I was doing really well tracking my eating and such and fell off of the wagon a month or so ago. I need to get back on track. Part of the reason I fell apart doing it was that I didn't know what to buy to eat. I was sick of always eating the same stuff and never know what to get otherwise.
I will try almost anything, but don't want to spend $1000000 on something and HATE it. I am going grocery shopping Friday after work, and need ideas of quick stuff to make for meals.
I work shifts so my lunch/dinner times vary day to day, which I know is a bad thing. I need to get myself back on track and get into shape. I am sick of myself. I have a gym membership but haven't used it for a while. :S
And it's like, the easiest meal ever. I throw it in the crockpot first thing, then when it's dinner time I heat up some corn tortillas, slice of some avocado, pour some salsa. It's also pretty low calorie, too.
Post by lightbulbsun on Aug 22, 2012 21:07:57 GMT -5
Do you meal plan? I find that's really helpful when I'm shopping, because I already know what I'm eating for the week and I don't end up buying a lot of crap. I find new recipes on pinterest or allrecipes and make a list and stick to it.
I try to eat a lot of protein in the morning - greek yogurt is great, or scrambled eggs. I try to eat fruits and veggies for snacks, but I also like kind bars or granola.
No meal planning. I want to start, but I just can't figure out how to start when I work shifts. Sometimes I work til 5o r 6, other times until 930 at night.
No meal planning. I want to start, but I just can't figure out how to start when I work shifts. Sometimes I work til 5o r 6, other times until 930 at night.
Leftovers need to be your friend. Cook a meal on your early nights and eat the leftovers on the late nights. You make 3-5 meals and you're good for the week
No meal planning. I want to start, but I just can't figure out how to start when I work shifts. Sometimes I work til 5o r 6, other times until 930 at night.
Well do you know on average how many nights a week will be late? Maybe on the nights you get home early you can make extra portions and then have leftovers on the nights you're coming home later?
I usually also plan for a couple of "quick" weeknight meals - like I have this great salad that I can make in about 15 minutes, and it's super filling. I'm a veg, but I guess you could substitute chicken (and maybe cook some ahead so you just have to heat it):
buffalo sauce (I use frank's red hot) 2 portabello mushroom caps cherry tomatoes baby spinach red pepper cucumber blue cheese
Chop the mushrooms and start to heat them on the stove. When they're almost finished I add a splash of buffalo sauce and take them off the heat. While they're cooking, I chop the cucumber and red pepper, and cut the tomatoes in half. I put them all on top of the baby spinach. Then I add the buffalo mushrooms to the top and sprinkle with blue cheese. It's delicious and is quick. I play around with salads all the time.
Also, do you have a crock pot? If you do, that's another good way to have a hot dinner ready when you get home without having to worry about cooking.
I wouldn't do the salad part (didn't care for it) and omitted the goat cheese, but the black beans, chicken, and avocado salsa were fantastic. You could easily make a batch of those, and use them in a variety of ways for a couple days. I put it all over a regular salad, for lunch, and then put it in a tortilla for dinner. H had the beans and chicken in scrambled eggs for a southwest omelette and topped it with the salsa (which keeps really well because of the lime juice). There's also a review of the recipe that talks about marinating chicken in some sort of OJ mix and grilling it. So instead of just grilling enough for one meal, put on 4 or 5 and use them over the next few days.
So if you find a recipe like that, and plan meals around it, you can easily get 2-3 days worth of meals out of it.
Oh, something else I do: think about how you can use ingredients multiple ways.
So like 2 nights ago, we had breakfast for dinner, and I cooked up a pound of bacon. I used the leftover bacon for bbq burgers last night (super easy - mix up bbq sauce and some garlic powder in the burgers, top w/ pepper jack, bacon, tomato, red onion and more bbq sauce). I also used up the rest of the red onion from the other recipe to make those, as well as a pasta salad (which used a bunch of random veggies in my fridge). The pasta salad could be paired with grilled chicken for another meal.
If you can plan it like that, you're not making a giant meal every time. Just a little here and there.
I agree with meal planning. It has not only significantly cut our grocery bill but it has also helped me to stay on track with weight loss. I plan all of my meals & snacks, not just dinners. I try to plan meals that are quick to make and/or can be prepped ahead of time. I also do a lot of prep right when I get home from the store (cleaning & cutting fruits and veggies, portioning out meat before freezing, etc). I make lots of different kinds of burgers too. They can be made ahead of time and frozen. Just take them out the night before to defrost. You can also put your meat in a freezer bag with a bottle of marinade and freeze it. Take it out that morning or the night before to defrost. It marinades as it's defrosting. I pair most meals with either a salad or a steamer bag of veggies that take 5 min in the microwave.
One of our favorite quick meals is buffalo chicken sloppy Joe's. 1lb ground chicken 4 wedges Laughing Cow Blue cheese 1-2 cups shredded cheddar Buffalo wing sauce to taste
Just cook the chicken in a skillet then add the other ingredients. Mix until everything is incorporated & the cheese is melted. Serve on buns with cold lettuce on top (to mimic celery).