Between school and working full time I have less than 0 energy to cook food when I get home. I also don’t have the energy/time/attention span to pack a lunch most days. I’ve been eating like a raccoon for a month just waiting to feel up to meal prepping because this current pattern is bleeding me dry. What works for you?
I slam my head into the plate or bowl and then suck everything up like one of those bottom-feeding fish.
I just don’t do like once a week shopping. I go out every single day to get what I am going to eat because when I buy stuff in advance to just keep at home, I end up not wanting it and it goes bad. I also have a hard time thinking of meals to get and make when I am not hungry. So it’s easier to just go out and get what I want, when I want it. Most of the time, it’s a premade dinner or sandwich from the grocery store across the street I just have to heat up.
I don’t eat all day then at 11pm I microwave some frozen thing or pickup halal or fast food. I want to eat better and more consistent but I can never get myself to cook or figure out recipes etc. I love the food I cook I usually make stuff that I really enjoy but its super hard to get myself to keep up with it all.
There’s a startlingly large quantity of meals that start with olive oil and seasoned meat in a pot and end in being served over a carb that you can make ten pounds of in less than an hour. I keep dried onion flakes and a jar of minced garlic on hand for when (buying and) cutting fresh aromatics is too many steps. But really, skipping enough “you should do this it makes the dish better” steps can turn everything from beef stroganoff to japanese-style curry to cottage pie into one-pot meals that provide “leftovers” for a week or more. If you crave variety, you can compress the effort and do the same amount of work “per week” but commit more time to one day: this lets you make three or four ten pound Meals that are then divided into freezer-safe portions that can be defrosted or reheated as desired. So instead of “red sauce pasta week, teriyaki chicken week, bacon and egg and hashbrown bowl week, etc” you spend a day per month prepping 3-5 meals and then just microwave those meals for the next month. This strategy basically requires a chest freezer though. Pairs well with compressing your month of grocery shopping task into one big trip to Costco where you can buy 40lb of raw meat to prep into meals.
Take shortcuts, be lazy, compress all the effort into one “task” (“meal prep for 2h a week” or “meal prep for 6 hours once a month” instead of “make 3 quick meals every day”). Basically ask yourself “what is actually wrong with eating hot pockets for three meals a day” (expensive, not actually that good tasting, lacks a lot of important nutrients) and fix that problem by making something better that takes just as little effort as a hot pocket does when you’re actually hungry.
Main strategies right now:
- engineered staple foods always available in stock (Jimmy Joy, Soylent, Huel, “This is food”, …). So always the option to have a somewhat healthy meal with 0 effort.
- big freezer & hot air fryer. Good compromise of taste & health: salmon with vegetables in cream sauce. Less healthy: Fries (still best-health fries), fish sticks, vegan burger
- healthy-enough snacks. Currently binging on high protein, low sugar cookies. Obviously not that healthy, but otherwise I’d binge the really bad stuff when I lose control
- healthy snack plate with carrots, apple slices etc.: Just set it up at the desk and see what happens. Thinking about actually eating it is too much mental effort, and it happens automatically anyway.
Cook a huge amount when you can, eat leftovers forever.
You’re a student? I guarantee someone on campus has already done the hard work of making a calendar with all the events with free food for students on it. Subscribe and dine.
Me, I have a job that feeds me at least one meal a day. I eat what I can there.
this is how I made it thru college
What worked for me is marrying someone that is a phenomenal cook. Have you tried proposing to any chefs?
My partner taught me how to cook and now relies on me to be the family chef haha. She’s chronically ill and already working full time to help keep a roof over our heads while I axe my overtime for school. Safe to say she’s more spent than I am at the end of her shift
My more serious answer would be something along the lines of a crock pot. You can get fancy and do stuff like brown your meat before putting it in or timing some ingredients, but most recipes will work just fine if you just dump everything in and turn it on. Along with that you can make freezer meals for the crock pot. Cut up everything and toss it in a freezer bag. You can include seasoning. If there’s anything extra that needs to be added on the day you make it you can just note it on the bag. Then when you want it just dump it all in same as before.
Sandwiches
I was relying on sandwiches for a while there and made myself sick of them haha. It’s been a few months though, I may have to give it another shot
Might try getting bread from an actual bakery. Makes it more fun. Embrace tomatoes, cucumber, mayo, olives, arugula, etc. Easy to make it healthy!
and “fresh” sliced cheese from a deli counter too, if cheese is your thing!
Poorly.
First off is taking some of my meals as a liquid, Protein powder plus iced coffee has been doing wonders for me in the morning and it takes seconds to assemble. The other one is made a deal with my roommate that I’d cook dinner most nights if I never had to mow the lawn so the subtle pressure of not just needing to feed myself helps as well.
Another thing is you can’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Some days if its calories that isn’t pure sugar then I count that as a win and promise to try to do better tomorrow. I still skip meals on the regular to the point that my name has become a verb to describe the phenomenon but we do our best right?
I do have a bag of protein powder collecting dust on top of my fridge. I think I’ll give it a shot, thanks!
rice cooker to me is easier than ordering food. Plus it only needs to be a few times a week as leftovers are microwaved and my containers are glass and sized about right for a meal so just eat it in it with no additional dishes.
StirFrys, get a pan screaming hot, chop veggies, chop meat, wack them in, stir em up, add a sauce packet (black-bean/hosoin&garlic whatever you like) chuck noodles on top, 12 minutes top, serves 2.
Any veg and any meat will work, the sauce packets and noodles (not the dried type!) will keep for ever
You don’t even need to chop. I keep a zipper bag of pre frozen stir fry mix from Costco in the freezer. They take slightly longer to cook because frozen but they brown just fine.
I also cook meat and veggies separately. Meat first, then rest and chop on cutting board while veggies cook. The veggies also deglaze the delicious meat crust from the pan as they cook. Once they’re done, add the chopped meat and whatever else (sauce, noodles, toppings) and eat.
Sporadically.
Air fryer. Seriously. I can have a ton of frozen foods in stock and eat exactly how much I need or will eat rather quickly. It’s not exactly healthy, but it’s calorie intake. If I didn’t have frozen food I’d be gaunt, or super fat/broke from fast food. The fact that I’m still alive is owed to my kid, my dog and that air fryer.
Easy meals like chili are a fan favorite but I also grab a bunch of vegetables, lather them in olive oil and whatever seasonings I’m feeling and then put them in the oven at like 350-400 until crispy enough to munch on. Great success
Sometimes I eat peanutbutter out of the jar. Rice is also great if you have a rice cooker
Hey !
On the last 4 years I’ve been working full time / having a lot of occupations the rest of the time, and yeah … it sucks.
Depending on my social situation I have two main solutions :
- Organizing with people : when I live w/ people we often organize for food preparation. Someday somebody will pack lunch for everybody in the house in the morning / the evening, or the week-end for the week.
- Doing biiiig meal on the week-end, for the whole week / half the week: Things like broths can be really well conserved, as well as sandwich ingredients etc… You are not obligated to do full meal, you can also prep some parts to lightweight meal prep during the week etc… This ofc depends on when and how you have free-time.
This also comes with alarm clock, reminder etc… so I don’t fck up my rhythm.
Also, I am vegetarian and had a lot of financial issues lately, this was also a strategy I / we used to buy food from wholesale merchants.
~melimosa
That’s awesome
