Help for people who don't cook

[Andrea20405 0]

I don't cook and I don't have a lot of time to do prepping of food ahead of time. I mostly grab stuff on the go and I need help with this from you guys! Its going to be my downfall if I can't find a way to get this new food plan into my current schedule. I've tried to get my schedule to fit around my food restrictions and failed miserably.

Snacks on the go?

Meals that are premade and only require heating?

Fast food ideas?

Convenience store food ideas?

dinner out at a restaurant ideas?

[addelapp5 0]

Totally depends on what you like to eat and if you don't "like" to cook, or you just are horrible at it! I'm not a great cook but I get by. I'm also lazy about it. I found that cooking 2-3 times a week is do-able, opposed to every day. I typically will cook some type of meat and make 3-4 portions of it so I can eat it for 2-3 days, depending on what it is. My favourite is a nice london broil because it'll last me days, and is great hot or cold. I can eat it alone or put it in a salad, etc.

As far as quick stuff that doesn't require cooking, I'm a big fan of deli/sandwich meats (just roll them up with or without cheese. I usually add a big leaf of romaine lettuce in too.

Edamame (baby soy Beans... tasty!) is great too. You can buy it pre-cooked and pre-shelled. Nuts if you're okay with Portion Control. Most people over-eat nuts because they're a snacky food.

I used to just say "screw it, I don't have time to make something" and I'd stop at the store and buy something pre-made like pre-cut fruit or a wrap.

Then I realized I was going broke that way... and realized that it took me a lot longer to drive through somewhere than it did to pack a few ziploc bags. Started buying my own fruit, veggies, sandwich stuff. Takes 2 minutes to do yourself. I used to hate it, now it's a nice part of my routine to make my lunch the night before and it keeps me from pulling through the drive through.

When I absolutely have to grab something on the go, I'll go to subway and get a sandwich without the bread (they'll put everything on a salad for you), chick-fil-a for nuggets which I can tolerate, and aren't too bad for you!, or something like that. I tend to stay away from convenience store stuff simply because I've never liked the pre-made sandwiches and such.

Good luck finding what works for you.

[manderky 0]

Lean Cuisine & Healthy Choice have some tasty meals that are just heat and eat. They're good for Portion Control and if you choose carefully, you can get ones with decent Protein and both Lean Cuisine & Healthy Choice have some that have whole grains in them.

You can buy precooked chicken strips in different flavors and add them to the bagged salads you can buy, or you can do the long way and cook some chicken up ahead and save for salads. If you can tolerate wraps, you can make a tasty wrap with the chicken strips also.

If I have to do fast food, Taco Bell & Wendy's are my friends there. At Taco Bell, I can get pintos and cheese that fills me up. Wendy's chili is good, and it's good on a baked potato. You can also get a grilled chicken snack wrap @ McDs and toss the wrap. KFC's grilled chicken isn't bad either. I like the legs b/c they're just the right size and not too dry.

If you're tight in the AM, you can do Protein shakes, either make your own or get premade ones. That's where you have to try and see which ones you like. For premade, Atkins are the best tasting to me. For Protein powder to make your own, I like Designer whey.

Hard boiled eggs are good Snacks. You can boil several at a time and have them ready to eat. Depending on what veggies you can tolerate, you can cut up veggies and use ranch or blue cheese dressing for a dip, or whatever salad dressing you like. Sugar snap peas are tasty, but can be a bit stringy for some.

HTH!

Amanda

[Fae 0]

I actually didn't cook before the band. Well, I did, but it was the wrong kind of foods, brownies, cakes, and muffins >>; I never cooked meat, but I found that is the way to go for me if I need to eat fast and don't want to cook everyday. I really like chicken legs. They stay moist longer than breasts and lasts me like 4 or 5 days. Steak, filet mignon in particular. It stays moist and lasts for days in the fridge. Same with any type of white fish. eggs are good too. Boil a bunch and have egg salad for days. Good on top of a piece of rye bread, if you can tolerate it. The same goes for tuna fish, don't even have to cook that. Just add mayo and maybe a piece of cheese. For sides, I steam vegetables, mostly carrots and broccoli. They last a few days as well. For fast food, I like Denny's. Just because they have omelets and you can't go wrong with them for Protein.< /p>

Edited June 10, 2009 by Fae

[Andrea20405 0]

Thanks guys! These are exactly the kinds of things I was looking for!

Keep em coming!

[crackedpepper 0]

i just said this on another thread - kashi makes a lot of stuff now, even frozen meals. i don't know what kind of stuff they put in lean cuisine and the like, but i'm assuming there's a lot of preservatives.

honestly, and i know you don't want to hear this, but maybe you could take some kind of quick cooking class? it's really not that hard -- actually, you don't even have to cook... you can just take good ingredients and toss them together... making salad and making your own dressing... stir frying some veggies and Beans... i would be happy to give you a few tips if you wanted... depending on what you like to eat. i[m a vegetarian, but i do know how to cook meat... though again, like i said on the other thread, i do not recommend red meat.. as it causes colon cancer among other things. even though i do not eat them, healthier meats include fish and chicken... full of Protein... though you have to be careful about salmonella with chicken and mercury with fish. cooking can be not so time consuming, if you don't make it too complicated, and it is SO MUCH cheaper (and obviously SO MUCH healthier) to make your own food our of whole ingredients...

Kashi.com was giving out coupons before, I don't know if they still are, but you can check their site...

[crackedpepper 0]

just wanted to give a few more examples... something like oatmeal or cream of wheat, which is ideal for us, only takes a few minutes on the stovetop, and it's super cheap and healthy... same thing with stir-frying, or even quicker and wo/ oil, steaming veggies... lots of veggies, like broccoli, can just be put in a bowl with a splash of Water and covered up and microwaved... things we have become accustomed to having other people do for us, or having "instant" versions of, well, we forget how simple they are...

[crackedpepper 0]

and I am not trying to sound preachy, I am just caring... it's so much better to cook your own food... I'm not saying never go out, but going out every day, you just don't know what's going in your body half the time, and even when you do, it's not healthy. and i echo what someone said above... i've always been a home cook, but I cook SO MUCH MORE now that i've been banded....

I find that if I go somewhere and order something, a lot of time I have to tweak it to make it good for my band, and sometimes it's impossible... I can just make what I want to my specifications at home, you know?

Don't get me wrong, I'm bad sometimes... I'll still go out for pizza and salad at the local parlor once in a while... It's not like I'm not human!!

[Andrea20405 0]

Thanks for all the cooking suggestions. I know its better for me but on a typical day I leave the house at 7 am and I return around 9pm. I tried cooking and packing a ice chest with food but after a while it became too cumbersome and I stopped. I am really trying to come up with ideas I can do while on the go, yet are still good choices for my band.

[crackedpepper 0]

andrea - you don't necessarily have to cook, though - just assembling things and putting them together in a to-go container is better and cheaper for you than hitting up your local sandwich place. for instance, fruit/veggies and cheese and crackers, and a yogurt cup... there's a lunch right there... and instead of a cooler, what about those thinner insulated bags they have these days?

or you can cook a nice medley of veggies and store it in a ball jar and just keep taking some... that way you don't have to cook 4 dinners, but just keep eating leftovers...

i'm not trying to preach, i just honestly care, and it's sooo much better for you.

in terms of eating out, i would say just try to look for the healthier options on a menu - where do you usually go? if you get a salad, can you get oil and vinegar on the side, so they don't drown your lettuce? what about subway? you can get a big sandwich there with mainly vegetables, and tell them what to put on it, so they don't load it up with mayo. hm, what else? i would tell you to try to go mainly vegetarian... i have posted before that even people like the new york times' mark bittman are saying even if you love meat, you should be mainly vegetarian... and red meat, well i would either cut that out all together or have it once every few months. it's very bad for you. Soup is also a good option, depending on what it has in it. smoothies are SOMETIMES good if you can choose what goes in them, my dr. told me that a lot of eople remain fat by going to places like jamba juice, though. i'm trying to think of what else i do when i go out... if i get a sandwich, i usually take off most of the bread, but i rarely get sandwiches anymore. if you're in an italian place, or actually, any place, you can ask them what dishes they have that are primarily vegetables... instead of (trying to) eat a big thing of pasta/chinese rice/etc...

if i think of anything else i will try and let you know!

one other reason i say eating in is good is because you get to experiment with what you can eat for when you do eat out, you know?

[Bandana 0]

thank you so much for the great ideas. I hate to cook myself andthese fast wonders are just great. thanks and i can't wait to hear more

[emjay 8]

For a snack, I make up a little band-friendly "trail mix". 1 part dry-roasted peanuts, 1 part chocolate chips, 3 to 4 parts Kashi Go-Lean Cereal. Makes a nice snack you can throw in a baggie in your purse. This cereal has 14 grams of Protein per cup and 40% of the recommended daily Fiber. The nuts are additional protein and the chips, well, you need a little sweetness. I usually put some in my purse in case I'm eating a late dinner to tie me over. Also, the Wasa brand crackers (light Rye) are a nice snack with a thin layer of flavored cream cheese and are very low in calories.

[AirKuhl 1]

Sometimes you just gotta eat out.

One thing that helped me is I bought that book "Eat This not That". That was a REAL eye-opener about how many calories a lot of fast foods have, and how some of the ones that sound like healthy choices are really the worst ones on the menu.

Ever just order an appetizer, thinking you're being good? There are 2,000+ calorie appetizers out there. Ever order the grilled chicken instead of the steak? The chicken might have 3 times the calories and sodium because of the sauces they use.

Ever let your kids get the Mac-n-cheese kids meal? In one place, one kid-size portion has more calories and sodium than 3.5 full boxes of Kraft Mac-n-Cheese.

Or Starbucks drinks with 160 grams of sugar. That's over 1/3 of a pound of sugar.

Hardest part of eating out is arming yourself with information. If you can't find a book, a lot of chains have nutritional info online if you dig hard enough. Find it, download it, print it and keep it in your car.

Good luck!

[Desperate1 1]

Hi Andrea - i stumpled on this thread because I don't cook either. I'm not creative in the kitchen. I haven't been banded yet but getting prepared!

What works best for me is:

egg salad - I can boil eggs hahaha. I can hard boil a 1/2 dozen or so and make it with some sugar free Mayonnaise - i have to go low carb or I won't lose a pound! - I got a bunch of those little glad 1/2 cup containers and fill them up & keep em in the fridge - you can have it with celery sticks. I've also gotten a bunch (3) of packs of uncured bacon and just cook em all up a once and keep them in a large freezer bags in the fridge and grab a few slices in the morning.

Also, I'm not familiar with AZ but here in CA I go to costco and get their albacore tuna and canned chicken breasts - make chicken salad & tuna salad - same type of thing in the 1/2 c containers or scoop a little in a 1/2 of avacado.

Flaxmeal muffin (microwaved in a coffee cup):

One Minute Flax Meal Muffin - Recipe Details

1/2c ricotta cheese mixed with 1 pkt splenda & a little of your favorite extract flavoring - I like rasberry. some think this is strang but it's an italian thing hahaha very tasty

I hope this helps a little -