I don't think that phrase is copywrited... or I'll change it if there are objections.

Mrs. Jim brought up a great point about episode 3, having to order in or eating out, or just being too busy to cook.

sometimes I'm required to work a very long day, often over 12 hours, I'm TIRED, don't want to go out, at a loss for dinner and unprepared.....I live alone and I just can't stand the thought of another packet of Tuna (it's starting to look like what I feed the cats) and NO I DON'T WANT SALAD! I want to eat something warm, real food and don't want to fall into the trap, but *comfort food* comes to mind. I've been dreaming of a Marie Callander chicken pot pie lately.....full blown gravy and crust....

what does everyone else eat? any new ideas/suggestions would be appreciated, I follow a balanced low-fat, less carbs/sugar plan and have a nice indoor grill, convection oven, and all standard kitchen appliances... I could cook in advance if I knew what I wanted....

Lately I've been eating Morning Star Farms Philly-cheesesteak veggie burgers topped with grilled porto-bellas, red pepper, onion and a slice of fat-free cheese...but I can only eat so many of these..

So tell me what you eat?

I am the toaster oven queen (and live alone) so everything I eat is quick & easy. Some of my staples are oven baked chicken fajitas & broiled fish fillets. For the chicken fajitas I mix up some fajita seasoning (a week's worth at a time), thaw some boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips, marinate for about 5 min, bake in the toaster oven about 15 min, serve with a bit of cheese, lettuce etc on a whole wheat tortilla. Fish is broiled with lemon & pepper, then about 2 minutes before it is done, I add some crushed fat free croutons to the top and let it brown.

I eat lotsa whole wheat pasta and sometimes even eggs bc im gettin sick of chicken lately aside from chicken salad.

I cook large servings of the foods I can eat and freeze individual servings that I can carry in a cooler when I'm on the road working or even working at home. My favorite recipe for this is a chicken/tomato/mushroom stir fry thing, only three ingredients. I cook and freeze individual servings of brown rice.

I also carry 100 percent brown rice cakes and 2 percent cheese, as well as individual bottles of milk ... have used 2 percent milk for awhile as it has a lower glycemic index (better for blood sugar) but have decided to go back to the fat free. I eat 100 percent natural peanut butter by the spoonful, as well as 100 percent natural almond or cashew butter. Occasionally, I eat lean beef, stir fried with plum tomatoes and mushrooms.

If I am having a low blood sugar episode and there's no food and I'm on the road (I try to see to it that this never happens, but ...) I can stop at a convenience store and get a cheese stick with an apple or pear (if they have pears, which seemingly they rarely do). I also like grapes a lot, but again they are somewhat high on the GI so I always have some kind of protein with 'em ... I like a snack of grapes and milk (not mixed together, of course)! Sometimes when in a different town for work, I go to the grocery store and get something like an individual carton of cottage cheese (fat free WITHOUT maltodextrin in it) and some tiny plum tomatoes ... I like this with red pepper flakes ... also available in the grocery store.

Besides tuna (sorry to mention tuna), I get individual pouches of salmon ... they have albacore fillets in those pouches now as well ... I had a problem with one, but seems ok for me to eat 'em now ... there is also Uncle Ben's Ready Rice in a microwavable pouch ... they have one that is 100 percent brown rice, precooked, but it's not instant, has a dab of canola oil in it ... I sometimes mix this with, er, tuna in a throwaway bowl and microwave. I also make smoothies and soups in individual sizes out of fruits, veggies, etc., in the Magic Bullet mini blender. I eat only 100 percent whole grain bread, current favorite is called Kamut something or other ... made from kamut and totally sweetener free. I like the Westsoy UNSWEETENED soymilk line in chocolate, vanilla, almond and plain ... no sweeteners of any kind.

I like eggs and also omelets and things made with Eggbeaters.

Hmmm, there must be other things that I eat as well, but that's close to it!

On and off, I do break down and eat something that's not low glycemic, but that's getting less often.

Here's a favourite recipe that is easy and makes 4-6 servings.

Skinned chicken pieces, the equivalent of 1 chicken cut up.
2 cans black (turtle) beans, rinsed.
1 can kernel corn, rinsed
1 small tin chopped jalapeno peppers
1 16 or 19 oz can stewed tomatoes with peppers
2 red, yellow, or orange peppers cut into chunks.
1 large Look bag (plastic roasting bag).

Heat the oven to 350.
Put about 2tbsp flour in the bag and shake.
Put everything but the chicken and peppers in the bag, smoosh them around to mix.
Add chicken pieces and pepper chunks; mix around a bit.
Close the bag, make slits in it, then cook for 45-50 minutes.

I eat this with couscous (instant, ready in a minute) or brown rice (which I cook in bulk and freeze in individual servings.)

Yum. (And will keep you regular...)

My schedule is PACKED - I wake up at 4:30, at the gym from 5 - 6:30, home to shower, primp and dress to be at work by 8:00 (except on the days I'm required to be at work at 7:00). Usually after work I have a 'planned activity' - either a riding lesson or riding practice (stable is a 20 minute drive from work), a Yoga, Pilates, or Spinning class at the gym, or something else (like today - a dentist appt...ugh).

Most weekdays, if I get home by 7:15 pm, that's a short day for me!

Breakfast is easy - I just throw some oats and a few frozen blueberries in a bowl, add Splenda and water, and nuke for 3 minutes while that's cooking I whisk together 1 whole egg + 3 whites and make myself an omelette. From start to finish (including consumption) it takes maybe 15 minutes all told.

Lunch - we have a pretty good cafeteria at work. I'll usually get something like a turkey sand on 12 grain bread with mustard and a diet Coke.

Dinner - about 80% of the time I'll hit the salad bar at Draeger's (my neighborhood grocery). They have a great salad bar - I can assemble a salad pretty quickly. IF it's not too late, I WILL cook something - usually using "George" (aka my Foreman grill) to make chicken, lean steak, fish, whatever looked good at the time I was at the store, add a veggie and a starch on the side and voila!

My weekends are as busy as my weekdays and both hubby and I have different agendas usually - so we'll arrange to meet for a 'late lunch' at one of our regular places (such as Pancho's - the tacqueria I refered to in my post on the Ep 3 thread - or Chevy's). Fortunately my sis, who lives down the street and is a SAHM, and her husband enjoy having BBQs on nice weekend evenings and we are often invited. She LOVES to cook and she's much better at it than I am, and her husband is a BBQ whiz.

After traveling to Michigan in May (when we discovered where all the Bob's Big Boy restaurants that used to be all over SoCal went to...), I realize that here in the Bay Area, we are very fortunate to have pretty easy access to healthy takeout/restaurant options. It's just a matter of research and planning ahead, and of course I am a research junkie

Perhaps Mrs. Jim's sister will adopt me? or send me meals FED-EX? (sounds like we have a similar schedule except you probably have more fun than I do!) I do like a scrambled egg with baby spinach/mushroom for breakfast and piece of fruit. 2 mins. in the microwave. I cook with Wolfgang Puck (George's rival cousin) at times and like the idea of making the chicken fajita strips. I haven't had salmon in ages, but just forgot about it.

great ideas, thanks! I do like couscous, black beans and the oven bake-in bags are in my closet..(hate brown rice and hate to grocery shop but will if need be, I have a huge freezer and there is no reason not to fill it with food instead of vodka). I love cherry tomatoes and have been enjoying from my plants all summer. I limit the cheese because of the fat content, but do like the laughing cow light.

I think I'm feeling unsettled, craving comfort food, because my house has been turned upside down for the last 2 months, (renovations, limited space, *stuff* all over and DUST). so when I come home to a mess I feel even more overwhelmed, but know I have to start cleaning.

thanks!

Well, I DO babysit for her on Friday nights...

I know if we had kids, my schedule would be RADICALLY different - one of the reasons DH and I decided NOT to procreate...settling for our two cats. :P

Marble, if you hate brown rice it's because you haven't found the right kind yet. I think the variety I buy is called Calrose, brand name Sunbrown, from Australia. It's really good, with lots of flavour and not so dry and boring as the usual brown rice. If you can't find it, PM me and we can arrange for me to send you some - or to tell your family in St.Catherines where they might be able to get it for you. There are also packaged blends of brown and wild rices (Lunenberg brown rice, Texas brown etc) that are delicious. I've even had a rice and lentil mixture (in bulk at the health food store) that was delicious.

Brown rice is really good with fruit cooked in it for breakfast or a side dish with chicken for dinner. You can also mix in a little all-fruit spread and some kind of vegetable for a sweet/sour taste.

In my opinion, it's just an acquired taste. After you eat the brown rice for awhile and completely swear off white, you won't want to go back, honest. White rice will begin to taste limp, lifeless and just plain ol' useless to ya! And your bod will say, "Thanks, I'm so happy now!"

Oh, so I guess the container I have in my closet of the some generic stuff that is 4-5 years old should be thrown away? it tastes like cardboard even when fresh....

I'm remembering how important planning the evening meal can make my life easier. I scrounged through the deep freeze and found some lovely tenderloin I bought and packed properly (from June) so it's thawing in a ziplock with seasoning and I'm planning to leave this office at a decent hour to get some fresh veggies and hunt up different brown rice selections. when i go to Sam's, I'll get some staples and I KNOW i've seen fajita seasoning. it's just a matter of getting organized (or showing up at Mrs.Jims sister's doorstep with an empty container to beg for leftovers).

when my daughter was younger and lived with me, I always had a house full of giggling teenage girls and I cooked constantly.

I went to the foodnetwork site and found some adaptable recipes I can short-cut. I know that fall weather can make me crave those heavy hot starchy foods and bread. I think if I'm better prepared, I'm less likely to "need willpower" to avoid the extras.

And from what I've read about Jillian's theory, she's absolutely right for my personality. I must remove the item availability completely (or make it difficult to obtain). I just KNOW that I can't keep ice-cream in the house, because I can't ration the portions. And then this commercial for "ORE-IDA FRIES REAL CRISPY FRIES IN 4 MINUTES FROM YOUR MICROWAVE, REAL CRISPY FRIES IN 4 MINUTES!!!!!" it's like the devil calling me I had to change the channel before I started to drool......

If anyone has any other ideas, please post, 10 heads are better than one!

Did have one more thought when I read your last post about fries ... oven baked sweet potato fries are very easy ... I peel 'em and cut 'em up and spritz with a little canola oil and bake awhile.

I don't know about Sam's, but I get fajita seasoning from Wal-Mart in the same section as taco seasoning, gravy mix etc...and I don't follow the package directions (I leave out half the oil and sub the other half with olive oil). I've seen a recipe for fajita seasoning somewhere on the internet but I don't have the patience to assemble all the ingredients.

I make everything in large batches and freeze in smaller portions. If I'm going to cook and have a freeser, might as well make it count I do HUGE pots of ground turkey-chickpea-black bean chili and freeze if in 1 cup servings for me, and larger portions for my son and husband. I get those 3-4 pound salmon fillets at Sam's and broil 2, cut them up and freeze in individual portions. Same with chicken breasts, pork tenderloin, pot roast beef (it really quite lean and cheap). The new(ish) ziploc or gladware plastic containers are fantastic for freezing single portions.

When I get home, I either steam some vegies or make a salad or stir fry, then add my already cooked salmon/beef/pork/chili./chicken.

Mel

For a hearty winter meal you could make ground turkey or lean beef meatballs and serve on baked spaghetti squash instead of pasta. SS only has 45 cal. per cup and is a vegetable and is good. I used the meatball recipe from Eating For Life.