Recommendations for pre-cooked meals (red wine, ingredients, restaurants, mushrooms)

[JoesJava]

GM,

I travel for work. On weekends when I am home, I typically place an order of groceries for pick-up at the Walmart Market. Some weekends, I simply don't feel like cooking. Can anyone recommend a ready-made meal that I could purchase that is not absolutely loaded with salt and fat?

Thanks in advance.

JJ

[kyle19125]

I've looked everywhere, none that I'm aware of....especially when considering the sodium count. Have you considered sheet pan cooking? It's still cooking, but easy prep and easy clean up. Season some chicken or pork chops and put them on an oiled sheet pan with some veggies like carrots, potatoes, zucchini, bell pepper, brussels sprouts, broccoli (whatever you want, just top with some olive oil and seasoning) and throw the whole thing into a 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until the meat is cooked to desired temp/browning. The possibilities are endless if you consider the variety of ingredients possible so getting bored with the options isn't likely. Also as a footnote many stores are now selling already-chopped bags of produce items and even themed mixes that are pre-seasoned, so even simpler if you're not want to chop/dice.

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

Every readymade meal I've ever seen was filled with salt. Many contain over half the daily recommended amount of sodium, yet the meals are so small, I'm hungry again in an hour. Even with all the salt, few are as tasty as I think they are going to be.

So, I freeze my own readymade meals.

When I'm in the mood to cook, I fix three times the amount and freeze the extra servings. Put the extra servings in freezer bags, quart containers, or meal prep containers like restaurants use for takeout. Label and date.

Chicken mixture for chicken lettuce wraps
Taco meat
Pot roast
Chicken stew
Jerk pork
Italian pork (crock pot with onions, red wine, and Italian seasoning)
Cheese enchiladas
Thai curry and brown rice
Shrimp and grits
Bacon/sausage, cheese, (spinach? mushrooms) and egg muffins
Baked chicken breasts
Stuffed shells with Italian sausage, ricotta, and spinach
Salmon, spinach, mushroom, sesame seed crustless quiche
...

I freeze just about anything that doesn't have mayo or fresh vegetable such as cucumbers, lettuce, etc. or fresh fruit, as these don't really turn out all that well.

In addition to having food we like to eat when I'm not up for doing much more than fixing a salad, we have meals to take over to friends when they are sick, or just home from the hospital. New parents love these meals.

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

Two gadgets I've found helpful when making triple quantities are a mandolin and a food dicer.

It bought two heavy duty ones off of Amazon and they cut down the time involved in slicing and dicing vegetables.

There just aren't any ready made meals that I like as well as the favorite recipes. But most involve a fair amount of slicing, dicing, and chopping of onions, celery, carrots, ... and this speeds things up.

[ralphfr]

Prepared foods always contain lots of salt. For preservation I would assume and as food sit flavor is lost so salt pumps it up. The sheet pan idea is a good one. Also try pouch cooking. Very quick and easy. Aluminum or parchment. Good luck. I feel your pain!

[gentlearts]

Well, I don’t know about healthiness, but I love Marie Callendar Pot Pies, the flaky crust is to die for (hopefully not literally), and since you get groceries from Walmart, we like their Take n Bake Pizza. They make a 12” one that’s only about $6. I think the pizzas are probably rather healthy....fresh, not frozen toppings.

[NewbieHere]

Cook your own if you don’t like salt. But my husband likes the lamb shank from Costco. Duck with five spices has less salt to.

[JoesJava]

Excellent ideas, some of which I had forgotten about - such as the one pan dinners that are all the rage right now. I do need to get my freezer stocked! Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate the input.

JJ

[mainebrokerman]

im single I travel and I cook my own..

easy to cook a whole turkey or roast … or ham

then parse it out in Tupperware will keep a week in the fridge

ive got cooked chicken thighs in the fridge now and cooked pork chops..

I like to cook on my day off- set it and forget it...roast the protein..

for sides..
takes two minutes to pour boxed stuffing mix in a bowl add chicken broth and microwave for a minute or two (I add a slab of butter)

[Dogmama50]

I'm not on the instapot bandwagon yet but it sounds like that might be a good possibility for you.

Also if you do have a Costco nearby they have some good pre-made items including the chicken pot pie and grabbing a rotisserie chicken along with a salad or veggies is easy. You might have instacart where you live and that would allow Costco to be brought to you.

There are meal services like Freshly.com that allow you to choose your food based and have it delivered prepared and ready to reheat, that might be a good option when you really don't want to cook.