I want to try and eat better. I don't want to become a vegan or some shit but I want to have better options that the one's I'm currently eating.
Currently I'm eating fast food most days at least once. Before or after work I'll usually grab something quick from McDonalds or Chick-fil-A because I am lazy and want something quick and easy to eat. But lately I've wanted to change.'
I normally pack a lunch to work which consists of a basic sandwich and some chips. Usually ham or roast beef. I don't want to have to eat that all the time tho for lunch, so I want to look into alternatives.
Does anyone have any suggestions for decent lunch meals that won't cost me an arm and a leg and also is someone lazy like myself?
Make a whole bunch of soup or stew, divide into portions, freeze it.
Since you mentioned chips, one thing I can suggest is replacing chips is replacing chips with unsalted nuts (I buy almonds usually)
They're much more filling and provide healthier fats like polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats
Yes, this. I get one of these almost every time I go to Costco. Way healthier than chips and really good as a crunchy snack.
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/553/07ee4b06-c02b-4b07-ac04-d63743c3fa42/image.png
A Youtube series that I can wholeheartedly recommend is Struggle Meals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkWAYa2riOc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJtXlYsQj2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8dxwAi3970
Simple and relatively fast meals with a target price of $2 per serving.
Some recurring tips are: buying in bulk, make enough for multiple meals, and minimizing waste.
The entire playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfY_aATjzdshwNkVUPxg0H4aUzS9TbOFm
Beans, rice, veggies, chicken, and water.
Eggs are your friends
Oatmeal is SUPER versatile and it's easy to make.
Try some oats, yogurt, berries/banana slices, granola, brown sugar/sugar free syrup, and mix it all in a cup and let it sit overnight in the fridge. Really easy breakfast.
I also do Powdered PB (high protein), Nutella/Kirkland Hazlenut spread, and some syrup to make a super tasty and thick bowl that's extremely filling. Oats are full of complex carbs which digest slowly. They will fill you up for hours with a lot of nutrients and fiber.
If you buy a whole chicken and eat some of that with something first (as it works best if the boiling water can get in it.
Boil for about an hour
Take out the chicken with a potato masher and pull off the bits of chicken (it is very easy after it is boiled)
Add some vegetables. My recommendation is leeks, sweetcorn, broccoli and potatoes (a fair amount of potatoes because they complement the chicken best)
Boil for another 20-30 mins longer with the the bits of chicken and veg/potatoes in. It will last you three dinners.
This soup is fucking delicious because boiling the bones of chicken massively adds to the flavour. My mum taught me the recipe.
If you have some time to spend cooking during the weekend or an evening per week, just about any type of quiche works really well for a quick lunch. Works really well either cold or warm.
Baking a quiche is not that hard but it does require some time, and if kept cold you can easily store them for 3-4 days. Or cut them into pieces and keep those frozen to store them even longer.
In my experience a good slice of a quiche can keep you going for a long time, and you can throw just about anything in them depending on your preferences. I usually bake one with all my leftovers near the end of the week and it just takes a few seconds to grab a slice and a fork to serve as a lunch.
I always end up eating the entire thing through lunches, quick bites and dinners within 4 days but if you want to freeze them just let them cool, slice it into portions and wrap those tightly with saran wrap and aluminium foil and it should be good for around 3 months frozen. Depending on the size and filling you can easily get 6-8 lunch portions out of a single one. Spending a afternoon every now and then to bake some and freezing the portions is a really good way to build a stock of easy to grab lunch portions.
I am not a nutritionist though so I don't know the specifics but if you throw enough veggies in them it sure as hell feels like a healthy choice.
Thanks for the replies - I've been reading and keeping notes and looking at all my options.
IMO, ham isn't as good as bacon but it is less bad for you and is probably the best substitute. Can you eat gammon?
I'd recommend getting a crockpot and buying bags of frozen veggies, rice, beans and probably whatever other meat you'd like.
Crockpots are really easy to prep for, they're 'set and forget' for the majority of dishes. Food usually turns out really delicious because it simmers in its own juices for hours (chicken comes out INCREDIBLY tender). You get many servings which will have you set for a good couple of days, and they're not all that difficult to clean up afterwards.
Just make some rice or pasta on the side for whatever it is you're cooking, throw together a vegetable; and you've got an easy three-course meal
What you said with the chicken is similar to my example, although I recommend putting the bones of the chicken in there too, as it makes a huge difference to the flavour.
I'll have to try that sometime, though i'm not entirely sure how to make soup with a crockpot (I'm probably overthinking it). Did you add broth to add a bit more soup, or did you serve the broth that came from the simmering chicken?
So, I boil the broth and the chicken for about an hour, then remove the carcass, peel the chicken off the bones and put the chicken back, then boil for further 20-30 mins with some potatoes, broccoli, sweetcorn or whatever you desire. It is so worth it!
Since I got a toaster oven I'll often just buy some chicken breasts when they're on sale, toss some premade storebought seasoning on it, and throw it in for 15-20 minutes, flip them, throw them in for another 15 or so minutes, and heat up some red potatoes in the microwave, have some romaine with dressing on the side. Easy, cheap, fast college cuisine.
I've been doing keto for half a year now and I've lost 100 lbs. It's a lot of cooking, but the benefits have been worth it
Pork shoulder is dirt cheap and flavorful, easy to bulk prep lunches with. Cook low and slow after giving a nice sear and covering in spices, cover halfway in broth or flavorful liquid. Crock pot or pressure cooker works great.
Reserve cooking liquid, cook some beans in it.
Pressure cookers are great for quick cheap cuts of meat. Chicken thighs are one of my go-to cuts. Sous vide is great for bulk prep as well, can make several recipes to freeze in advance and set up in a water before leaving for work.
Get a blender and a daily serving of vegetables to make your own veggie juice. Blend it in the morning or for dinner and chug it. That way if you get lazy and eat like shit for the rest of the day, you still got your veggies in.
I lost around 30 pounds last year. What I did was I stopped drinking soda almost entirley since I drank like 2-3 cans a day. I stocked up on cans of flavored seltzer as I found that helped curb my craving for soda and having cans of it in the fridge is easy and convenient.
I stopped getting fast food a lot too. I used to get it every day almost. Now I only get it once every two weeks if that. I allow myself to buy whatever the hell I want when I get fast food too since I get it so infrequently. So on the rare occasion I do get some its a real treat.
There are a lot of healthier and amazingly good tasting microwave meals that are fast and quick to make. Watch the sodium count tho.
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