[sacal96]

So I have come to realize one of my biggest downfalls is working late.. Pretty much every day of the week I work evenings. I usually get off about 8 oclock. My problem is at that point I don't feel like its "worth cooking" when its that late.. So I just run through somewhere fast food and thats that.. :[


What I need is some healthy recipes that you can cook ahead and can easily reheat that will taste fresh and delicious haha! I just got a crockpot so I could start something in the morning and let it cook all day, but all the recipes I have found seem to be packed with fat :// I'm also not a big soup fan even though I know it would be easy to freeze and reheat..

Any suggestions???

[canadianwoman]

I don't have a particular recipe for you but I just found out a couple of days ago that you can cook dry beans in a crockpot. I never knew that. Cheap, lowfat and filling. You might want to look into it too. If I come across a good recipe in my search I will post it for you.

[josey]

What plan are you on?
A crockpot as canadianwoman said might be a great tool to make dinner while you are gone.

[indiblue]

When I was in the US and working, I would make two 4-6 portion entrees and prepare vegetables for salads on Sunday. I could grab a Gladware of salad and a portion of entree in the morning for lunch, or reheat a portion of the other entree for dinner.

I would also spend weekends preparing spaghetti sauces, soups, and other entrees in large portions and freezing leftovers. Or prepare asagnas/casseroles and freeze them; then you just have to take out and cook it one night when you're ready for it. No assembly required- just pop it in the oven.

With these methods I did not have to worry about preparing lunches/dinners for a good chunk of the week. Plus cooking and listening to NPR is a lovely way to spend a Sunday ^_^

[bronzeager]

Good for you for thinking ahead. You can look in the Food section below for lots of recipes, or use the search function, also to search ina particular section like Low Carb for "casserole" etc. if you are following a specific plan.

If you haven't got anything prepped, don't forget meals whose main component involves opening a can -- if I haven't got something I always head for a can of black beans or refried beans (check for the vegetarian/low fat kind). Shred some lettuce, open the salsa jar, pop the beans into the microwave, some lowfat cheese shredded on top, sliced avocado if you have it. Greek yogurt is a good sour cream substitute. I usually have some tortillas in the freezer but usually I don't need them.

In most of the crockpot recipes you can leave out a lot of the added fat. The important thing is if there is any meat in the recipe to brown it before you put it in the crockpot, it makes it tastier. I have found some great crockpot ideas on this website: A Year of Slow Cooking. In the contents there is a "Light and Healthy" section but you can modify a lot of her regular stuff. If you don't have a lot of practice with a crockpot, make sure to read her FAQs like "help my slow cooker cooks too fast" in the Popular Posts on the lower right.

In the end though because I have a GIANT crockpot (didn't have many choices when buying) and live alone, I usually only pull it out for guest dinners, and instead on the weekend make casseroles and portion them out for the freezer. This weekend I made this: Cabbage Beef casserole to use up some stuff that was lying around in the fridge and cabinets. I used wild rice instead of regular rice (make sure to precook the rice if you do this) for more fiber, added a lot more herbs, and because I didn't have any beef broth, used a tip I think from kaplods and put in a can of tomato juice.

If you see a casserole recipe that you kind of like but is pasta-based, think about substituting grilled thinly sliced vegetables like zucchini or summer squash for the noodles to reduce the calories. Other substitutions: yogurt or evaporated milk instead of cream or canned cream of etc. soup, or in other recipes chicken or beef broth or even a bit of beer or wine.