So I am a college student - on a limited budget for food - who needs quick, easy, yummy, low in sodium dinner ideas.

So far I get home and I am soooo TIRED from the day I hardly see straight let alone even thinking about dinner....I don't want to eat out but I don't want to spend an hour making dinner when I have at least 2 plus hours of homework...

What do I do?

Ziploc Steamer Bags

You can throw in a chicken breast (or turkey breast if you're me) veggies and whatever seasonings you want (don't want) and just zap it for 5 minutes - BAM you have a meal, healthy, quick, low sodium.

awesome idea

Ha. I was going to say steamer bags too. But I just use them for my veggies. I like to bake my chicken. Just put it in the oven at 400 degrees, walk away for 18 min, come back and it's delicious!

Oh, and if you are anti-microwave (I have a friend who will not microwave anything!), then a rice cooker can be used to steam chicken and veggies. I haven't tried it, but it's supposed to be really simple.

I favor steaming fresh veggies over frozen ones, but Green Giant has an awesome line of seasoned vegetables that you pop into the microwave. They are 70 calories a serving and our favorite is the medley (potatoes, sugar snap peas and red peppers in a light sauce).

I throw it in the microwave while I'm grilling a protein and voila.

As for protein, I've been finding top sirloin cuts (already in prefect servings) for a very reasonable price. I can feed both the DH and I dinner for well under $20 a week, probably closer to $12.

do you have a BBQ or a George Forman?

I buy foster farms chicken breasts at Costco...it's only 2 dollars a pound and they're individually sealed in packages of two. They're super large and filling and juicy and wonderful. I throw them in a ziploc baggie with some lawrys marinade (cheap @ $2 a bottle...I use about a quarter of a bottle per breast) and grill it up. Presto! delicious with some corn or veggies.

Do you have a george foreman? They grill your meat SUPER fast!

I've tried these, and I love them, but I really have to watch the sodium. One serving of those isn't enough for me (but its 70 calories so no biggie, I just work the other one in) and the sodium kills me. I think if you have two servings its like...36% of your daily allotment? That being said, I do agree that they're awesome.

You could also try baking chicken/fish/turkey in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes, just wrap them in foil and season them. The foil kind of creates a steaming environment but locks in all the juices and lets them cook quicker.

Do you have at least one day a week when you're more relaxed? Maybe on the weekend? You could cook food ahead of time and freeze it - even if you just have a small freezer on your fridge, you could easily fit a week or two worth of meals in there. Pasta or rice dishes, beans, soups and stews and chilis, cooked meat, casseroles, burritos... lots of stuff can be frozen and just reheated later. I find I can fit the most in my freezer in zip-loc (or off brand) freezer bags, rather than solid containers.

Plus, if you pay for your own utilities, cooking a bunch of stuff at once can save money. I almost NEVER cook just one thing in the oven - that's a big waste of money with an electric stove!

+1

I'm super in love with these little boxes. My favorite is the "Healthy Vision" zucchini/green bean mix. One box is enough for a big individual serving of veggies. I pair it with a broiled seasoned chicken breast and baked sweet potato for a filling 7-8 WW point dinner about 3-4 times a week.

This *go-to* dinner takes about 15 minutes to prepare, not counting chicken defrost time (6 minutes microwave on defrost). The chicken goes in the toaster oven on broil for about 14-15 minutes (turn over midway). At the same time I toss a washed and pierced potato or sweet potato in the microwave for 8 minutes (oven baked is tastier, but I never have the patience). The veggie steamer bag goes in the microwave for 4:30 as soon as the potato is done.

I'm probably over on sodium, but as long as I drink lots of water and am consistent, I figure it doesn't affect my weight loss much.

I batch make food and freeze it, I make out a list off meals and choose one day and make food , freeze it and label them, means there is no waste and I just lift out in the morning what I will have for dinner ....

crockpot, baby! rinse off a can or two of beans (lower the sodium), cut up chicken breasts, throw in a jar of salsa, maybe some low-fat cheese and/or sour cream, and you've got chicken chili for days.

my old roommate had an entire cookbook of low-fat crockpot recipes. she would make one or two a week and freeze the leftovers, then eat them in subsequent weeks, so she always had a lot of choices.

you should look online for quick recipes that include only a few ingredients that sounds yummy and delicious and when you find a recipe that taste really good make extra and put them into little plastic containers and throw them in the freezer and just take them out to microwave when you get hungry =) if you like fish you can do what i do take a big strip of foil paper and put the fish in the middle and mince some cilantro and mint leaves and maybe some green onions and throw it on the fish and add some olive oil and garlic salt with parsley then wrap it up and place it directly on the stove stop on low fire for about 5 mins then on low-medium fire for about 8 mins then unwrap and enjoy! it smells really good and tastes reallly good! and there is no cleanup cause you do the cooking on the foil wrap =) by the way these are the two pictures before i cooked it just to show you how it looks when i wrapped it so the juice doesn't drip out

thanks so much ladies...

I hope I am not the only who loves eating but hates cooking!

Im right with you I hate cooking but Ihave too. THese are some great ideas