[moonkissed]

I feel very embarrassed because it seems like such a simple thing and yet I can't figure it out.

I suck at planning & yet without a plan I fall apart.

I pretty much make all my meals just for myself. My husband has a different schedule then me and our taste in food is so very different we rarely eat the same meal lol Plus he just doesn't touch fruit or veggies almost at all. So it is just me and my rats to eat them lol

I guess the problem is that I have gotten myself into a rut where I mostly eat all frozen, prepackaged type meals. I rarely cook & would say my cooking skills are very newbie still. I am learning and trying new recipes but I am still not great at it lol. So anyways I am just so used to eating just simple stuff and packing my freezer with that crap.

I really want to move away from that and eat fresh food and homemade food.

But budget is an issue and as I said I suck at planning my meals out. I can only go shopping once a week. So often when I try I either won't plan well enough and run out of food and then go on a binge of crap or fast food or my husband stops and brings home junk, etc... or I end up buying way too much and feel like I am throwing away money it is so wasteful

Fresh fruit & veggies are the worst for me. I buy alot of frozen veggies because they are easy to use. And I buy frozen fruit for oatmeal and smoothies but I so prefer fresh fruit. And it always seems like so much for just me (& the rats lol) or I buy the prepackaged cut fruit and it is so so much more expensive

I think part of this is coming from the fact that I was reading food blogs and this girl was showing what she ate everyday and it was such beautiful fresh yummy fruit salads and home cooked veggies and I am like how can she buy so much stuff to have variety when it is just her? lol

As I said this sounds silly to me and I am sure it gets easier with time and practice but I am just trying to start back up and feeling so fragile in it all I guess. I just don't want to feel so frustrated trying to do this I guess.

Any advice on how to plan out your meals/shopping even more so if it is just for one would be so appreciated.

[Em Coconut]

I definitely know how you're feeling... I used to feel that way all the time. I don't have much advice as I kinda just snapped out of it one morning but I hope this can be helpful..

First of all, practice makes perfect Just keep making some of the recipes you already know a little bit, maybe experiment some, and it'll be great with some time. I've made a lot of kinda bad meals this way as I'm no master chef better, but it has gotten a lot better than it used to.

And, for the sake of variety. Take some time each week to find recipes online, there's lots of simple, healthy things out there that doesn't necessarily take any more time, money or much more work than heating a frozen meal or things like that.

And that's about all I can come up with. Anyway I hope you'll figure something out, and good luck on your journey

[wannaBfitnessbuff]

SOme inexpensive and easy things to cook are things like eggs and chicken breasts. When the chicken goes on sale I buy a big pack and freeze them in baggies of 1 or 2. For chicken a little salt pepper and maybe dried italian seaonings and olive oil spray and into the oven. I think that dried rosemary and thyme with olive oil salt and pepper are great on chicken.

Another idea, and I do this ALOT, is to make a batch of something like a healthy veggie filled stew and freeze 1/2 of what I make into jars. THen I take it out a few days before I want to eat it and heat in the microwave. I also chop veggies after shopping and put them into containers so I can easily toss a salad together.. I noticed everything keeps a but better kept seperate than pre tossing the salad and having it a few days.
If you like seafood shrimp is very easy to cook. Just spray olive oil and salt and pepper. I really like to toss them in lime juice and cilantro and onion powder. To me that tastes so fresh and delicious. I know there are recipe sections in this sites under "stickies" maybe someone more familiar can point you toward those.

Like Em Coconuut said "practice makes perfect", it really does help. Maybe try looking up healthy recipes that have fewer ingrediants and high ratings and try them out once a week or so. I didn't learn to cook growing up. Mom mom is a great cook, but wasnt a healthy cook back then (so maybeits good I didn't learn form her). My little sister was always more eager than me and so I didn't learn to cook back then. Since then I have taught myself so much. I do love watching food network and its a great way to learn techniques. Then some cook books and google, and I feel I have become a pretty decent cook.

[seagirl]

This is what I do, you might find something useful here.

This Sunday I cooked a large flank steak, then portioned out 5 servings into tupperware. Then I made some polenta, 5 servings into the tuppies. Then brussels sprouts into the tuppies. Lunches for the week, around 400 calories.

Breakfast is usually the same: wheat toast with goat cheese or eggs and wheat toast.

Dinner: I made a vegan white bean and leek dish that will get me through the week. Other weeks I'll have some different grains in the fridge and just need to add a veggie and a protein.

I can eat the same thing over and over. If you can't, then make some mix and match stuff - make 2 proteins, 2 veggies, 2 grains, and mix them up.

And stop comparing yourself to food bloggers!