When did you stop seeing fast food as an option?
kiela64
Posts: 1,447 Member
Relying on fast food for lunches or when I don’t want to cook or when I’m tired and want a motivation to get out of the house on time is one of my absolute worst habits for both my wallet and my weight/health. I didn’t always see it as an option. I used to never spend money on food when I was young, and it just never occurred to me to go into these places. University changed that and I’m finding it harder to go back to “boring” home foods like sandwiches from the freezer or spice-less curry lentils (the grocery store curry powder is just such a sad bland spice). I’m no cook and a “simple” meal can often mean hours of work because I make mistakes and can’t seem to do 2 things at once (like stir and chop). It makes me feel dumb, then I avoid it. Which is even more dumb.
I really want to cook vegan or vegetarian meals (mainly because my access to refrigeration during the day is inconsistent and I want to avoid poisoning myself - but also ethical reasons). But everything seems so complicated! I don’t even know where to buy setein (spelling?) let alone cook it.
But I’m living on ~$12,000/year trying to make my income go to school to reduce debt (also living at home). I can’t keep overspending on eating out, but buying strange ingredients I don’t know how to use is also intimidating.
I can make 3 meals: (bland) curry lentils & uncle Ben rice, white beans & quinoa, and a black bean and quinoa soup. The spices I use are: garlic, chipotle peppers, and (bland grocery store) curry powder. The cookbooks I have are confusing and require so many ingredients I can’t find. I also need to be able to freeze whatever I make for a week+ of use (I can really Only cook once a week because it takes like 4h for me to do simple things). But I am so sick of these 3 recipes!
Help??? 😞
I really want to cook vegan or vegetarian meals (mainly because my access to refrigeration during the day is inconsistent and I want to avoid poisoning myself - but also ethical reasons). But everything seems so complicated! I don’t even know where to buy setein (spelling?) let alone cook it.
But I’m living on ~$12,000/year trying to make my income go to school to reduce debt (also living at home). I can’t keep overspending on eating out, but buying strange ingredients I don’t know how to use is also intimidating.
I can make 3 meals: (bland) curry lentils & uncle Ben rice, white beans & quinoa, and a black bean and quinoa soup. The spices I use are: garlic, chipotle peppers, and (bland grocery store) curry powder. The cookbooks I have are confusing and require so many ingredients I can’t find. I also need to be able to freeze whatever I make for a week+ of use (I can really Only cook once a week because it takes like 4h for me to do simple things). But I am so sick of these 3 recipes!
Help??? 😞
18
Replies
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Quebec? Try buying spices from a specialty spice dealer. With so many people from all over the world in Canada, you've got to have access to something better than "sad bland spice". Fire your grocer.
Keep trying to learn to cook. Every mistake is a lesson to be learned.10 -
I have been cooking for many years but honestly it doesn't need to be that difficult. In the last few years I have started to cook less often but we still eat homemade meals almost exclusively. What I've done is learned to cook smarter. For example I have a big package of ground beef out for dinner tonight. I will fry the whole thing and get three meals out of it. One meal will be tacos, one will be spaghetti (I buy jarred sauce and just doctor it up) and one will be a casserole for hubby that I won't eat (too many calories, lol). I also routinely buy a roast chicken at Costco and make a couple meals out of that. I boil the bones for soup with with some of the meat added. Once the broth is made I add carrots, celery, onions, thai curry paste and coconut milk then I freeze small portions for work lunches. The breast meat is lovely in sandwiches or you can shred it with barbeque sauce and serve on a lower calorie bun (safeway's hamburger buns are 110 calories). If you add some shredded cabbage you will fill up pretty well. Over time I have gotten down to a list of things that are easy to prepare and can be done ahead. I've also discovered things that are quick light meals. One of my favorites is the Oceans Snak pack of tuna with rice crackers. The rice cracker one in canada is 146 calories and makes a nice snack or breakfast. I also still use Lean Cuisine but I find since it's mostly carb it's not as filling as other things. Keep experimenting. You'll find your best choices eventually. Good luck.6
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Pintrest can give you lots of recipes. You tube can be alife saver as well- take the time to explore and see what your tastes are- You can do it!2
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i mean...i guess i find plain things yummy? my palate is pretty simple.
I cook up a bunch of protein like chicken breast. seperate into portions and freeze many for ready to go meals.
i eat tons of vegetables, mostly raw but also a cole slaw salad which is a bag of broccoli slaw and salad dressing. makes 4-5 portions per bag. I use frozen veggies a lot (green beans, brocoli). Lots of frozen cauli flower rice with slice of laughing cow cheese.
lunch is boiled eggs i can do in one big batch. vegetables again. more laughing cow cheese. and home made protein bar (you can buy some too).
breakfast i make a bit batch of steel cut oats. add frozen rasepberries, spices and sometimes cocoa nibs. there are tons of fancy recipies and you can add pb and stuff but i'm a simple eater.
curry is super easy. just increase spices (i double the curry in this one here)
https://www.google.com/search?q=easy+curry+detoxinista&rlz=1C1GCEA_enCA821CA821&oq=easy+curry+detoxinista&aqs=chrome..69i57.2758j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
chili's are easy big batch food too.3 -
Some people go through a bit of reprogramming after 6 weeks or so. I did. It is not as easy for me now to settle for fast food when for the same calories I can eat so much more food. I still eat FF but not very often anymore. To my surprise I even like steamed vegetables now and a few years ago if you told me that would happen I would have thought you were nuts.
The thing is that that most fast food is actually pretty basic itself. It couldn't be fast if it was elaborate and it wouldn't be a big seller if it had really bold and unique flavors. TB's Fire Sauce is a joke imo.
Keep pushing yourself to cook new things and you might find yourself starting to like some easy meals in time.6 -
I have a recipe that is essentially chopped veggies and potatoes boiled in a couple cans of beans.
It's a little bland so I use salt, pepper, maple flavored beans and a dash of BBQ sauce. Makes a ton of food and can be frozen.0 -
Can you bake a potato, make an omelette or scrambled eggs?
I don't know what seitan is, so can't help there, but find tofu easy. I buy it in blocks (it's widely available in the supermarket in the uk) chop into chunks and stir fry it, or use it to make kebabs.
There are lots of soups to make.
I can cook but am lazy, will often make at least 2 portions. Or make very simple dinners, tonight was just beans on toast!
Could you split up the prep, do some shopping beforehand, or buy ready chopped veg if that is what is slowing you down?
It will get easier if you stick with it.
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I have a couple healthy choices at semi fast food places such as Dos Coyotes Yucatan salad and the margarita pizza at Pizza Rev. I'm guessing you dont have those places in Quebec. Checking calories online helps. Some easy things I do are sheet pan meals. Roasting veggies is easy. An Instant Pot is great for soups, stews, dry legumes, and yogurt. I Google recipes and choose ones I have the ingredients for on hand. Another idea is to grow fresh herbs to add to food. I make a big salad for lunch each day with lots of veggies and herbs, then mix up the protein. This wouldn't take too long to prep the night before.0
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I have no idea how to "cook". But I can make things hot in the oven or on the stove. I can google "5 ingredient slow cooker meals". I can chop up some veggies, spray them with oil, and stick them in the oven. I can bake stuff in the oven and top everything with jarred tomato sauce. Stir frying just requires chopping stuff up and stirring it around with some soy sauce.
Seriously though, and I'm not trying to be rude, google is your friend (and mine!). Between slow cooker meals and sheet pan meals, you could feed yourself forever off of google. Add words like simple or easy in your search term. When in doubt I keep frozen meals on hand - are they perfect? No. Are they cheaper than fast food? Yes. And many of them have decent macros, especially if you have some microwaved frozen veggies on the side!9 -
I feel like anyone who can both stir and chop consistently and accurately is not human.
Anyway, I don't have an answer to your original question. My wife is (more or less) vegetarian and abhors fast food of most varieties, so it just became habit for me. Although, it is with me now. I truly can't handle anything from a traditional fast food spot, unless it's Carl's, Jr. Even then, I recognize that the food is bland, loaded with excessive amounts of fat and sugar, etc.
I'd focus on easy meals you can make. I mean, anyone can own a crockpot, throw in some chicken breast and salsa, and have something to throw on tortillas or in a pan with eggs. Similarly, one could throw in pork and bbq sauce and have something to throw on a bun. Pile that stuff up, and you have a pretty protein-packed meal.
I'd focus on eggs, especially if you want to learn to cook at all. Eggs are like the total package for me; they are cheap, tasty, customizable, abundant, full of vitamins as well as protein and fat, and they helped me learn how to cook.3 -
JeromeBarry1 wrote: »Quebec? Try buying spices from a specialty spice dealer. With so many people from all over the world in Canada, you've got to have access to something better than "sad bland spice". Fire your grocer.
Keep trying to learn to cook. Every mistake is a lesson to be learned.
This.0 -
For the times where I am in a pinch, I have found that grocery store food (especially frozen food if I have a microwave available) is way easier with more options available and less talking needed. When I realized that, the propensity to seek out fast food kind of fell away. #introvert
Because it's grocery store food, it's way easier to track because of nutrition labels and generally lower calorie since I know what my favorites are. It's also generally cheaper for what you get.
Honestly, though, I was never a big fast food person except during the times I was binge eating, so I think I have kind of an aversion to them anyway. I'll probably never be able to get Culver's on my own again, lol?4 -
Hi OP, I’ve been rethinking my food and I just can’t justify the calories in bought fast food. A lot of it is junk food but there is also healthy fast food. I’m struggling with not being able to weigh food so it’s rare I eat anything prepared by anyone else. So there I am, now having to cook mainly from scratch as I can read how much sodium & sugar is in a jar of sauce.
As kimny72 said, a smart google search can throw lots of ideas your way. And slow cookers are amazing. I use BBC Good Food a fair bit as they have nice easy recipes. Try https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/easy-vegan for some ideas.
Good luck and don’t be so hard on yourself.3 -
I've never eaten a ton of fast food, but I used to eat Taco Bell almost everyday for lunch. I lost a good 20 Lbs before MFP just cutting out sodas but was still eating my Taco Bell and having pizza a couple nights per week.
I became more interested in nutrition when I started MFP after stalling on my weight loss. Once I started logging I could see that the calories I was spending on Taco Bell and pizza were putting me over and that I could actually eat more food for less calories if I did things differently.
As cooking goes, I am of the opinion that if you can read, you can cook. Beyond that, there are a lot of things that don't really require some kind of recipe...certainly not a complicated one. Most of our dinners are some kind of protein seasoned or marinated and thrown on the grill with a veg side and possibly a grain or starch depending. A lot of times I'll make extra chicken or whatever and keep that to throw on a big salad for lunch or I make a simple sandwich.2 -
RelCanonical wrote: »For the times where I am in a pinch, I have found that grocery store food (especially frozen food if I have a microwave available) is way easier with more options available and less talking needed. When I realized that, the propensity to seek out fast food kind of fell away. #introvert
Because it's grocery store food, it's way easier to track because of nutrition labels and generally lower calorie since I know what my favorites are. It's also generally cheaper for what you get.
Honestly, though, I was never a big fast food person except during the times I was binge eating, so I think I have kind of an aversion to them anyway. I'll probably never be able to get Culver's on my own again, lol?
Culvers is the BEST! I get their grilled chicken sandwhich whenever I go. Only 390 calories so I get to eat something delicious and not ruin my day over it. Their food is so good.1 -
Maybe get a cooking book aimed at kids/new cooks - recipes will be simple, techniques will be explained better. It sounds like the recipes you are trying to follow are overly complicated, and assume pre-existing skills.1
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I’m a pretty good cook, I just loathe every second that I spend doing it. I’ve been using a meal service lately, but if I don’t get that ordered in time, I go for pre-cooked protein from the freezer section (usually chicken or Boca-type thing) and bags of frozen vegetables. Zap both, dump in bowl, douse in hot sauce and eat. Sometimes I add frozen rice as well. I like getting the vegetables that have sauce on them too, since that will spread to the meat and rice. It all reheats easily if I take it to work for lunch.4
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With regards to multi-tasking while cooking: there's a French term; mise en place. If you prep and measure your ingredients before you start applying the heat, you'll burn fewer things because you won't have all the distraction of chopping while you're supposed to be stirring.15
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Try some Cajun seasoning or Zatar (middle eastern). Also, there are pastes like gochujang (Korean) that add loads of flavor. Lactantia also has a garlic herb butter stick which adds flavor to whatever you’re cooking. I’m also a student and use these things because they’re one ingredient. I don’t use recipes to cook because I can’t deal with the long ingredients too. Just buy some tofu, broth, rice, veg and plop in some gochujang or miso and bam you have a vegetarian stew. Or make some fried rice with eggs and veg and bam quick vegetarian meal. All you need are basic ingredients and some soy sauce. Make some rice and beans (canned or dry but cooked) and add plenty of salt,garlic, cayenne and onion and such. Curry is not boring! At least it shouldn’t be. Food doesn’t have to be bland. You could also buy a jar of pesto for some pasta. Those are all some “semi homemade” ideas for you that need like one or two seasonings. You’ll get the hang of it. You just need a couple seasonings you can alternate. Good luck2
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Relying on fast food for lunches or when I don’t want to cook or when I’m tired and want a motivation to get out of the house on time is one of my absolute worst habits for both my wallet and my weight/health. I didn’t always see it as an option. I used to never spend money on food when I was young, and it just never occurred to me to go into these places. University changed that and I’m finding it harder to go back to “boring” home foods like sandwiches from the freezer or spice-less curry lentils (the grocery store curry powder is just such a sad bland spice). I’m no cook and a “simple” meal can often mean hours of work because I make mistakes and can’t seem to do 2 things at once (like stir and chop). It makes me feel dumb, then I avoid it. Which is even more dumb.
I really want to cook vegan or vegetarian meals (mainly because my access to refrigeration during the day is inconsistent and I want to avoid poisoning myself - but also ethical reasons). But everything seems so complicated! I don’t even know where to buy setein (spelling?) let alone cook it.
But I’m living on ~$12,000/year trying to make my income go to school to reduce debt (also living at home). I can’t keep overspending on eating out, but buying strange ingredients I don’t know how to use is also intimidating.
I can make 3 meals: (bland) curry lentils & uncle Ben rice, white beans & quinoa, and a black bean and quinoa soup. The spices I use are: garlic, chipotle peppers, and (bland grocery store) curry powder. The cookbooks I have are confusing and require so many ingredients I can’t find. I also need to be able to freeze whatever I make for a week+ of use (I can really Only cook once a week because it takes like 4h for me to do simple things). But I am so sick of these 3 recipes!
Help??? 😞
If you want to DM me your address I'll mail you my "Moosewood Restaurant Low Fat Favorites". I never fell in love with it, stuck with the original high fat classic vegetarian cookbook. Low Fat Favorites could use a good home. You could also check your library for this or other veg* cookbooks. I like the Kripalu Cookbook but know it has tons of ingredients that I doubt you would have on hand.
I was glancing through the Moosewood to see how complicated the recipes are or how exotic the ingredients are. Am seeing a lot of different fresh herbs. This is a pain, which I manage by having a garden. If not, I'd consolidate.- Parsley lasts a long time in the frig if put in a jar with some water. Before I developed a taste for cilantro I subbed parsley for it.
- If you like basil, sub it for other herbs - tarragon, thyme, oregano, etc.
- There's a recipe that calls for dill and mint. Sure, both will be more complex, but fine to do one or the other.
- I no longer buy shallots - they are too hard to peel and expensive. I use regular onions.
- I grow scallions (and chives) but in the winter often don't feel like buying a sad bunch of scallions so sub regular onions.
- There is no substitute for fresh ginger. This can be frozen. Oh, and don't bother peeling it.
IF your store has seitan, it should be with the tofu. Whole Foods definitely carries it, and I imagine Trader Joe's does as well.3 -
ps - I adore my "Joy of Cooking", which is how I learned to cook. I see they have a vegetarian cookbook. It's under $10 or try your library.
https://smile.amazon.com/Joy-Cooking-All-About-Vegetarian/dp/0743202090/0 -
autumnblade75 wrote: »With regards to multi-tasking while cooking: there's a French term; mise en place. If you prep and measure your ingredients before you start applying the heat, you'll burn fewer things because you won't have all the distraction of chopping while you're supposed to be stirring.
I definitely mise en place for stir fries. For most other things, I turn down the heat so I can cook the onions while chopping everything else that has shorter cooking times.0 -
I have a ridiculous amount of spices, but if I had to limit myself due to space or budgetary concerns, they would be:
1. Salt
2. Pepper
3. Italian seasoning
4. A good curry powder
(I've always been happy with Frontier brand)
5. Berbere
6. Chili powder
7. Pumpkin pie spice
So for example I would use the Italian seasoning for any recipe that called for dried oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, basil, or sage and the pumpkin pie spice for any recipe that called for Cinnamon, Ginger, Cloves, Nutmeg.
I buy a lot of Frontier, and also McCormick, and will never, ever, buy dollar store off brand spices again.6 -
Great lunches can include a few pieces of fruit, a greek yogurt, some almonds, a Babybell cheese.
Or turkey lunchmeat on a tortilla or French hamburger roll (Publix!) with a slice of cheese, a yogurt and banana on the side.
I stopped eating out right away. I can't really eat it now that it's been so long without getting an upset stomach.3 -
A long time before I started losing weight. The two aren't connected for me.2
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I can help you with the bland curry powder. “Curry powder” is an Anglicized version of Indian spice mix, which is called Garam Masala - which means literally, spice mix. Garam Masalas range from mediocre to great. Go to an Indian grocery store, and throw yourself on the mercy of the shopkeeper. Ask which Garam Masala they themselves prefer.
If you don’t have an Indian grocery, you can buy Garam Malala from Amazon.
Indian cooking site, will teach you everything you need to know: vahrehvah.com
The main trick to properly seasoning Indian food is that you don’t just chuck spices in with water. Spices need oil or fat to release the flavor. So what you do is make a tadka, a seasoning mix made by heating spices in oil, and then you mix the tadka into your food. Put a little oil in a small pan, put your spices in, and stir over lowish heat for about thirty seconds until it smells fragrant. You don’t want to burn your spices, just cook them slightly. Then mix the oil into your curry.
Because Indian culture has been doing vegetarian cooking for a long time they have many tricks to making vegetarian dishes delicious, such as hing, which adds umami flavor to vegetarian dishes. Other cultures such as Japan and China which have traditions of vegetarian cooking are good to look at for inspiration. Ginger, red pepper, garlic, soy sauce...
As far as messing up when you try to chop and stir at the same time: don’t do this! Chop everything first, lay it out, then start cooking. Walk through the steps in your head, get out all the ingredients and the cookware, and lay it where you need it. This is called Mise en place, and it’s what chefs do. Then when you cook you are much less likely to forget something.17 -
/\ I wish I could "like" and "insightful" a post. That one is worth bringing the "awesome" button back for.3
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Garam masala doesn't require a specialized grocery, they have it at my mainstream grocery, along with a bunch of interesting curry mixes and other mixes. But, yes, great advice, and especially about the mise en place, which I was going to mention too. Very helpful approach.
OP, since you are insecure about cooking and would likely benefit from feeling more confident in the kitchen, I highly recommend Mark Bittman's books, especially How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. It's a great book for newby cooks, especially in going from needing to follow a recipe to understanding cooking and being able to just wing it with the ingredients you have on hand. You could probably find it at a library (and it's pretty cheap used -- $2 + shipping at amazon).
Some ideas for quick and easy meals in the meantime (based on how I would often cook before I cooked but when not wanting to mess with a recipe):
Buy a rice and beans package mix -- not as cheap as just rice and just beans, but cheaper than McD's and easy and fast. Buy some vegetables you like and sautee them and add them to the rice and beans -- full meal!
Stirfry with various vegetables, sauteed, add to rice, include some tofu or beans. Spices help with this, try different spice mixes (I adore Japanese 7 spice if you are doing this more Asian style with the tofu, but it might be harder to find).
Make rice, take some canned beans (black or pinto or kidney) and add some spice (chili if you like spicy or chipotle or whatever seems worth trying), and also add some sauteed vegetables -- cauliflower, peppers, jalapeno, again whatever seems good. Make and add some pico de gallo (https://cookieandkate.com/classic-pico-de-gallo-recipe/) or just hot sauce (which you can buy and have on hand).
Make pasta (you can try pasta made from lentils or chickpeas for more protein) plus a purchased sauce to which you add vegetables or if you want to try making your own sauce with canned tomatoes do, I promise it's easy. Or forget tomato sauce and sautee some vegetables in olive oil and add extras you might have around (olives, nuts or seeds) and then also some source of protein like chickpeas or white beans.5 -
kshama2001 wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »With regards to multi-tasking while cooking: there's a French term; mise en place. If you prep and measure your ingredients before you start applying the heat, you'll burn fewer things because you won't have all the distraction of chopping while you're supposed to be stirring.
I definitely mise en place for stir fries. For most other things, I turn down the heat so I can cook the onions while chopping everything else that has shorter cooking times.
Sure, after you've got the hang of noticing which steps might need to be done in advance, maybe you don't need 35 ramekins for each ingredient. I tend to pile up the veggies on the cutting board. Nobody needs that many dirty dishes. But it's a great idea to have at least read the full recipe all the way through, so you know that just as the butter is burning that's not the time to *start* dicing 6 lbs. of potatoes.
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Hello Fresh or Home Chef is fun. They send you the ingredients and they instruct you how to cook them. Easy enough.5
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