Super easy meals (prep 5-10 minutes) that are at least somewhat healthy.

[Lady Wolfshead]

Sometimes it's really hard to eat healthy when you are feeling depressed or unwell. This thread is for meals or meal replacements that contain at least some fruit and vegetables and protein. I'm vegetarian but will mention some meat options I used to use.

1. Mac and Cheese and Peas - this works with any boxed mac and cheese (I use Annie's organic). Make the pasta according to package directions and add frozen peas (or other mixed veg - there's one with carrot cubes, peas and corn we use sometimes) about 5 minutes before you are ready to take the pasta off the heat. Then you add the cheese powder/milk etc to the cooked pasta and peas. Presto!

2. Smoothie - 5 mins. You need a good blender for this. Put in 1-2 cups of frozen strawberries and/or blueberries, and a cup of greek yogurt (plain or flavoured. I don't recommend fat free but 2% is fine). Add 1/2 scoop or 1 scoop of protein powder if desired, and I add a spoonful of greens powder as well. Add half a cup of water and start to blend. Add more water as needed until the smoothie is fully blended. Delicious.

3. Scrambled free-range eggs with diced green peppers and/or mushrooms and/or ham and/or olives. Add salt and/or pepper and/or spices. Yum. Good with toast or hash browns. You can sautee the diced peppers or mushrooms in butter before adding the egg mix. (I just assume everyone knows how to make scrambled eggs but if not you can google it).

4. Baked potatoes - okay they take a long time to cook in the oven but require very little prep - just wash them, pierce with a fork and cook in oven at 400 for an hour. May take more or less time depending on the size of the potato. Russets work best. When you take it out you can split it and put in chili, shredded cheese and cooked broccoli, or other toppings and put back under the broiler if you want to brown the cheese.

5. Taco salad - make salad or use bagged salad. Add yellow or blue corn chips or rice chips. Pour shredded cheese on top, along with olives, or sauteed ground beef or veggie ground round. Brown under broiler if desired. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

6. Rice cooker meal. Cook rice as usual in the rice cooker, but use a vegetable steamer tray to add veggies. You can add protein by quickly frying some nuts or sliced meat to have with it.



Go ahead and add your own meal ideas.

 

[may71]

Go ahead and add your own meal ideas.

Ok

1. Microwaved mixed vegetables (same instructions for most other kinds of frozen vegetables).
Get a one or two pound bag of mixed frozen vegetables.
Open the bag and pour about a quarter to a third of a pound into a microwave-safe dish.
Add about a tablespoon or two of water to the dish (I usually just eyeball it).
Put a rubber band around the bag of vegetables to keep it closed in the freezer.
Microwave the dish on high for about 8 minutes. Maybe add a little olive oil.

2. Microwaved Potato.
Get a microwave potato cooker bag. I'm not sure what the official name is. One brand is called "potato express".
Buy a bag of potatoes.
Wash the potato and remove any eyes or anything else you don't like from the potato.
Put the potato in the bag and microwave on high for about 4 minutes. Then flip the bag over and cook again for another 1-4 minutes, depending on the size of the potato.

3. Microwaved beans.
Ok this one is so simple it's kind of ridiculous to give directions, but...
Get a can of beans (black beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, etc)
Open the can and wash off the beans in a sieve, or rinse them right in the can using the lid to strain them (rinsing is important for canned beans, because they often are packed with a lot of salt, or a chemical preservative).
Put the beans in a dish and cook them for a couple minutes.

Same instructions for other canned foods, though others may not require rinsing.

4. Microwaved oatmeal.
Get a container of rolled oats.
Pour about a cup into a m-safe dish. There should be enough capacity in the dish to hold about five times or more the amount that you add.
Add enough water to cover the oatmeal.
Microwave for about 1.5 minutes on high.
Microwave it again for about 4 minutes on 30% power.

You could also just follow the instructions on the container of oatmeal. My cooking directions may help to prevent the oatmeal from overflowing.

5. Microwaved turkey burger.
Get some ground turkey burger. The lower-fat kind is usually more expensive, but probably better for you. There's kind of a trade off between price and low-fat. I've found that 99% is too pricey, but 96% is ok. Your results may vary.
Scoop some out with a fork and make a flat patty in a m-safe dish.
Cook on high for about 2 minutes.
Pour off the fat, or maybe pat the burger with paper towel.

Turkey burger has gone way up in price in my area, so I've been buying pork and slicing it into small chunks and then microwaving it on 50% power.

6. Tuna salad.
Open and drain a can of tuna. "Chunk light" tuna is best, because it has less mercury in it.
Mix the tuna with about 3-4 spoon fulls of mayonnaise.
You can heat the tuna, eat it as is, or put it on a slice of bread to make an open-faced sandwich.

I try to mostly eat freshly cooked foods, and always avoid foods served cold or raw (an exception is raw walnuts). This is the basic idea of traditional Chinese dietary therapy, and I've found it to be enormously helpful.

 

[may71]

Baked potatoes

I've been eating a lot more potatoes since I got my microwave potato cooker bag. I've also noticed that whenever I have insomnia, eating more potatoes seems to help to treat it.