometime slivered almonds. It has just enough sweet and crunchy. Just a thought!

    Enjoy!
  • pattiann603
    pattiann603 Posts: 26
    i need to eat on the cheap side, too. last night for dinner, i tossed some low carb pasta with steamed veggies, a teeny bit of olive oil, and i went crazy with seasoning (pepper, oregano, garlic, red pepper) and found it amazingly satisfying. i also like the rice-a-roni packaged whole grain sides, i throw in a bunch of vegetables and beans to make it a "one pot" meal (and the rice a roni cooks so fast). i swear by oatmeal too, and you can always mix in different fruits, peanut butter, cinnamon, or nuts to keep it interesting. sometimes i'll even eat oatmeal for lunch.

    i just live by the idea that throwing together something at home is almost always better than ordering in (i live in NYC, and ordering in is practically a way of life) and i save a ton of money.

    my friends can read my food diary, so if you're looking for some ideas, add me and check it out.
  • Barelmy
    Barelmy Posts: 590 Member
    I love homemade baked beans for breakfast. They're so much more special and delicious than the tinned stuff.

    Saute an onion in one tablespoon (or even half a tablespoon) of oil. When translucent, add 200ml of vegetable stock, four chopped tomatoes, 1 tablespoon of tomato puree, and 1 tablespoon of garlic puree. Simmer for 5-10 minutes, add a drained tin of butter beans (these are the lowest calorie I've found, but cannelini beans work too. Harricot or navy beans are the ones you'll find in the tinned stuff), simmer for a further five minutes.

    It's so good, and I like to add a chopped vegan sausage in with the onions, to add protein.

    I also like a red chickpea salad; drained tin of chickpeas, two chopped tomatoes, one chopped red pepper. I eat it with 30g (uncooked weight) wholegrain rice, and a dressing made of half a tablespoon of olive oil, half a tablespoon of lemon juice, and 1/8 of a teaspoon of mustard. You could have it on a pita bread, instead of with rice, or turn it into a wrap.
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