Ready to Eat Grocery Store Items

bananabelleandko
bananabelleandko Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am looking for 2-3 suggestions per meal/snack for ready to eat items from the store for back up options when I just don’t feel like doing more than a 5 minute prep for a meal.

My goals: 1650-1850 calories per day.

Backstory: I feel like I will get comments about this so I’m addressing it up front. I have ADHD, which makes meal planning, cooking, creating grocery lists, and creating routines difficult. I’ve been swimming against this current for 19 years now and it’s ended up in cycle of crash dieting and then heavy weight gain from restrictions following. I’m needing to be realistic about my starting point and having a few options of ready to eat items for when my brain is blocking me from making healthy choices due to effort and decision fatigue, will help me stay on track.
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Replies

  • ellime81
    ellime81 Posts: 2 Member
    Baby carrots and hummus is one of my favorite go-tos!
  • DFW_Tom
    DFW_Tom Posts: 220 Member
    Finding items for a quick snack should be easy enough. Prepared meals that fit your "forever way of eating" is more of a challenge. You can browse the frozen meal isles and see what is there that works for you and that you have room in your freezer for.
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,767 Member
    I second @SuzanneC1l9zz recommendation for the rotisserie chicken. I do this all the time when I'm being lazy or busy.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited May 2023
    Another vote for rotisserie chicken. You can pair this with bread or a wrap, or whip up some 5 minute couscous. I like Near East's Mediterranean Curry Couscous, which you should be able to find near the boxed rice. You could steam a few ounces of spinach on top.

    I often have chicken, rice, and beans for lunch. I have rice & beans recipes that involve a lot of prep, or I just cook a batch of plain rice (from which I get many servings) and open a can or spicy beans or baked beans (also multiple servings.)

    **********

    Back when I had afternoon meetings scheduled and knew I would subsequently not have a lot of mental energy for dinner, I used to plan to make egg-based dishes. The simplest would be a fried egg sandwich. I also like sautéing onions and peppers and then scrambling eggs. My partner likes eggs with tater tots. The tots take more time, but it's hands-off.
  • Corina1143
    Corina1143 Posts: 3,666 Member
    Not a food, but something that helps me.
    A list on my refrigerator of quick, easy meals, like
    1. Tv dinner
    2. Bagged salad
    3. Fake chili (hamburger or ground turkey or leftover meat with chili beans added)
    4. Prep'd (a local takeout where my 2 favorite meals are salmon, sweet potato and broccoli, or steak, eggs, and fried potatoes.
    5. Oatmeal bars (really baked oatmeal that I bake in a large cake pan, 24 servings, and keep in the freezer.
    6. Soup
    7. tuna salad
    This list keeps me out of fast food drive-thru, cause I know I have good alternatives that don't require much thought.
  • PAPYRUS3
    PAPYRUS3 Posts: 13,259 Member
    Perhaps seek out some grocery stores (Sprouts/Zedric's, etc., ). They usually offer full meals packaged to go. Can be great to have a few on hand throughout the week.
  • BeanieBean93
    BeanieBean93 Posts: 55 Member
    I have a hard time cooking sometimes, especially when I'm feeling overwhelmed. Somethings I have found that I can usually manage to make, even when I'm having a rough day.
    scrambled eggs with spinach and salsa
    toast with cheese on top
    baked potato with salsa and veggies

    I've found that the simpler the meal, the more likely I am to eat it. I tried buying premade frozen options and the flavors, components and sauces were too much for me to manage. I needed something with just a couple ingredients.

    easy items that we also buy -
    frozen california blend veggies (microwave and top with seasoning)
    lunch meat (easy for eating with crackers, or making into a sandwich)
    frozen grilled chicken (tyson makes a couple options)
    canned chicken (easy to toss with veggies)
    canned beans (easy vegetarian protein to eat with potato or toast)
    canned soup (chicken noodle, minestrone, vegetable)

    also good to keep on hand is easy things to flavor food. we always have
    2 or 3 salsa options
    2 or 3 hot sauce options
    ketchup
    bbq sauce
    mustard
    garlic salt
    salt and pepper
    lemon pepper
    cajun seasoning
    taco seasoning

  • DebbsSeattle
    DebbsSeattle Posts: 125 Member
    I like sardines, hummus on Wasa crackers.
    Can of tuna on organic salad greens (washed, ready to eat) with a spoon of mayo.
    Small bowl, half Tablespoon butter smeared inside, hand full of kale chopped, topped with any diced veg and an egg. Microwave for 45-75 seconds depending on your micro.
    Shop and chop your veg twice a week, keep in a big food saver bin…instant food at the ready.
    Cook 6 chicken breast at a time, cube and store in fridge. Meat for the week, instant salad topper.
    Chili is a very healthy, low fat, high fiber, high protein meal. Make a pot from scratch, freeze it in small tupperwares for grab and nuke meals.
    Unfortunately, you either must invest time and care of big dollars for ready to eat meals from the frozen section. If you want it badly enough, you will figure it out.
  • no1racefan2
    no1racefan2 Posts: 90 Member
    edited May 2023
    I like to buy bagged caesar salad and add some cooked chicken breast to it. If I have tortillas on hand, I wrap it all up in one of those. I can make 4 wraps from one bagged salad and they will last a couple days in the fridge.

    Edited to add: I'm like you, OP. It's just easier for me sometimes to have ready to go foods. Besides salad kits, I also like bagel bites (I KNOW these are not that nutritious but I can make a meal out of them for under 500 calories and they are filling); ready-to-drink protein shakes (I like Orgain plant-based); frozen cauliflower crust pizzas; prepared soups/chili from the deli; apple slices or celery sticks w/ those little Jif peanut butters.
  • COGypsy
    COGypsy Posts: 1,356 Member
    The freezer is my best friend. I have frozen grilled chicken, shrimp, and meatballs on hand always. I also keep several bags of frozen veggies. Some combination of protein and veg goes together with some kind of sauce (stir fry sauce, BBQ sauce, salsa, etc.) and then I have it either over Ready Rice or Ready Pasta. I basically just scoop and go!
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,519 Member
    We are enjoying a Taylor Farms stir fry at this very moment. They have several varieties. The teriyaki, and the ginger are both 70 cal/serving, including sauces. I chop up chicken, brown it with no oil, throw the veg and sauce on top, and we each split a bag for 105 calories each plus the calories for the chicken. Putting it on a giant bed of cauliflower rice adds 25-35 calories.

    Taylor Farms is available bagged, in the produce section.

    I have to plan fast meals for the evenings we have a 5:39 aquafit class. I don’t like to eat right before a class, and even though husband is rocking is A1C since joining MFP, I do like to feed him asap when we get home.

    Another fast one is to either buy shaved steak or finely chop (my preference) a peice of beef and flash brown it (again, in a dry pan) with some toasted onion seasoning, and serve on a toasted baguette or roll with a peice of provolone or Swiss

    We keep big containers of mixed greens in hand. It takes seconds to throw a handful in a bowl and top with cherry tomatoes for a quick side salad. With a zero cal dressing, that filling side salad is under 29 calories.

    What about a crockpot? Throw a roast/potato/onion or chicken/taco seasoning in, in the morning and come home to dinner waiting. So much you can do with a crockpot.
  • littlegreenparrot1
    littlegreenparrot1 Posts: 702 Member
    Tub of hummous, olives, some kind of tasty bread. I usually have a few rolls/flatbreads in the freezer. Pepper/cucumber/cherry tomatoes/ baby carrots.
    I will happily sit and eat this in various combinations at any time of day.

    Or the classic Some stuff on toast. Mushrooms, baked beans, scrambled eggs. Whatever is lurking/I can be bothered with.
  • bookaddict1972
    bookaddict1972 Posts: 4 Member
    My ADHD game -changer was an instant pot and air fryer attachment. I can go from frozen chicken breasts to chicken tacos in 30 minutes, about 2 of which is hands-on. (Salsa + chicken breast +taco seasoning, seal it and high pressure for about 12 minutes, easy-peasy.)

    Pork loins are pretty inexpensive and again are quick to make in a pressure cooker, plus it feels fancy with some potatoes and veggies or a salad.

    Most crock pot meals can be done in the instant pot, too.

    Air fryer attachments come in handy for Brussels sprouts, frozen chicken or fish, healthier fries, and so on. My kid loves vegan chicken nuggets.

    And instant pot hard boiled eggs were a game-changer because meal prep is so easy (peeling is kinda magical). Hard boiled eggs are a good snack or protein for a salad.

    I also overcook, meaning I'll make a meal so I have leftovers to eat later on. Sometimes those are things i can pop in the freezer and reheat, but often they're leftovers I'll scatter through the week. A freezer example is a spinach egg bake; regular leftovers egg roll in a bowl.

    For breakfasts, I have oatmeal or yogurt and fresh fruit. Nuts, string cheese, and veggies are also popular in my house. Soups are handy, along with all kinds of frozen veggies. You could do a baked potato (microwaved, really) with broccoli, for example.
  • ByteLily
    ByteLily Posts: 52 Member
    I have the same issues so I was interested in your post and the replies. I have RA to top it off. I like to keep these things on hand either made im advance by me or store bought. Boiled eggs. Salad. Cans of tuna. Packets of plain oatmeal. Kind breakfast bars . Frozen vegetables. Gluten free fish sticks.

    I poach a whole chicken and freeze it into containers with the broth. I can't do rotisserie chicken bc our local store never cools them all the way and the skin is high in fat and salt which I cannot resist.

    I tend to eat the same things over and over and while it is boring it is just easier to eat that way if being healthy is my main goal and such. Ex for breakfast I'll eat plain oatmeal, rice milk and half a cup of frozen blueberries in the oats, one boiled egg. This hits my whole grains, proteins, and healthy fruit and comes in at 255 cals. It's easier to eat that every day .

    Lunch is always a green salad with that chicken I poached. Not exciting but I know I had my proteins, fiber ( I cut up a whole tomato, add whatever fresh raw veggies with bua e and use low calorie dressing ).

    Dinner is usually a lean meat. Again this is on hand . And a veggie and I do eat carbs like those polenta pre made , a few noodles or even great value steak fries which are surprisingly not that bad.

    We have some meals when it's just too hard to cook : eggs on Toast with an orange. A baked potato with frozen broccoli and a can of tuna.

    Hope any of that helps.

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