new member ideas for the non-cook?

[snapdragon]

Hi all, I'm just getting started on PP again. I lost 25 lbs. the first time but fell off the plan when I got pregnant with my twins. I really hate to cook and one of my biggest downfalls is stress eating carbs ie: quick to eat/make. Do any of you have ideas for me on easy and quick foods to keep on hand? I do my shopping for the week on Saturdays so I'm just now thinking about my list.:o

Seems like everyone is looking but not talking so here's more info. I like simple items that require less than 3 ingredients/steps. I have to watch how much veggies/insoluble fiber I eat because for me it irritates my IBS. I checked the recipe board and everything seems to require being made in advance so I guess I'm looking for ideas that can be bought ready made and are higher in protein or require minimal measuring/making. I could quite cheerfully live on what others call snacks so those are o.k. too!

[Lucille]

i keep chopped veggies in a container in the fridge, cucumber, celery, tomato, peppers, broccoli, etc, and a container of protein i prepare which can be cooked chicken, or chopped or sliced ham or roast beef. then when i want a snack or i am running out to work i just grab the 2 containers and i am all set.
i dont know how you could really do this without spending some time preparing...

[maxlharris]

Some quick snacks I like, pre-bought:

Babybell cheese: 5g protein, <.5g carb per serve. Much cheaper in the industrial Costco/Sam's bag.

Beef Jerky: I like Jack Link's Original: Off the top of my head, 9G protein, 3g carb per ounce. Cheaper in larger bags (4-5 ounce) but smaller bags are preportioned.

Pork Rinds: Generally 0g carb, 7g protein per serve, 2 serves to a baggie. I get sick of these very quickly though. Don't do much anymore, but it's always there in both of the snack shops at work.


In terms of make ahead, I read a very simple thing at Mens Health, where their muscle guy will buy a bag of boneless skinless chicken breasts at the supermarket or club store, lay em out on a cookie sheet, season each one differently (if you have a good grocery, or a penzey's near you, you could get premade rubs, watch carbs) and bake em up, flipping once (if I recall correctly).

This link:
http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=nutrition&category=food.for.fitness&conitem=a06a99edbbbd201099edbbbd2010cfe793cd____
Is not entirely low carb, but has a lot of simple solutions for this.

The advantage to premade homemade is like this: You get the plus of homemade (control/knowledge) with the plus of premade (convenience).

Last thing: If you want to get nuts (if this will help you) you may have a tilia foodsaver or something like that (seal a meal is another brand). You can premake stuff, then bag it and freeze it in portions. Microwave and go. I do this, when I have the time/willpower to be that far ahead in my thinking. That's not all the time, contrary to popular opinion.

[Lucille]

oh thats a good idea, i never thought about jerkey, its protein!
i am allergic to all nuts except for peanuts which i can eat very occasionally. if i eat peanuts several days in a row i will then begin to react to them also. but pecans walnuts etc, i cant even go near them.

[deirdra]

I only "cook" 2 days a month, making large roasts and 1-dish-meal casseroles and freezing the leftovers in individual and meal-sized servings. I usually decide what to buy/roast or throw into a casserole depending on what is on sale that week. Roasts take time to cook but the prep time is virtually nil.

Then I can pull out something the night before to defrost in the fridge or steam or nuke it if I forget. Typical meals include chicken caesar salad (cooked chicken with a salad I throw together or buy pre-made) or I steam some frozen veggies (I buy single veggies and mixtures in the big bags) with one of my frozen leftover meat/poultry portions. In 10 minutes the frozen veggies & meat are cooked to perfection & I just add some butter or full-fat salad dressing to complete the meal. With steaming, the meat stays moist, something that is hard to achieve in a microwave. I just use one of those stainless steel inserts that fit in a saucepan. Once the water starts boiling and you turn it down to a simmer & cover, the "work" is over - just set the timer and do something else in the 7-10 minutes until dinner is ready.

At the moment I have beef stew, lamb stew, chicken soupy stew, ground beef alfredo (made with green cabbage instead of noodles), and plain cooked chicken, pork, prawns and burgers in my freezer and nuts, cheese and pepperonis for snacks in my fridge. Because I put so many veggies in my stews and salads, I don't tend to snack on them.

I often have eggs for breakfast, but I even keep individual servings of cheese & precooked sausage or bacon in the freezer to mix in. I cook them in a pyrex measuring cup:
Beat 2 eggs + some chives
Add yummy frozen fillings
Nuke on high for ~60 seconds (depending on your microwave)
Stir
Nuke on high for another ~60 seconds
Stir and let stand for ~60 seconds to finish cooking & cool to eating temperature. Breakfast couldn't be faster.

And it takes me less than 5 minutes to cut up a 1 kg bag of Bavarian Smokies and a 3/4 kg slab of mozzarella and divide it up into 20 "snack size" zipper bags, which I store in one big freezer bag or tupperware-type thingie.

[Gaelen]

I really hate to cook and one of my biggest downfalls is stress eating carbs ie: quick to eat/make. Do any of you have ideas for me on easy and quick foods to keep on hand? I do my shopping for the week on Saturdays so I'm just now thinking about my list.:o

Seems like everyone is looking but not talking so here's more info. I like simple items that require less than 3 ingredients/steps. I have to watch how much veggies/insoluble fiber I eat because for me it irritates my IBS. I checked the recipe board and everything seems to require being made in advance so I guess I'm looking for ideas that can be bought ready made and are higher in protein or require minimal measuring/making. I could quite cheerfully live on what others call snacks so those are o.k. too!

Snapdragon, I guess I'm not really clear what you're asking.
If you're asking for things that are quick to prepare and require 3 ingredients and/or 3 steps or less, you're pretty much limiting yourself to things like what Max suggested--buy a bag of frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts, and either make them up in a batch and freeze them so that you can grab-thaw-eat, or make them one at a time in the George Foreman...that's

buy it
cook it
eat it

Which is about as simple as it gets. IMO, that will get boring, but it's probably the least expensive way to go if you don't want to cook much. I do something similar for lunches. I buy a bag of frozen tilapia or salmon or orange roughy fillets, and a bag of baby spinach, and either make or buy a couple of 'dressings' like balsamic viniagrette, raspberry mustard or blue cheese. I keep them all in the fridge at work, and I nuke the fish on top of the dressed greens for quick lunches. These days, my fish 'n greens lunches and the occasional rotissierre chicken or turkey breast is about as close as I get to anything that is heat 'n eat.

If you're asking for a set of pre-prepared foods which you can just open and eat, and stay on plan, I have to tell you that this is also one of the most expensive ways to stay on plan. The time you're not willling to spend prepping stuff yourself is money you are going to have to pay someone else, and it won't be cheap to go that route. I ate this way on chemo when I couldn't bear the smell of cooking food or stand to handle uncooked food. But that was a temporary solution for treatment days--I couldn't have afforded to do it forever. But if that works for you, try buying things like:

canned tuna, ham, and turkey
bagged greens--baby spinach, salad mixes, coleslaw mixes
cottage cheese and/or ricotta cheese
frozen berries (to mix into the curd cheeses)
the Tyson entrees that are packaged without much gravy--beef tips with mushrooms, roast turkey, roast pork loin
the never-fail standby--rotissierre chicken (or turkey breast, or pork tenderloin if you can get it)
deli-sliced cheeses
deli-sliced cold cuts...but try to get the unseasoned/minimally processed choices like plain, no salt added roasted turkey or ham or roast beef on the bone
Gorton's frozen grilled salmon and cod portions, unbreaded, in various seasonings
TGIFridays frozen hot wings (no breading) or spinach/cheese appetizer in which you can dip celery sticks or the wings.
peanut butter
diet (less than 40 calories/slice) bread for open faced PB sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, tuna melts, etc. If it has less than 40 calories per slice, chances are it also has fewer than 7g ECC per slice, too.


Most larger grocery stores have ready-to-eat food choices, and nearly all of them offer things which are already cooked, require only that they be reheated, and are completely on plan. That said, this becomes a very expensive way to eat if you go that route. If you're into eliminating anything specific from your diet, pre-made foods are NOT the way to go, and if you want to be a low carb vegetarian, you'd better learn to cook. But if none of those things apply to you, then check out your market's prepared foods case and read labels and make some choices. In my local Wegmans ready-to-eat case, I can get meatloaf (no bread crumbs,) meatballs in sauce (again, no bread crumbs or fillers), roast chicken, roast pork loin in mustard sauce, grilled london broil, and usually two or three cooked or roasted vegetable suggestions that are completely on plan. In the seafood case, I can get nut crusted cod fillets (just pan-fry or bake and serve), salmon-cream cheese pinwheels, tilapia roll-ups stuffed with spinach and carrots and mushrooms, and several varieties of pre-grilled shrimp. I have to say I'd stay away from pre-grilled shrimp, but that's just me...raw seafood cooks so quickly that buying anything pre-cooked doesn't seem worth the price or taste to me.

I know that lots of people don't like to cook, or don't always have time...but one thing you should remember. You get out of preparing your food what you put into it--control over ingredients, and exact knowlege of what you're eating, and usually better taste and fresher product and greatly reduced cost. If you've got the money to eat out all the time, you can still eat out on plan--even if 'eating out' is eating from the supermarket's pre-prepared food case. It can be done...but it's gonna cost you an arm and a leg to pay for the 'convenience' of not spending any time in the kitchen. So pay your money and take your choice. ;)

[Missy]

Great posts you guys! :thumbsup: :D

One thing I like Snapdragon is buying chicken "tenders" which I LOVE to stir fry for chicken fajitia's...with taco mix and adobo seasoning...along with onions and green peppers! I make mine without the flour torilla's...and it's so satisfying! I sprinkle some cheese over the veggies too! YUM!