do-it-yourself pre-packaged meals?

I find success in making soups and stews. Buying prepackaged is expensive for me, but my grandfather is a hunter (please no judgement, we are indigenous, it's cultural) and so I get a lot of nice lean meats like moose and venison. When I can't get that, I'll use chicken. Use a low sodium broth (or make your own! But this takes a looong time) and packages of frozen pre-cut vegetables (carrots, yams, broccoli, really anything you want) from the supermarket (make sure to put the peas in last). Stew it for a good few hours. Really the only cutting you'll be doing is potatoes.

Stews and soups are always hearty, delicious, comforting and filling, but without too many calories if you choose your fillers smartly. Since I'm always making a huge batch all at once, I find it easy to divvy it up into single portions that can then go in the freezer and I can have for lunch every day that week. I can make two or three varieties of soup/stew each week, so I never get bored. And then I can reward myself with a nice extra large bowl at the end of the day once a week of newly cooked soup for a job well done.

I find it quite rewarding, and I suggest it to anyone that would rather not spend money on a lot of processed food or is worried about their sodium intake, or just doesn't have the time or patience to prep a meal every day. Soups and stews are very simple and 90% of the cooking is actually just waiting.

glamorousAdvocate wrote: »

I find success in making soups and stews. Buying prepackaged is expensive for me, but my grandfather is a hunter (please no judgement, we are indigenous, it's cultural) and so I get a lot of nice lean meats like moose and venison. When I can't get that, I'll use chicken. Use a low sodium broth (or make your own! But this takes a looong time) and packages of frozen pre-cut vegetables (carrots, yams, broccoli, really anything you want) from the supermarket (make sure to put the peas in last). Stew it for a good few hours. Really the only cutting you'll be doing is potatoes.

Stews and soups are always hearty, delicious, comforting and filling, but without too many calories if you choose your fillers smartly. Since I'm always making a huge batch all at once, I find it easy to divvy it up into single portions that can then go in the freezer and I can have for lunch every day that week. I can make two or three varieties of soup/stew each week, so I never get bored. And then I can reward myself with a nice extra large bowl at the end of the day once a week of newly cooked soup for a job well done.

I find it quite rewarding, and I suggest it to anyone that would rather not spend money on a lot of processed food or is worried about their sodium intake, or just doesn't have the time or patience to prep a meal every day. Soups and stews are very simple and 90% of the cooking is actually just waiting.

No judgment on hunting for food from me

Stock made from bones at home is far superior to anything one can buy in a supermarket, as far as I'm concerned. I save bones in the freezer and when I'm low on stock, dump them in the crockpot for 8-10 hours. Yes, that's a long time, but I usually do this overnight, and like you said, it's mostly waiting. When done, strained, and cooled I package it in various size containers and freeze it.

I too make big batches of soups/stews and freeze them.

maillemaker wrote: »

Hi all. One of the biggest challenges for me in losing weight is having to "play" with food - food prep. I don't like the drudgery of it and going to the trouble of cooking makes me want to cook something good (high calorie) not diet food.

I have been considering a plan like Optavia where all the meals are pre-packaged so that I can just grab X number of meals for the day and not have to think about it. I'm not really interested in a very low calorie diet (Optavia is) but I like the pre-packaged concept. I'm also not thrilled about the $400/month price tag for Optavia.

Is there a way to "do it yourself" for a pre-packaged food plan? I like rote repetition as it makes it simple to follow. I sort of do this now with a peanut butter sandwhich for breakfast, a McDonald's McDouble for lunch, but then I often blow it at dinner when I have to deal with the family meal.

Are there pre-packaged foods that work well in a diet plan and don't require a lot of fuss? I guess I could get some "TV dinner" kind of things and that way portion and calorie control is handled for me.

I'm not big into left-overs so the idea of making a batch of stuff and eating it over a week is not appealing. Then there is the portion control aspect of not giving yourself more than you should from the "pot".

Does anyone else use pre-packaged food as part of their diet plan? Any suggestions?

Steve

This is me all over. I am a good cook and love cooking but what that means is that I create something extremely high calorie. I realised I listened to the general consensus for too long about 'ready meals' and that actually its a much easier way to control your intake if like me you would cook up a storm in the kitchen.

I would just buy ready meals that are good quality, as good as you can get, that you can tolerate, some ready meals are not very tasty (obviously thats the pay off) and then use them where its all pre calculated for you.