What do you eat when you don't have much time to cook?
BellaMermaid96
Posts: 17 Member
I'm trying to find healthy ideas. I can only think of tuna or salads.
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Replies
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Cereal :laugh:4
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I don't have time to cook much working full time and taking care of grandkids, so i pick one day, usually on the weekend to cook healthy meals, package and freeze for the week.6
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Scrambled eggs loaded w/veggies9
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Sandwich (usually PB & banana).2
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It takes about 15 minutes to grill some chicken or something and saute some vegetables. Not all cooking has to be some elaborate recipe. My weeknight meals are primarily marinating or seasoning some protein source and doing up some veggies in some manner or another...doesn't take much time at all.
quick and easy lunches are usually leftovers or a sandwich.5 -
If you don't need to worry about sodium: Frozen meals or canned soup. Sandwiches are also very quick to make.2
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I keep quick prep meals or ingredients in my freezer and pantry. I can microwave riced or mashed cauliflower from frozen in <5 minutes. I keep progresso light canned soups in the pantry that heat in <5 minutes. If I have thawed chicken breasts those cook on the George Foreman pretty quickly, or I have some deli meats and sausages in the fridge that are quick to prep. In a real emergency I could have some jerky or a protein bar/shake for dinner that's 0 prep time. And as you said, salads are virtually no prep.3
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How much time is not much? I can whip up a healthy balanced meal of a protein, vegetable & even a starch in about 15 minutes.2
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I use a LOT of convenience products from Trader Joe's. One of my go to quick meals is frozen roasted potatoes with peppers and onions (6 min), frozen mahi mahi burger (10 min) topped with pesto, and some sauteed sugar snap peas (5 min). Works out to about 400 cals and it takes about 15 min max from start to eat.3
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My go to on a busy evening is a rotisserie chicken, a Dole chopped salad mix (they have some yummy combos like the sunflower seed crunch or BBQ ranch & I just go light on the dressing) & fresh berries. I just stop by the grocery store on the way home and throw it on the table. Zero effort required, feeds my family of 5 for about $10, and I get a good amount of protein, as well as a serving of veggies and fruit. And it is about 500 calories. Oh and it tastes good!4
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Prepackaged salad kits from the grocery store, Greek yogurt with fruit, cottage cheese with salsa, granola bars, those microwaveable cups of soup..... can you tell I don't have much time to cook? Lol
These are my favorite to go things lately: https://www.veggiesmadeeasy.com/our-products/nourish-bowls/2 -
How much time is not much? I can whip up a healthy balanced meal of a protein, vegetable & even a starch in about 15 minutes.
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6
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Plain greek yogurt with sliced banana and peanut butter3
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1 cup of lowfat cottage cheese and about 4 oz of pineapple?
Protein shake?
Zero-fat 100 calorie Greek yogurt?
1 Fuji apple?1 -
I work two jobs so I'm out and about from about 6 - 6:30am to 10 at night several times a week and this is something I find hard too. I try to buy a lot of fruit and veggies that you can grab and go with. Apples oranges pears baby carrots. I'll also premeasure nuts and things like that. String cheese. Protein shakes. It's obviously a good idea to food prep but it can be annoying. I'll make big salads that I can take for a few days or I'll make a pot of quinoa early in the week and add various things to it for different days (veggies, beans, tofu, fish).1
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Sandwiches, pasta, or leftovers make up most weeknight meals. Maybe grill a burger or something.0
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I meal prep. I cook about 14 meals at once so i dont ever have to worry. Pop one out of the freezer and into the microwave. This helps me stay on my diet. If i am low or just want something else, it is eggs or q bag of frozen veggies.3
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I find things that cook well in the microwave. Salmon, frozen veg, lately I've been into Boar's Head buffalo chicken sausage. When Domino's comes out with their 50% off deal I get a couple of pizzas and freeze them, then nuke one slice at a time at half power. You can pre-boil eggs for a quick source of protein. I put them in salads at work.0
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Left overs... I usually make double recipes and if the hubs doesn't eat it all it's leftovers...0
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We buy ready cooked meals from our local supermarket. We've found many which have great nutrition and low calories. Like a cottage pie for 380cal!1
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I don't have a lot of time to cook during the week, but I take Sunday and prep for the week. My new favorite is low fat chicken salad on a bed of greens. I make a batch on Sunday and portion from that for lunches. And for dinners I find healthy crock pot recipes. I get everything together the night before, pop it in the crock pot in the morning, and dinner is ready by the time I get home in the evening.1
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We have chickens so eggs are often our go to for a quick meal. Scrambled eggs with salsa, omelets, fritata, etc.
Also we usually have leftovers of something like pulled pork in the freezer and usually some canned venison in the root cellar.
We also usually have some pre-made burger patties that can be taken out and quickly cooked without any fuss.2 -
If it's just me (and I don't feel like taking 15 minutes to cook) I'll make up a plate of snack foods. Whatever I have on hand works - nuts, cheese, leftover meat, sliced fruit & vegetables, pickles, hard boiled eggs etc.4
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Vegetable omelet.
Leftovers are something I usually try to have around too.0 -
I feel your pain. My last 1.5 years of university I had a full time job, full time school, and 15 hours of volunteering every two weeks. I didn't have time to sleep, never mind meal prep.
I almost always ate some variation of sandwiches loaded with some veggies and meat, yogurt, fruit, raw veggies, and homemade trail mix (including some combination of raisins, dates, prunes, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, peanuts, pistachios) which was all basically grab and go items. Otherwise I would eat leftovers of what my family made if available. I did eat out sometimes but made healthier choices.0 -
How very constrained is your time window for this discussion?0
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Fruits and veggies.
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Meal prep grains then quick stir fry lean protein plus veggies.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking only boneless skinless chicken breasts are allowed if you're on a diet. Many cuts of steak are lean and grill on the stovetop in less than five minutes, and pork tenderloin is also lean - takes about 45 min in the oven but it's effortless, you just plop it in a roasting pan. Another no-effort meal that takes an hour is chicken thighs roasted in a pan with marinade (I use Wicker's). Open a can of field peas and a can of greens to go with and you have soul food, less than 500 calories, with less than five minutes spent actually in the kitchen cooking. You can start something in the oven and go do whatever you need to do. The same principle applies to crock pots - it takes planning, but your actual time spent cooking is minimal.
Frozen microwave steam veggies. Edamame is one of my favorites.
Egg sandwiches.
Cottage cheese and an orange. Greek yogurt and fruit.
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If I'm in a hurry I'll make breakfast for dinner, or stop and get a rotisserie chicken on the way home.0
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