I’m new 👋 so apologies if this won’t work for your dynamic.
I’m single, no children but get similar issues around food. 1. Are there any frozen quick cook meals you can handle? Costco or Trader Joe’s are good sources: orange chicken, mini quiche, mini pizza. You don’t need to eat them everyday but they can work in a struggle 2. You don’t have to have a meal — sometimes I eat cottage cheese, a salad a peach and some cashews. If you tolerate protein bars (there are so many) those can also help hold you over for an hour or two until you can get a better handle on things 3) Amy’s brand of foods has some good (to me) canned soups that help 4) I found a local person who does prepared meals They're cheaper than eating out/more healthy than frozen. I’ll do about 4 meals/week and this has helped tremendously. 5) smoothies. Some frozen fruit, protein powder and liquid and that’s also enough to get me by for a few hours
Phew! Sorry for the verbosity. Hope some of these help!
When I get into funks about food or cooking I read food books. Reading is my favorite hobby, reading wonderful writing from people who love food and culinary arts helps kickstart my kitchen creativity. Ruth Reichl is my go to. I have read Tender at the Bone once a year for the past 5-6 years.
When I don’t feel like grocery shopping I can always force myself to go to Trader Joe’s. Knowing I will leave with a bouquet of good flowers makes the chore better for me.
Hiiiiii! I am the sole cooker in the fam (Adrienne does the dishes thank gosh) and I am so tired of thinking about food. I’m also tired of grocery prices. We sat down to solve these problems a few weeks ago and decided to buy groceries at multiple places to see which was the most affordable, fast, and easiest to do, and surprisingly…it was Trader Joe’s! Our budget is $150/week for two people for all meals every day. Here’s what we do:
-We created a meal plan based around 7 themes. Like, breakfast, pasta, stir-fry, Mexican, something on a bun, etc. and then make sure we have the ingredients to make the things in those categories.
-We try to keep each category to an ingredient minimum. I’ll use Mexican as an example: a protein, a vehicle (tortilla? Chips?), a veggie (onion? Cilantro?), a sauce (guacamole? Salsa?).
-We also get all the basics every week: eggs, milk, fruit, etc.
-We organize the grocery list by the store. For our Trader Joe’s, we start at the produce and end at the meats. We’re in and out in 15 minutes.
-We go on a weekday evening because it’s less Trader Joe’s-y.
-Whatever I cook for dinner will serve 4, so dinner leftovers get packed up and become our next day lunch.
-Breakfast is usually something with protein and fiber: egg sandwiches, waffles w/ a peanut butter & yogurt dip, a bagel with cream cheese and veggies, etc.
-If we go out to eat or whatever, we just save those ingredients for the next week.
-We try to multipurpose because we’re terrible about waste and trying to be better—a Caesar salad kit gets split and becomes a side for pasta night and also the leftover lettuce could go on a taco.
-I’ve tried to change my mindset around making dinner. I put on a record, make myself a mocktail (or just an Olipop), turn down the big lights and try to knock out dinner in 30. It’s helped make it more of a “creative and relaxing event” rather than a “must do.”
Last week we ate at home for dinner every day and we were under budget at $130! This never happens. I’ll report back as we’re shopping again for the week tonight. :)
I also want to note that my best friend is a microbiologist and there was a time that she was so busy at work that she literally just drank Soylent for a month because she couldn’t be bothered and she didn’t die. 😂😬
Oh, hello fellow Taurus who hates food. When I went through recovery for disordered eating, my therapist turned me on to Leslie Schilling (linked below). Leslie's an eating disorder specialist who makes a weekly menu/newsletter. It's what I used during recovery, and honestly during the early pandemic. It helps soooooo much with decision fatigue around food.
My suggestion on the meals. I eat the same thing for breakfast EVERYDAY. It leaves any guess work out and I like it. There one meal down. Lunch - the same. Before being married I also ate the same lunch every day. Easy and I liked what I ate. There another meal down and now only dinner to tackle. Doesn’t really matter what I ate, just pick something simple easy and have it everyday. Boring? Not really when you like the meal.
I'm the exact same way about food. Especially meat. I'm hungry, but I'm sick of eating. This summer I've been making lots of rice, potatoes, veggies and salad.
I’m new 👋 so apologies if this won’t work for your dynamic.
I’m single, no children but get similar issues around food. 1. Are there any frozen quick cook meals you can handle? Costco or Trader Joe’s are good sources: orange chicken, mini quiche, mini pizza. You don’t need to eat them everyday but they can work in a struggle 2. You don’t have to have a meal — sometimes I eat cottage cheese, a salad a peach and some cashews. If you tolerate protein bars (there are so many) those can also help hold you over for an hour or two until you can get a better handle on things 3) Amy’s brand of foods has some good (to me) canned soups that help 4) I found a local person who does prepared meals They're cheaper than eating out/more healthy than frozen. I’ll do about 4 meals/week and this has helped tremendously. 5) smoothies. Some frozen fruit, protein powder and liquid and that’s also enough to get me by for a few hours
Phew! Sorry for the verbosity. Hope some of these help!
When I get into funks about food or cooking I read food books. Reading is my favorite hobby, reading wonderful writing from people who love food and culinary arts helps kickstart my kitchen creativity. Ruth Reichl is my go to. I have read Tender at the Bone once a year for the past 5-6 years.
When I don’t feel like grocery shopping I can always force myself to go to Trader Joe’s. Knowing I will leave with a bouquet of good flowers makes the chore better for me.
Hiiiiii! I am the sole cooker in the fam (Adrienne does the dishes thank gosh) and I am so tired of thinking about food. I’m also tired of grocery prices. We sat down to solve these problems a few weeks ago and decided to buy groceries at multiple places to see which was the most affordable, fast, and easiest to do, and surprisingly…it was Trader Joe’s! Our budget is $150/week for two people for all meals every day. Here’s what we do:
-We created a meal plan based around 7 themes. Like, breakfast, pasta, stir-fry, Mexican, something on a bun, etc. and then make sure we have the ingredients to make the things in those categories.
-We try to keep each category to an ingredient minimum. I’ll use Mexican as an example: a protein, a vehicle (tortilla? Chips?), a veggie (onion? Cilantro?), a sauce (guacamole? Salsa?).
-We also get all the basics every week: eggs, milk, fruit, etc.
-We organize the grocery list by the store. For our Trader Joe’s, we start at the produce and end at the meats. We’re in and out in 15 minutes.
-We go on a weekday evening because it’s less Trader Joe’s-y.
-Whatever I cook for dinner will serve 4, so dinner leftovers get packed up and become our next day lunch.
-Breakfast is usually something with protein and fiber: egg sandwiches, waffles w/ a peanut butter & yogurt dip, a bagel with cream cheese and veggies, etc.
-If we go out to eat or whatever, we just save those ingredients for the next week.
-We try to multipurpose because we’re terrible about waste and trying to be better—a Caesar salad kit gets split and becomes a side for pasta night and also the leftover lettuce could go on a taco.
-I’ve tried to change my mindset around making dinner. I put on a record, make myself a mocktail (or just an Olipop), turn down the big lights and try to knock out dinner in 30. It’s helped make it more of a “creative and relaxing event” rather than a “must do.”
Last week we ate at home for dinner every day and we were under budget at $130! This never happens. I’ll report back as we’re shopping again for the week tonight. :)
I also want to note that my best friend is a microbiologist and there was a time that she was so busy at work that she literally just drank Soylent for a month because she couldn’t be bothered and she didn’t die. 😂😬
Reporting back: $134 including three bunches of flowers and a tiny cooler bag (definitely not on the list lol).
Oh, hello fellow Taurus who hates food. When I went through recovery for disordered eating, my therapist turned me on to Leslie Schilling (linked below). Leslie's an eating disorder specialist who makes a weekly menu/newsletter. It's what I used during recovery, and honestly during the early pandemic. It helps soooooo much with decision fatigue around food.
https://leslieschilling.substack.com/
My suggestion on the meals. I eat the same thing for breakfast EVERYDAY. It leaves any guess work out and I like it. There one meal down. Lunch - the same. Before being married I also ate the same lunch every day. Easy and I liked what I ate. There another meal down and now only dinner to tackle. Doesn’t really matter what I ate, just pick something simple easy and have it everyday. Boring? Not really when you like the meal.
I'm the exact same way about food. Especially meat. I'm hungry, but I'm sick of eating. This summer I've been making lots of rice, potatoes, veggies and salad.
Uncrustables. My answer is uncrustables
Amy!! I did not even consider that my Nod Pod could go in the freezer!!! Of course! Genius!