Anyone else living on ready meals?

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  • blk0110k
    blk0110k Posts: 39 Member
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    You can always cook something big on your day off... I do it sometimes on a Sunday. Soup's good... chicken noodle soup is easy to make. Then freeze it for the week. If you can get two big things done (like maybe chili too) then you would have a variety. I also make a big salad in a metal mixing bowl for the week; it's usually gone by Wednesday because I eat salad for lunch at work all week.
  • blk0110k
    blk0110k Posts: 39 Member
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    Oops...sorry 99clmsntgr... didn't see your post until now. Great minds think alike I guess...
  • ashcky
    ashcky Posts: 393 Member
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    I do not live alone but I am really the only one who enjoys the meals. My brother will not try them, my mom is hit and miss, my son is super picky and my daughter is just in the stage where sometimes she eats and sometimes she doesnt. There are times where I make too much and I just try to eat it for lunch or have a leftover night.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    MrsLannister wrote: »
    The meals do come with vegetables. I also use a green superfood supplement and eat fruit. I'm not big on salads. There is a place down the street that has a decent cobb salad, but if I tried to make that myself it would go bad before I could eat it all.

    I'm really not interested in cooking at all. I just make a mess and end up with stuff that goes bad. There is no room in my apartment freezer for doing the weekly cooking thing, either.

    The quantity of veggies in most frozen dinners is sad. Frozen veggies are great add ins, they really "bulk up" the meal. I like Lean Cuisine Chicken Alfredo with 1/2 bag of Steam Fresh Broccoli. I can add 1.75 cups more food for 53 calories, I get lots of fiber too. Much more filling.

    I re-heat the remaining broccoli at lunch time the next day.
  • geneticsteacher
    geneticsteacher Posts: 623 Member
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    When I lived alone, I cooked a huge pot of brown rice every Sunday and refrigerated it. I always had a variety of frozen vegetables and single portions of protein in the freezer (bought large packaged of chicken/pork/seafood and re-wrapped them in individual portions). Various bottles of sauces in the fridge. A stir-fry after work in the evening took about ten minutes to prepare.

    Lean Cuisines were a nice treat occasionally.
  • HazyEyes93
    HazyEyes93 Posts: 89 Member
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    Something cheap and simple that I like to eat is half a block of ramen noodles in the microwave (no seasoning pack),heat up some frozen veggies in the microwave (I like to do a mixture of broccoli, peppers and onions, and corn), cut up some boneless chicken (or other protein) with some kitchen scissors, season the chicken with a premade seasoning (I really like McCormick Chipotle and Roasted Garlic), cook the chicken and veggies in a nonstick pan with a nonstick spray. If it's chopped up pretty thin, it'll be really easy to tell when it's done. Add the cooked veggies and chicken to the noddles, drizzle with some teriyaki sauce, and you've got a good tasting, cheap, and easy meal (and really low cal). Even with a food scale, it MIGHT take me 20 mins if I can't put my phone down. lol
  • Treece68
    Treece68 Posts: 780 Member
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    When I lived alone I ate apples and cheese, grapes and cheese and frozen pizza.
  • MzManiak
    MzManiak Posts: 1,361 Member
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    You could always work in some pre-made healthy meals also. Some stores have ready to eat servings of sushi, deli wraps, salads, etc. They sell packaged fish with only 2 servings already seasoned so all you have to do is throw them in a bit of oil. You can make vegetables that way also. Chicken breasts come in packages of 4. Throw some cajun seasoning on them and put them in the oven to bake. Boom, meals for the week.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
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    My uncle signed up for something that sent him meals ready to eat, which is how he lost over 50 lbs. I don't know how the meals where made or anything, but it's an extremely easy way to keep tabs on your calories. I would eat like that in my 20's. I would get a frozen protein (like Tyson chicken) and get frozen vegetables and microwave them and eat. It was slightly healthier...

    Now I make vegetables for a couple days and any grains or legumes I need. I cook most of my meals now but I don't spend everyday cooking nor all my time cooking for the week.
  • raylo1313
    raylo1313 Posts: 20 Member
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    Leftovers are a wonderful thing. When you cook, make too much and then freeze the rest. Then you will have frozen meals. I like to make meatloaf muffins, chicken breasts, ham and bean soup, stews - they are all freezable. Good luck!
  • ChelzFit
    ChelzFit Posts: 292 Member
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    When I worked full time I used to rely on frozen meals and deli meats on my salads. Now that I am a SAHM, I take the time to meal prep and I love it. I bake or buy a roasted chicken and use the leftovers in my salads all week long with fresh cut veggies, avocado, dried fruit and nuts. I do depend on protein bars for snacks, but that is because I really love my quest bars!
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    TeaBea wrote: »
    MrsLannister wrote: »
    The meals do come with vegetables. I also use a green superfood supplement and eat fruit. I'm not big on salads. There is a place down the street that has a decent cobb salad, but if I tried to make that myself it would go bad before I could eat it all.

    I'm really not interested in cooking at all. I just make a mess and end up with stuff that goes bad. There is no room in my apartment freezer for doing the weekly cooking thing, either.

    The quantity of veggies in most frozen dinners is sad. Frozen veggies are great add ins, they really "bulk up" the meal. I like Lean Cuisine Chicken Alfredo with 1/2 bag of Steam Fresh Broccoli. I can add 1.75 cups more food for 53 calories, I get lots of fiber too. Much more filling.

    I re-heat the remaining broccoli at lunch time the next day.
    The quality of veggies in most frozen dinners is sad too. :smile:
  • evesmom2
    evesmom2 Posts: 231 Member
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    I haven't been cooking since January when hubby passed away plus I bought a new home and I'm trying to move and settle the estate and on and on and on. Lean Cuisine has been a godsend. Once things settle down, I'll go back to cooking because I miss doing it.
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
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    I find cooking my own meals tastes a lot better than anything Lean Cuisine would make. I'm a pretty crappy cook, but recipes online make it easy, and i just throw extra servings into the freezer.

    If Lean Cuisines are your thing, then go for it. Just make sure you're eating enough.
  • MrsLannister
    MrsLannister Posts: 347 Member
    edited August 2016
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    I'm surprised so many people think they have to much sodium. I checked all the ones in my freezer and they are all between 500 and 650 mg. I average about 1200 mg a day.

    For reference, a cup of cottage cheese has 800 mg.
  • markrgeary1
    markrgeary1 Posts: 853 Member
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    Never. Ever look at the chicken or whatever protein is in those. That ain't chicken maybe some soylent green crap. Just say no to fake meat.

    Try mastering one dish, something simple(omelette?). Then another once you learn what food is you'll be happy you learned.
  • beccapineapple8756
    beccapineapple8756 Posts: 56 Member
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    Is it possible to find a mate who enjoys cooking?

    I use to live on my own But I had a friend that had to pick up hours at work and he didn't have the time to cook anymore. So we both chipped in to get a bunch of groceries and I use to spend 1 day fortnight cooking.

    Only made a few different dishes in bulk and split them up to share between us.

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