Basically I'm looking for some food ideas that are healthy (not low calorie/diet foods) that I can use for a staple fall back on food every day... something I can make a batch of on Sunday, pre-measure serving sizes, and grab when I'm hungry. Honestly I am happy eating the same thing every meal for every day... I just need to know that all the nutrients are coming in, and it needs to be ready prepared one or two days a week. I need simple ingredients. I am just tired... I need energy food. I cut caffeine out a few days ago and I know that is still wearing off but
What are your best go-to meals that you can cook in advance and portion out? We are low income and I'm looking for something with simple ingredients that are easy to come by and will fill me up and have lots of nutrients/vitamins. I want to aim for around 1500 calories a day right now I think and see where that takes me.
My go-to, easy repeat meals are always chicken breast and salad.
When chicken breasts are a good price, I buy as much as I can. I split them up into 2 or 3 servings (If they are particularly large breasts, I'll slice them in half) and freeze in ziploc bags. Then I get all the veggies I like in salad. (Pretty basic, varying combinations of: Spinach, carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, mushrooms, snap peas, sweet peppers and radishes) As soon as the rest of the groceries are put away, I start slicing and dicing! I dice peppers, julienne carrots etc etc.
You can cook your chicken breasts a day or two in advance if you need too. I have a little indoor grill that I often use in the winter to cook up chicken quick. Summer time means real BBQ-ing!
Also, I regularly buy whole rotisserie chickens. We have it for dinner with a salad the first night. Then I shred the rest up, with a whole bunch of grated carrots and some BBQ sauce and we have that with spinach and cheese on a bun or a wrap. One chicken can be up to 5 servings (there are two of us)
Other make a bunch at a time meals I like are
Chili - You can make so much, do it so many ways and it always good. I fill my freezer with it regularly.
Soup - My personal favorite is a broccoli cheddar chowder. Filling and delicious. I also like to keep this on hand whenever possible Home-made heat and eat can't be beat
Do you have a slow cooker? If so that can open a whole new world of ready to eat meals for you too. Google freezer dump meals!
I'm a batch cooker/freezer, just for this reason. I grocery shop based on about 8 dishes, cook them all, freeze them in individual portions and I'm all set for about 2-3 weeks.
Soup, chili, and stew are the easiest to cook and freeze in portions. It's how I grab and go everyday for breakfast and lunch.
Other one pot meals like noodles/veggies/meat or rice/veggies can be cooked and put into single servings.
Casseroles are super easy if you freeze them for a few hours until semi frozen, then cut into squares and freeze in a large baggie, side by side. The possibilities are endless, but I like things like noodle-less lasagna, layered enchiladas (bean, chicken, corn, etc between corn tortilla layers), chicken divan, shepherd's pie, etc.
Frozen burritos are really easy and they can be either breakfast burritos or any other kind with your choice of fillings. Just cook the fillings, put them into high fiber tortillas with a bit of cheese, roll, and freeze onto a sheet pan seam side down. Once frozen just baggie them into a freezer bag.
I also like to make things into individual servings like meatloaf, mini lasagnas, frittatas/crustless quiche in muffin tins (or even mini muffin tins!). You can freeze them too.
I also make things like meatballs, chicken nuggets, and cheese sauce to freeze for my little one - they're all 50% veggies
ETA I have exact recipes if you're interested. I'll post a link to where I posted it before.
Munchy, I'd love to see any recipes you have posted. If I can spend a day preparing food and be set for 2-3 weeks aside from the fresh salads and veggiesand chicken that Silverfire mentioned. That sounds like the kind of cooking I am interested in! If you have your recipes or shopping list posted anywhere I would love to see what your go-tos are. I really need some inspiration and a simple start to get on the ball here. Also your veggie chicken nuggets sound like a great idea for my toddler. She has her on and off days with veggies but would love a quick thing that I could freeze and reheat for her if we are in a rush.
Munchy, I'd love to see any recipes you have posted. If I can spend a day preparing food and be set for 2-3 weeks aside from the fresh salads and veggiesand chicken that Silverfire mentioned. That sounds like the kind of cooking I am interested in! If you have your recipes or shopping list posted anywhere I would love to see what your go-tos are. I really need some inspiration and a simple start to get on the ball here. Also your veggie chicken nuggets sound like a great idea for my toddler. She has her on and off days with veggies but would love a quick thing that I could freeze and reheat for her if we are in a rush.
I'm happy to share! I posted it here before, so I'll just link to the post.
My go-to foods vary, but there are always at least 2 big pots of soup in a cooking weekend, always meatballs and chicken nuggets, marinara and cheese sauce if I don't have any on hand (I cook big batches maybe every 6-8 weeks). I try to have some kind of burger (veggie or turkey/veggie), a chili variation, and a bean (dal with cauliflower, puerto rican or cuban style beans), and I usually have frozen rice on hand too so I can take some rice and scoop it onto my saucy bean dish.
Before I was gluten free, I would just throw together one pot meals with pasta, with or without meat and cheese, plenty of veggies, etc. Rice or grains work well for that too, and you can freeze them into portions. Lasagna rolls or stuffed shells freeze wonderfully on a cookie sheet - If I didn't explain it, the reason why you use the cookie sheet is so that the food freezes individually instead of being stuck together, and you can take out what you need at a time.
It really saves me so much money and time. I spend around $90 for 2-3 weeks of food for a family of 3!
THANK YOU! I am going to read this list with a pen and paper in hand and jot some notes. Hoping to go grocery shopping tomorrow to stock some different foods that I can work with here...
And we have about 100lb of yellow squash in the freezer still from garden season (narrowed down from about 200lb) which I need to use up before June when they start ripening again! Can't wait to try that idea for chicken nuggets. I think my daughter will love them.
THANK YOU! I am going to read this list with a pen and paper in hand and jot some notes. Hoping to go grocery shopping tomorrow to stock some different foods that I can work with here...
And we have about 100lb of yellow squash in the freezer still from garden season (narrowed down from about 200lb) which I need to use up before June when they start ripening again! Can't wait to try that idea for chicken nuggets. I think my daughter will love them.
You're welcome! When I make my grocery list, I basically just jot down my dishes on the top, then list the ingredients on the bottom that I'm missing. Then I add in the things I always need (milk, eggs, etc).
To use up the squash, I'll suggest squash fritters and cream of squash soup (you can usethis recipe and swap out the zucchini).
Let me know how your little one likes the nuggets! Mine devours them - as does my boyfriend haha!
I have some things that I tend to eat over and over again:
Rotisserie chicken - I cut pieces off and then take about 2 ounces and some fat free shredded cheese and put in a tortilla (whole grain) and fold it over and melt the cheese to make a quesadilla. I put sriracha sauce in it also.
I like a lot flavors so I make a meal of the following combined in a bowl - The exact items and proportions vary depending on how many calories I have available - roasted chicken or turkey breast (cut up in pieces - usually about 2 ounces, but sometimes none at all), 1/2 cup to 1 cup berries, 2 to 6 triscuits, WW jalapeno cheese stick (cut up), 1/2 ounce of chopped walnuts or almonds (omit if I don't have many calories left).
Pizza - I buy a very then whole wheat crust, spread with laughing cow lite cheese, thin layer of pizza sauce, some cooked chicken, some cut up veggies, maybe some fat free feta. Again I can vary this depending on what I have on hand.
Tuna Salad - tuna in pouch packed in water, a little bit of Reduced fat olive oil mayo, 1 chopped up egg, sugar free relish (just a little). If in a hurry, omit the egg
Burrito - 1 egg, 2 egg whites scrambled with some chopped veggies, and maybe a little chopped turkey or chicken (or not), sriracha sauce, wrap up in a whole wheat tortilla
DH for breakfast makes oatmeal with fat free Greek yogurt and fresh berries.
I don't do a ton of batch cooking, but a bit. Can I suggest looking up the cookbook "Well Fed"? Phenomenal recipes focused on just the thing you're wanting, not low calorie or low fat but highly nourishing and delicious. Melissa did a great job.
I love finding a few foods I like and eating them repeatedly for weeks on end. Some of my past go-to's have included: Fage Greek yogurt with honey, nectarines, apples, pears, peaches, luna bars, chobani coconut yogurt, cheddar cheese sticks, hard boiled eggs, veggie burger with honey mustard, onion, and spinach in a wheat wrap, Ezekiel toast with sliced avacado and hot sauce or honey, spinach and arugala salad with dried cranberries, goat cheese, pecans, and onions. I also like a whole wheat English muffin with tomato sauce topped with cheese and veggies.
Lately I'm into the whole foods 360 individual sized vegan pizzas-150 calories!
I eat the same exact lunch every day (at least every weekday): turkey sandwich on multigrain bread with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, green pepper, sprouts, and hot sauce. The guys who make the sandwiches at my office cafeteria start making it when they see me coming. I have eaten this same thing for lunch every day for something like four years. Amazingly I am not tired of it - actually it remains a highlight of my day! I sometimes eat turkey sandwiches on the weekends too. I just don't tire of them.
I am also a big batch cooker - I do nearly all my cooking on weekends, and occasionally supplement by chopping up a quick salad or cooking up an extra veggie during the week. Stews are great for this. I often make a big pot of dal which lasts me into the week. Or, pan-sear up a bunch of fish fillets rubbed with spices. Roast a big tray of vegetables. Make a big chopped salad (salads without lettuce keep better than salads with lettuce). Chicken curries sometimes too. I have adapted a Moroccan recipe so that it is now basically drop a whole chicken in a Dutch oven with some spices and cook it for a little while, then shred the meat off the chicken and mix it in with the gravy formed in the pan. I can try to offer more specific recipes if you like, later today, but these are the basic ideas.
I eat a lot of the same meals but not always the same. I also do some batch cooking such that there is always a container of a grain and a bean dish in the fridge.
I also eat a lot of avocados so I keep avocados handy plus I like wraps for lunch so I keep wraps in the fridge. I also bake my own bread so a loaf of bread is in the fridge as well as hummus. My favorite wrap for lunch is hummus, sprouts (if I have them) and avocado A favorite breakfast of mine is bread with hummus and tomato slices. Hummus is pretty good all around and fairly easy to make.
Also, we eat a lot of green veggies so I buy a variety of greens.
If I want a lazy meal, I will put some cooked rice, diced firm tofu (not previously cooked), chopped greens and some chili garlic sauce in a bowl and heat it in the microwave.
I'm like silverfire! I prep salads a couple of times a week. One thing that helps is I buy those large bags of whole romaine hearts. On Sunday I usually wash and clean all the salad leaves and then chop and spin dry. Then I place them in a large tupperwear container lined with paper towels and I have the bulk of my salad ready all week. I keep chopped peppers, cucumbers, canned beans, etc ready and on hand to throw into the salad.
Supermarkets make wonderful rotisserie chickens and I throw some in there too. Or frozen shrimp, easily defrost and sautee.
I have go-to breakfasts, mostly yogurt or hard boiled eggs. I have a protein bar that I take with me if I'm in a rush.
I keep portioned out frozen soups like lentil. I also keep several quarts of home made stock which can easily be turned into a yummy soup for lunch.
I've been hopping around trying different types of diets lately. I'm now back to whole foods vegan. I bake up a batch of potatoes at the beginning of the week. Nothing is easier than a cold potato with mustard on it, with veggies on the side.
Does anyone eat the same thing every day?
