Need Ideas For Practical Cold Meals

[nyguy]

I'm having a lot of difficulty eating constantly during my work. My meals are becoming very infrequent and that will make it harder to reach my goal. Today I'm going to buy several tuperwares and I have a general idea of practical meals that I can eat cold like cheese, yogort, boiled eggs, cold cut sandwiches. Can you all help me come up with other ideas?

Here is the principle that I'm looking for so I'll be quoting Goobla from the other tread:

stuff that you can stuff in your mouth and\or sit down while you're doing your work without fear of massive mess. By keeping the meals small, clean, and somewhat calorie dense you can have your meal...pretty clean up free...in like 3 minutes.

I think it's important to mention that I don't have access to a microwave or anything to warm up my food.

Thanks.

[castufari]

You can take spinach salads with you also, just eat the more perishable stuff early on in the day. Another idea would be to buy a thermos to keep some hot items warm, my daughter uses one for school, after 3 hours the food is warm enough to eat.

[nyguy]

Good Idea, Castufari. I'm accepting ideas of hot meals for thermos too.

[Lost Dog]

Think like your packing for a picnic. When you go on a picnic, you eat all sorts of things cold where you wouldn't normally. Why is that? Cold chicken's ALWAYS tasty!

Do you eat any pasta? With the exception of all the pasta, most pasta salad recipes are pretty healthy. So, take out half the pasta (and use whole wheat for what you do use) and throw in green and/or yellow wax beans for the other half. Then toss in all sorts of extra veggies, cut to about the same size as your pasta. I use cucumber, zucchini, yellow summer squash, carrots, pea pods, jicama, bell peppers, green onion, etc. Whatever looked good at the market. Then, add some chicken, turkey, ham, steak, hardboiled egg, cheese, etc. This is a great time to use those leftover meats and cooked veggies that weren't quite enough for a meal or snack, too. Throw them in.

Also, for the thermos, I say to go for Johnka's chili.

[Faol]

nyguy, I find I have the same difficulty with consistent eating. It is a bit easier now that I bought a small cooler (10 x 10 x 7), and I've spent a fortune on tupperware containers - it does makes it easier. For me, I find the preparation to be the bitch!

[Johnka]

Here are some of the cold meals that I've been eating lately:

Burritos - in the morning, stir-fry some shredded chicken together with onions and bell peppers. Add some pre-cooked brown rice and taco spice, and then wrap-up in a couple of low-carb tortillas (I like the term high-fiber better for these tortillas). I wrap them in foil and store in the fridge at work. You can either eat them cold, or take them out of the foil and nuke for a minute.

Cottage cheese and pineapples - add a bit of splenda for sweetness; makes a good late afternoon snack/meal.

Tuna salad sandwich - 1 can of tuna, 2 tbsp canola mayo, 1 chopped boiled egg, 1/2 chopped dill pickle. Mix it up and put it between your favorite whole grain bread.

Stalks in a blanket - Take a few celery stalks and wrap them in sliced turkey. Dip them in hummus, and you've got a delicious, healthy meal.

[Marykaa]

NYGUY You didn't mention anything about it, but if you like hot meals and find yourself eating cold at lunch too often.. sometimes eating a HOT breakfast.. like Oatmeal instead of cereals in the morning can make a good difference in the overall impression of the day.

[Brian A.]

Originally posted by Marykaa:
NYGUY You didn't mention anything about it, but if you like hot meals and find yourself eating cold at lunch too often.. sometimes eating a HOT breakfast.. like Oatmeal instead of cereals in the morning can make a good difference in the overall impression of the day.

Definely oatmeal. I eat oatmeal almost every morning. Even when I have to run, I'll microwave it in the tuperware then just throw a cap on it and eat it in the car.

Best oatmeal breakfast ever:
However much oatmeal you want to make,
then add two scoops of chocolate protein powder, tbsp. of natural peanut butter, and a half cup of raisins. SOOOOOO GOOOOOD!!!!

As far as cold meals, chicken works with everything. I cook a bunch of chicken at the begining of the week and keep it in the refrigerator. You can make sandwiches, salads, or just throw a piece in tuperware with some rice, a sweet potato, or pasta. It's all good even cold.

You can also do a tuna salad. I mix a can of tuna with some mayo and dill pickle relish. Then I chop up a bunch of celery and a tomato and throw it all in a tuperware container and I'm out the door.

[nyguy]

Ok, so here is what happened today. I got everything I needed prepared last night and decided to get a nice carb load first thing in the morning. Now, keep in mind that I never ate oatmeal before so I had no clue you had to cook the damn thing. I pretty much put half cup of oatmeal with 2 scoops of whey shake in a bottle and got 12 oz of 2% milk in another bottle. I also made a black forest ham sandwich, 2 jumbo boiled eggs and fat and sugar free yogurt for the rest of the day.

So I get into my truck, poured the milk in the oatmeal/whey bottle to drink it 10 minutes later. The goddamn thing came into my mouth like backwash with strawberry flavor and I had to chew the fucking oatmeal after each sip. God, it was horrible but I finish it after a lot of cursing.

I managed to eat everything and besides the damn oatmeal/whey, everything was delicious. I got a ridiculously huge cooler that fits nice in my truck and I will keep the mustard and light mayo there. Now I'm getting ready for tonight’s workout.

Thanks for the replies, everybody. I'm writing everything down, keep the ideas coming.

[Lost Dog]

If you have your oatmeal in your shake, you'll need to blend it.

But, it's tasty cooked, you know. And, easy. 1/2 cup raw oats, 1 1/2 cup water. Microwave on medium power for 5 minutes. Use a BIG bowl, as it will foam up while cooking. Add the protein after cooking and add more liquid, if necessary after you stir the protein in.

Personally, I'm partial to vanilla protein powder, a good dash of cinnamon, and some raisins or chopped up dried apple.

[rem1956]

Oatmeal with chopped walnuts, almonds or pecans are great as well. So is mixing in a little natural applesauce with the cinnamon and raisins. Honey or maple syrup (little goes a long way) is also a great treat. You can also try using the frozen berries, either sliced or crushed.

I usually do a salad for one meal. A baggie of mixed washed greens, a can or pouch of tuna or shredded cheese, some pineapple (fruit snack cups) or raisins (fresh grapes even better), a little low fat dressing (use a small snack baggie and just tear off the corner). Can also tear up some turkey or beef jerky for a good flavor effect. Add a little fresh ground pepper from a pepper mill (buy black pepper in a small grinder in the season section of the grocery store).

You can also use fresh veggies and/or sliced tomatoes or mushrooms. I like to buy small grape size tomatoes or the roma tomatoes since they seem to be firmer and slice better/keep better.

My favorite salad....take a baggie of fresh spinach, add a small box of raisins, a bit of shreded jerky, a few grape size tomatoes, a couple of small sliced mushrooms and a small amount of low fat dressing.

I stock my fridge with an assortment of low fat dressings, oils and vinegars. I put a serving size in a small plastic snack baggies. then when I'm ready to make my salad at work, I just poke a hole in the end of the baggie with my disposable plastic fork, squeeze the dressing over my salad, a dash of fresh ground pepper...yum!

[Brian A.]

Originally posted by nyguy:

So I get into my truck, poured the milk in the oatmeal/whey bottle to drink it 10 minutes later. The goddamn thing came into my mouth like backwash with strawberry flavor and I had to chew the fucking oatmeal after each sip. God, it was horrible but I finish it after a lot of cursing.

LOL I am sitting at the exercise desk at the gym I work at right now and people are staring at me because I'm am laughing my ass off because I am just picturing the the whole thing going down.

You've got to cook the oatmeal bro. Follow LD's directions. I use 1% milk instead of H20. Good luck.

[galya]

For oatmeal you have three easy options:
1. Boil it and stick it in a thermos. It will stay warm. Watch that it's not too hot, it might get trapped in there.
2. Do it the Bulgarian way. Soak them the night before in just water, drain in the morning and add your milk and whey. It doesn't get slimy the same way it does when you boil it.
3. Bake oatmeal bars. All you need is
2 cups oats
5 egg whites
1 grated apple
some cinnamon
2 servings whey
1 cup water
let it sit for 15 minutes after you stir it then bake and cut like bars, wrap in foil and you are ready to go. With the pan I use I get about 8 bars, at about 200 cals each.

[OldGuy]

So I get into my truck, poured the milk in the oatmeal/whey bottle to drink it 10 minutes later. The goddamn thing came into my mouth like backwash with strawberry flavor and I had to chew the fucking oatmeal after each sip. God, it was horrible but I finish it after a lot of cursing.

Vipon? Is that you?

[nyguy]

Would oatmeal work with fresh strawberries? I was thinking about cooking it, chilling it and mixing in the strawberries.

BA, it was horrible. I got so much of that crap into my mouth at once that I thought I couldn't chew.

Galya, I only have old fashioned oatmeal. Do I have to blend it before making the oatmeal bars?

Vipon?Who is that, OG?

[OldGuy]

Back on MH there was a kid who posted at Vipon who had a similar adventure with his first protein shake. It was hilarious.

[galya]

nyguy,
I use only old fashioned, don't blend it. Just follow the recipe.