Pre-Made food suggestions?

[EccoGamer]

Hello all!

I have a super busy schedule with school/work/family obligations. My issue is that I have literally no time to cook for myself as I am always on the run and dont get home until late at night. Im starting to try to eat healthier but I do not know where to start for pre-made foods. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on what they think are the best quick meals to buy and/or the easiest and quickest to make.

[Kidney bean]

Baked beans, hands down.

Add:

Fried/scrambled eggs

Bread/ toast

Sausages/ bacon

Mushrooms/ onions

Tuna

Cottage cheese

- Stir fries with any minced meat or meat cut into strips with frozen vegetables are quick, cheap and from ingredients that keep forever. Toss in an egg, or seasoning (soy sauce/ spices/ herbs etc).

[RisenPhoenix]

Crockpots are magical.

 

Dump meat and veggies into them in the morning, leave for work, come back to a nearly full meal.  And one that will have more leftovers than you can imagine.

[EccoGamer]

Thank you for the suggestions on quick meals! Does anyone know any instant meals that would be semi healthy as well?

[jody]

What I do:

 

I take 3 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  I season them (salt-free seasonings) and bake them for 40 minutes at 375 (until 160 by meat thermometer).  I slice those babies up into bite sized morsels of deliciousness, and bag them in freezer zip lock bags, 4 ounces per bag.  I add 2 cups of frozen vegetables, and seal and freeze.  They nuke in about 2 minutes, and I'm always full.  Lately I can't even finish the whole two cups of veggies.  Last time I did this, I made 12 pounds of chicken, and stocked my entire freezer.  Enough lunches (and dinners) for one person for three weeks.  And I vary the spices, so sometimes its lemon pepper, sometimes its bbq, sometimes southwest chipotle.  It's always good.

 

This is what it looks like in my freezer (and yes, that's icecream):

 

And this is what it looks like cooked up (each bag is different, I use a variety of frozen veggies, from peas and brussel sprounts to carrots and brocoli):

And voila!  There ya go!  That's my 2 bits.  ;-)  Good luck!

[EccoGamer]

What I do:

 

I take 3 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  I season them (salt-free seasonings) and bake them for 40 minutes at 375 (until 160 by meat thermometer).  I slice those babies up into bite sized morsels of deliciousness, and bag them in freezer zip lock bags, 4 ounces per bag.  I add 2 cups of frozen vegetables, and seal and freeze.  They nuke in about 2 minutes, and I'm always full.  Lately I can't even finish the whole two cups of veggies.  Last time I did this, I made 12 pounds of chicken, and stocked my entire freezer.  Enough lunches (and dinners) for one person for three weeks.  And I vary the spices, so sometimes its lemon pepper, sometimes its bbq, sometimes southwest chipotle.  It's always good.

 

This is what it looks like in my freezer (and yes, that's icecream):

 

And this is what it looks like cooked up (each bag is different, I use a variety of frozen veggies, from peas and brussel sprounts to carrots and brocoli):

And voila!  There ya go!  That's my 2 bits.  ;-)  Good luck!

Oh wow! Thanks! Thats a great idea to mass cook everything then freeze em! One day of cooking for around 3 weeks of food sounds definitely doable!

[Shortgorilla]

If you don't care about sodium, canned soups can be great.  There's a lot of frozen meals that are good too, but they get kind of expensive (although to be fair I'm a total cheap-ass).  Fruit is always ready to eat. 

 

My new thing has been bulk cooking rice and lentils and mixing it with canned beans.  Now I'm not even doing the rice.  Lentils, I've found out, can last up to two weeks in the fridge once cooked.  Tons of fiber and protein.

 

There's also nothing wrong with buying a bunch of ham/turkey, bread, and lettuce, and making a pile of sandwiches.