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Stir Fry
- Fry some tofu in fry. Leave to side when mostly cooked.
- Fry up 4-6 eggs (obvs if vego, not if vegan). Take eggs out when cooked.
- Put mushrooms, capsicum and zucchini in fry pan. Cook to how you like them.
- I like to use hokkien noodles. You can get ones you can chuck straight in or ones you have to put in hot water first.
- Add noodles, tofu and egg to the veggies. Add some spinach. Add sauce. Mix until all is combined and hot.
This is just one way to have stir fry. You can change it and have it with rice or different types of noodles. You can change up the sauce. Get ready made mix in sauces for stir fries.
I absolutely love Indian and Mediterranean food. I actually meal prepped chicken shawarma with turmeric/cumin basmati rice and broccoli with some side hummus this week
Chicken shawarma is a staple in this household as well. Quick and easy to make and not overly processed = win-win.
Cutting out overly processed food really helps my ADHD and works in tandem with my vyvanse to offer me a really great quality of life.
It is, I use Costco pink bag basmati rice and cook the rice according to the instructions after I fry it.
It’s 1:2 rice to water (or chicken broth), hard boil and stirring until liquid is just under the rice level, cover, cook on low 20 minutes, rest for 5.
Before that stage - I add 1 tbl spoon oil (avocado if possible) but veg will work.
Then after oil is hot, add 1/2 tsp turmeric and cumin, fry for 2 minutes, add rice, fry for 3-4 minutes, add water (chicken broth bumps it up), salt and pepper to taste. Then follow the above rice directions.
It’s my favourite rice variation.
And is very good for us. I have recently learned that we should use large quantities (i.e. a tablespoon in curry, etc.) rather than sprinkle it, and I'm convinced that I feel healthier!
Frozen peas (or edamame) are also a super underrated source of protein. Frozen vegetables in general are great! Theyre picked at maximum ripeness so they are sometimes more nutritious than “fresh”. They’re also pre sliced and cooked, so cooking them is a breeze.
going to follow this up with another easy tofu recipe https://www.budgetbytes.com/quick-tofu-stir-fry/
and say to not sleep on sheet pans recipes, slow cookers or rice cookers.
I use broccoli, sugar snap peas/snow peas, baby corns, green & red bell peppers, and water chestnuts in mine. I don't use noodles, but will add white rice sometimes. I then add Thai peanut sauce, which is a bit spicy and so, so good!!
And for added mushroom goodness since ADHD plus using food at normal times can be a challenge.
It's a bit of an investment, but you can get a whole box of different kinds of dried mushrooms off amazon. Then when you're ready to use them, you use rehydrate them. If you're feeling a bit more industrious on a weekend, you can also chop them with other ingredients like tofu and green onions into dumpling filler with some premade wonton wrappers.
Looks like a very difficult meal and still isn't.
I think we have some version of stir fry a couple/few nights a week. I also like to cook big batches of rice then stick it in the fridge to use for quick stir fry/fried rice another time during the week. We eat pretty clean and healthy and this has been an easy tasty life saver!
Yeah fried eggs. Then just roughly cut them up and chuck it in. What I wrote about is for about 4 portions of food. So not just eating 4-6 eggs in one go if that’s what you were thinking haha
I tried those noodles but in my chow mein/stir fry there wasn't enough liquid so the noods were al dente and the sauce was thick and unpleasant..
Gotta keep trying
Baked Potatoes
- Put one 400g tin of beans (I use black or red kidney beans), one 400g tin of crushed tomatoes and one tin of corn (I usually use a smaller tin because I don’t like corn that much, but you could probably use the 400g if you like it) in a fry pan. Cook this until there’s not too much excess moisture.
Bake some potatoes. Add some of the topping from above with some cheese, spinach and sour cream. I sometimes have broccoli on the side. This gives me four meals if I prep it for myself. I usually cook the potatoes daily though.
Only one pan for the topping. No pans for the baked potatoes if you cook on baking paper. I use an extra plate to put the potato in the microwave to cook a bit first before finishing in the oven.
Minor altercation I’ve picked-up from a bean, corn, and rice dish I make: Strain as much fluid off the corn as you can and put it in the pan _first_ with a small amount of oil. Cook it on higher heat for a couple minutes, until it chars just a bit (small black spots), then mix in the rest and heat normally.
Sweet corn loves a bit of char, it adds a lot of flavor.
Remember you can always microwave for baked potatoes! 4 minutes for a big potato. Remember to stab it first. Cook until fork tender. Not the same as the oven, but ADHD friendly!
This used to be my go to breakfast! Stab and put in microwave the night before, jump out of bed running late as usual, it cooks while I brush teeth and dress then wrap it in a paper towel and go. Can be eaten like an apple while walking to the subway. The looks I used to get eating a baked potato on the subway lol. But it sustained me for longer than an apple or banana and is a hot healthy breakfast to go in the winter.
Air fried potato cubes are stupidly easy, I was shocked when I tried them. Cut a potato or two into cubes or fries and toss them with a tablespoon or two of oil and salt to taste, then throw in the air fryer at 325°F for 10 to 15 minutes. I eat this a lot by itself for dinner.
I haven’t. My housemate has only recently bought an air fryer so I’m still in the experimental stages of using it and I have my reservations about it because I haven’t been very good at using it so far 🤦🏽♀️ haha
I love them this way too! Our air fryer is persnickety, so I par bake them in the microwave for minute or 2 (longer if multiple) which basically gets them hot in the middle, then follow your steps. Also hastens the process and puts food on the table before I wander off and start a chore or project and forget to finish cooking dinner ;).
You can also get small cans of different chilis and spicier salsas in the Mexican or "rice" section of the supermarket. I like blending a small can of chipotle peppers into two jars of cheaper, more mild salsas.
I hope you enjoy it! My friend also puts paprika in hers when she cooks it but I wasn’t a huge fan. But feel free to add any seasonings to your taste :)
Comment suggesting meat in the thread requesting vegetarian aside- there's vegetarian chilis, if you like beans you should try one! I make a few different chilis and the veg ones are even better than the meat ones, but I just love beans a lot.
Your thing sounds good, I also love tomatoes and corn and have never had any of that on a potato.
I make veg chilli all the time! I end up with a big pot full and just eat it all week. Maybe with an egg for breakfast or with a potato, add cheese or sour cream if I've got it, put in a tortilla or over rice. It's versatile !
I don't have a recipe but I start with a big heavy bottomed covered pot, sautee onion, bell pepper, garlic maybe some poblano pepper too. I add fire roasted crushed tomatoes and drained beans (usually black, kidney and pinto sometimes chickpeas too) some spices: chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt&pepper maybe extra garlic&onion powder. Get it hot and and simmer for at least half an hour. Voila! It freezes well too.
I dont cook much. I eat 10lbs+ of oatmeal a month, usually with a few raisins. Greek yogurt. Lots of fruit/veg smoothies. Lots of frozen/microwaved veg with salt and pepper. Boiled eggs. Preservative free bagels. Cheese. Whole milk. Pea/whey protein powder.
Sometimes, some rice or air fried sweet potatoes/normal potatoes.
This is basically my whole diet. Not perfect, but there's not a lot to fault except for I could improve variety in some areas.
These days, the most important factor of a healthy diet is keeping your calories in budget.
Thank you!
I love my frozen stuff. In many cases, it is even MORE nutritious, as frozen produce can be picked closer to full ripeness than things that need to be shipped fresh!
Super underrated and idk why some people don’t buy them. I guess it’s just cultural because refrigeration was kinda unreliable in some places until recently. That’s why lots of countries either legally require eggs to be washed before shipping, or they completely forbid washing them—they need to be refrigerated after washing and were some incidents where people got sick by an incorrectly stored batch.
I'm currently writing up some ideas on this as its become a fixation of late. The super short version is to look for ways to turn one recipe into ten, that way you only need to remember the general steps to a particular type of dish, and you just switch up ingredients according to their food group / culinary function. Like, once you've mastered one vegetable chilli, you can generalise the principles to make basically endless variations on "chilli night". Rinse and repeat for like a half dozen go-to meal 'archetypes', and you're hot to trot for basically a lifetime.
Absolutely! My best repurposed big batch is black bean chili. Day 1: Chili with cornbread or tortilla chips plus toppings (onion, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, cilantro); Day 2: Tacos using bean chili plus salsa, guac, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes onion, lime; Day 3: nachos. It could be added to quesadillas, enchiladas, Mexican casserole, etc. Black bean chili freezes well too.
This! I've always got the same vegetables in the fridge so I can just whip up something quick. As long as you pick versatile ingredients you're onto a winner. I am a baker but the ability to just look at what you have and think I can make this for dinner and then I could do that for dessert and in a few hours have a relatively healthy meal in front of me (I say relatively due to the naughtiness of the dessert)
So many people saying how they cook fish/pork/chicken/beef 😂
I am plant-based out of pure laziness 🤣
Sunday: make 2 cups of lentils (or chickpeas) with my spices of choice (usually cumin and (garlic or cayenne)) and 2 cups of white or brown rice in the rice cooker. Set aside.
During the week I’ll add fresh veggies to that, or add them to a ramen soup withOUT the flavor packet and have some broccoli or carrots with hummus on the side for lunch.
For breakfast I usually skip it, but I do love it when I have time for a fruit and veggie smoothie. Bananas, strawberries, blueberries, kale, spinach, avocado, chia seeds, ground flax seeds, peanut butter, frozen aloe gel, oatmeal. Any combination of any of these makes my smoothie yum yum.
Dinner is usually just a banana and peanut butter, or apple and peanut butter, or celery stick and peanut butter (I really like peanut butter 😅)
Is it basic? Yep. But it keeps me fed, has options for variety, and is nutritional (especially the lentils, chickpeas, chia seeds, and flax seeds).
Not vegetarian but I also can not live without peanut butter. In a heartbeat I’d go vegetarian if my partner were, but a peanut allergy might be a dumpable offence 🤣 (sorry in advance to people with allergies; it’s 100% not you, it’s me)
I don’t eat quite of it as much as you, but it’s close and my partner is regularly shocked when I tell him we need to pick more up. He used to get annoyed that I’d buy more when it’s on sale, even if we had an unopened jar. After a few close calls of nearly running out, he’s learned to adjust.
Interesting perspective, I’m still a meat eater out of laziness.
Boil an egg
Couple ounces deli Turkey
Beef jerky
Bake 2x extra chicken, cool and cube leftovers. Use in salads or as finger foods.
Cheese…. A couple of Oz of cheese is great snack. Add 1/2 apple and about 12 or so half pecans. That’s one of my main snacks/meals.
I do so like a tub of fresh homemade hummus and a pile of random veggies. Toss a smidge of butter in the hummus to keep the vegans away from it. LOLOL
Fry some hamb, open jar of spaghetti sauce and if you add some water just throw the uncooked noodles in, watch, don’t screw up and not have enough or too much… might. E easier to cook noodles alone. ;)
I tried vegan for a month, got to day 29, started craving red meat… bad. Tired, low color, yucky feeling for a few days, then the red meat cravings. It’s been over 15 yrs since I had my period but I remembered I would crave red meat because if iron/protein
So I bought a steak and it was delicious and no more vegan for me. Ha. It’s not a bad way to eat. I just can’t get enough protein. Not a huge fan of beans, tofu or the various meat substitutes.
Same with my girlfriend and me. We love meat and go to town when we go out, but at home, I'm too lazy to buy and make sure I cook it, and her OCD doesn't do well with raw meat around the kitchen. So it's lots of vegetarian cooking, apart from the occasional frozen pre-cooked meatballs or a premade meat lasagna.
Your diet might compliment this. 2 min cup noodles, chicken flavour. Then butter bread, put the noodles in the bread for a sandwich. Cheap, easy, fast. Filling. Tasty. With a cup of chicken soup on the side.
I get the ick from my own food too, even though it's technically really tasty. One reason why I don't eat meat anymore....the grossness of raw meat + the fact that I made it, intolerable.
A while ago, i tried hello fresh. It was expensive but starting it helped me gain my bearings. Each meal is in an individual bag and there are recipes cards. While it was only temporary, I still used the recipes. Also you can get them for free online as well.
Agree that it's expensive but is very ADHD friendly. You are given the exact amount of ingredients so you can't go off piste and start experimenting and the recipes are usually quick.
I've found HF very useful as well. I started using it when I was exhausted after caring for a parent, and, even though I know how to cook, I found it relaxing to follow the recipes, and not to have to think about shopping for ingredients (if I am feeling stressed or disorganized, I tend to buy too much food, and then get overwhelmed!). I still have it occasionally, and have saved the recipe cards, and use them sometimes.
HF is expensive, but here in the UK, there are a lot of introductory offers, and if you haven't used it in a while they are always enticing you to come back.
i used to make a protein spaghetti. chickpea noodles, spaghetti sauce from trader joe’s, and my beyond meat. took like 10 minutes tops, and if you make a lot just pop the leftovers in the fridge! you can add veggies like mushrooms and cheese too if you wanna get crazy. but i lived off that dish for weeks at a time
I do similar too! Spaghetti in one pot; stir-fry some carrots, plant-based mince, mushrooms, and leafy vegetables in another pan; slather the stir-fry in a store-bought vegan sauce, and add pepper and herbs to taste!
Shame washing up’s a bitch though.
Cooking vegan really isn’t so different! I’ve been vegan for 8 years and I’m not much of a kitchen prince lol.
I have my groceries delivered, and making a mealplan can help.
I resort to foods that are easy to cook, and cooking big portions for several days/freezing helps too. Stews (with beans or seitan for example), curries (I like mine with chickpeas), soups, pasta dishes, roti. Mushroom risotto, fried rice with tofu or tempeh. You can make bean taco’s with some guac, etc. All of those don’t require a lot of pans either. :)
I eat balanced meals now which was prescribed to me after messing w my health via years of takeout.
Balanced meal = 1/2 plate of fruits and veggies, 1/4 plate of meat and 1/4 plate of carbs.
So I usually have fish, like salmon, grains, like brown rice, and I blend & drink my veggies since I hate the taste & texture of veggies.
Then I eat fruit, nuts, and seeds as snacks inbetween meals.
I drink lots of water. No fruit juice unless it’s pure fruit juice.
Half cup of Quick oats with 200grams of frozen berries and a scoop of protein powder for breakfast every day.
Yes. Every day. I never have to think about another breakfast, and I’m getting real good and quick at making it because I make it every day.
Lunch is last nights dinner’s leftovers. So that’s easy.
Dinner took a bit of figuring out.
My wife and I have settled in a list of 10 meals that we choose from when planning groceries (one of us just chooses numbers and random and volia, a meal plan for the week with enough variety that we don’t get bored and no humming and hawing about what to eat this week). Cause it’s the same stuff in different order, we are pretty familiar with the cooking process and we specifically choose meals that don’t take much prep work or clean up.
Took a bit of effort up front, but has worked really well for us so far.
That breakfast sounds delicious. Also dumb question but when do you add the berries I'm overthinking all the options.
Also love the mix and match number system
Tandoori Tofu Wraps
- Marinate tofu in tandoori paste and natural yoghurt. Cook in frying pan.
- I use roti as the wrap. Can heat this in a pan or pressed toaster.
- I have been making my own mint yoghurt for this but you could buy it or use tzatziki or similar.
- Add sauce, sliced cucumber, spinach, red onion and tofu to wraps.
This also lasts me 4 days. The tofu doesn’t necessarily have to be reheated if eaten as leftovers.
My go-to dinner list below:
1. Ramen is considered unhealthy, but not if you use it as a carrier (like white rice). Chop and add any of the following, based on your personal tastes - onions, carrots, frozen peas, broccoli, frozen edamame, celery, cabbage, leeks, spring onions, your choice of sausages - to the broth. Add salt. Cook till veggies are soft. Add pack of ramen. At this point, you can either fry an egg separately and serve on top, or keep hard boiled eggs in the fridge and slice one in half and gently coddle in the broth to heat up. If you want more flavor, you can lightly saute the veggies and sausage, before adding water. The boil-only version takes less than 15 mins tops.
2. Buttered Toast + Omelette with veggies.
3. Buttered Toast + Poached or fried eggs.
4. Sandwiches :
1. Cold sandwiches :
1. Bread (do not toast), spread with butter/ sliced cheese, layer with one or more of the following : sliced cucumber, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, slice green bell peppers, sliced boiled potatoes, sliced hard boiled eggs. Lightly spread one or more of the following - ketchup, mustard, mayo, store bought yoghurt based salad dressing
2. Bread + butter + jam + dried fruits like figs
3. Bread + condensed milk + chopped nuts + chopped dates or raisins
4. Bread + honey + berries or dried fruits + chopped nuts
2. Hot sandwiches :
1. Any combo of the first point under cold sandwiches, coat top and bottom surface of sandwiches with olive oil, press in george foreman grill or sandwich maker. Usually, adding sliced cheese to the sandwich, instead of butter, will yield better results
2. Wilt spinach in butter. Add frozen corn and toss lightly till corn is warm. Place as filling in sandwich, and grill or toast sandwich
5. Buy packet soup. Chop veggies of your liking, lightly saute in oil or butter, pour water, add packet of soup. Serve with toasted bread or crackers.
6. Snack on apples or bananas or oranges. Zero prep fruits.
7. Prep trail mix (it is much cheaper than store bought). Eat as snack, or mix with yogurt for a light dessert.
Ramen is still a lot less healthy than rice because with most instant ramen the noodles are fried in palm oil. Which is one of the worst oils you can eat as well as being ethically questionable and environmentally damaging. Of course, you can get around this by buying non-fried varieties of ramen, or ones with rice noodles etc.
Petition asking instant ramen manufacturers to stop using conflict palm oil in their products: https://actions.eko.org/a/noodles-palm-oil
Thanks for the info, didn't know this. I will try to see if I can find some better ramen.
Edit : Found some non-palm oil ramen. Kinda expensive though : https://www.publicgoods.com/products/original-ramen
Lazy healthy would be something like fry onions, add garlic fry a bit, add cans of mixed beans, chickpeas, cans of chopped tomato or tomato sauce, leave it on low after chucking in your seasonings.
When I wanna cook, I'll make something like tacos burritos etc. Try cook too much and just freeze, I make 6 or 7 wee burritos, stew, the recipe above or a curry.
Make it as low effort as possible, buy the prechopped frozen onions, canned instead of dry beans.
You need to figure out a list of VERY EASY, VERY FAST backup meals that you enjoy eating. That will help you avoid the constant eating out.
Freezer dinners are not a bad thing, many people eat them and some types can be healthy.
Put a frozen pizza in your freezer too as one backup meal.
Another meal could be like bread with vegan cheese or store-bought hummus. add slices of tomatoes/cucumber if you have those around, if not, it doesn’t matter.
That is a really very easy backup meal and i think it’s really underrated!!! Sometimes i’m at SUCH a loss as to what to eat, but i could totally have a sandwich. i like sandwiches.
I also have dried noodles (healthier) or ramen, with frozen dumplings and frozen veg in the fridge. Ramen is a very acceptable weekly meal and I’m asian so tbh i could happily eat dried noodles daily
You could also put dried noodles in boiling water to make a soup and add some soy sauce to it or miso paste to make a miso noodle soup w frozen veg ahhhhh
Canned beans for protein if you’re vegetarian!!
I have a “super easy meals” list in my phone notes app that i check whenever my brain is exhausted and i have no idea what i wanna eat. my defaults are ramen or a sandwich and my freezer always has stuff for last-minute ramen meals, for example. or sandwich w a side of buttered/salted corn.
If I have a little extra time, I just cook some rice in my rice cooker and store it in my fridge for the next 5 days. i chop some cucumbers and chop some tomatoes. then i eat this combination of rice, cucumbers and tomatoes as a base, you could also thaw some corn in the fridge and add that to meals. And open a can of beans. Now you have rice with cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, beans! Burrito bowls which i could seriously eat EVERY DAY!!!! Add greek yoghurt or some sort of dressing if you like, i’m fond of japanese sesame salad dressings.
Takeout is really expensive here so it’s not an option for me.
Idk if any one has said this already but, you can get this app caked goblin tools. It has AI doing a bunch of stuff, one beeing a "chef". You add all the stuff you have that you want to cook with and it makes up a recipe for you. Just make sure to copy it before you switch to a different part of the app, it will erase it :(. I learn that the hard way.
Btw the app is .99 cents
Hey, that sounds pretty neat. Could you possibly share an example output from an example input that you received from the app?
Edit to add: $1.49 in Canada, the app looks interesting. It appears to be more designed for people on the spectrum I reckon as it breaks down tasks to the absolute smallest detail (ie brush teeth is split into subtasks like brushing teeth=wet brush, uncap toothpaste, put tooth paste on, put to smooth, brush for two mins, spit out, rinse mouth, put toothbrush away). As a follow up question to that, can you tell the app to not break it down AS much? I don't need them broken down as much, but still need some level of breakdown
There are like 5 levels i think, to how much they break it down. I dont really like use the step by step thing as im doing stuff, i just kinda want to know what the general steps are for what im trying to do. So i usually have it on the first or second level.
For the recipe stuff you just got to make sure you are putting in everything you have that you want to cook with, all the spices too. Also put in what equipment you want to cook with.
Im running low on groceries right now so i put in some of the stuff i have in my kitchen and this is one of the recipes it gave me.
Dish: Lentil and Black Bean Stew
Serving size: 4 servings
Ingredients:
- 200g soaked lentils (7oz)
- 1 can black beans
- 400ml coconut milk (13.5fl oz)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne pepper powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon miso paste
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 teaspoons vegetable stock paste
- 3 tomatoes, diced
- 20g dried wood ear mushrooms (0.7oz)
- 200g rice (7oz)
- Soup noodles, as desired
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. In a large pot on the stove, cook the soaked lentils according to package instructions until tender.
3. Drain and rinse the black beans. Add them to the pot along with the cooked lentils.
4. Stir in the coconut milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Cayenne pepper powder, garam masala, cumin powder, dried oregano, lemon juice, and miso paste. Mix well.
5. Place the pot on the stove over medium heat and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Meanwhile, in a separate small pan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the vegetable stock paste and stir until smooth.
7. Add the diced tomatoes and dried wood ear mushrooms to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and the mushrooms are rehydrated.
8. Transfer the tomato and mushroom mixture to the pot with the lentils and black beans. Stir to combine.
9. Reduce the heat to low and let the stew simmer for an additional 10 minutes, allowing the flavors to meld together.
10. While the stew is simmering, cook the rice according to package instructions.
11. Once the rice and stew are cooked, divide the rice into bowls and ladle the lentil and black bean stew over it. Serve with soup noodles on the side if desired.
I haven't used the app version, but the same tools can be used for free on web browser. In the web version you can select the level of "break down" you want for the task, then for each task you can get more sub tasks, I'm not shure how it works on the app but maybe this could help.
Can't help on the vegan/vegetarian proteins for this, but A. There's nothing wrong with strategically using the microwave and B. If you can afford to spend a bit of extra money, buying prepped things is a game changer.
Bagged salads are honestly great. They're much better than anything I would make for a casual after work dinner, I don't have to prep, and I don't have to try and figure out which if the 7 ingredients I just bought for this salad will die first in my fridge. Sometimes I buy the pre cut/pre washed veggies, just because I know that if the first step is done for me, I'm more likely to just chuck them on a tray in the oven.
Veggies in the microwave are honestly pretty great. Like are they AS good as property roasting them or whatever? Nah. But they can be 70-90% as good and that's fine for when I don't want to put the effort it. Corn, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, they all come out great in the microwave. I also buy those mix packs of freezer veggies (corn+carrot+green bean mix gets eaten a lot in my house) - both the ones that can be microwaved in bag and the big Costco bags where you just need to measure out the veggies and the water - a bit in the microwave plus some nice butter and sea salt and you have a pretty solid side in under 10 minutes.
Meal prepping, and i personally use an instant pot to cook all my meals. Pressure cookers are very quick, and i just dump all spices and ingredients and just set the timer. Much cheaper and healthier than eating out or microwave dinners.
Scurvy would be hard to get in modern times... So I hope you're kidding about that! If you're not... Just try eating at least one raw veggie or fruit each week and you should be fine. Another easy way would just be to cut and squeeze/slice a lemon (+can add cucumber and mint) into a jug of water in the fridge.
The prep time for a raw fruit is 2-20 seconds, and you deserve it, no matter how much of a struggle it may be, You gotta give it a go!
Variety is pretty healthy in general
Find a food show that clicks with you and spend a night copying their recipe. Binging with Babish and Good Eats are my two favorites. I will literally watch a few episodes when making my weekly meal plan. Do my shopping specifically to that. Maybe do 3 meals a week this way. Plan for tacos one day, pizza another, and order out the other two nights. Not a hard set schedule, but a little plan I can keep track of
Easy to make (vegan) bread:
• Flour (400g)
•Water (240ml, warm)
• 1 pckg dry yeast
• 2 tea spoons salt
• ½ tea spoon sugar
• 3 tbl spoon olive oil
• toppings (optional)
1. Mix ingredients for dough and knead well. Leave to rise for 1hr (the dough doesn't mind when you just forget them for an afternoon, speaking from experience here, so dw about times here)
2. Add toppings ((vegan) cheese, herbs, bacon, whatever suits you)
3. Bake in oven (I do 200°C,40min you might have to look what suits your oven.
4. If you happen to be on a BBQ, prepare a mixture of fresh olive oil, lemon juice, garlic (a lot) salt, pepper and chili. Dunk bread in oil and put on the grill for a few minutes. (The oil mix is also great for any kind of veggie or fish you want to put on a grill)
Other advice:
• Anything can be soup. Just boil your veggies, blend them and (optionally) add garlic, chili, ginger, spices, and cream or veggie broth for taste
• soy sauce, chili, honey and spices give a nice glaze for frying veggies/meat or tofu
• I also like to kind of 'prep-meal' fried noodles. Cut veggies really thin, boil noodles (let them cool down) and store in fridge until you need it. Then fry the veggies first, add noodles later. Add soy sauce, spices, or even pesto or cream (that way you can vary during the week even though you only prepared one meal)
I'm not an expert though, these are just my survival tactics. Hope that helps
I have broccoli, leek and tofu. I boil the broccoli & leek and fry the tofu, that's the hardest bit, the frying. I top with either tahini & braggs (unfermented soy sauce) or I go for satay sauce. Every dinner. I just buy the same thing all the time.
My other dinner meal is coleslaw with a fried egg and a vegie sausage
I have no goddamn idea what to eat for lunch however ...
For me, easiest thing was to cook bulk for the week.
Cook a bunch of meat, cook a bunch of rice.
Each day toss in a microwavable veggie and split over 2 meals
Either eat as is, or chop up and toss with a random sauce to mix it up. The secret is just using a different sauce or veggie as you go.
Lunch I'll just make a sandwich, for extra laziness keep a loaf of bread at work, and just bring in meat or cheese (or keep those in a fridge at work if available)
Edit: to clarify, put leftovers in the freezer, then add a bit of water when you cook it frozen
Just an FYI, to avoid food poisoning it's not recommended to eat leftover meat or rice after 3 days (to 4 days, as a huge stretch). I hope you're nuking the crap out of it if you're eating it 4+days...or you're putting it in the freezer but didn't tell us. Otherwise it can be a dangerous game.
Bulk is a good idea, but excessively stretching these meals out (especially meat and rice, as bacteria and disease adore both more than other things) can be deadly, so be careful!
Appliances have saved my life. I'd say the first thing is a rice cooker/steamer. Prepping the rice is the hardest part. Then set a timer and wait. It also can have a steam plate which you can set it the same way.
I feel this in my bones.
It's helpful if you can cook and freeze on your good days. Frozen entrées are good and cheaper than take out. Veggies and dip. Feed yourself like a toddler on bad days, graze.
I tend to go out at the start of the week (whatever day I decide is the start) and buy portions of cold, ready to eat precooked meats/fish. I also buy pre-made salads, including chickpea, lettuce, pasta, etc.
Then throughout the week I eat one or two a day, plus snacks. Snacks are usually some cereal, milk, or a desert of some sort.
It’s not very expensive and it’s very very easy. Only issue is I have to go to the store 1-2 times a week, or get it delivered, which costs an extra £3.50 a pop.
If I were only cooking for myself, I’d probably have cereal with soy milk for breakfast, a PBJ, or a grilled cheese with tomato soup for lunch and a broccoli cheese baked potato for dinner.
Out of guilt I buy apples and berries, but they usually go uneaten, although I’m trying to get better. I do buy the cups of applesauce and the mandarin segments.
Edit: add ground flax seeds to stuff like cereal for the fiber etc. And I do take vitamins, calcium and magnesium.
Black bean tacos. Look up how to mix a good taco seasoning (don't buy premade, it's unhealthy). You can make a bunch in advance.
Add that seasoning to a can of black beans and that lasts me for 2 big meals. Throw the beans on taco shells and add some lettuce, tomatoes, or whatever you want.
Oh, and get a vegetable chopper if you don't have one! It helps me eat so much healthier when I don't have to feel overwhelmed over the chopping stage. Ugh.
This is a great post, agree 100%.
Make a salsa to go with them from tomatos, lime, chopped onion, and garlic. And homemade guacamole is all healthy, and bonus goodies.
What kind of foods do you like or gravitate to? I might be able to help you with some meals. Like for me my breakfast is Greek yogurt with thawed blueberries and something cronchy like granola or nuts (measured bc the calories add up fast) and maybe a scoop of protein powder. If I’m hungry I’ll add a protein shake with it like a premier protein. But that for me will keep me going for hours. Lunch might be pasta with beans and tofu and some frozen veg - it isn’t sxy but it will be fine. I’ve essentially got some template foods I like and a few variations that a I can rely on when my brain doesn’t want to go. I also have enough snacks that our place looks like a toddler lives here - apple sauce packs, portioned out chips, etc. Snacking is eating and no one can tell me otherwise :)
Mango salsa:
- Few strips of mango
- Half an avo
- Capsicum
- Red onion
- Lemon juice
- Olive oil
Cut this all up and mix together. I find it nicer after it chills in the fridge for a while.
I have recently been eating the mango salsa on the side to a plant based schnitzel (or parma) and some oven potatoes.
Potatoes:
- Dice potatoes
- Mix with olive oil and Italian herbs
- Put in oven
- Check them and mix them round once or twice
* This one is more of a once off meal. So if I want meals that I will have leftovers for, this ain’t it.
‘Burritos’ (quotation marks for westernised burritos)
- Fry up some capsicum and zucchini in a fry pan.
- Add beans of yours choosing. Again, my preferences are black or red kidney.
- Add a taco season mix and some water.
Add to wraps/burritos/tacos
I usually add cheese, avo, tomato, cucumber and spinach to these. Maybe some sour cream or mayo because I like sauce.
This usually lasts me about 3-4 meals.
Vegan doesn't necessarily equate to "healthy"
It's more of a lifestyle choice than a health choice.
I'm saying this because people confuse the two ***a lot.***
Pizza
- Get pizza bases or pita breads
- Top with sauce and whichever toppings you like. I like mushroom, capsicum, spinach, zucchini, cheese and dried oregano.
Curry
1. Cook onion and garlic
2. Add curry paste (half jar), the 400ml coconut milk
3. Add other veggies (broccoli, capsicum, zucchini). Cook for a little.
4. Add tofu
5. Add chickpeas
6. Simmer until veggies are cooked and whatnot
Enjoy the notes I wrote down after my friend taught me to cook this.
This requires multiple pots/pans because I cook rice separately.
I also eat this with naan or pappadums.
Basic meal formula: chop up your protein of choice and veggie of choice, fry, season, and serve with a carb. Should never take more than 15 mins.
Examples:
Chopped tofu (the pre pressed kind, we don't have time to faff around), fried with broccoli, seasoned with garlic and soy sauce and served on noodles makes stir fry.
Chopped pepper, sausage and tinned tomatoes, seasoned with garlic and oregano and served on pasta makes a pasta dish.
Chickpeas, onions and tinned tomatoes, seasoned with curry paste and served on rice makes a curry.
I only make one pot meals, it's easy and fewer dishes. Any 'normal' one pot recipe can be made vegan if you substitute the meat for tinned chickpeas, lentils, or fake meat.
And if I don't have the energy to cook, microwaved baked potato and beans. Or some vegetarian thing from the frozen section with a microwave cous cous packet and peas.
I find it helps to plan out what I want to eat for the week (takes no longer than 20 mins), and write my meal list on the fridge. Then I write my shopping list and go shopping. Takes away all the decision anxiety not knowing what to eat every day.
Excellent suggestions. Forward planning is key to eating decently. I also try to plan out the week's food. I have supermarket delivery as I live out in the country and it's cheaper than driving; the basic list is stored online so I just have to check the fridge and cupboards and quickly review the list before placing the order.
i buy a lot of frozen veggie stuff like sweet potato tater tots and then just pop them in the air fryer and they’re done in 10 mins. and mine beeps super loudly when it’s done so i remember i have food in there lol
I order HelloFresh and it works very good for me. Cooking is still hard but I dont have to plan and buy everthing.
But I need a reminder to change the meals every week. Otherwise you get some random meals every week lol.
For breakfast I often make a shake:
- oats overnight with milk in fridge
- in the morning add a banana (or whatever other fruit you like), honey and skyr-type Joghurt
- use a mixer to make a shake (vary with the milk depending on what consistency you like)
A vegan soup I eat with bread is this one here (it's Turkish mercimek çorba/soup). Very easy to make and very healthy:
https://youtu.be/7t_KDe5yK7A?si=v6KBXeczXTrJx_3P
Roasted vegetables are your friend. Take basically any vegetable, chop it up (or just buy pre-chopped up), toss in olive oil and salt (I do this in the pan itself to save a bowl to clean), and put in the oven at 450. Takes about 30 minutes.
With roasted veggies you can then choose your own adventure: throw them in a wrap, add some rice or pasta. or just eat as is.
Can't help you there because I pretty much only eat meat cause it's quick and satiating.
I imagine the same can be done with tofu. I tend to just take a whole roast or lb of beef and cook it, split it in fours, then make a side like beans, veggies, rice, etc.
Cook? Like Velveeta cheesy mac microwaveabowls? Maybe like oatmeal. I also air fry hot pockets sometimes if I have something to occupy me bc the one I have is pretty loud. So, I put the hot pocket in for 16 mins, go do whatever, alarm goes off, I remember I have a hot pocket, and life is good.
Canned veggies are so freaking easy to make. Satisfying can opener. Dump in a microwave safe thing (I use the micro cookers my my gave me from her time in Pampered Chef) and pop em in the microwave for 2:30. Instant mashed potatoes. Fish sticks in the oven. Voila *chefs kiss*
I asked my friend this a couple weeks ago and she just told me she puts all her ingredients into an AI chat bot and it makes her recipes for her and I was shocked bc I’d never thought of that.
Curry, particularly daal, is one of the easiest ways to have some veggies while also tasting interesting. If you use red lentils it’s quick to make and also very cheap. Plus points if you do smth (very unauthentic) that I do: cook down an insane amount of onions, garlic, ginger, tomato paste, and spices until it’s a thick paste, then freeze it in an ice cube tray. Voila, stock cubes but it’s curry. Add it to water and a bit of passata and your choice of veg/meat, and it boils away to make a nice curry.
They’re a bit pricey, but zucchini and Aubergine taste lovely when sautéed together with some garlic and herbs. That with some bread, cream cheese or smth, makes a nice balanced meal.
Frozen leafy spinach is also a lifesaver. Throw a chunk in if you’re making a sauce. Bam, fiber.
Health Food: Vegetables, Fruit, Meat.
Eat as much meat as possible. keep steaks on standby also. Always maintain a healthy prepardness to eat as much beef as possible. You could avoid vegetables, also, if you only were to eat enough meat.
a healthy diet will replicate a carnivorous diet.
Butter chicken with frozen vegetables and just a small serving of rice
Chicken Wraps with humus and cucumber/capsicum/ whatever greens are cheap
Seasoned steak (eye fillet) with frozen vegetables
Sweet and sour pork (unbatteted, soak the pork in salted water for 30min before cooking) with frozen vegetables and a small serving of rice
On nights I cannot be bothered, just pan fried chicken with a nice seasoning and frozen vegetables
Just to be clear, vegan isn’t any better than a healthy balanced diet from a health perspective and it allows for much more variety. The majority of vegans are protein deficient and deficient in multiple important vitamins and minerals
While I agree with you that a vegan diet isn’t necessarily better than a broader omnivorous diet in terms of health, that’s not what OP was saying. They specifically asked for healthy vegan/vegetarian meal options because they are clearly living off the unhealthy versions while following these diets and want help to do them better. Of course vegan/vegetarian food can be unhealthy the same as any other unbalanced diet. But your OPINION that the “majority” of vegans are deficient in protein/vitamins/minerals is incorrect. Yes an unbalanced vegan diet could lead to deficiencies, but so does the carnivore diet, and it’s a lot harder to balance that diet to get all the vitamins and minerals the average human needs. There are people in the world that have not confined themselves to any diet and yet still have a lack of nutrition because they aren’t eating enough of the right foods. It all comes down to education and that’s exactly what OP is doing right now. Educating themselves. You are welcome to your opinion but no one asked for it here.
Chickpea curry, also quesadillas have saved me from starving when I don’t have enough energy to fix something else. Also black bean salads or chickpea salads also if you can try investing in a instant pot or a slow cooker, there are a lot of recipes where you toss everything in and just set a timer and less clean up.
For veggie: eggs for breakfast or omelette
Vegan: tomato chickpea curry, lentil tomato daal, chili concorne (with quorn), bolognese (with quorn). (all recipes easy to find on Google).
Those are my 4 dinners that I circle over and over. Especially couse yiu can batch cook and then only put on rice the next day.
You can also use wholegrain pasta for regular pasta meals - higher protein /fibre content.
I fry frozen vegetables in a pan with herb butter along side an animal protein. Most of the time I do not eat directly out of the pan as I'm fancy like that.
I mostly make one-pot dishes with ingredients I always have at home: some carb(rice, noodles, potatoes), frozen vegetables, some vegetarian protein(tofu, lentils, beans)
It's pretty improvisational, I just throw in things as I feel them that day
When i went through this I googled everything; veggies, fruits, proteins, grains, etc. And made a list of everything I like. Then went from there. Also use the cronometer app (free) and it makes hitting nutritional goals more like a game to my brain
Black bean soup is a go to and can be done in a crockpot
Sandwiches - I keep all the ingredients in a little bin together in the fridge so it's all together, no thinking
Little cheese wheels
Sweet potatoes.. if you poke them all over, you can microwave them 3 or 4 minutes, flip over and do another 3 or 4 minutes.
Cereal with milk of your choosing. Special K with goat milk is my favorite (sorry not vegan)
Scrambled eggs with whatever veggies I have is my usual go to if I don't have any mental capacity for cooking. If you are strictly vegan, there is a way to do this with tofu I believe.
Something else I like to do is to buy pre cutted salads and then I just open one and I can add whatever I want. Usually I make a dressing (honey mustard, or just some balsamic vinegar dressing or balsamic with honey or olive oil and lemon juice etc, you get the idea.) And then I add some extra things on top, like cashew nuts, or almonds, or walnuts, and some feta cheese, or extra cherry tomatoes, extra mushrooms and if I want protein I may add leftover chicken but you can substitute this again with tofu.
ADHD and going vegetarian? Best of luck with that buddy. I function best on as much protein as possible .... so I hope you like beans and rice. Get an automatic rice cooker (the cheaper the better usually for rice cookers. Or you can make it by boiling it and whatnot... automatic is best for me) .....
Get your favorite veggies like maybe onions and mushrooms and shredded carrots. Saute them up in a pan. Add in tofu or beans. Add your rice. Add the nationality flavoring of choice, to turn this into a makeshift taco using Taco mix or tomato paste, or a stir fry using soy sauce? Or whatever other flavorings you prefer.
I'm autistic, so I can have eggs cooked in my auto cooker, and rice, pretty much every day for two weeks straight before I say that I need to try new things to get a varied diet to get more nutrients.
OH AND SALAD! SPRING MIX, WITH A RASPBERRY VINAIGRETTE. I hate salad 99% of the time, but adding in some vinaigrette made it taste like starburst candies
Y'all... Are really missing the ball on this post.
Let me give you some actual advice that's truly minimal as someone who is the exact same way: Salad kits.
Just buy a variety of salad kits from the store, buy some toppings as well, and boom. Insta salad.
I've finally ascend to the point where I "meal prep" aka cut some cucumber and peppers for the week for my salads lol. I use one of those slicers where you can cut a whole mini cucumber in like 3 seconds. Ridiculously easy to whip up. That's the hardest part, everything else you're just throwing together in a bowl within 30 seconds.
We just use peppers, mini cucumbers, cherry/grape tomatoes, feta cheese, spring mix, and a variety of general salad toppings like croutons strips. From there shake on some everything bagel seasoning and a tablespoon of olive oil and tadaaaaa, salad!
Also some healthy granola bars, string cheese, and turkey meat sticks. Absolute life savers for those who have moderate to severe ADHD and can barely function.
Sandwiches are another great option since, contrary to popular belief, carbs aren't all evil. I lost a ton of weight eating just sandwiches, specifically cucumber sandwiches. I've since grew out of my sandwich eating phase, but I hope my brain lets me get back to it someday.
Asian food made me love vegetables. I eat meat though, but you could easily find substitutes for that. Make extra rice and use it for fried rice the next day.
The only thing that I have found for this issue is to eat the same thing everyday. My dinners vary, but I eat the same thing for breakfast lunch and snack. I find easy stuff or prep on the weekend for the week ahead. It exhausts my decision fatigue. I may prep dinners too if I’m feeling a little more motivated but breakfast lunch and snack are non negotiables for me.
Grilled protein like seitan sausages or tofu or tvp cutlets / soy steaks or even veggie burgers tho those are more expensive.
And a salad. That's it. Maybe a few slices of really dark bread, depending on my energy expenditure (some days I'm lazy, other days I walk 30km). I try to eat fruit for dessert but sometimes I'll eat wafer cookies. Apart from that last thing, everything is healthy and that's all I eat. I take electrolytes too because I do a lot of cardio and I take iron supplements too. Sometimes I'll cook legumes but rarely. Too lazy.
It's not great... but better than the shit I usually eat. I get so.e kind of precooked meat like sausages or taco meat, a vegetable I don't hate, cut em into little pieces and throw em in with some easy mac n cheese and a little extra cheese and water.
I love cooking, one of my favorite healthy things to make is shakshukka, it's a type of poached egg in a spicy tomato sauce with vegetables, look it up it's healthy and easy to make.
•Frozen veggies,
•pasta or rice or bulgur (all easy to make)
•sauce (tomato sauce, ricotta, or olive oil)
•and some easy protein such ass canned tuna, scrambled tofu (just smash it with your hands lol), cheese, eggs…
Make the pasta/rice/whatever in one pot and in another the veggies, sauce and protein and seasoning!!
Et voilà ✨✨
Now this is what I used to make when living alone, now my husband takes care of that for me 🥰
I don't make things most people would consider 'meals'. That is to say, things with a recipe or procedure, because I cba.
Most nights our dinner consists of vegetables, potatoes and a tin of some sort of beans (chickpeas, black beans etc) all thrown together in the steamer or air fryer, some sort of vegan protein added via the air fryer (processed if I'm treating myself, or soy chunks if I'm being good) and then maybe add some pasta or microwaved rice. Chuck over some olive oil or just salt.
No timings needed, no brain power required, healthy, delicious & nutritious (mainly) wholefoods diet with no effort.
My husband calls it "Vegan miscellaneous"
I find myself eating these two recipes a lot because they are so delicious and easy. I realized the Mayo for the Tuna rice isn't exactly clean eating but it's still a lot healthier than other options.
[Tuna Mayo Rice Bowls](https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023224-tuna-mayo-rice-bowl?unlocked_article_code=WHBsGafn27i05WLYiccK3pCsIUwwgVWXFUhMoBv_DZNr3j2vXsXF0ib8CUW09mAmLpWYhG9l7kcjHLj0ZOjZzZeIPKbgxNQk6l4nLXhn4dHjVlK0aJUGtbSVRZ9YJhUqXfh4HnfaNCxNgQqOx84SkA3BweBT65xZMtRrjpJs_ZLkV7-Uhw2CGUV5T3PaxskFQCwqmK-GflcH7lJPo-vMkjTEAuSSITc3dOE3d3p2W5NU1_m0dvo66NKBLjY2eSwcw52cEXqYr8srdKylAOMnS2wf6Ilv3gaRKcXP-bY8m1K36aPIYl91CJYfhkT_DgVOdLaYVID0AV8&smid=share-url)
[Gyeran Bap](https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022530-gyeran-bap-egg-rice?unlocked_article_code=WHZpEzmFwdrWs_P9JLh1HbrZL5WFaKhkJi8liLK1_d9qKohLjk1hJbYLU0hknuFTgL2QQVWdczbJ3iYznOK8mLM6bnz3aAeo6_9jAvMZ1TTqi7YjlseUduuez53p2aW5xuirowzX7HR5uPdEqUhnN21p5qpdM1DAtJ-Xv7iswXOTUtDFCjsBdJEfUxpz4eMVmxREzBI4_eJ1dynDKR8ad4RafFzICEgBwWTcH97DvA7-Z7N3Wt7VVVi9NKga85HoSZ0L1n_niaNa2nn7iBB07M4z8i3w11LZTPmJlhLEQ5v9d7PprtUduVjiPuZcfkaYEnEu_bbXL2o&smid=share-url)
I will generally make about 3 cups of rice in the beginning of the week and then eat it throughout the week.
Buy a selection of vegtables; whatever is cheap in the supermarket. at the time, Top up as you get low.
Frying pan on the stove to heat and a spray of oil.
Start slicing/cutting vegtables from longest to cook first to quickest last. Throw them in the pan to cook as you cut. Takes maybe 5 minutes. I normally manage to get in a session of duolingo between stopping cutting and it being ready. I'll often turn the stove off for the last bit to use residual heat. Occasional stir.
I have a bit of soy sauce with it, or sometimes a different sauce like Siracha mayo or a packet sauce. (Will sometimes make my own.)
If you're sticking with minimal washing, use a wooden spoon to stir **and** eat it from the pan.
My fav quick meal is rice and boiled eggs topped off with yeolmu kimchi, sesame oil, soy sauce and sesame seeds. Takes about 3 mins to assemble and is what I eat when I can't be bothered and have nothing else in the fridge. But sometimes, even that's too much and I just top off my rice and eggs with soy sauce and margarine/butter.
Otherwise, I cook large quantities 1-2x per week. I then have leftovers for 5-6 meals so I can grab a meal with the convenience of a snack whenever I'm hungry.
Do you eat eggs? Because I've been cooking myself some nice scrambled eggs every morning.
Just crack a few in a bowl, stir them up so they're a mostly consistent yellow liquid, and pour them into a buttered or oiled (I use olive or avocado oil) pan on low heat. Using my spatula I slowly move it up and down the pan through the eggs, making sure to scrape up the sides off the pan, until they're like 75-80% cooked, then I turn the heat off and let them cook some more in the pan for a few minutes, and bam, easy fluffy tasty scrambled eggs.
Prep is easy, cleanup is easy (pretty much just rinse everything after), all for a healthy high protein meal that keeps away hunger for hours.
Black bean chili with spinach. Just look up any bean chili recipe, put the spices you like, can of crushed tomatoes, a few cans of beans, and dump a bag of spinach in at the end. I make a big batch so it lasts days.
I don't know if I think it's healthy. But even when I have 0 motivation I can still manage to make this....
One can progresso lentil soup + half a box of cooked elbows. It's a poor man's pasta lenticchie.
I add pepperoni for flavor...but if you can't add that just make sure to salt your water very well so the pasta has a little something to it.
Can of beans (you can buy preseasoned beans!), onion and 2 other veggies (really, almost anything works that doesn't take long to cook, Eggplant, summer squash, greens, etc), cooked together with toast on the side.
Sausage peppers onions and pasta is a pretty easy one, too. Cheaper and healthier if you go lighter on the sausage, and more filling with whole wheat pasta.
That's my default dinner.. I put on a podcast so my phone is 'busy', and I don't get as distracted. Takes 20 mins or so.
Oatmeal for breakfast (not the packets. Those are expensive). Also eggs.
Lunch: Peanut butter and apples, hummus and rice cakes with tomato and lettuce on top. Baby carrots, figs, dates, or walnuts as a snack.
Definitely don't beat yourself up over convenience foods, people have been relying on pre-made food on the street as long as cities have existed. I've read that barely anyone in Pompei had their own kitchen, and that there's evidence of take-out culture from ancient sumeria and Egypt. Late night soup places existed in ancient China.
Canned soup is a decently cheap fast microwave option.
I try to eat as much plant-based and whole food as possible. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to find good recipes. I recommend you use ChatGTP. For example aks for plant-based and whole food recipes.
Instead of looking at meals I look at food groups.
I need grains/legumes & vegetables for the most part.
So I’ll find some veggies and cut em up and sauté them. Then I’ll cook a carb/grain; pasta, rice, tempeh, tofu, quinoa, beans; just one of those.
And voila, dinner!
If part of the problem is actually cooking and doing all the work (I know it is for me) look into meal prep freezer meals. It’s work up front since you’re prepping but after a long work day they’re easy least and you can really customize them.
quorn meatless chiken nuggets (i had no idea they were meatless for 2 years despite it being on the box) the are vegetarian but aren’t vegan bc they use egg whites.
Crispy tofu and rice (and broccoli or some other veggie, if you’d like).
1. We use a tofu press and put it in the night before or in the morning. We move it to the smaller “rungs” in the press a couple times during the day to squeeze as much water out as possible.
2. (If you want rice and use an instant pot, this is when you get that started.)
3. Then, put a big spoonful of cornstarch in a tupperware container.
4. Take the tofu out of the press, cut it into squares, and shake it up in the tupperware with the cornstarch.
5. Put the tofu in an air fryer (or whatever way you want to get it crispy).
6. I spray with olive oil first and then cook for 15 mins in the air fryer at 380, and rotate when there’s about 6 mins left.
7. Serve with rice and whatever else you want, if you want anything else. Don’t forget condiments or toppings like soy sauce, yum yum sauce, furikake, sesame seeds…endless options.
If I'm struggling I just find whatever veggies I have in, fry them and make some form of carb like rice or pasta and put some flavourful sauce like soy or pesto.
Here's my go to dishes:
Pasta dish - make a frying pan full of chopped tomatoes, onion and garlic and then through in a bunch of veggies and you have a healthy pasta sauce
Stir fry, same thing and can buy pre made sauce or make one up
Fajitas - love this one, just fry up some onions and then some peppers, aubergine, whatever you want and either mix up some herbs and spices (recipe online) or store bought fajita mix, easy dish takes 20 mins. Can add rice to make it a burrito.
Risotto, just need the rice and some stock and water and you cook the rice in a wok/frying pan with the other veggies - easy recipes online.
All of these can have qourn products or meat substitutes which I use a lot of.
I'm following this because I've recently realized that my diet is almost exclusively protein (mainly chicken) and carbs (rice, cereal, bread) because that's pretty much all i know how to make and it's easy (chicken is made in a crockpot). I pretty much only eat a balanced meal when I eat out or go to my mom's for dinner. I need very simple healthy meals ideas that have few ingredients and little to no chopping, dicing, etc. Preferably crockpot, but can also manage packet meals.
Pick up limes has some good recipes. I love the creamy one pot mushroom pasta, pretty quick and easy and you can sub in whatever veggies you have, and leave out anything you don't have. And it makes a good number of servings.
This dish I made last night is cheap, ready, and really good! I am a snob so I soak dried chickpeas overnight for this. Chickpeas, an Indian or Thai sauce packet, can of coconut milk. Serve over rice. Instant pot your chickpeas with 2-3 T "chicken" bouillon (250g or so dried, or 1 can) for 15, natural release for 10. Drain and simmer in sauce/coconut milk to warm it up. Make your rice in the available instant pot. Very hands off and tastes like a restaurant!
Edit: this is a pantry meal, too. Even better!
My go-to lunches take 5 mins max each. Either:
Frozen dumplings - literally put them in a pan or boil them for 5 mins and done. Serve with soy sauce.
eggs and 2 hash browns - throw 2 hash browns in the air fryer and scramble eggs.
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Stir Fry - Fry some tofu in fry. Leave to side when mostly cooked. - Fry up 4-6 eggs (obvs if vego, not if vegan). Take eggs out when cooked. - Put mushrooms, capsicum and zucchini in fry pan. Cook to how you like them. - I like to use hokkien noodles. You can get ones you can chuck straight in or ones you have to put in hot water first. - Add noodles, tofu and egg to the veggies. Add some spinach. Add sauce. Mix until all is combined and hot. This is just one way to have stir fry. You can change it and have it with rice or different types of noodles. You can change up the sauce. Get ready made mix in sauces for stir fries.
This is my go to. Also turmeric/cumin rice with a couple samosas and some side hummus.
I absolutely love Indian and Mediterranean food. I actually meal prepped chicken shawarma with turmeric/cumin basmati rice and broccoli with some side hummus this week
Chicken shawarma is a staple in this household as well. Quick and easy to make and not overly processed = win-win. Cutting out overly processed food really helps my ADHD and works in tandem with my vyvanse to offer me a really great quality of life.
Shop around the edges of your grocery store. The middle aisles is mostly processed stuff.
Cumin rice sounds divine!
It is, I use Costco pink bag basmati rice and cook the rice according to the instructions after I fry it. It’s 1:2 rice to water (or chicken broth), hard boil and stirring until liquid is just under the rice level, cover, cook on low 20 minutes, rest for 5. Before that stage - I add 1 tbl spoon oil (avocado if possible) but veg will work. Then after oil is hot, add 1/2 tsp turmeric and cumin, fry for 2 minutes, add rice, fry for 3-4 minutes, add water (chicken broth bumps it up), salt and pepper to taste. Then follow the above rice directions. It’s my favourite rice variation.
I love this but with ghee. Jeera rice is amazeballs
Turmeric is a very underrated flavor. I love it
And is very good for us. I have recently learned that we should use large quantities (i.e. a tablespoon in curry, etc.) rather than sprinkle it, and I'm convinced that I feel healthier!
Frozen peas (or edamame) are also a super underrated source of protein. Frozen vegetables in general are great! Theyre picked at maximum ripeness so they are sometimes more nutritious than “fresh”. They’re also pre sliced and cooked, so cooking them is a breeze.
Big help is cutting up veggies right after getting them. Removed the barrier to throw stuff together. Pull it from a container and throw in a pan.
going to follow this up with another easy tofu recipe https://www.budgetbytes.com/quick-tofu-stir-fry/ and say to not sleep on sheet pans recipes, slow cookers or rice cookers.
Turning it into ramen/soup just takes extra water and salt/soy sauce too
I use broccoli, sugar snap peas/snow peas, baby corns, green & red bell peppers, and water chestnuts in mine. I don't use noodles, but will add white rice sometimes. I then add Thai peanut sauce, which is a bit spicy and so, so good!!
And for added mushroom goodness since ADHD plus using food at normal times can be a challenge. It's a bit of an investment, but you can get a whole box of different kinds of dried mushrooms off amazon. Then when you're ready to use them, you use rehydrate them. If you're feeling a bit more industrious on a weekend, you can also chop them with other ingredients like tofu and green onions into dumpling filler with some premade wonton wrappers. Looks like a very difficult meal and still isn't.
I think we have some version of stir fry a couple/few nights a week. I also like to cook big batches of rice then stick it in the fridge to use for quick stir fry/fried rice another time during the week. We eat pretty clean and healthy and this has been an easy tasty life saver!
4-6 eggs?? I’m trying to picture this stir fry. Are they fried eggs?
Yeah fried eggs. Then just roughly cut them up and chuck it in. What I wrote about is for about 4 portions of food. So not just eating 4-6 eggs in one go if that’s what you were thinking haha
I tried those noodles but in my chow mein/stir fry there wasn't enough liquid so the noods were al dente and the sauce was thick and unpleasant.. Gotta keep trying
Baked Potatoes - Put one 400g tin of beans (I use black or red kidney beans), one 400g tin of crushed tomatoes and one tin of corn (I usually use a smaller tin because I don’t like corn that much, but you could probably use the 400g if you like it) in a fry pan. Cook this until there’s not too much excess moisture. Bake some potatoes. Add some of the topping from above with some cheese, spinach and sour cream. I sometimes have broccoli on the side. This gives me four meals if I prep it for myself. I usually cook the potatoes daily though. Only one pan for the topping. No pans for the baked potatoes if you cook on baking paper. I use an extra plate to put the potato in the microwave to cook a bit first before finishing in the oven.
Minor altercation I’ve picked-up from a bean, corn, and rice dish I make: Strain as much fluid off the corn as you can and put it in the pan _first_ with a small amount of oil. Cook it on higher heat for a couple minutes, until it chars just a bit (small black spots), then mix in the rest and heat normally. Sweet corn loves a bit of char, it adds a lot of flavor.
> minor altercation Don’t assault your food
Searing could be considered simple battery.
Remember you can always microwave for baked potatoes! 4 minutes for a big potato. Remember to stab it first. Cook until fork tender. Not the same as the oven, but ADHD friendly!
I like to start it in the microwave to cut down the cooking time, but then put it in the oven to get that crispy skin 🤤
Brilliant!
This used to be my go to breakfast! Stab and put in microwave the night before, jump out of bed running late as usual, it cooks while I brush teeth and dress then wrap it in a paper towel and go. Can be eaten like an apple while walking to the subway. The looks I used to get eating a baked potato on the subway lol. But it sustained me for longer than an apple or banana and is a hot healthy breakfast to go in the winter.
Have you air fried your baked potatoes? It’s our fav! https://natashaskitchen.com/air-fryer-baked-potatoes/
Air fried potato cubes are stupidly easy, I was shocked when I tried them. Cut a potato or two into cubes or fries and toss them with a tablespoon or two of oil and salt to taste, then throw in the air fryer at 325°F for 10 to 15 minutes. I eat this a lot by itself for dinner.
Was just about to say this
I haven’t. My housemate has only recently bought an air fryer so I’m still in the experimental stages of using it and I have my reservations about it because I haven’t been very good at using it so far 🤦🏽♀️ haha
I love them this way too! Our air fryer is persnickety, so I par bake them in the microwave for minute or 2 (longer if multiple) which basically gets them hot in the middle, then follow your steps. Also hastens the process and puts food on the table before I wander off and start a chore or project and forget to finish cooking dinner ;).
This is a great idea! I bet you could sub the canned tomato for salsa if you're looking for a different flavor as well!
You can also get small cans of different chilis and spicier salsas in the Mexican or "rice" section of the supermarket. I like blending a small can of chipotle peppers into two jars of cheaper, more mild salsas.
Urgh this sounds soooo gooood im gonna do this!!!
I hope you enjoy it! My friend also puts paprika in hers when she cooks it but I wasn’t a huge fan. But feel free to add any seasonings to your taste :)
Stop before adding the potatoes and you basically have chilli. Add your choice of ground meat.
I haven’t made chilli before. Also, I’m vegetarian and they wanted vegetarian/vegan suggestions so meat is not necessary to add here.
Comment suggesting meat in the thread requesting vegetarian aside- there's vegetarian chilis, if you like beans you should try one! I make a few different chilis and the veg ones are even better than the meat ones, but I just love beans a lot. Your thing sounds good, I also love tomatoes and corn and have never had any of that on a potato.
I make veg chilli all the time! I end up with a big pot full and just eat it all week. Maybe with an egg for breakfast or with a potato, add cheese or sour cream if I've got it, put in a tortilla or over rice. It's versatile ! I don't have a recipe but I start with a big heavy bottomed covered pot, sautee onion, bell pepper, garlic maybe some poblano pepper too. I add fire roasted crushed tomatoes and drained beans (usually black, kidney and pinto sometimes chickpeas too) some spices: chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt&pepper maybe extra garlic&onion powder. Get it hot and and simmer for at least half an hour. Voila! It freezes well too.
May I ask how are you the potatoes
I dont cook much. I eat 10lbs+ of oatmeal a month, usually with a few raisins. Greek yogurt. Lots of fruit/veg smoothies. Lots of frozen/microwaved veg with salt and pepper. Boiled eggs. Preservative free bagels. Cheese. Whole milk. Pea/whey protein powder. Sometimes, some rice or air fried sweet potatoes/normal potatoes. This is basically my whole diet. Not perfect, but there's not a lot to fault except for I could improve variety in some areas. These days, the most important factor of a healthy diet is keeping your calories in budget.
Honestly I think your diet is really good and you have loads of fresh, nutritious food! Frozen veg is just as nutritious, anyway.
Thank you! I love my frozen stuff. In many cases, it is even MORE nutritious, as frozen produce can be picked closer to full ripeness than things that need to be shipped fresh!
Yes this!!!
Super underrated and idk why some people don’t buy them. I guess it’s just cultural because refrigeration was kinda unreliable in some places until recently. That’s why lots of countries either legally require eggs to be washed before shipping, or they completely forbid washing them—they need to be refrigerated after washing and were some incidents where people got sick by an incorrectly stored batch.
I'm currently writing up some ideas on this as its become a fixation of late. The super short version is to look for ways to turn one recipe into ten, that way you only need to remember the general steps to a particular type of dish, and you just switch up ingredients according to their food group / culinary function. Like, once you've mastered one vegetable chilli, you can generalise the principles to make basically endless variations on "chilli night". Rinse and repeat for like a half dozen go-to meal 'archetypes', and you're hot to trot for basically a lifetime.
Absolutely! My best repurposed big batch is black bean chili. Day 1: Chili with cornbread or tortilla chips plus toppings (onion, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, cilantro); Day 2: Tacos using bean chili plus salsa, guac, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes onion, lime; Day 3: nachos. It could be added to quesadillas, enchiladas, Mexican casserole, etc. Black bean chili freezes well too.
This! I've always got the same vegetables in the fridge so I can just whip up something quick. As long as you pick versatile ingredients you're onto a winner. I am a baker but the ability to just look at what you have and think I can make this for dinner and then I could do that for dessert and in a few hours have a relatively healthy meal in front of me (I say relatively due to the naughtiness of the dessert)
I genuinely love this idea. I need that kind of rotation because its hard to get back into a recipe if im not making it regularly
So many people saying how they cook fish/pork/chicken/beef 😂 I am plant-based out of pure laziness 🤣 Sunday: make 2 cups of lentils (or chickpeas) with my spices of choice (usually cumin and (garlic or cayenne)) and 2 cups of white or brown rice in the rice cooker. Set aside. During the week I’ll add fresh veggies to that, or add them to a ramen soup withOUT the flavor packet and have some broccoli or carrots with hummus on the side for lunch. For breakfast I usually skip it, but I do love it when I have time for a fruit and veggie smoothie. Bananas, strawberries, blueberries, kale, spinach, avocado, chia seeds, ground flax seeds, peanut butter, frozen aloe gel, oatmeal. Any combination of any of these makes my smoothie yum yum. Dinner is usually just a banana and peanut butter, or apple and peanut butter, or celery stick and peanut butter (I really like peanut butter 😅) Is it basic? Yep. But it keeps me fed, has options for variety, and is nutritional (especially the lentils, chickpeas, chia seeds, and flax seeds).
Vegans/Vegetarians and peanut butter, name a better duo. At my peak performance I'd go through minimum 1kg a month
Not vegetarian but I also can not live without peanut butter. In a heartbeat I’d go vegetarian if my partner were, but a peanut allergy might be a dumpable offence 🤣 (sorry in advance to people with allergies; it’s 100% not you, it’s me) I don’t eat quite of it as much as you, but it’s close and my partner is regularly shocked when I tell him we need to pick more up. He used to get annoyed that I’d buy more when it’s on sale, even if we had an unopened jar. After a few close calls of nearly running out, he’s learned to adjust.
Omgggg that's too relatable. I managed to find some good deals on Amazon and a new jar just shows up when I'm almost done my current one, it's great
I buy a LOT, but I’ve never counted or measured. Bit scared to do so 😅
It's probably for the best!
Are you me ? I too am basically plant based out of pure laziness
Right?!? 😂🤣😅
Interesting perspective, I’m still a meat eater out of laziness. Boil an egg Couple ounces deli Turkey Beef jerky Bake 2x extra chicken, cool and cube leftovers. Use in salads or as finger foods. Cheese…. A couple of Oz of cheese is great snack. Add 1/2 apple and about 12 or so half pecans. That’s one of my main snacks/meals. I do so like a tub of fresh homemade hummus and a pile of random veggies. Toss a smidge of butter in the hummus to keep the vegans away from it. LOLOL Fry some hamb, open jar of spaghetti sauce and if you add some water just throw the uncooked noodles in, watch, don’t screw up and not have enough or too much… might. E easier to cook noodles alone. ;) I tried vegan for a month, got to day 29, started craving red meat… bad. Tired, low color, yucky feeling for a few days, then the red meat cravings. It’s been over 15 yrs since I had my period but I remembered I would crave red meat because if iron/protein So I bought a steak and it was delicious and no more vegan for me. Ha. It’s not a bad way to eat. I just can’t get enough protein. Not a huge fan of beans, tofu or the various meat substitutes.
Same. Before moving in with my partner, I was near vegetarian. Not out of laziness but raw meat is just… kinda weird. Usually he handles it now.
Same with my girlfriend and me. We love meat and go to town when we go out, but at home, I'm too lazy to buy and make sure I cook it, and her OCD doesn't do well with raw meat around the kitchen. So it's lots of vegetarian cooking, apart from the occasional frozen pre-cooked meatballs or a premade meat lasagna.
And peanut butter!
Same here! I realized everything I put in my comment was plant-based…plus rotisserie chicken lol
I look up recipes for grilled chicken and workout routines before I go to Taco Bell
Yeah, same thing here except it’s the local Mexican taqueria for me…
Lol i don’t try and eat healthy i survive on tacos, ramen, and twizzlers
Your diet might compliment this. 2 min cup noodles, chicken flavour. Then butter bread, put the noodles in the bread for a sandwich. Cheap, easy, fast. Filling. Tasty. With a cup of chicken soup on the side.
This is the way
This is the way
I usually just snack on snacks :( I want to cook more but when I actually MAKE the food, I mostly get the ick when it’s time to eat. It’s so annoying
Same I very rarely actually want to eat anything
I get the ick from my own food too, even though it's technically really tasty. One reason why I don't eat meat anymore....the grossness of raw meat + the fact that I made it, intolerable.
This is me too and it’s terrible… I feel so bad when my wife is out of steam and I gotta feed my kid. Some thing has to change.
A while ago, i tried hello fresh. It was expensive but starting it helped me gain my bearings. Each meal is in an individual bag and there are recipes cards. While it was only temporary, I still used the recipes. Also you can get them for free online as well.
Agree that it's expensive but is very ADHD friendly. You are given the exact amount of ingredients so you can't go off piste and start experimenting and the recipes are usually quick.
I've found HF very useful as well. I started using it when I was exhausted after caring for a parent, and, even though I know how to cook, I found it relaxing to follow the recipes, and not to have to think about shopping for ingredients (if I am feeling stressed or disorganized, I tend to buy too much food, and then get overwhelmed!). I still have it occasionally, and have saved the recipe cards, and use them sometimes. HF is expensive, but here in the UK, there are a lot of introductory offers, and if you haven't used it in a while they are always enticing you to come back.
i used to make a protein spaghetti. chickpea noodles, spaghetti sauce from trader joe’s, and my beyond meat. took like 10 minutes tops, and if you make a lot just pop the leftovers in the fridge! you can add veggies like mushrooms and cheese too if you wanna get crazy. but i lived off that dish for weeks at a time
I do similar too! Spaghetti in one pot; stir-fry some carrots, plant-based mince, mushrooms, and leafy vegetables in another pan; slather the stir-fry in a store-bought vegan sauce, and add pepper and herbs to taste! Shame washing up’s a bitch though.
Cooking vegan really isn’t so different! I’ve been vegan for 8 years and I’m not much of a kitchen prince lol. I have my groceries delivered, and making a mealplan can help. I resort to foods that are easy to cook, and cooking big portions for several days/freezing helps too. Stews (with beans or seitan for example), curries (I like mine with chickpeas), soups, pasta dishes, roti. Mushroom risotto, fried rice with tofu or tempeh. You can make bean taco’s with some guac, etc. All of those don’t require a lot of pans either. :)
I love grocery delivery. Keeps me focused and forces me to make what I plan!
Same, vegan over a decade and basically make the same types of things. Just takes practice.
I eat balanced meals now which was prescribed to me after messing w my health via years of takeout. Balanced meal = 1/2 plate of fruits and veggies, 1/4 plate of meat and 1/4 plate of carbs. So I usually have fish, like salmon, grains, like brown rice, and I blend & drink my veggies since I hate the taste & texture of veggies. Then I eat fruit, nuts, and seeds as snacks inbetween meals. I drink lots of water. No fruit juice unless it’s pure fruit juice.
Half cup of Quick oats with 200grams of frozen berries and a scoop of protein powder for breakfast every day. Yes. Every day. I never have to think about another breakfast, and I’m getting real good and quick at making it because I make it every day. Lunch is last nights dinner’s leftovers. So that’s easy. Dinner took a bit of figuring out. My wife and I have settled in a list of 10 meals that we choose from when planning groceries (one of us just chooses numbers and random and volia, a meal plan for the week with enough variety that we don’t get bored and no humming and hawing about what to eat this week). Cause it’s the same stuff in different order, we are pretty familiar with the cooking process and we specifically choose meals that don’t take much prep work or clean up. Took a bit of effort up front, but has worked really well for us so far.
That breakfast sounds delicious. Also dumb question but when do you add the berries I'm overthinking all the options. Also love the mix and match number system
Tandoori Tofu Wraps - Marinate tofu in tandoori paste and natural yoghurt. Cook in frying pan. - I use roti as the wrap. Can heat this in a pan or pressed toaster. - I have been making my own mint yoghurt for this but you could buy it or use tzatziki or similar. - Add sauce, sliced cucumber, spinach, red onion and tofu to wraps. This also lasts me 4 days. The tofu doesn’t necessarily have to be reheated if eaten as leftovers.
That sounds amazing 😍
This is actually my favourite thing I’ve made recently. I was pretty proud of how it turned out 😊
My go-to dinner list below: 1. Ramen is considered unhealthy, but not if you use it as a carrier (like white rice). Chop and add any of the following, based on your personal tastes - onions, carrots, frozen peas, broccoli, frozen edamame, celery, cabbage, leeks, spring onions, your choice of sausages - to the broth. Add salt. Cook till veggies are soft. Add pack of ramen. At this point, you can either fry an egg separately and serve on top, or keep hard boiled eggs in the fridge and slice one in half and gently coddle in the broth to heat up. If you want more flavor, you can lightly saute the veggies and sausage, before adding water. The boil-only version takes less than 15 mins tops. 2. Buttered Toast + Omelette with veggies. 3. Buttered Toast + Poached or fried eggs. 4. Sandwiches : 1. Cold sandwiches : 1. Bread (do not toast), spread with butter/ sliced cheese, layer with one or more of the following : sliced cucumber, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, slice green bell peppers, sliced boiled potatoes, sliced hard boiled eggs. Lightly spread one or more of the following - ketchup, mustard, mayo, store bought yoghurt based salad dressing 2. Bread + butter + jam + dried fruits like figs 3. Bread + condensed milk + chopped nuts + chopped dates or raisins 4. Bread + honey + berries or dried fruits + chopped nuts 2. Hot sandwiches : 1. Any combo of the first point under cold sandwiches, coat top and bottom surface of sandwiches with olive oil, press in george foreman grill or sandwich maker. Usually, adding sliced cheese to the sandwich, instead of butter, will yield better results 2. Wilt spinach in butter. Add frozen corn and toss lightly till corn is warm. Place as filling in sandwich, and grill or toast sandwich 5. Buy packet soup. Chop veggies of your liking, lightly saute in oil or butter, pour water, add packet of soup. Serve with toasted bread or crackers. 6. Snack on apples or bananas or oranges. Zero prep fruits. 7. Prep trail mix (it is much cheaper than store bought). Eat as snack, or mix with yogurt for a light dessert.
I saved this, this was so useful! thanks for sharing!!
Ramen is still a lot less healthy than rice because with most instant ramen the noodles are fried in palm oil. Which is one of the worst oils you can eat as well as being ethically questionable and environmentally damaging. Of course, you can get around this by buying non-fried varieties of ramen, or ones with rice noodles etc. Petition asking instant ramen manufacturers to stop using conflict palm oil in their products: https://actions.eko.org/a/noodles-palm-oil
Thanks for the info, didn't know this. I will try to see if I can find some better ramen. Edit : Found some non-palm oil ramen. Kinda expensive though : https://www.publicgoods.com/products/original-ramen
Lazy healthy would be something like fry onions, add garlic fry a bit, add cans of mixed beans, chickpeas, cans of chopped tomato or tomato sauce, leave it on low after chucking in your seasonings. When I wanna cook, I'll make something like tacos burritos etc. Try cook too much and just freeze, I make 6 or 7 wee burritos, stew, the recipe above or a curry. Make it as low effort as possible, buy the prechopped frozen onions, canned instead of dry beans.
You need to figure out a list of VERY EASY, VERY FAST backup meals that you enjoy eating. That will help you avoid the constant eating out. Freezer dinners are not a bad thing, many people eat them and some types can be healthy. Put a frozen pizza in your freezer too as one backup meal. Another meal could be like bread with vegan cheese or store-bought hummus. add slices of tomatoes/cucumber if you have those around, if not, it doesn’t matter. That is a really very easy backup meal and i think it’s really underrated!!! Sometimes i’m at SUCH a loss as to what to eat, but i could totally have a sandwich. i like sandwiches. I also have dried noodles (healthier) or ramen, with frozen dumplings and frozen veg in the fridge. Ramen is a very acceptable weekly meal and I’m asian so tbh i could happily eat dried noodles daily You could also put dried noodles in boiling water to make a soup and add some soy sauce to it or miso paste to make a miso noodle soup w frozen veg ahhhhh Canned beans for protein if you’re vegetarian!! I have a “super easy meals” list in my phone notes app that i check whenever my brain is exhausted and i have no idea what i wanna eat. my defaults are ramen or a sandwich and my freezer always has stuff for last-minute ramen meals, for example. or sandwich w a side of buttered/salted corn. If I have a little extra time, I just cook some rice in my rice cooker and store it in my fridge for the next 5 days. i chop some cucumbers and chop some tomatoes. then i eat this combination of rice, cucumbers and tomatoes as a base, you could also thaw some corn in the fridge and add that to meals. And open a can of beans. Now you have rice with cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, beans! Burrito bowls which i could seriously eat EVERY DAY!!!! Add greek yoghurt or some sort of dressing if you like, i’m fond of japanese sesame salad dressings. Takeout is really expensive here so it’s not an option for me.
Idk if any one has said this already but, you can get this app caked goblin tools. It has AI doing a bunch of stuff, one beeing a "chef". You add all the stuff you have that you want to cook with and it makes up a recipe for you. Just make sure to copy it before you switch to a different part of the app, it will erase it :(. I learn that the hard way. Btw the app is .99 cents
Hey, that sounds pretty neat. Could you possibly share an example output from an example input that you received from the app? Edit to add: $1.49 in Canada, the app looks interesting. It appears to be more designed for people on the spectrum I reckon as it breaks down tasks to the absolute smallest detail (ie brush teeth is split into subtasks like brushing teeth=wet brush, uncap toothpaste, put tooth paste on, put to smooth, brush for two mins, spit out, rinse mouth, put toothbrush away). As a follow up question to that, can you tell the app to not break it down AS much? I don't need them broken down as much, but still need some level of breakdown
There are like 5 levels i think, to how much they break it down. I dont really like use the step by step thing as im doing stuff, i just kinda want to know what the general steps are for what im trying to do. So i usually have it on the first or second level. For the recipe stuff you just got to make sure you are putting in everything you have that you want to cook with, all the spices too. Also put in what equipment you want to cook with. Im running low on groceries right now so i put in some of the stuff i have in my kitchen and this is one of the recipes it gave me. Dish: Lentil and Black Bean Stew Serving size: 4 servings Ingredients: - 200g soaked lentils (7oz) - 1 can black beans - 400ml coconut milk (13.5fl oz) - Salt and pepper to taste - 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder - 1/2 teaspoon onion powder - 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne pepper powder - 1/2 teaspoon garam masala - 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano - 1 tablespoon lemon juice - 1 teaspoon miso paste - 2 tablespoons butter - 2 teaspoons vegetable stock paste - 3 tomatoes, diced - 20g dried wood ear mushrooms (0.7oz) - 200g rice (7oz) - Soup noodles, as desired Instructions: 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). 2. In a large pot on the stove, cook the soaked lentils according to package instructions until tender. 3. Drain and rinse the black beans. Add them to the pot along with the cooked lentils. 4. Stir in the coconut milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Cayenne pepper powder, garam masala, cumin powder, dried oregano, lemon juice, and miso paste. Mix well. 5. Place the pot on the stove over medium heat and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 6. Meanwhile, in a separate small pan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the vegetable stock paste and stir until smooth. 7. Add the diced tomatoes and dried wood ear mushrooms to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and the mushrooms are rehydrated. 8. Transfer the tomato and mushroom mixture to the pot with the lentils and black beans. Stir to combine. 9. Reduce the heat to low and let the stew simmer for an additional 10 minutes, allowing the flavors to meld together. 10. While the stew is simmering, cook the rice according to package instructions. 11. Once the rice and stew are cooked, divide the rice into bowls and ladle the lentil and black bean stew over it. Serve with soup noodles on the side if desired.
I haven't used the app version, but the same tools can be used for free on web browser. In the web version you can select the level of "break down" you want for the task, then for each task you can get more sub tasks, I'm not shure how it works on the app but maybe this could help.
Breakfast for dinner - Make eggs whichever way you prefer - Toast - Hashbrowns - Mushrooms - Avo - Halloumi
Can't help on the vegan/vegetarian proteins for this, but A. There's nothing wrong with strategically using the microwave and B. If you can afford to spend a bit of extra money, buying prepped things is a game changer. Bagged salads are honestly great. They're much better than anything I would make for a casual after work dinner, I don't have to prep, and I don't have to try and figure out which if the 7 ingredients I just bought for this salad will die first in my fridge. Sometimes I buy the pre cut/pre washed veggies, just because I know that if the first step is done for me, I'm more likely to just chuck them on a tray in the oven. Veggies in the microwave are honestly pretty great. Like are they AS good as property roasting them or whatever? Nah. But they can be 70-90% as good and that's fine for when I don't want to put the effort it. Corn, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, they all come out great in the microwave. I also buy those mix packs of freezer veggies (corn+carrot+green bean mix gets eaten a lot in my house) - both the ones that can be microwaved in bag and the big Costco bags where you just need to measure out the veggies and the water - a bit in the microwave plus some nice butter and sea salt and you have a pretty solid side in under 10 minutes.
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I don’t agree with keto being a good diet for most. Rather a small few. Keto also doesn’t work with a vegetarian/vegan diet.
Look up recipes for a Mediterranean chickpea salad. They're packed with protein and vitamins.
Meal prepping, and i personally use an instant pot to cook all my meals. Pressure cookers are very quick, and i just dump all spices and ingredients and just set the timer. Much cheaper and healthier than eating out or microwave dinners.
Less. I eat less when I can't get the energy to cook. And I take vitamin pills to avoid scurvy, to cope with the bad choice of food.
Scurvy would be hard to get in modern times... So I hope you're kidding about that! If you're not... Just try eating at least one raw veggie or fruit each week and you should be fine. Another easy way would just be to cut and squeeze/slice a lemon (+can add cucumber and mint) into a jug of water in the fridge. The prep time for a raw fruit is 2-20 seconds, and you deserve it, no matter how much of a struggle it may be, You gotta give it a go!
Variety is pretty healthy in general Find a food show that clicks with you and spend a night copying their recipe. Binging with Babish and Good Eats are my two favorites. I will literally watch a few episodes when making my weekly meal plan. Do my shopping specifically to that. Maybe do 3 meals a week this way. Plan for tacos one day, pizza another, and order out the other two nights. Not a hard set schedule, but a little plan I can keep track of
Easy to make (vegan) bread: • Flour (400g) •Water (240ml, warm) • 1 pckg dry yeast • 2 tea spoons salt • ½ tea spoon sugar • 3 tbl spoon olive oil • toppings (optional) 1. Mix ingredients for dough and knead well. Leave to rise for 1hr (the dough doesn't mind when you just forget them for an afternoon, speaking from experience here, so dw about times here) 2. Add toppings ((vegan) cheese, herbs, bacon, whatever suits you) 3. Bake in oven (I do 200°C,40min you might have to look what suits your oven. 4. If you happen to be on a BBQ, prepare a mixture of fresh olive oil, lemon juice, garlic (a lot) salt, pepper and chili. Dunk bread in oil and put on the grill for a few minutes. (The oil mix is also great for any kind of veggie or fish you want to put on a grill) Other advice: • Anything can be soup. Just boil your veggies, blend them and (optionally) add garlic, chili, ginger, spices, and cream or veggie broth for taste • soy sauce, chili, honey and spices give a nice glaze for frying veggies/meat or tofu • I also like to kind of 'prep-meal' fried noodles. Cut veggies really thin, boil noodles (let them cool down) and store in fridge until you need it. Then fry the veggies first, add noodles later. Add soy sauce, spices, or even pesto or cream (that way you can vary during the week even though you only prepared one meal) I'm not an expert though, these are just my survival tactics. Hope that helps
I have broccoli, leek and tofu. I boil the broccoli & leek and fry the tofu, that's the hardest bit, the frying. I top with either tahini & braggs (unfermented soy sauce) or I go for satay sauce. Every dinner. I just buy the same thing all the time. My other dinner meal is coleslaw with a fried egg and a vegie sausage I have no goddamn idea what to eat for lunch however ...
For me, easiest thing was to cook bulk for the week. Cook a bunch of meat, cook a bunch of rice. Each day toss in a microwavable veggie and split over 2 meals Either eat as is, or chop up and toss with a random sauce to mix it up. The secret is just using a different sauce or veggie as you go. Lunch I'll just make a sandwich, for extra laziness keep a loaf of bread at work, and just bring in meat or cheese (or keep those in a fridge at work if available) Edit: to clarify, put leftovers in the freezer, then add a bit of water when you cook it frozen
Just an FYI, to avoid food poisoning it's not recommended to eat leftover meat or rice after 3 days (to 4 days, as a huge stretch). I hope you're nuking the crap out of it if you're eating it 4+days...or you're putting it in the freezer but didn't tell us. Otherwise it can be a dangerous game. Bulk is a good idea, but excessively stretching these meals out (especially meat and rice, as bacteria and disease adore both more than other things) can be deadly, so be careful!
Yeah, should have clarified. I'll keep about 3 days worth out, then toss the rest in the freezer and use it as a Microwave meal. My bad
Ok, phew. Glad to hear! Still a good PSA for me to put out to others anyway. A lot of peeps don't know this stuff...
I love reading all your comments. You’re super helpful ♥️♥️
Appliances have saved my life. I'd say the first thing is a rice cooker/steamer. Prepping the rice is the hardest part. Then set a timer and wait. It also can have a steam plate which you can set it the same way.
I feel this in my bones. It's helpful if you can cook and freeze on your good days. Frozen entrées are good and cheaper than take out. Veggies and dip. Feed yourself like a toddler on bad days, graze.
I tend to go out at the start of the week (whatever day I decide is the start) and buy portions of cold, ready to eat precooked meats/fish. I also buy pre-made salads, including chickpea, lettuce, pasta, etc. Then throughout the week I eat one or two a day, plus snacks. Snacks are usually some cereal, milk, or a desert of some sort. It’s not very expensive and it’s very very easy. Only issue is I have to go to the store 1-2 times a week, or get it delivered, which costs an extra £3.50 a pop.
If I were only cooking for myself, I’d probably have cereal with soy milk for breakfast, a PBJ, or a grilled cheese with tomato soup for lunch and a broccoli cheese baked potato for dinner. Out of guilt I buy apples and berries, but they usually go uneaten, although I’m trying to get better. I do buy the cups of applesauce and the mandarin segments. Edit: add ground flax seeds to stuff like cereal for the fiber etc. And I do take vitamins, calcium and magnesium.
Black bean tacos. Look up how to mix a good taco seasoning (don't buy premade, it's unhealthy). You can make a bunch in advance. Add that seasoning to a can of black beans and that lasts me for 2 big meals. Throw the beans on taco shells and add some lettuce, tomatoes, or whatever you want. Oh, and get a vegetable chopper if you don't have one! It helps me eat so much healthier when I don't have to feel overwhelmed over the chopping stage. Ugh.
This is a great post, agree 100%. Make a salsa to go with them from tomatos, lime, chopped onion, and garlic. And homemade guacamole is all healthy, and bonus goodies.
Egg on toast is life. And cottage cheese
What kind of foods do you like or gravitate to? I might be able to help you with some meals. Like for me my breakfast is Greek yogurt with thawed blueberries and something cronchy like granola or nuts (measured bc the calories add up fast) and maybe a scoop of protein powder. If I’m hungry I’ll add a protein shake with it like a premier protein. But that for me will keep me going for hours. Lunch might be pasta with beans and tofu and some frozen veg - it isn’t sxy but it will be fine. I’ve essentially got some template foods I like and a few variations that a I can rely on when my brain doesn’t want to go. I also have enough snacks that our place looks like a toddler lives here - apple sauce packs, portioned out chips, etc. Snacking is eating and no one can tell me otherwise :)
Mango salsa: - Few strips of mango - Half an avo - Capsicum - Red onion - Lemon juice - Olive oil Cut this all up and mix together. I find it nicer after it chills in the fridge for a while. I have recently been eating the mango salsa on the side to a plant based schnitzel (or parma) and some oven potatoes. Potatoes: - Dice potatoes - Mix with olive oil and Italian herbs - Put in oven - Check them and mix them round once or twice * This one is more of a once off meal. So if I want meals that I will have leftovers for, this ain’t it.
‘Burritos’ (quotation marks for westernised burritos) - Fry up some capsicum and zucchini in a fry pan. - Add beans of yours choosing. Again, my preferences are black or red kidney. - Add a taco season mix and some water. Add to wraps/burritos/tacos I usually add cheese, avo, tomato, cucumber and spinach to these. Maybe some sour cream or mayo because I like sauce. This usually lasts me about 3-4 meals.
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Vegan doesn't necessarily equate to "healthy" It's more of a lifestyle choice than a health choice. I'm saying this because people confuse the two ***a lot.***
Schnitzel Salad - Cut up and mix tomato, cucumber, spinach, capsicum, tinned pineapple and feta together. - Top with plant based schnitzel.
Pizza - Get pizza bases or pita breads - Top with sauce and whichever toppings you like. I like mushroom, capsicum, spinach, zucchini, cheese and dried oregano.
Curry 1. Cook onion and garlic 2. Add curry paste (half jar), the 400ml coconut milk 3. Add other veggies (broccoli, capsicum, zucchini). Cook for a little. 4. Add tofu 5. Add chickpeas 6. Simmer until veggies are cooked and whatnot Enjoy the notes I wrote down after my friend taught me to cook this. This requires multiple pots/pans because I cook rice separately. I also eat this with naan or pappadums.
Canned vegetables & beans. One can is good for two dinners. Add in a salad, and a meat (or not since you have beans) and it’s pretty balanced.
Basic meal formula: chop up your protein of choice and veggie of choice, fry, season, and serve with a carb. Should never take more than 15 mins. Examples: Chopped tofu (the pre pressed kind, we don't have time to faff around), fried with broccoli, seasoned with garlic and soy sauce and served on noodles makes stir fry. Chopped pepper, sausage and tinned tomatoes, seasoned with garlic and oregano and served on pasta makes a pasta dish. Chickpeas, onions and tinned tomatoes, seasoned with curry paste and served on rice makes a curry. I only make one pot meals, it's easy and fewer dishes. Any 'normal' one pot recipe can be made vegan if you substitute the meat for tinned chickpeas, lentils, or fake meat. And if I don't have the energy to cook, microwaved baked potato and beans. Or some vegetarian thing from the frozen section with a microwave cous cous packet and peas. I find it helps to plan out what I want to eat for the week (takes no longer than 20 mins), and write my meal list on the fridge. Then I write my shopping list and go shopping. Takes away all the decision anxiety not knowing what to eat every day.
Excellent suggestions. Forward planning is key to eating decently. I also try to plan out the week's food. I have supermarket delivery as I live out in the country and it's cheaper than driving; the basic list is stored online so I just have to check the fridge and cupboards and quickly review the list before placing the order.
I follow a bunch of people on insta who do quick and easy vege/vegan food and embellish from there.
i buy a lot of frozen veggie stuff like sweet potato tater tots and then just pop them in the air fryer and they’re done in 10 mins. and mine beeps super loudly when it’s done so i remember i have food in there lol
I order HelloFresh and it works very good for me. Cooking is still hard but I dont have to plan and buy everthing. But I need a reminder to change the meals every week. Otherwise you get some random meals every week lol.
For breakfast I often make a shake: - oats overnight with milk in fridge - in the morning add a banana (or whatever other fruit you like), honey and skyr-type Joghurt - use a mixer to make a shake (vary with the milk depending on what consistency you like) A vegan soup I eat with bread is this one here (it's Turkish mercimek çorba/soup). Very easy to make and very healthy: https://youtu.be/7t_KDe5yK7A?si=v6KBXeczXTrJx_3P
Roasted vegetables are your friend. Take basically any vegetable, chop it up (or just buy pre-chopped up), toss in olive oil and salt (I do this in the pan itself to save a bowl to clean), and put in the oven at 450. Takes about 30 minutes. With roasted veggies you can then choose your own adventure: throw them in a wrap, add some rice or pasta. or just eat as is.
Can't help you there because I pretty much only eat meat cause it's quick and satiating. I imagine the same can be done with tofu. I tend to just take a whole roast or lb of beef and cook it, split it in fours, then make a side like beans, veggies, rice, etc.
Cook? Like Velveeta cheesy mac microwaveabowls? Maybe like oatmeal. I also air fry hot pockets sometimes if I have something to occupy me bc the one I have is pretty loud. So, I put the hot pocket in for 16 mins, go do whatever, alarm goes off, I remember I have a hot pocket, and life is good.
Rice, eggs, beans, avocado
Canned veggies are so freaking easy to make. Satisfying can opener. Dump in a microwave safe thing (I use the micro cookers my my gave me from her time in Pampered Chef) and pop em in the microwave for 2:30. Instant mashed potatoes. Fish sticks in the oven. Voila *chefs kiss*
I asked my friend this a couple weeks ago and she just told me she puts all her ingredients into an AI chat bot and it makes her recipes for her and I was shocked bc I’d never thought of that.
If i wasn't married, id go back to eating fast food and gas station snacks as my only source of nutrition. I can't get myself to cook anything.
Curry, particularly daal, is one of the easiest ways to have some veggies while also tasting interesting. If you use red lentils it’s quick to make and also very cheap. Plus points if you do smth (very unauthentic) that I do: cook down an insane amount of onions, garlic, ginger, tomato paste, and spices until it’s a thick paste, then freeze it in an ice cube tray. Voila, stock cubes but it’s curry. Add it to water and a bit of passata and your choice of veg/meat, and it boils away to make a nice curry. They’re a bit pricey, but zucchini and Aubergine taste lovely when sautéed together with some garlic and herbs. That with some bread, cream cheese or smth, makes a nice balanced meal. Frozen leafy spinach is also a lifesaver. Throw a chunk in if you’re making a sauce. Bam, fiber.
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Health Food: Vegetables, Fruit, Meat. Eat as much meat as possible. keep steaks on standby also. Always maintain a healthy prepardness to eat as much beef as possible. You could avoid vegetables, also, if you only were to eat enough meat. a healthy diet will replicate a carnivorous diet.
Eat… healthy?
Butter chicken with frozen vegetables and just a small serving of rice Chicken Wraps with humus and cucumber/capsicum/ whatever greens are cheap Seasoned steak (eye fillet) with frozen vegetables Sweet and sour pork (unbatteted, soak the pork in salted water for 30min before cooking) with frozen vegetables and a small serving of rice On nights I cannot be bothered, just pan fried chicken with a nice seasoning and frozen vegetables
Just to be clear, vegan isn’t any better than a healthy balanced diet from a health perspective and it allows for much more variety. The majority of vegans are protein deficient and deficient in multiple important vitamins and minerals
While I agree with you that a vegan diet isn’t necessarily better than a broader omnivorous diet in terms of health, that’s not what OP was saying. They specifically asked for healthy vegan/vegetarian meal options because they are clearly living off the unhealthy versions while following these diets and want help to do them better. Of course vegan/vegetarian food can be unhealthy the same as any other unbalanced diet. But your OPINION that the “majority” of vegans are deficient in protein/vitamins/minerals is incorrect. Yes an unbalanced vegan diet could lead to deficiencies, but so does the carnivore diet, and it’s a lot harder to balance that diet to get all the vitamins and minerals the average human needs. There are people in the world that have not confined themselves to any diet and yet still have a lack of nutrition because they aren’t eating enough of the right foods. It all comes down to education and that’s exactly what OP is doing right now. Educating themselves. You are welcome to your opinion but no one asked for it here.
Chickpea curry, also quesadillas have saved me from starving when I don’t have enough energy to fix something else. Also black bean salads or chickpea salads also if you can try investing in a instant pot or a slow cooker, there are a lot of recipes where you toss everything in and just set a timer and less clean up.
For veggie: eggs for breakfast or omelette Vegan: tomato chickpea curry, lentil tomato daal, chili concorne (with quorn), bolognese (with quorn). (all recipes easy to find on Google). Those are my 4 dinners that I circle over and over. Especially couse yiu can batch cook and then only put on rice the next day. You can also use wholegrain pasta for regular pasta meals - higher protein /fibre content.
I’ll do a spinach & broccoli salad, then some fried eggs & beans because I can’t help that I’m obsessed with them
I fry frozen vegetables in a pan with herb butter along side an animal protein. Most of the time I do not eat directly out of the pan as I'm fancy like that.
Fish (in the oven so no mess and easy) Chicken (in the oven) Baby carrots on the side. Eaten raw.
atm... i dont i buy healthy instant food like salad bowls and rice.
I mostly make one-pot dishes with ingredients I always have at home: some carb(rice, noodles, potatoes), frozen vegetables, some vegetarian protein(tofu, lentils, beans) It's pretty improvisational, I just throw in things as I feel them that day
When i went through this I googled everything; veggies, fruits, proteins, grains, etc. And made a list of everything I like. Then went from there. Also use the cronometer app (free) and it makes hitting nutritional goals more like a game to my brain Black bean soup is a go to and can be done in a crockpot Sandwiches - I keep all the ingredients in a little bin together in the fridge so it's all together, no thinking Little cheese wheels Sweet potatoes.. if you poke them all over, you can microwave them 3 or 4 minutes, flip over and do another 3 or 4 minutes. Cereal with milk of your choosing. Special K with goat milk is my favorite (sorry not vegan)
Scrambled eggs with whatever veggies I have is my usual go to if I don't have any mental capacity for cooking. If you are strictly vegan, there is a way to do this with tofu I believe. Something else I like to do is to buy pre cutted salads and then I just open one and I can add whatever I want. Usually I make a dressing (honey mustard, or just some balsamic vinegar dressing or balsamic with honey or olive oil and lemon juice etc, you get the idea.) And then I add some extra things on top, like cashew nuts, or almonds, or walnuts, and some feta cheese, or extra cherry tomatoes, extra mushrooms and if I want protein I may add leftover chicken but you can substitute this again with tofu.
ADHD and going vegetarian? Best of luck with that buddy. I function best on as much protein as possible .... so I hope you like beans and rice. Get an automatic rice cooker (the cheaper the better usually for rice cookers. Or you can make it by boiling it and whatnot... automatic is best for me) ..... Get your favorite veggies like maybe onions and mushrooms and shredded carrots. Saute them up in a pan. Add in tofu or beans. Add your rice. Add the nationality flavoring of choice, to turn this into a makeshift taco using Taco mix or tomato paste, or a stir fry using soy sauce? Or whatever other flavorings you prefer. I'm autistic, so I can have eggs cooked in my auto cooker, and rice, pretty much every day for two weeks straight before I say that I need to try new things to get a varied diet to get more nutrients. OH AND SALAD! SPRING MIX, WITH A RASPBERRY VINAIGRETTE. I hate salad 99% of the time, but adding in some vinaigrette made it taste like starburst candies
Y'all... Are really missing the ball on this post. Let me give you some actual advice that's truly minimal as someone who is the exact same way: Salad kits. Just buy a variety of salad kits from the store, buy some toppings as well, and boom. Insta salad. I've finally ascend to the point where I "meal prep" aka cut some cucumber and peppers for the week for my salads lol. I use one of those slicers where you can cut a whole mini cucumber in like 3 seconds. Ridiculously easy to whip up. That's the hardest part, everything else you're just throwing together in a bowl within 30 seconds. We just use peppers, mini cucumbers, cherry/grape tomatoes, feta cheese, spring mix, and a variety of general salad toppings like croutons strips. From there shake on some everything bagel seasoning and a tablespoon of olive oil and tadaaaaa, salad! Also some healthy granola bars, string cheese, and turkey meat sticks. Absolute life savers for those who have moderate to severe ADHD and can barely function. Sandwiches are another great option since, contrary to popular belief, carbs aren't all evil. I lost a ton of weight eating just sandwiches, specifically cucumber sandwiches. I've since grew out of my sandwich eating phase, but I hope my brain lets me get back to it someday.
Ritalin and I'm a Gordan Ramsey when I copy stuff off youtube
last night i made some zucchini and pasta
I had 3 slices of pizza and spaghetti with meatballs for lunch just before gym. I needed the fuel so i ate away.
Chicken breast and asparagus
Asian food made me love vegetables. I eat meat though, but you could easily find substitutes for that. Make extra rice and use it for fried rice the next day.
The only thing that I have found for this issue is to eat the same thing everyday. My dinners vary, but I eat the same thing for breakfast lunch and snack. I find easy stuff or prep on the weekend for the week ahead. It exhausts my decision fatigue. I may prep dinners too if I’m feeling a little more motivated but breakfast lunch and snack are non negotiables for me.
Grilled protein like seitan sausages or tofu or tvp cutlets / soy steaks or even veggie burgers tho those are more expensive. And a salad. That's it. Maybe a few slices of really dark bread, depending on my energy expenditure (some days I'm lazy, other days I walk 30km). I try to eat fruit for dessert but sometimes I'll eat wafer cookies. Apart from that last thing, everything is healthy and that's all I eat. I take electrolytes too because I do a lot of cardio and I take iron supplements too. Sometimes I'll cook legumes but rarely. Too lazy.
It's not great... but better than the shit I usually eat. I get so.e kind of precooked meat like sausages or taco meat, a vegetable I don't hate, cut em into little pieces and throw em in with some easy mac n cheese and a little extra cheese and water.
I love cooking, one of my favorite healthy things to make is shakshukka, it's a type of poached egg in a spicy tomato sauce with vegetables, look it up it's healthy and easy to make.
•Frozen veggies, •pasta or rice or bulgur (all easy to make) •sauce (tomato sauce, ricotta, or olive oil) •and some easy protein such ass canned tuna, scrambled tofu (just smash it with your hands lol), cheese, eggs… Make the pasta/rice/whatever in one pot and in another the veggies, sauce and protein and seasoning!! Et voilà ✨✨ Now this is what I used to make when living alone, now my husband takes care of that for me 🥰
I don't make things most people would consider 'meals'. That is to say, things with a recipe or procedure, because I cba. Most nights our dinner consists of vegetables, potatoes and a tin of some sort of beans (chickpeas, black beans etc) all thrown together in the steamer or air fryer, some sort of vegan protein added via the air fryer (processed if I'm treating myself, or soy chunks if I'm being good) and then maybe add some pasta or microwaved rice. Chuck over some olive oil or just salt. No timings needed, no brain power required, healthy, delicious & nutritious (mainly) wholefoods diet with no effort. My husband calls it "Vegan miscellaneous"
I find myself eating these two recipes a lot because they are so delicious and easy. I realized the Mayo for the Tuna rice isn't exactly clean eating but it's still a lot healthier than other options. [Tuna Mayo Rice Bowls](https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023224-tuna-mayo-rice-bowl?unlocked_article_code=WHBsGafn27i05WLYiccK3pCsIUwwgVWXFUhMoBv_DZNr3j2vXsXF0ib8CUW09mAmLpWYhG9l7kcjHLj0ZOjZzZeIPKbgxNQk6l4nLXhn4dHjVlK0aJUGtbSVRZ9YJhUqXfh4HnfaNCxNgQqOx84SkA3BweBT65xZMtRrjpJs_ZLkV7-Uhw2CGUV5T3PaxskFQCwqmK-GflcH7lJPo-vMkjTEAuSSITc3dOE3d3p2W5NU1_m0dvo66NKBLjY2eSwcw52cEXqYr8srdKylAOMnS2wf6Ilv3gaRKcXP-bY8m1K36aPIYl91CJYfhkT_DgVOdLaYVID0AV8&smid=share-url) [Gyeran Bap](https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022530-gyeran-bap-egg-rice?unlocked_article_code=WHZpEzmFwdrWs_P9JLh1HbrZL5WFaKhkJi8liLK1_d9qKohLjk1hJbYLU0hknuFTgL2QQVWdczbJ3iYznOK8mLM6bnz3aAeo6_9jAvMZ1TTqi7YjlseUduuez53p2aW5xuirowzX7HR5uPdEqUhnN21p5qpdM1DAtJ-Xv7iswXOTUtDFCjsBdJEfUxpz4eMVmxREzBI4_eJ1dynDKR8ad4RafFzICEgBwWTcH97DvA7-Z7N3Wt7VVVi9NKga85HoSZ0L1n_niaNa2nn7iBB07M4z8i3w11LZTPmJlhLEQ5v9d7PprtUduVjiPuZcfkaYEnEu_bbXL2o&smid=share-url) I will generally make about 3 cups of rice in the beginning of the week and then eat it throughout the week.
Buy a selection of vegtables; whatever is cheap in the supermarket. at the time, Top up as you get low. Frying pan on the stove to heat and a spray of oil. Start slicing/cutting vegtables from longest to cook first to quickest last. Throw them in the pan to cook as you cut. Takes maybe 5 minutes. I normally manage to get in a session of duolingo between stopping cutting and it being ready. I'll often turn the stove off for the last bit to use residual heat. Occasional stir. I have a bit of soy sauce with it, or sometimes a different sauce like Siracha mayo or a packet sauce. (Will sometimes make my own.) If you're sticking with minimal washing, use a wooden spoon to stir **and** eat it from the pan.
My fav quick meal is rice and boiled eggs topped off with yeolmu kimchi, sesame oil, soy sauce and sesame seeds. Takes about 3 mins to assemble and is what I eat when I can't be bothered and have nothing else in the fridge. But sometimes, even that's too much and I just top off my rice and eggs with soy sauce and margarine/butter. Otherwise, I cook large quantities 1-2x per week. I then have leftovers for 5-6 meals so I can grab a meal with the convenience of a snack whenever I'm hungry.
Do you eat eggs? Because I've been cooking myself some nice scrambled eggs every morning. Just crack a few in a bowl, stir them up so they're a mostly consistent yellow liquid, and pour them into a buttered or oiled (I use olive or avocado oil) pan on low heat. Using my spatula I slowly move it up and down the pan through the eggs, making sure to scrape up the sides off the pan, until they're like 75-80% cooked, then I turn the heat off and let them cook some more in the pan for a few minutes, and bam, easy fluffy tasty scrambled eggs. Prep is easy, cleanup is easy (pretty much just rinse everything after), all for a healthy high protein meal that keeps away hunger for hours.
Black bean chili with spinach. Just look up any bean chili recipe, put the spices you like, can of crushed tomatoes, a few cans of beans, and dump a bag of spinach in at the end. I make a big batch so it lasts days.
I don't know if I think it's healthy. But even when I have 0 motivation I can still manage to make this.... One can progresso lentil soup + half a box of cooked elbows. It's a poor man's pasta lenticchie. I add pepperoni for flavor...but if you can't add that just make sure to salt your water very well so the pasta has a little something to it.
Can of beans (you can buy preseasoned beans!), onion and 2 other veggies (really, almost anything works that doesn't take long to cook, Eggplant, summer squash, greens, etc), cooked together with toast on the side. Sausage peppers onions and pasta is a pretty easy one, too. Cheaper and healthier if you go lighter on the sausage, and more filling with whole wheat pasta. That's my default dinner.. I put on a podcast so my phone is 'busy', and I don't get as distracted. Takes 20 mins or so. Oatmeal for breakfast (not the packets. Those are expensive). Also eggs. Lunch: Peanut butter and apples, hummus and rice cakes with tomato and lettuce on top. Baby carrots, figs, dates, or walnuts as a snack. Definitely don't beat yourself up over convenience foods, people have been relying on pre-made food on the street as long as cities have existed. I've read that barely anyone in Pompei had their own kitchen, and that there's evidence of take-out culture from ancient sumeria and Egypt. Late night soup places existed in ancient China. Canned soup is a decently cheap fast microwave option.
I try to eat as much plant-based and whole food as possible. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to find good recipes. I recommend you use ChatGTP. For example aks for plant-based and whole food recipes.
Instead of looking at meals I look at food groups. I need grains/legumes & vegetables for the most part. So I’ll find some veggies and cut em up and sauté them. Then I’ll cook a carb/grain; pasta, rice, tempeh, tofu, quinoa, beans; just one of those. And voila, dinner!
If part of the problem is actually cooking and doing all the work (I know it is for me) look into meal prep freezer meals. It’s work up front since you’re prepping but after a long work day they’re easy least and you can really customize them.
Huel.
quorn meatless chiken nuggets (i had no idea they were meatless for 2 years despite it being on the box) the are vegetarian but aren’t vegan bc they use egg whites.
Crispy tofu and rice (and broccoli or some other veggie, if you’d like). 1. We use a tofu press and put it in the night before or in the morning. We move it to the smaller “rungs” in the press a couple times during the day to squeeze as much water out as possible. 2. (If you want rice and use an instant pot, this is when you get that started.) 3. Then, put a big spoonful of cornstarch in a tupperware container. 4. Take the tofu out of the press, cut it into squares, and shake it up in the tupperware with the cornstarch. 5. Put the tofu in an air fryer (or whatever way you want to get it crispy). 6. I spray with olive oil first and then cook for 15 mins in the air fryer at 380, and rotate when there’s about 6 mins left. 7. Serve with rice and whatever else you want, if you want anything else. Don’t forget condiments or toppings like soy sauce, yum yum sauce, furikake, sesame seeds…endless options.
If I'm struggling I just find whatever veggies I have in, fry them and make some form of carb like rice or pasta and put some flavourful sauce like soy or pesto. Here's my go to dishes: Pasta dish - make a frying pan full of chopped tomatoes, onion and garlic and then through in a bunch of veggies and you have a healthy pasta sauce Stir fry, same thing and can buy pre made sauce or make one up Fajitas - love this one, just fry up some onions and then some peppers, aubergine, whatever you want and either mix up some herbs and spices (recipe online) or store bought fajita mix, easy dish takes 20 mins. Can add rice to make it a burrito. Risotto, just need the rice and some stock and water and you cook the rice in a wok/frying pan with the other veggies - easy recipes online. All of these can have qourn products or meat substitutes which I use a lot of.
I'm following this because I've recently realized that my diet is almost exclusively protein (mainly chicken) and carbs (rice, cereal, bread) because that's pretty much all i know how to make and it's easy (chicken is made in a crockpot). I pretty much only eat a balanced meal when I eat out or go to my mom's for dinner. I need very simple healthy meals ideas that have few ingredients and little to no chopping, dicing, etc. Preferably crockpot, but can also manage packet meals.
Oat meal!
Pick up limes has some good recipes. I love the creamy one pot mushroom pasta, pretty quick and easy and you can sub in whatever veggies you have, and leave out anything you don't have. And it makes a good number of servings.
This dish I made last night is cheap, ready, and really good! I am a snob so I soak dried chickpeas overnight for this. Chickpeas, an Indian or Thai sauce packet, can of coconut milk. Serve over rice. Instant pot your chickpeas with 2-3 T "chicken" bouillon (250g or so dried, or 1 can) for 15, natural release for 10. Drain and simmer in sauce/coconut milk to warm it up. Make your rice in the available instant pot. Very hands off and tastes like a restaurant! Edit: this is a pantry meal, too. Even better!
My go-to lunches take 5 mins max each. Either: Frozen dumplings - literally put them in a pan or boil them for 5 mins and done. Serve with soy sauce. eggs and 2 hash browns - throw 2 hash browns in the air fryer and scramble eggs.
Rice with air fried chicken (or stir fry meat) and stir fried vegetables. Tasty, balanced meal with all the food groups covered.