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I'm not sure it belongs to this forum, but I'm looking for ideas/recipes for healthy food that doesn't take long to make.
I started working at this place and I'm doing 12-14 hour shifts every day. Which means I wake up at 5am, and get back home around 9-10pm...
Which, barely leaves me enough time to breath, let alone cook something.
After 2 weeks of intense work, and eating junk outside, I feel like I'm falling off my feet.
I was told that if I don't start eating real food, I'll simply collapse.
The problem is that I simply can't find the time to cook 'real food'.
So if you've got some ideas for simple/easy to make food that can provide my body everything it needs, that would be great...
Not much...I live alone so I have a mini bar fridge, and no crock pot either, oh and no oven. The only thing I do have is a microwave: /
Buy a crock pot asap. It will greatly increase the number of healthy meals you will be able to cook with limited time.
In the meantime you could buy rotisserie chicken, prewashed salad, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, raw nuts, seeds, etc. Things that you can literally just throw on the plate and eat when you are hungry. You could buy canned beans and some cheese for burritos and have a salad on the side.
Last edited by MissTerri; 02-22-2014 at 02:56 PM..
If you are working those many hours, you should not think about doing too much cooking. There is so much good healthy food that is available as take away at your local supermarket, deli and many restaurants. There are extensive good selection of choices. Just add a nice side salad and vegetables. You do not have to eat in fast food all the time.
Take the above above suggestion of buying some canned beans, nuts and cheese. With a bought pre-washed salad and good jar salsa, you can easily make a quick burrito. You can buy cheese pizza and add some frozen vegetables, on top, that you tossed with some Italian Dressing and have a nice healthy vegetable pizza. Soups are not hard to make. There are many small pastas that can be added to broth with some vegetables and cooked quickly. Eggs is a great source of instant healthy food and it comes in its own package. A baked potato in a microwave with some added vegetables in a nice meal.
One of my favorite morning meals is oatmeal. But I do it a little different. I partially cook it in the microwave (those instructions are on the box) in a larger bowl, water and milk liquid, with seasoning of salt, butter, onion powder and a little hot sauce. I stir the oatmeal. I break an egg in the oatmeal; break the yolk. I add some shredded cheese--you can also add some diced ham, cooked sausage or bacon. I cover and finish cooking the oatmeal. I just stir to break the egg, slightly, and now I have a hot bowl of cheesed egg oatmeal. With sliced oranges on the side with a cup of tea, I am all go for the day. Very healthy and you can think of it as "Eggs McOats"(c). I now claim copyright---Eh, I do not want the big Mc, stealing my idea!
I also do the same with cream of wheat, grits, or a mix of cream of wheat, grits, and oatmeal. You can use bulgar, couscous, or any grains to cook as a breakfast porridge. If I have some cooked leftover rice, in it goes. I sometimes add cooked beans--especially garbanzo. Oatmeal does not have to be always served sweetened and many cuisines eat porridge of cooked grains for breakfast and are just salted and seasoned--not sweet.
Livecontent
Last edited by livecontent; 02-22-2014 at 02:47 PM..
If you don't have a freezer, a crock pot won't do you much good (otherwise that is a fantastic suggestion!)
I am pretty committed to eating well but sometimes don't have time to plan ahead for meals and I don't like resorting to fast food. Grocery store delis and salad bars can be a lifesaver. And very often cheaper than hitting McD's dollar menu.
I do salads and Middle Eastern stuff, hummus and naan, olive bars, bags of nuts and fresh fruits, grocery store sushi, like that.
Do you have funds and space to buy a slightly larger fridge, or even another bar fridge? That would really go a long way in your options here.
Rotisserie chicken from the grocery store is a wonderful and versatile option. Grab one from the store and a salad from the salad bar, and presto! A meal. You can use the leftover chicken for a quick soup -- chicken, low sodium chicken broth, some chopped carrots, celery, onions and garlic...if you have the ability to boil pasta, some cheese tortellini would be great...if not, some Minute Rice (brown rice) in the microwave will be good added in. Preferably you have a stove top of some kind to saute the vegetables, but if not, I'd imagine you could steam them in the microwave until soft and add to the rest of the ingredients, then microwave until hot.
I'm a big fan of the 100 calorie packs of almonds -- Blue Diamond is the brand I have, but I think there are others. I keep a stash of those in my desk and they're perfect for a quick boost of "real" food. My favorite flavor is the Wasabi and Soy Sauce, which is no doubt loaded with MSG, but there are simpler flavors that don't have MSG in them, too.
Keeping a supply of a cooked grain -- brown rice, whole wheat pasta, quinoa, whatever -- as well as a prepared protein like beans, cooked chicken (hello, rotisserie!), tofu...these things will make tossing together a quick healthy meal easy. Just get home, get out a bowl, put your grain in followed by the protein and top with cheese if you like. Microwave, then add in whatever fresh vegetables you have available, plus hot sauce/salsa/whatever condiment sounds good.
I hope your work schedule isn't like this forever, I can't imagine how hard that must be.
healthy eating is as much what you choose NOT to eat...
when i was on a health kick,,, i ate lots of tuna fish,,,straight from the can..
i ate any veggie i could....even if it didnt taste good,,
you can now buy the re-sealable baby spinach plastic containers and eat that raw.. or put some in a turkey sandwich
many store i go to, i buy cooked chicken parts,,,with bbq seasoning on them,,,this is perfect,,just heatnserve..
buy yogurts...greek yogurts, high protein ,,,low fat..
sandwiches are healthy-buy multi grain breads...and use lean meats,,,,dont use mayo..
raw fruits are great..... for snacks.,..
popcorn isnt too bad,,
fruit smoothies are sweet for a treat,,
and
non fat sugar free whipped cream is good to dip fruits in..
The closer the food is to its natural state the healthier it is (other than raw meat). Eat lots of fresh fruits, veggies, nuts. If you like yogurt, cottage cheese, beans, rice -- that is also good. I agree with buying precooked chicken unless you are a vegetarian. With limited fridge space, you may need to shop a few times a week but it is worth it. You are eat very simply, but very healthy.
It depends on what type of diet you have. If your an not a veterinarian, some ideas are as follows: tuna+salad, tuna+fruit, tuna+potatoes, ect. If you don't like chicken or some other type of fish for tuna. Milk is also an option if your not lactose intolerant, but I't is probably not good with veggies.
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