Healthy Foods for the Time-Starved

lunch meat or just meat sandwiches don't get any respect. quicker than quick! nitrate free of course!

You mentioned Tuna Salad...I have another suggestion. In the Tuna section there are "Chicken of the sea- tuna cups" They are in blue plastic containers (kinda like a fruit cup) and 80 calories per cup. Best part! They don't need to be drained!!!! I take them all the time because of that fact alone. Just peel back the top and dive in! They come in a 4-pack but not all stories carry them so you may have to check one or two.

I also use a lot of turkey bacon. I make like 8-10 slices at a time. Once it's cooked, I keep it in the fridge but I haven't found it necessary to refrigerate it. I throw it in plastic bags and take it to work or toss it in a sandwich or quick munchy snack.

I also bought a cheap dehydrator and have dehydrated veggies and fruit. Doing it that way, you get the quick healthy something to grab. As long as the bag is airtight, it lasts for a while then you can add your own seasoning if needed and get your veggies/fruits! The part that takes a long time is the cutting but once it's cut, you can stick it in the dehydrator and leave it alone.

One more thing, I cook ground turkey, weighed out before cooking and cook each serving separately then store. Makes a quick grab to toss in something else like salad or pasta to add the protein.

I guess most of my ideas take some time to prepare but they can store easily for quick grabs later.

Any questions or anything, feel free to send me a message. I'll keep thinking of stuff.

Oatmeal
Ceral
Eggs (as you mentioned)
Greek Yogurt
Fruits and veggies. I usually portion these out ahead of the week and use them as grab and go.
Squash. (I will cook it a head of time then keep some in the fridge)
Crockpot meals. You can freeze the ingredients ahead of time then put them in in the morning to cook and then freeze the cooked stuff after if you want.
Fiber one bars are my 'sweets' usually.
Babybel cheese
Pre-portioned nuts

Most dinner and lunch items for me are either things I made over the weekend and portioned and then froze or stored in the fridge. I usually have one or two proteins and a lot of veggies (so chicken carrots and peppers, tomatoes & turkey, beef and veggies, a sqaush/veggy bake, eggplant bake, etc. I'm trying to get away from pasta as my go to meal for dinner. Sadly I've gotten into freezer pre-made entrees for dinner, but this is mostly because I'm tired and just eating so I don't go under calories those days I rather crawl into bed, lol. Also if my time crunch and energy get crazy, then I fall back to sandwiches & snacks for lunch (snacks being carrots, celery, cut peppers, bananas, plums, peaches, pears, babybell cheese, fiber plus bar, greek yogurt, all those cooking-not-needed but still healthy items)

I love the crockpot - you can make stuffed peppers, chicken & veggies, pulled pork, beef, turkey, soups, etc without out a lot of time, and then portion it ahead of time for the rest of the days. I always have to portion things out ahead so I can just grab them out without thought or work. If I don't portion ahead of time, not only will I run late in the morning, I will over eat at night.

When I first 'detoxed' and switched over to relatively smart eating, it was sooo time consuming. I swear my days went like this: wake, eat, exercise, eat, grocery shop, plan meals, eat, grocery...you get the idea. My house is still a disaster...! And I don't work outside the home...but have a busy child, husband, and volunteer work schedule so I can feel your pain to some degree. Its tough to do. It just takes planning and keeping it super simple and somewhat repetitive.

Almost a month in, and we are like a well oiled machine and I'm actually thinking about it all a lot less. The trick for us has been investing a small amount of time several times a week to prepare things in bulk, and thinking of the family as a whole, then just picking off the containers in the fridge. We are also pretty simple and not trying to be overly creative with meals. It's pretty much protein and veges every night, the occasional quinoa, rice, whole wheat pasta, or just ezekial bread slices, we just change up the meat choice. We also are individually pretty independent, including my 11 year old. We all make our own breakfast, snacks, and my husband and I trade off dinner preps...

We grill thin sliced chicken breasts 2-3 times a week (my family of three is all eating healthy) and put them in container and use that for our lunches/snacks during the day. All I put on them is a little emeril's seasoning, and we eat them cold.
We cut up 4-5 different types of veges then transfer them to to-go containers and toss in chicken for meals on the go. I never leave the house without a container of food.
We rotate through center cut boneless pork chops, turkey burgers, ribeye, salmon and the packets of tuna.
I keep greek yogurt, eggs, egg whites, oats, avocado and pico de gallo on hand always. That fills in the blanks. Oh, and we don't cook our vegetables either. We eat everything raw. This saves time and seems to make me feel more full, and I think most veges taste better raw.

Grocery shopping is now a breeze because there's a lot of aisles I don't even see anymore even though I shop 2-3 times a week.

I've sacrificed an immaculate house to get into the routine of the food prep and working out 3-5 times a week in the last month or so, but it's been worth it. I think now I'll be able to get balance back.

hang in there! and keep it simple.