What do you eat when you don't have much time to cook?

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24

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  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,222 Member
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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!
  • fritch_gets_fit26
    fritch_gets_fit26 Posts: 40 Member
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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.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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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.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
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    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.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Vegetable omelet.

    Leftovers are something I usually try to have around too.
  • SafioraLinnea
    SafioraLinnea Posts: 628 Member
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    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.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    How very constrained is your time window for this discussion?
  • bkbirge
    bkbirge Posts: 107 Member
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    Fruits and veggies.
    effen2.jpg
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
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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.

  • janetgris
    janetgris Posts: 10 Member
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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.
  • codechef
    codechef Posts: 1 Member
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    Something I did last night. Took leftover chicken diced it up, cut up carrots, onions, garlic, ginger, and a jalapeno. Throw the veggies in a tbps of olive oil and cooked til soft, added in the chicken and warmed it back up. Then I took a store bought asian peanut sauce I had and threw it on top and mixed it in. Served it in lettuce wraps, with crushed peanuts, lime, and cilantro. Took about 20 minutes start to finish.
  • Jyster
    Jyster Posts: 74 Member
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    frozen waffles and a tablespoon of peach jam, 190 calories 3 minutes.
  • SunnyDayzMomma
    SunnyDayzMomma Posts: 114 Member
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    Large quantities of raw veggies, with hummus, tatziki, or other protein-y dip. Like I'll eat an entire cucumber, a cup or two of cauliflower, and the dip. And then if I'm not full I'll have a slice of whole wheat bread, with butter or a slice a cheese (or half whole wheat, let's be honest, some 100% WW bread is disgusting, lol) .
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    What is not much time and how can you afford not making cooking - and health - a priority?
  • okohjacinda
    okohjacinda Posts: 329 Member
    edited August 2017
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    These are unhealthy choices but

    Lean cuisines
    Ramen noodles
    Instant Oatmeal
    Frozen pizza

    So I try to cook as much as possible. Plus I ate this so much in college that the taste sometimes makes me sick esp Lean cuisines.


    Healthier options would be
    Fruit and veg smoothie (which I do sometimes)
    Protein shake or smoothie
    Soup or broth (will fill you)
    Frozen veggies like broccoli and cheese
    Or cauliflower mash potatoes
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
    edited August 2017
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    BellaMermaid96 wrote: »
    rybo wrote: »
    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.
    I was wondering something to make in about 5 minutes if I didn't have anything prepared. It's for when I start school. I won't have much time between classes.

    In that case, you really should get into the habit of preparing food ahead of time. When I worked in an office, I used to spend a few hours on the weekends and make lunches, snacks, and dinners for Monday-Thursday. Hard boiled eggs are good snacks and can be unrefrigerated for a few hours. I like them with salted almonds or sunflower seeds (which can also be unrefrigerated), and sometimes baby carrots.

    You could also make a sandwich, either in that 5 minutes, or in the AM, or the night before if you're not a morning person.

    If you find oats and yogurt filling (I don't - not enough protein for me) you can mix them up the night before - look up "overnight oats" for more info and ideas.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    okohjacinda wrote: »
    These are unhealthy choices but

    Lean cuisines
    Ramen noodles
    Instant Oatmeal
    Frozen pizza

    So I try to cook as much as possible. Plus I ate this so much in college that the taste sometimes makes me sick esp Lean cuisines.

    None of those foods are inherently unhealthy.
  • kyubeans
    kyubeans Posts: 135 Member
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    Breakfast type meals are usually quick and easy. I'll sometimes do scrambled eggs with sausage and cheese with whatever veggies I've got lying around.

    Or I'll have a meal that consists of snackish foods, like slices of cucumber, hummus, cheese cubes, turkey pepperoni and some summer slaw on a plate.

    I don't quite meal prep, but I do often have chopped veggies in my fridge from last time I cooked. These are helpful to throw into a pan for a quick saute, paired with any protein. And as a last resort, I'll have a pre-packaged soup or meal but these are high in sodium so I try to avoid them if I can.
  • jessiferrrb
    jessiferrrb Posts: 1,758 Member
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    in the meal prep camp you can also premake and then freeze burritos - breakfast or otherwise. i make about 10 at a time with scrambled eggs, veggies, faux sausage and sometimes cheese and / or potatoes. they end up with about 300 calories and reheat really well. just unwrap the foil / wrap in a paper towel and microwave for one minute.
  • paggorham
    paggorham Posts: 18 Member
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    Brown rice, grilled chicken, veggies ;)

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