Little to No Meal-Prep Time

sofaking6 wrote: »

If you like the frozen meals, try Amy's - there's a 'light & lean' set of dishes that are really tasty and much more substantial than Lean Cuisine or WW meals.

- Agreed on Amy's..bit higher priced but as SofaKing6 shared... much more substantial and very good choices and if you can only eat 1/2 you can save the rest for a later meal. I've never had one I didn't like of the Amy's brand.

Oh, I didn't realize they had 'light and lean'. I'll have to check it out, think I've only had her regular frozen.

rabbitjb wrote: »

busseybl wrote: »

rabbitjb wrote: »

I make big pots of food at the weekend, it takes an hour and most of that is just simmering ..

I then keep it in Tupperware or freeze it

Recent big cook jobs which give me lunches across the week and some dinners all around 3-400 calories

Salmon fish cakes (I have about 30 frozen) - eat with a salad or in a sandwich
big veggie stew, precook rice and grate cheese .. 100g rice, 500g stew, 10g cheddar
Squash risotto with bagged salad greens
Chicken cacciatore (again with the rice and salad)
Spinach, squash and feta, potato topped pie and salad

Etc

Squash Risotto sounds amazing... *drool*

Maybe I'll start using my crockpot more frequently... I saw a Pinterest Board with crockpot recipes.

1 butternut squash
2 tsp light olive oil
1200ml stock
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 celery stick, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bay leaf
2 tsp dried thyme
250g risotto rice (we like carnaroli)
fry light
Salt and pepper

I adapted this http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/13012/simple-squash-risotto

Use fry light on the roast squash and salt and pepper
Add 2tsp oil to nonstick pan after softening onion and celery in a bit of the stock before throwing in the rice
It really doesn't need the wine, extra butter or extra oil or even cheese cos it's yummy

Makes 16 lots of 100g (90 cals per 100g) 350g is a decent lunch and about 300 calories -keeps a week in Tupperware in fridge

@rabbitjb Thanks for the share, you Rock

definitely check out crock pot recipes- throw stuff in in the morning and dinner is served when you get home. Most crock pot stuff makes great leftovers too so next days lunch just needs to be thrown in tupperware.

(I am a big chicken eater) - slow cook a big batch of chicken one day a week (if you have to leave it in for a really long time I have found that not thawing it, just throwing it in the pot frozen helps keep it from over cooking and drying out.) I shred it and keep it in the fridge, then its handy to throw on salads, in wraps, make chicken salad for a sandwich, throw together a pot pie, or anything else fun you can think of.

ground turkey is cheaper than beef where I live right now, and I like it because its lower fat, I really like it in tacos, or enchilada casserole (found this gem online and love it, it also tastes good as leftovers - brown 1 lb meat - i use turkey - mix with 1 10 oz can of enchilada sauce, put 8 biscuts (the refrigerated ones out of the can) in a baking pan, pour the meat/sauce over it and bake for 35 mins 350. Top with cheese and bake another 10 mins)

Try to use your sunday the best you can. I buy a bunch of veggies when I grocery shop and chop them all up afterwards and bag them into servings/snack packs so when I am packing my lunch I just can grab stuff and throw it in my lunch box.

RaeBeeBaby wrote: »

Psychgrrl wrote: »

Week nights, I put frozen veggies in pyrex with frozen protein (chicken tenders, "chicken tenders," frozen fish) or a tuna/salmon pouch. I store them in the fridge overnight and pack them up in the morning. I microwave on power level 7. All nice and moist. It's just dumping stuff in a bowl.

Great idea! I do something very similar but add grains and beans.

Seriously, a couple hours of prep on a Sunday and you can have meals for weeks!

Cook some brown rice or quinoa (20 mins)
Bake boneless skinless chicken breasts with various spices (30 mins)
Chop and sautee whatever veggies you like (or use frozen for even less time)
Open some cans of beans (black, red, chickpeas)

Chop up the chicken and then measure chicken, rice/quinoa, beans, and veggies into Ziploc baggies or tupperware containers and stick in the freezer. These make what I like to call "Yum Bowls" of healthy deliciousness!

Just put in a bowl and microwave. I like to dump it on top of fresh salad greens. Add hot sauce or other seasonings if you like.

Love the name!!!

Be a full-time Project Manager and a full-time Master's student at the same time while trying to plan a wedding and you will see what I mean. My days are jam-packed.

I'm not asking for time to meal-prep, I'm asking for alternatives. Thanks![/quote]

I understand your pain being super busy. It makes it very hard. What I do is cook a bigger than normal meal for dinner and freeze the leftovers. I know that you may think "I don't want to eat for lunch what I had for dinner, that is so boring". But you can do this a few times, keep on with you Lean Cuisines too so that you have a stock of frozen meals. Then if you have a stock of them when the research gets really heavy, you grab one include a pre-made salad or some more veggies and there you have it!