Meal Suggestions for the Culinarily Challenged?

[PTOManiac]

I went to WalMart and just kind of froze... I didn't know what the hell to buy! I can't cook for shit and I get very little time to cook since I get home from work at 11:30 and leave for work at 1:30. I make sure to get 8 hours of sleep at night at least because I have a very physical job... so ideally, I am looking for food that I can cook quickly and save for the rest of the day to eat on my breaks at work. It just seems so hard to get all the protein I need when I have almost no time for preparation. I realized today when I looked at my diet that I get no where near the amount of protein I should, maybe half! Tell me someone has some ideas that can fit me! Thanks for any help, I need it!

 

[thatguy]

1. Chicken (for grilling, 7 minutes on each side with "Mrs. Dash" or something sprinkled on top. Sometimes I use a little lemon juice.)

2. Success Brown Rice (in the packets) - you get a small saucepan with some water, put it on high, stick in the packet, and in 8-10 minutes you've got two cups of brown rice.

3. Frozen Veggies - get a cup, 1 tbsp water, and stick it in the microwave for a few minutes.

Voila - a good meal in about 10 minutes (if you do it all at once)

 

[LAM]

use one day during the weekend to cook up the majority of your foods for the week.

 

[Pylon]

I am usually pushed for time at lunch, so I keep Uncle Ben's rice pouches in my desk. They're 2 cups each, I get the brown rice. Nuke it for @90 sec, then take half of it, throw in 1/2 bag frozen veggies, also nuked, mix in chicken, salmon or tuna. I get the foil packs of the fish. They are the perfect serving amount for me and you can eat right out of the pouch. Otherwise I cook the chicken on mondays and use it over the week

Also, if you can cook over the weekend, stir fry 3 or 4 lbs of chicken with a bag or two of frozen mixed veggies, take a bowl each day. The nice part is you can change it up by the sauce you put on it. Try hot sauce, soy, mustard, etc for different tastes to keep from getting burned our. Add some brown rice as above and you're done.

 

[BigDyl]

I'm the worst cooker ever. I can't even make toast.

 

[thatguy]

The fact that you used the word "cooker" further validates your statement.

 

[cmrapp11]

tuna pouches are easy, no can opener needed, just a fork!

plastic baggies with a scoop of protein powder each are good to have handy.

if you buy a lot of canned veggies (ex: green beans) open several cans at a time, put them in one tupperware bowl in the fridge and scoop out a cup when needed.

if you buy frozen veggies, do the same. microwave several servings at a time rather than at each meal.

if you use egg whites from whole eggs, divide the whole carton at the same time and fridge them by serving (ex. 5 whites each) in tupperware. (i limit the yolk mess as much as possible, ugh)

this is a pain at first but it will become routine just like anything else... good luck. ps- never freeze in walmart, you could be injured by falling prices.

 

[cmrapp11]

The fact that you used the word "cooker" further validates your statement.

 

[aggies1ut]

canned chicken
pre-cooked frozen chicken (just microwave or put in the oven for a few minutes)
canned tuna
pouch tuna
hardboil a bunch of eggs
packets of almonds/walnuts/peanuts
Again, it's really a matter of cooking in bulk on the weekends.

 

[Cold Iron]

I'm the worst cooker ever. I can't even make toast.

Im almost equally as useless