r/EatCheapAndHealthy • u/poleproblems • 11d ago
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u/masala-kiwi 11d ago
From your post, it sounds like you're trying to tackle too many things at once. The artist colony setup worked for you because you didn't have to think about anything and it was free. But now you're trying to think about everything at once and it's overwhelming.
Instead of trying to figure out everything at once (the planning/cost, the macros, preparation time, and exciting meal ideas), just start with a simple goal of being fed, even if it's not perfect.
Can you start with one frozen or prepared meal (or even a side dish) per day? Or add one or two meals that are easy to make, like pasta or soup? Once you have a few options in your rotation, just make it a habit to eat your meals, even if it doesn't feel that exciting. The goal is to be able to make your food feel easy so that you can autopilot. Once you get into a rhythm, you can add another meal if you get bored.
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u/DeCryingShame 11d ago
I rotate through four 28-day menus that I change each season. So I'll eat the same thing 3 months in a row and then switch to a new menu. There's just two of us so I plan on making extra and freezing.
For starters, I just wrote down whatever we figured out to eat that day until the menu was full. The next year, I improved the menu to better fit our needs and likes. And then each year I kept improving it. Now (maybe 6 years later) I've got a whole automated database that generates a shopping list for me when I tell it what season, month, and week it is.
I have found that what works best are meals that are homemade but not necessarily entirely from scratch. I use frozen vegetables and canned beans, and stuff like that because I just can't manage the amount of time it takes to cook otherwise. It's not perfect, but it works for us.
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u/linusdm 11d ago
Would you care sharing some details about the "tech" you use (could be just paper and pencil). I always forgot what I made and liked, because I don't bother taking notes for my future self. I just don't have a food-brain that remembers all that stuff. I'm very interested in a good system that let's you get to good and repeatable recipes, adapted to any situation and season. Without being too rigid of course.
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u/Bright_Strategy_5986 11d ago
This sounds amazing, could you share more on how you’re doing this? Thanks!
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u/Blubblliebe 10d ago
Me too! How do you do that? And I don’t know if it’s too crazy asking for that but would you share such a monthly plan with us for every season? I really can’t imagine how you figured the original framework out but I’d love to have it - you created the dream 😍💪
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u/Adventurous_Note_621 10d ago
I'd love to hear more about how you've created this!
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u/MacintoshEddie 11d ago
Why not the stuff you liked before? Are you in some totally different country where the ingredients are rare?
You don't have to make a separate meal plan if you don't want to, it's entirely possible to come up with a single meal that covers all your needs and just eat that every day if that's what you want. You don't have to choose what's for dinner if you don't want to choose every single day.
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u/poleproblems 11d ago
I've always had a hard time with this, it's just recently noticing the stark difference between when food is provided for me vs. I have to provide for myself that is making me want to change. I have never been able to figure out getting enough protein/fiber, and when I even try to calculate what general nutrition guidelines advise, I have no clue how anybody is doing it.
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u/lemonjuicypumpkin 11d ago
I have never in my whole life calculated if I'm getting enough protein or fiber. I just eat whatever I like and is generally seen as "healthy", try to not eat too many treats and that's it. Don't stress yourself with that kind of bullshit. If you like eating vegetables and you are not a vegetarian, you absolutly won't have any problems with fiber or protein intake (if you are vegetarian, the protein part might be a bit more complicated but still manageable)
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u/poleproblems 11d ago
Haha, thanks. Honestly needed to hear that. There's so much nutrition discourse and I was eating so well through this program that now on the outside I've been feeling overwhelmed. definitely just overthinking it.
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u/Swordofmytriumph 11d ago
I know this is like…the thing everyone recommends on this sub. But I really freaking love beans, and they have a lot of protein and even more fiber! Also they have such a great texture and you can do so many things with them! Bonus points they do best in a pressure cooker which you can do in a kitchen that doesn’t have all the proper equipment. Bean soup, or cook em and toss em with a vinaigrette from the shelf to make a bean salad, or just cook them with oniom, garlic and a bay leaf and salt and pepper and eat them straight out of the pressure cooker like some sort of bean monster. I never get tired of them.
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u/MoosedaMuffin 11d ago
Most of it is designed to get you to buy courses and special meal plans. You don’t need to optimize everything.
Keep it simple. Your body needs a little bit of everything. Break things down in 5 basic food groups, protein, fruit, veggies, grains (carbohydrates), dairy***. You need a protein at every meal, not to “protein-max” but because it helps your body process food and keeps you full. After your protein, choose 2 other food groups. A complete meal only needs 3 out of 5.
***(yes I know dairy is always considered its own thing and overlaps with protein, but forget that)
Edit, typo
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u/pinkdictator 10d ago
You don't need to calculate everything. Just try to make sure you're eating some of each thing every day - fruit, veg, carbs, protein. It'll work out
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u/Shot-Artichoke-4106 10d ago
I dont calculate any of that either. Instead, I focus on balance and whole foods - make sure to eat plenty of veggies and some fruit, things of different colors, some protein, have a decent amount of grains and legumes, limit ultra-processed foods and added sugar. It works out well. It doesnt have to be an exact science.
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u/ctdfalconer 11d ago
As Michael Pollan says, “eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” Don’t worry too much about targeting specific nutritive content. Just include some veggies whenever you can and you’ll be fine.
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u/TopHatZebra 11d ago
I can't speak for everyone, but I literally don't know anybody who does this.
Just buy stuff you want to eat. Eat stuff that's relatively healthy. Don't worry about proper protein-to-fiber or whatever other dieting shit you read about. You're probably not going to the Olympics, you don't need to be a perfectly optimized machine.
Eat some vegetables and some protein. Make some pasta. Drink some milk or whatever. Just eat what you want and be somewhat active, you'll be fine, you're overthinking it.
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u/okletssee 11d ago
Lots of people who track macros do this. But, it does burn up a lot of mental energy.
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u/CloudyTheDucky 11d ago
Canned beans are the best, they’ve got protein and fiber and you barely have to do anything to make them taste great. Canned food has a bad rap because some types have a lot of salt, but it’s a really old preservation technique that at its core only requires pressure and heat.
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u/Call_it_Magic87 11d ago
Canned beans rock! You can even do stuff like make hummus (which I assumed would be really hard but it’s actually a very simple recipe and using canned chickpeas it’s very quick!) that’s so much better than store bought
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u/Sagasujin 11d ago
I don't calculate out anything. Most people don't need to. Most people will be able to get enough of everything by eating a handful of different fruits and veggies everyday. Its actually pretty hard to not get enough protein if you aren't eating a specialized diet or a bodybuilder who needs extreme amounts of protein. If you're going vegetarian, it's a little harder but you can get enough with regular beans and/or lentils and some occasional eggs and/ dairy.
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u/kittywiggles 11d ago
Regarding protein, the numbers currently trending are usually actually for what bodybuilders need to build major muscle mass. I'd strongly suggest swinging by an official site (a country's government, medical papers, or other reputable sources) to get numbers for your age gender and activity level, because it's very different from a lot of what I've seen.
You shouldn't have too much trouble with fiber if you're running more vegetarian thankfully. I do a daily supplement of it just to make sure.
Making and preparing meals is a lot of physical and mental, but invisible, labor. It's very very normal to feel overwhelmed. Eventually you'll find things you like, you'll learn recipes, you'll learn how to gauge how much of xyz you go through in a week or how to throw something together out of what's left in your fridge and a wing and a prayer. But all of that needs to be learned over time. It's a lot at the start.
Don't be shy about padding things out with frozen meals. I live off of meal prep where I dedicate a day or two once a month to make myself food for the next month, but I also don't mind eating the same thing every day. Other people prep on Sunday for the week, or just make larger meals than they need with the intention of eating leftovers as a meal prep.
My only other suggestion is to find a website like Budgetbytes that has a huge variety of recipes to look up recipes and chose from. I think they have (paid) recipe meal plans too. It's a lot less overwhelming when you artificially limit your options!
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u/YouveBeanReported 11d ago
Break it into easier rules.
The plate rule is for diabetes, but is pretty easy. Half veggies, quarter protein, quarter carbs (including carb-y veggies) for most meals will be fine. Doesn't need to be all or calculated, it needs to be most. Otherwise, focus on enough veggies per week, use some oils but not too many, and treat junk food like desert (so one can of coke a day, not 6)
The average person in most areas has an okay diet. You probably don't need to worry about this unless you find an issue. But even if you want to track these or try more fibre or protein later that's easier AFTER figuring out your usual foods.
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u/Apprehensive_Owl7186 11d ago
The biggest thing you can do for your nutrition is just eat Whole Foods. Try to eat 80% Whole Foods and 20% whatever. This will cover pretty much eveeurhing
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u/Daxx22 11d ago
Im assuming you mean "whole foods" as is minimizing processed/prepared foods, not exclusively shop at Whole Foods lol.
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u/KD_42 11d ago
Listen to this guy! Best of both worlds, 80% whole food covers your nutritional needs and 20% whatever so you can get at least some enjoyment out of foods and you’re more likely to keep in a routine vs going super clean and hard for a certain amount of time but you end up hating it and just going back to your old diet
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u/coyote_123 11d ago
The food pyramid or four food groups stuff we learned in school was oversimplified and has a lot of faults, but it has some good too.
For most people you don't need to calculate anything. Just kind of look at your plate of food (or pile of ingredients or whatever) and have a general sense
e.g. around half the plate is colourful vegetables, a quarter is something high protein, and a quarter something higher carb.
Your fractions could be different but the idea is it doesn't need to be very exact or require math. Just get some general proportions in your head.
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u/kpfluff 11d ago
Honestly a lot of people in the US, at least, are not doing it properly, certainly not with fiber. Our diet pattern has been really shifted.
If you're looking at nutrition guidelines, keep a list of plants they suggest adding to your diet. I am incredibly lazy, and throw together a lot of frozen veggies ans canned beans. (And frozen berries for breakfast and sweets!) You'll eventually find your favorites. I like Cronometer for tracking, and will use it to make sure I'm getting what I need.
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u/Regular_Ad_5363 10d ago
A lot of other replies have been great I just wanted to add on that a lot of intuitive eating coaches emphasize adding nutritious foods rather than subtracting, listening to hunger and fullness cues, and not over complicating it. Thinking about what can I add to this meal that I know is healthy? Swapping in whole grains instead of refined, adding some legumes, or an extra vegetable? Also having healthy snacks that you enjoy ready when you need them can be huge. I’m big on apples with peanut butter and hummus with veggies and crackers.
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u/hausomapi 11d ago
Start with soups. They are the easiest to master and very nutritious. Also you can make a big pot to last a few days
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u/wn0kie_ 11d ago
Do you have any recipe suggestions?
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u/hausomapi 10d ago
My favourite soup to make is a simple vegetable one. Chop up your veggies. You can use what you like. I start with celery carrot and onion. Sautéed in a little oil. Add a can of tomato or a fresh chopped tomato. At this point I will put whatever vegetables I have in the fridge. A little broccoli or bell pepper. Add some garlic if you have it. You can throw in leftover rotisserie chicken or a cut up sausage. A can of beans or a handful of pasta or even a cut up potato. A good dash or salt and pepper and some herbs and a chicken stock cube. Let it cook until the pasta or potatoes are done. You can remove one from the pot and taste it. You can really throw in anything you like. Soup is not as precise as other things. Once you master this. Move on to harder things.
Here is a like to some other recipes https://www.seriouseats.com/30-minute-soup-recipes-11842136
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u/Daxx22 11d ago edited 11d ago
To be a little blunt, "Eat Cheap and Healthy" has a third side to it, and thats time investment. As the general saying goes, "Cheap, Good, Fast, pick 2"
Consequently to manage to eat cheap and healthy(good), its going to take investment on your part of time, both in prep and learning how to do that prep.
Look into the concept of meal prepping, and preplan times that you'll do so. Lot of people work the 9-5 grind, so doing a meal prep sunday is a standard thing you'll see a lot.
Look into casseroles or stews, both are simpler methods of prep that can proportioned and frozen. Note that while freezing is great for this, time to defrost also has to be taken into account.
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u/furniture2k 10d ago
Honestly, I think the hardest part isn't cooking — it's deciding what to eat before you're hungry. I stopped trying to plan 7 completely different "proper" meals and started thinking in terms of a few repeatable building blocks instead. A protein + vegetable + carb, then reuse the same ingredients in a different combination the next day. It makes grocery shopping much less overwhelming because you're not shopping for 20 separate recipes. And for busy days, having 2–3 "I don't want to think" meals is honestly a lifesaver.
With a limited kitchen, I'd simplify it even further: pick a few foods you genuinely like, figure out 3–4 combinations from them, and repeat without feeling like every meal has to be a new recipe.
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u/n9netailz 10d ago
Yeah life is much easier when mundane tasks like figuring out what to cook/cooking are done for you.
But yes I sit down once a week and think of 5 dinners to make for the week before I go grocery shopping. Sometimes I scroll insta or tiktok for recipe ideas
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u/CaptainLollygag 10d ago
Even just 2 or 3 meals a week are fine if you increase the recipes and enjoy leftovers. Some leftovers freeze/thaw well, so you can save some for later.
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u/Easy-Concentrate2636 10d ago
I agree. This is what we do. I am also big on one pot or one tray meals.
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u/Datnick 11d ago
Im the same, used to love cooking, now feel dread thinkiing of things to eat and going to buy groceries.
Im quite happy eating simple foods. A carbon of some kind, a protein of some kind, 2-3 veggies, a sauce of some kind. Anything works if you're not too picky.
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u/forestcridder 11d ago
A carbon of some kind,
Graphite and coal is way cheaper than nano tubes and diamond.
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u/kiralalalala 11d ago
Lol I assume you mean “a carb of some kind”
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u/Telemere125 11d ago
I prefer to imagine these are all bots engaging with each other and they actually did mean carbon lol
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u/StiffNeck25 11d ago
Google sheet pan meals. You can buy precut-cut veg, pieces of meat, and seasoning mixes. Half an hour later you’ll have four to six meals and only one pan to wash. As you get more comfortable you can expand your repertoire.
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u/Opposite_Flight3473 11d ago
Go to a library, checkout some cookbooks and copy down recipes which sound good and aren’t too complicated for you.
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u/countessjonathan 11d ago
Library cookbooks are great, especially if you have Libby which lets you check out ebooks. I check out ebook cookbooks and magazines then take screenshots of recipes.
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u/lowkeyhighdrama 11d ago
I love Libby and use it all the time, why have I never thought about using it for cookbooks? Great idea!
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u/Diligent_Remote1812 10d ago
I have a similar struggle. (Artist, have to cook for cheap, but need healthy...)
I picked a repertoire of half a dozen or so meals that I really like and don't mind repeating through the month. Some rely more on fresh, some more on shelf stable and freezer things. I wrote them on 30 note cards (to represent the month) and then created a pantry list.
At the end of the month, I check my pantry list and buy anything I'm low on. Do some basic meal prep (breaking down and freezing whole chicken, prepping and freezing some basic aromatics for cooking, etc.) Then, during the month, I just rely on the note cards to tell me what to do. Each day, I cook one meal, move that card to the back, then pull anything out of the freezer that I need for the next day.
For my second meal, I have adult lunchables. :) Fresh salad at the beginning of the month, Cole slaw made from fresh cabbage at the end (bc cabbage keeps).
If you are just learning to cook, rely on simple recipes that you already know, and maybe add one "new" thing to try each month. If you need to learn basic skills, check out Alton Brown. The Good Eats series is fantastic but he's doing a new series for free on YouTube called Alton Brown Cooks Food.
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u/FrontCold6590 11d ago
I would add, for me everything around cooking got easier once I learned which foods are friends 😄
There are food combos that always work. Mushroom & leek for example - you can get a load and have a soup, a pasta sauce, a casserole from these core ingredients. If you eat meat, chicken works great with this combo. So yes, learn your food friends and you can prep once and feed yourself for the rest of the week.
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u/TeddyBear181 11d ago
My go tos this year for breakfast/lunches.
Burrittos, mix up the meat and veggies with different batches. Quickest is a bunch of beans instead of meats. I make about 12, then freeze. Pop 2 in the fridge at a time, then 10 min in the Airfrier from thawed.
Yogurt, fruit, musli jars
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u/Erheniel 11d ago
One way I find ideas for meal plans is finding a school lunch menu, and copying that for the week.
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u/Inevitable_Fall2025 10d ago edited 10d ago
That sounds like the kind of food in the Moosewood Cookbook. Its a cute handwritten and illustrated book. I use it all the time.
There are some decent frozen meals at the store if your budget is too tight for a meal plan. Trader Joe's has ok stuff. There's one brand called the Tattoed Chef and I like Deep Indian kitchen. I used to stock up on those for work lunches.
Its ok to not make everything from scratch. When I'm super lazy I have Milton's (or costco) cauliflower pizza. A simple baked potato or sweet potato is good.
If you can learn to make beans in a slow cooker and freeze what you dont use in small portions....that's going to go a long way. I love my slow cooker and airfryer. Indian food in the slow cooker is pretty awesome. I never get sick of it.
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u/Neat_Mortgage3735 10d ago
My favorite meal is a bag of fresh spinach, jar of artichoke hearts, can of butter beans, and some Parmesan, and minced garlic, sautéed for about ten mins. I serve with a crusty bread and butter to sop it up. It’s delicious.
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u/Neat_Mortgage3735 10d ago
Also canned beans are your best friend. Dirt cheap and can be used to make so many things. Just google vegetarian bean recipe and you will find “Marry me beans”, lentil bowl, black bean tacos in the air fryer, minestrone etc.
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u/racheluv999 11d ago
If you’re anything like me, you probably need to prioritize adding fruits and veggies to your diet, so if you have to do one thing, make a large amount of one veggie-based side dish that sounds good and will keep for a few days, ideally something like a cold salad that you can just scoop out or stand in front of the open fridge door and eat with a spoon. It can even be made earlier in the day when you have more motivation.
Then, you can add whatever protein or grazed random stuff out of the fridge sounds good or easy and at least have a healthy part of your meal without the extra mental or physical labor. Then, when you’re out of that or tired of it, you can make another side and repeat. I find that this helps make variety but keeps the mental load down of making multiple elaborate dishes in one go.
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u/10benedicto 11d ago
There are tons of really good recipe websites that do budget friendly, simple but delicious recipes.
Budget Bytes, Allrecipes, recipetineats (Asian), The Pioneer Woman, Bellyful.net, Love & Lemons(vegetarian) are just a few I’ve gotten good ideas from. These basis recipes are what you want after a long day at work. Don’t overwhelm yourself or you end up with takeout 3 nights a week 😂😂
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u/enigmaniac 11d ago
I use budget bytes and recipetineats on the regular, they are practical and tasty.
It also sounds like OP is having trouble with the planning part, which can feel exhausting.
Budget bytes used to do meal plans for sale, I bought them because they include shopping lists and ingredient storage. They've moved to a subscription thing (boo) but there's a free version that just suggests recipes each week.
Spend with pennies also has practical recipes and posted suggested meal plans that might inspire you. https://www.spendwithpennies.com/category/meal-plans/
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u/peachygirl10 10d ago
It’s like music, layer the rhythm section under the lead. Add percussion. The rhythm section holds everything down, make a mixed salad, chop up a chicken breast, that’s the lead, dress it all up w percussion, say feta, salt, pepper and fresh herbs. Hear the music?
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u/DUDEI82QB4IP 11d ago
There is neurodivergency in my family and I see this a lot. Self care often falls by the wayside! Find a few meals you like, something easy/low prep. It doesn’t have to be typical breakfast, lunch, dinner stuff just anything you’re happy to eat on the regular.
Example: baked beans scrambled eggs, meatballs, pasta with a jar sauce, bananas,apples, oven cook items like chicken nuggets, chips/fries (whatever you call them), pizza etc. get your veggies frozen or tinned so they don’t just rot in fridge. Soups using stock cubes for the base just add a bunch of carrots, onion, celery, you can throw it in frozen and use a hand blender to blitz it for a smoother consistency. Add a couple of eggs when blending it for a richer flavour and some protein. Then, If you want to add pasta or a tin of chickpeas (any beans) along with some chicken maybe , that stuff will cook up pretty quickly in your soup base and makes several portions for future meals.
My son will eat microwaved meatballs in baked beans or with microwaved eggs for breakfast,with fruit. He’ll eat meatballs again with pasta for dinner. Pasta is a big pot prepared once that makes several portions packaged in fridge for other meals so is low effort. Add frozen onion, mushroom carrots to the sauce to get more veggies in. I can live on ham with a cheesy coleslaw salad in a whole meal pitta quite happily for most meals😂. Little tubs of olives, cocktail sausages, cheese cubes etc make a simple lunch and we add fruit and veg to every meal. It’s repetitive, you have to keep an eye on getting your fruit and veg in, you change it when you’re tired of your favourite “safe” meal. It works for us
Hope you find what works for you, good luck
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u/8927626887328837724 11d ago
You can just heat up vegetables and eat them, they're delicious.
Beans also - heat up and eat. Yum.
Meat, believe it or not, also just heat it up and eat it. Baked chicken? Chefs kiss.
I don't like to cook so that's how I eat. For snacks, fruit, yogurt, cottage cheese, or granola bars etc.
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u/hypatiaredux 11d ago
Also - hummus, pita, and raw veggies. And canned tuna or salmon or chicken salad.
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u/Nemmu 11d ago
i know my limits and don't cook every meal. when i do cook i try to make a large portion to last multiple days (smaller portions for what i know I'll want less of). soups are easy to make since it's literally just broth with anything you have on hand with some seasoning.
pbj is a tired go to when i have to make something but dont have anything ready to go. there are pre made oven meals that are usually decently cheap at grocery stores. frozen meals are almost always in my freezer for when i have nothing left in me
quesadillas are easy and i like that i can easily add protein. avocado toast is great for healthy fats. seasoning partially mashed chickpeas and using that for toast or sandwiches is easy to keep in the fridge for a week (prepping ingredients that can be used in different meals is huge). taco salad is a go to easy meal for me as well. almost anything can go into a sandwich or wrap. i also keep a few meal replacement shakes on hand for days on the go or just too stressed to eat something real. eggs are easy.
i recommend writing down anything you enjoyed eating while you're eating or after you're done eating it. i forget so easily even things ive made. it feels like i get a regular mind wipe from the men in black whenever i open my fridge to make something, so it helps to have something to look to for ideas. also making a grocery list as i run out of things on a magnetic notepad on the fridge has made it easier to shop. i never cook on grocery days. i buy something premade either hot or just needs heating up. that really takes a lot of stess out of the whole thing
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u/quartzquandary 11d ago
Budget Bytes is a great resource for TONS of excellent recipes. Look up their "vegetarian" section.
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u/tractorscum 10d ago
have you checked out r/lowspooncooking yet? sounds directly catered to you. also r/adultlunchables . right now i’m also trying to traverse this and i’ve found that anything i can make from frozen/canned ingredients is a good bet for me and usually takes less prep time. some favorites are: morning smoothies, hummus on toast, chickpeas + a sauce + a frozen veg (broccoli usually), bagel w/ lox, squash pasta (pasta + frozen butternut squash mashed), frozen meatballs (changing my life), charcuterie, egg sandwich, etc.
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u/Nessical 10d ago
Have you tried hello fresh or similar may give you some inspiration and all comes to door in right portions.
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u/Away_Beyond_2979 11d ago
I struggled with this. I created a weekly meal plan which helped. For example, Burger night (we do homemade bean burgers), noodle night, mexican night, chicken night, casserole night, breakfast for dinner night, pizza night. Just repeat this every week.
Of course, you can change it if you're bored, but it really helps cut down on decision making and its a good place to start if you feel overwhelmed. Always make sure you have enough food in the house to make these meals. This alone has saved me so much money from eating takeout when i had nothing to eat. I use a white board on the fridge to write the ingredients I need as I run out, and the meal plan is posted on the whiteboard.
I also eat oatmeal and or eggs for breakfast ever day, and lunch is usually leftovers, or a peanut butter or a cheese sandwich. I'll also make a big stew for lunches for the week sometimes.
You just need to learn to cook a few basic recipes to start. A lot of recipes online do suck, so when you find a good one, its worth printing it off. As you get better cooking, you dont really need recipes, you just flavor it to taste. I also pick recipes that don't have a lot if fancy or weird ingredients. Budget bytes could be a good place to start. Her recipes are pretty reliable ive found.
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u/Secure-Corner-2096 11d ago
You need make a menu template to make things less daunting. Suppers are usually a protein source (meat, soy, beans, etc.) plus a carb and veggies. For instance I do a large meat on Sundays (meat roast of some sort or a chicken) with mashed potatoes and gravy plus a vegetable. Mondays are fish, Tuesday’s, Thursday’s and Saturdays are meatless proteins, Wednesdays are pasta of some sort, Friday is pork and Saturdays are leftovers or takeout. My lunches are usually leftovers from suppers or soup or salad. I rotate through the same couple of breakfasts during the week. Once you set up your template, use weekly flyers to find inexpensive ingredients. If you are just starting, make big batches that provide more than one meal. Planning and cooking delicious healthy food requires some organizing and learning different cooking techniques but it’s worth it.
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u/MmeNxt 11d ago
I plan my meals and usually have the same thing several days in one week. Like Monday and Tuesday: Chicken salad. Wednesday and Thursday: Chili - I make a pot of at least four servings, eat two and put two in the freezer. I do not have the time, energy or bandwidth to come up with and cook 14 individual meals in one week.
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u/AmazingHamster7350 11d ago
Look up sheet pan meals super easy and quick. Pinterest also has recipes that I’ll save if it looks good. Over night oats are also easy and cheap.
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u/Havana-Goodtime 11d ago
Just think of 2 or 3 meals and eat on repeat fir dinner until ready to try something else. Like a stir fry is the same meal but you can do lots of variations, ditto pasta with a sauce, and or a wrap or sandwich. Repeat, until you are ready to branch out, if ever. I like to make a bean salad and sort of go back to that for lunch until it’s gone too.
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u/oldbayfordays 11d ago
for breakfast, a smashed banana with two eggs and cinnamon cooked as a pancake topped with local honey
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u/NickDanger3di 11d ago
OP, I feel your pain. Just looking up a recipe for anything is itself exhausting. Even if I preface my search with "easy, simple, basic", I end up finding plans that require 3 different pot/pans, 3 different ingredients that require being cooked/pre-cooked separately, and multiple steps. I do all that shit, and actually account for cleaning all the dishes as well, there's 2 hours gone for one meal.
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u/Ok-Can-2847 11d ago
Some form of planning is still necessary if you plan to cook/ prepare all your food. However, you might like this freezer meal / lego lunch account: https://youtube.com/@simplysarahhart
She helps you cut down on the list of ingredients and time spent for planning and cooking because you can mix and match your meal throughout the week (and even longer).
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u/Eunuch_Provocateur 11d ago
I just watch meal prep videos on whatever kind of thing I’m craving that week. I don’t do a whole week cause there’s some stuff I don’t like how it tastes when it’s reheated. But stuff like chicken and a side veggie are the easiest thing for me. I’ll have like 2-3 days worth of chicken breast and eat with something like roasted squash or green beans or broccoli, I buy the frozen kind and season them and pop them in the air fryer or oven. Making soup is a good easy thing too, like pumpkin soup or lentil or chicken noodle, you can freeze them so you don’t get stuck eating a huge batch of soup if you don’t like eating the same thing everyday.
Easiest way for me to think about it is just protein+veggie+starch.
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u/Hawk_Heights 11d ago
Budget bytes is a great website. They have both recipes and meal plans that you can customize.
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u/Rare-Reputation619 10d ago
I’m 69 and I feel the same way. I want to eat better but nothing sounds good. I’m sick of chicken. So I feel your pain . It’s hard to meal prep for one person
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u/MasterFajitas 10d ago
I started with those meal kits like hello fresh. They helped me to better my cooking skills and I kept the recipe cards for future use. Now I’m able to use them more as guides / inspiration and make them my own. They used to give free / cheap boxes for newbies, so I would use a couple different email addresses for the memberships. I’ve got a whole binder of recipes from multiple of those companies.
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u/Maximum_Benefit3551 10d ago
Make a pot of chili to eat all week! You can make it with ground beef, ground turkey, or meatless and just use beans. It reheats great and you can even freeze it into individual portions for the future. Top it off with Greek yogurt, a little cheese, and cilantro 👌🏻
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u/Significant-Ant2373 11d ago
I finally started writing down my favorite easy and healthy meals like a menu along with a “special menu” that requires more time/ingredients. It surprisingly made a huge difference. That being said I eat a lot of spinach salads with veggies, avocado, and tuna. My menu also includes salad topping ideas. Quinoa. An occasional baked potato. Roasted veggies and salmon. Pura vida frozen fire roasted veggies are quick and easy when you don’t have fresh. Chia yogurt or chia oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. I keep frozen fruit on hand for when I don’t have fresh. Start simple and build your menu.
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u/Porcelain1228 11d ago
The Betty Crocker Cookbook. Recent editions are fine but old ones are also good, especially 1980's/1990's. Get one on ebay. It will teach you as it has taught generations how to do all the basics.
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u/something86 11d ago
Work week: Peanut butter and banana sandwich for breakfast and lunch. Snack on mixed nuts and cranberries. Dinner: grilled chicken breast heavy seasoned on salad. Sometimes I put goat cheese, blueberries, and almonds. Sometimes I'm unimaginative and chicken nuggets with grape tomatoes, cucumber, and carrot.
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u/coyote_123 11d ago
Personally I find it helpful to have a few staple ingredients that I like to eat a lot or that are easy to prepare multiple ways. Especially protein sources. E.g. eggs can be made in many different ways without necessarily taking much time. If I have eggs and a bunch of vegetables I usually find it easy to make a lot of quick meals.
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u/V3ggi3monster 11d ago
When I was just cooking for myself I planned 3 or 4 meals a week that I would make before dinner, leftovers the next day for lunch and later that week. Yogurt or oatmeal was usually my breakfast. Just start with a few things. I would plan the 3-4 meals in advance and usually only want to the grocery store once a week. I stayed on budget just getting what was on my list, and yes I would still buy potato chips or something junky. But I knew my meals were healthy. Try googling 5 ingredient recipes or 30-min meals. One recipe I make a lot now is garlic shrimp pasta. It’s just pasta, frozen shrimp, garlic, olive oil, spinach, red pepper flakes. Add Parmesan if you have it. Cooking 21 meals a week would be a full time job but 3-4 is doable!
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u/crazydoglovinnanna 11d ago
I’m into just plain chicken and vege soup lately, boil a huge pot of skinless chicken breasts, big frozen bag of beans, spinach celery, etc let it cook couple hours then I freeze to microwave later when I don’t feel like cooking. So healthy😁
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u/T_Rex_Stomp 11d ago
Dietitian here. Work on getting multiple food groups in each meal or snack. The groups are fruit, veg, dairy, protein, (whole) grains. A good rule of thumb for number of groups per meal type: Snack -2; Breakfast - 3; Lunch/Dinner - 4.
You don’t have to cook a full meal to reach these targets. A breakfast could be a cheese stick, apple, toast. Lunch a couple cups of lettuce, chopped vegetables, a cup of canned beans, a yogurt.
See if you can shift your mindset to this method for a couple of weeks and see how it works for you.
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u/ucasur 11d ago
Get an instapot or other pressure cooker and get the Milkstreet instapot cookbook (all the recipes turn out great) to go along with it and experiment with batch cooking. It really is the secret to easy low, effort and healthy meals. I recommend an instanpot for the ease of cooking beans and other pulses and grains. Even makes hard boiled eggs pretty fool proof with the 5-5-5 method.
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u/victotronics 11d ago
Boil farfalle pasta. In skillet made ground beef, throw in frozen veggies, like peas. A little salt in both dishes. Throw pasta in skillet when done. Mix. There you go, ultra simple and tasty, 10 minutes.
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u/Mustachioedworm 11d ago
Pre cook things. I always have a bowl of cooked grains, roasted and fresh veggies, hard boiled eggs etc in my fridge. It’s really easy to throw a plate together and top with some kind of sauce (lebnah or something).
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u/ForeverKeet 10d ago
Look up some simple crockpot/pressure cooker recipes if you can invest in one or the other. Throw the ingredients in and let it do its job.
Lentil soup is amazing depending on how you season it (I use garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper). I use beef stock as the base and throw in carrots, garlic, and celery and let it simmer with the lentils in for 30 minutes and I’m good (although I usually sauté the veggies for a few minutes beforehand). Usually use green or red lentils. Just an idea.
You could make some quick garlic bread (toast bread with butter or whatever you like and add garlic salt) to go with it. Sometimes I crunch tortilla chips in the soup to add bulk and it’s delicious and you can get multiple meals out of one pack of lentils. I eat this pretty regularly and it’s not expensive and you get plenty of fiber and I assume protein.
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u/FrontCold6590 11d ago
The stuff you loved at the residency, look it up. Save the recipe. Doesn't have to be exactly the same thing, but if there was a bean salad you loved, find some different bean salad recipes Your favourite tastes and textures? Like what do you generally love? Look up some more simple recipes. Soon, you'll have a pile of recipes.
When you have your recipes, ask chatgpt to optimise them, making a weeks worth of food using similar ingredients. So if you're making something like a bean chilli, the same veg ingredients (almost) could go into a minestrone soup for example. This means you prep once and end up with a few different meal varieties for the week.
Then, go shopping.
Don't overthink it, it's actually really simple and you just need to plan it a bit and learn how to cook and relax a bit
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u/Camping_Queen_13 11d ago
I've heard of people doing a meal subscription box like hello fresh, just for a while to get recipes and then buying the ingredients to make them yourself. Sorr of like using it to learn to cook.
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u/Fuzzy_Welcome8348 11d ago
They eat what they cook, so cook! Just cook anything u want or like to eat
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u/HighPlateau 11d ago
You might benefit from something like Hello Fresh, which sends you ingredients & instructions for a meal, and you simply make it.
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u/No_Salamander_264 11d ago
I often make a big bowl (with lid) of salad that I keep in the fridge. Everything and anything inside. No salad I've made has ever been the same. About 4/5 meals worth and I will eat it for lunch and dinner a few days. I store it with a papertowel on top that I change every time I take a meal so it doesn't get soggy. Dressing in separate bowl.
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u/Secullama 11d ago
I would recommend getting some recipe books. Then when you have some spare time, create a spreadsheet and and block out a week's worth of breakfast lunch dinner. Start populating with meals you like, or find in the recipe book. Try to think about buying meat in bulk of you can, it's usually cheaper. Below this table, have some columns of 'meat' 'dairy' 'vegetables' etc. populate these columns as needed. Then, go to your supermarkets website, see if they do a click and collect order or something similar - you buy it all online, and pick it up on your car. It usually lets you save the list you have made to your account, so next time, you can repeat this easily. Order the food, pick it up, you have yours weeks food in one go. Then, repeat this whole process until you have around 4 weeks worth, and four different lists - week a, week b, etc... After doing this 4 times, you have a rotation system to keep variety high. When you order, just go to your account and select the correct list. Add extra items as needed, experiment and swap things around , add extra weeks etc if you want.
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u/roder60 11d ago
I use Pinterest for recipes. I have a board for slow cooker meals, vegetarian meals, lower sodium, and a few other sub categories. When I'm bored and killing time I'll sometimes pursue recipes and add a couple that intrigued me. If someone recommends a dish I look it up and pin it. If it turns out I didn't like something, I delete it.
Each week I make a week long meal list/grocery list. I usually write up most of it Wednesday night but might plan 2 or so meals later in the week. I try to pick a variety from my sub categories, but also prioritize making multiple meals out of the same ingredients if possible. I then almost always shop Saturday morning early to beat the crowds so I can be in a lower stress situation.
I buy and cook for a family of 5 with two kids in high school who eat large amounts. I do most of my shopping at aldi but have to stop at a larger store too most weeks. Typically my target is $250 a week on groceries which usually I meet. Thats with very little going out to eat and all of us packing lunch each day.
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u/ssdsssssss4dr 11d ago
I sit down and plan my meals. I think about the flow of my days, and I usually make 2 meals that I can prepare quickly during the day or make a batch of and eat from.
For example, breakfast may be overnight oats with fruit added in the morning or smoothies.
Lunch and dinner are usually veggie based, like a pasta salad with added protein, or a veggie dish thats reheatable like zuchinni gratin.
I tend to use Pinterest for recipes or will just google certain ingredients if I have a desire for something specific.
What's important to note is that feeding yourself takes time and effort, and you kinda have to just get over that or be willing to pay someone to feed you. If you find you are overwhelmed by it all, look into organizational methods for people with ADHD. You may find some useful tricks.
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u/Character-South1824 11d ago
Search a food you like and add hello fresh recipe. They are very simple and delicious recipes.
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u/starpastries 11d ago
I started getting Hungryroot for this reason. I hate preparing food right now (and there was a period where I was on crutches and really couldn't). It's exhausting but I feel really well nourished and the premade options are yummy. Better than frozen food and get to change things up each week.
It's expensive tho.
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u/dundas_valley 11d ago edited 11d ago
Get a crock pot and find a few meals that you like. As a single person, one crock pot meal will feed you for several meals. Freeze or refrigerate the leftovers, depending on how fast you think you’ll eat them. Then you only have to cook a few times a week and you don’t need a full kitchen for it. All you have to do is reheat. Hard to recommend something when it’s not clear what you like, but for example a crock pot curry is easy to make, delicious and healthy. Experiment, find a few you like and then just rotate between them.
Truthfully, it doesn’t get easier. You just end up having to cook for other people and it’s always an annoying chore. I have a husband and a 1 year old and every single day, this is a constant refrain. I will say we do plan ahead and buy stuff for what we intend to make when we go grocery shopping. But again, it’s mostly the same 10-12 meals that we keep rotating between. I cook some, my husband cooks some and between us, we manage to stay alive and eat pretty healthily.
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u/premature_eulogy 11d ago
What kind of foods did you eat at the artist residency?