Diet, Nutrition and SupplementationPost here for supplement reviews or nutritional advice. If you're trying to get "ripped abz" THIS is where you should be.
Hubby and I have finally joined a gym and are going to work out TOGETHER (instead of me at home and him at school). We've decided to work together, him with NROL and me with NROLFW. So now we're "in it together."
SO ANYWAY... here's the dilemma. Both of us still have too much bodyfat so we really need to focus on diet. I do OK on my own, he's less concerned but now that he's "on board" I'd like to tighten our family meals up. Problem is, I work late shifts and so he (the non-cook) is who makes dinner. It ends up being mac & cheese with sausage, cheese quesadillas, tortellini with sauce from a jar, etc. He does have to wrangle our 2 young kids (2 1/2 and 10 mos) while he's making dinner so I don't blame him for taking the quick shortcut routes.
We've both agreed we need to cook healthier meals, though we aren't going to deprive ourselves... but I think it shouldn't be a big deal for him to cut the sour cream on his bean burritos back from the quarter cup he uses now
I just can't figure out, though anything that I can think of (besides bean burritos) that are quick and pretty healthy that he can cook and we'd both like. I love chicken, he hates the stuff. He's not a big meat eater, but likes tofu. I'm allergic to soy, so tofu is out for me. Neither of us likes greens or salads though we do like veggies. He loves cottage cheese, I don't really though I'm willing to try to acquire a taste for it (I did this with v-8 juice and am working on sweet potatoes right now).
I have no clue where to go on this. He'll be able to put together meals if I play sous chef, and so I think for the sake of eating more "clean" I'd be willing to do that but I don't even know where to start. I just feel like we'd be working against ourselves if we don't try to eliminate the "Mac & cheese" based meals from our diets. I've tried crockpot meals but they always end up overcooked by the time he gets the girls home... anything in the crockpot would have to be able to survive for about 9 hours minimum, and I haven't found anything that isn't mush by then. Problem is, I also realistically know that anything that requires more than 15 mins isn't going to get done.
First, for breakfasts and for snacks, I'll mix up several shaker bottles worth of instant oatmeal, yogurt, whey protein powder and maybe fruit or juice but usually water. Then I never have an excuse the rest of the week to skip breakfast or a post workout snack. I do this all at once using a large container and a hand-held immersion blender and then distribute in several 600 or 300 calorie servings for the week.
Next time you grill or broil chicken breasts, do several at a time. They'll keep in the fridge for several days and then you can cut up on some salad or brown rice (you can cook the rice in bulk and put into zip lock bags to freeze and then microwave).
We will typically make more than we need with each meal and then eat left-overs for lunch. Might be boring, but saves time.
Getting a rotisserie chicken at the supermarket or Cosco or Sams Club or wherever saves a lot of time. Peel the skin off of course. Then you can eat one meal of the chicken with some salad and maybe some bread, and then you have the chicken to throw into some whole grain pasta the next night. Cut up the left over chicken and reheat with a little chicken broth, onions and roasted red peppers (from a jar). Let the broth reduce until pretty thick and saucy. Cook some frozen veggies (usually brocolli) with the pasta, drain, combine, and you're done.
Stir fry is easy. I buy frozen stir fry veg in bulk and then fry up with chicken or tempeh if I'm going veggie that night all in one pan in about 12 minutes.
I'll sometimes cook a salmon filet covered with a bunch of veggies and onions and herbs all in one tin foil packet in the oven. Everything cooks all at once and adds a great sweetness to the fish.
You can turn left over chicken into a peanut satay by mixing up a sauce of equal parts peanut butter and water then add some lemon juice, cayenne, spices of your choice and maybe some honey. Add rice or noodles or serve grilled with salad.
I often make meals out of spinich salad (pre-washed, just empty the bag), fruit (pears, citrus or grapes) and a smoked salmon filet (again, just empty onto the salad). I might add some break if I feel like I want the carbs.
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Hit Trader Joe's or Whole Foods if you have one around .. they have some great stuff there that can be whipped up fairly quick
If you like pasta .. TJ's has an eggplant and a spinach lasagna, both in single serve/indivdual sizes that nuke in a microwave in literal minutes.
If you like eggs .. those are always quick! I like to do breakfast for dinner .. nothing beats a couple of scrambled eggs or boiled eggs with a piece or two of toast.
Tuna/chicken/Salmon .. all come canned ... dice up some onions, celery and hard boiled eggs or egg whites, add either light mayo, mustard, sour cream or plain green yogurt .. and viola .. instant sandwich. You can also take any of those and mix w/ an egg and make patties and throw in a skillet to make chicken/tuna/salmon burgers.
Oatmeal is quick and great for post workout .. toss in some protein powder or natural pb/nut butter and you get some solid carbs and a dose of protein all in one bowl. Same goes for cereal .. skim milk, some sliced fruit and a low-sugar cereal (special K, product 19, Corn flakes) .. easy and quick and almost zero prep time ..
Any type of lean steak/chicken, etc. with steamed veggies doesn't take long either. Success has a boil-in-a-bag brown rice that's about 2 servings in one bag .. cooks in no time flat, and you don't need much skill .. if you can boil water, you can't possibly screw it up.
use the weekends when you aren't as crazed to make things that can be frozen and nuked during the week (stuffed peppers w/ brown rice, ground chicken or turkey and chopped onions .. lasagna w/ lean ground turkey and loads of veggies .. make a meatloaf with lean ground beef or ground turkey ..) You can even pre-make quesadillas with corn tortillas and freeze them individually. Stock up on frozen veggies, all the work is done, just steam 'em.
Chicken breasts can be cooked on a foreman grill or on a gas/charcoal grill in little time, and you don't need much to make them tasty. Marinades are your friend .. learn to love spices (cumin, papricka, rosemary, thyme) .. The possibilities with chicken are endless.
I think the key is planning, finding stuff that's palatable to you both and being committed to eating healthfully. It's all just trial and error. Invest in a few "quick/few ingredient" cookbooks to get some ideas .. then test drive anything that looks tasty. Most recipe sites online have a whole collection of quick-to-the-table meals that are healthy and can be made with very few ingredients.
I am thinking... I just don't think we're going to be able to find much variety if I try to find healthier foods (specifically for dinner) that we'll both enjoy. I talked to him last night and we're going to look into doing pre-cooked individual things for us each, foxing lots of food on the weekend like niclyf suggested. IE, pregrilling chicken breasts or cooking fish for me, or prepping a tofu stirfry for him, etc. Get it all done on the weekends and then when it's time for dinner we just have to nuke or throw together. Kinda like homemade TV dinners. I love the idea of eating more chicken and fish, makes me feel better just thinking about it.
Sounds like a lot of work though so I'm hoping we will continue it... I know my brother was on the Atkins diet for a while and he stopped because it was too much hassle to cook for 2 different people, so I guess we'll see.
You guys have been great though, in just 2 posts I have lots of info and different ways to go on this and lots of ideas!
I would echo the thoughts above about pre-cooking your meals to just take them out so you can have something quick. It looks like you two are opposites when it comes to protein so you two should fix your own proteins. If you like chicken, cook a bunch then freeze them. Turkey burgers are also really fast to cook in a skillet. You two can share sides, there are steambags that take like 5minutes to make and have great veggies. Also brown rice, quinoa make great side additions and are super fast (10-15mins). You can also get a huge bowl and make a big salad so when you have your meal all you have to do is throw some in your bowl! When I get home from the gym I am too tired to make anything too crazy so my meals take no more than 20 mins each.
I have a blog that I dedicate to healthy food fast (at home or work) click the link below and see if you get any ideas!
Big changes are hard though. For a small change, make sure you have a few cucumbers, tomatoes and carrots in your fridge. Then have whatever your having now, only less of it! Fill up the empty space on your plate with the three-ingredient salad you just made in oh 2 minutes. Et voila! On your way to lifestyle change.
Now I'll be off to solve the world's economy, be right back!
By fast, do you mean preparation time or cook time?
We buy turkey/pork loins at the store. Just line a pan with aluminum foil, take the turkey out of the package, put it on the pan, put it in the oven. It takes about an hour to cook, but no more than 2 minutes to deal with.
On sunday night, I patted out ten 4-oz turkey burgers and cooked them all at once on the grill. 2 of those per day will be my lunch, and it'll last all week. Put a small cube of cheese on each of them, oh man that's tasty.
Green giant, Birdseye, and Kroger all now have frozen vegetable steamers. One of our favorites is a big bag of green/yellow beans and carrots. You just put it in the microwave for about 5 minutes, then dump it into a bowl. They have at least 10-15 different varieties.
Some even have pasta and sauce in them. Take one of them, toss in a few strips of pre-cooked chicken (or tofu for him) and it's a meal.
How about a shrimp ring? Mix up a big salad and throw in some shrimp.
I'll second the rotisserie chicken idea. Check the grocery store at around 8pm. That's when our local Kroger usually discounts them. They cook them at 4 o'clock and put them out on the stand. One of them is $7. They have them out in time for people to grab one on the way home from work for dinner at 6. But if you wait until a little later, they mark them down to $3.50. They can't keep them till the next day, but there's nothing wrong with them.
AFI82 - I mean both. Prep time and cook time, he gets home with the kids (2 1/2 and 10 months) at about 5:30 and has about 30-45 minutes to make dinner & feed them, not including the time it takes to get them settled, etc.
You guys have great ideas, keep 'em coming! I'm so glad I found this forum, I've got tons of ideas written down. I've looked into doing prepare-ahead meals before but most of them are heavy casseroles and crockpot meals and neither of those really worked for us... this is the first place I ever asked and got some good answers that don't involve casseroles or crockpots
Also .. if you have a Sam's club .. they have lots of pre-made frozen entrees that can cook up quickly on the stovetop, oven, or microwave. Quick doesn't necessarily have to mean un-healthy .. it just means more fore-thought and planning. Definitely stock up on frozen veggies, since the prep/cutting is already done, and you can find tons of pre-cooked forms of protein (Boca burgers are fabulous, and totally vegetarian). I'm a huge advocate of canned tuna for it's versatility, same goes for canned salmon, chicken, etc.
IIRC .. You can even find pre-cooked tofu as well!
Just keep at it and plan, plan, plan .. Your efforts will definitely pay off in terms of health! It's all about planning and prioritization.
Unless I have company, I hardly cook during the week. I cook a lot of extra meat on Monday night when I eat that dinner, and put the rest in the fridge and make dishes out of it.
With some whole chickens, roasted beef, roasted pork, etc. you can make all sorts of simple things like salads, tacos, etc. Or, just eat the meat with sides of sauteed or steamed or raw veggies.
A lot of time people get hung up on having to cook "dishes." Just eat food and save the dishes for when you want something specific.
My gf and I are both great cooks, but half the time we just eat skillet cooked meat or eggs, sauteed veggies or salad, and maybe some yogurt or rice/quinoa. Just foods.
Just make sure you're getting adequate protein intake, and control your portion sizes. I found it's real easy to drop weight if you just focus on getting your protein, and watching your carb intake throughout the day with a good weight program.
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healthy meals that are FAST?
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