View Full Version : work load and too many choices
I am realizing the end of year work load bomb (yeah can you tell I am pissed off) is affecting me in different ways. I can't decide what to eat! I have had take out something the last 2 days, made a sandwich today, or simply am not eating enough. They discontinued making one of my favorite breakfast bars which screws my morning. There were 2 great ones and both are gone. That was at least one simple meal. I was watching kids at lunch today, they just show up and somebody puts out a few options and they eat it. That would be great at this point.
So I am thinking of signing up for those refrigerated box services that comes with a recipe and all the food you need for a couple dinners. If you need fresh herbs you just get the amount you need. Most of the recipes look pretty good, not too weird, and lots of fresh food.
Blue Apron has gotten good reviews from friends that tried it. I have a freezer stocked with a select variety of frozen entrees for those times that 1. I am super hungry and 2. have little time. I give up on the normal processed food avoidance to get portion control and speed. There is just too much salt and calories in almost all take out.
I am also very fond of all kinds of yoghurt and fruit. Gives a balance of protein and some fiber and natural sugars. An insulated lunch bag packed with yoghurt, fruit, and nuts can help control hunger. Was given an organic banana from Peru yesterday and it was the best banana I have ever had.
ApatheticNoMore
5-10-16, 6:14pm
Maybe change your philosophy, it doesn't need to be elaborate, it doesn't need to be a recipe, it just needs to be real homemade food - enough of it to get through the week. So soup du random veggies. Or beans and rice or well whatever you eat - since this depends on preferences and what agrees with one body it's not for me to say (there are more options with a meat eater obviously). People may get take out of go out if they think stuff needs to be recipes. But maybe just real basic food (of course with spices etc. if you like, I'm just saying most recipes might be too complex with an intense schedule).
When I get tired of cooking, I boil up eggs and lay in a lot of cold cuts, cheese, avocados, and bagged salad. Maybe make a vat of soup. I get tired of cooking often. :D
When I know I'm going to be in crunch mode, I either freeze meals/components or have a very restricted theme week planned out (ie Monday is soup, Tuesday is rice and beans, Wednesday is pasta....) Too many choices tax an already overtired brain.
I may go with the daily theme, I know Mondays are always long days since it is meditation group. I will have something like grilled cheese when I get home. Yogurt is also good, but that is my breakfast since all the good protein bars options seem to be gone. Good reminder on boiled eggs, I also like all sorts of cheese and cracker meals I make with some salad or an orange.
I was making a lot of my old bean and rice recipes but not eating it for leftover lunches. Super simple recipes, and then I would change my mind. So I am making smaller amounts, A great brown rice casserole only got eaten a little. So cooking smaller is one way to change, and more complicated food I can buy frozen. I really like Indian food so I make dal and rice very quickly, but saag paneer is too many steps.
I think that the meal plan, soup or pasta or burger night planned ahead is going to be the best way to go. Reduce the thought process most of all.
iris lilies
5-10-16, 8:16pm
The ad I saw d E Blue Apron showed 6 meals for $60. thats $10 dollars each. And then , you still have to cook. Good god.
Oh, and count up the packaging pieces, it would include lotsa styrofoam.
I can get entrees in
Vietnamese restaurants for $6.99 -$8.99.
i would go to one of these restaurants, have a sit down meal, and order two others to go, then freeze them. Or, if concerned about packaging of the takeout food, order the meal plated and then put the food into your own containers.
The quality of these meals is much better than frozen dinners in the grocery store.
I don't think that is too bad for Blue Apron, those are the fancier meals during the week for me. Also my son and I are a bit of foodies so we aren't buying Kraft macaroni already. The rest of my meals are all pretty low cost. A huge bonus, not going to the store! The parking at the store, back at my apartment building and just getting to the store at the earliest 6:30 pm. I am pretty much peopled-out by the end of the day and not excited about going into a restaurant.
Cooking really isn't a problem, I like it, I can cook even when I am tired, I don't mind the dishes, I just need to decide what to make!
iris lilies
5-10-16, 9:02pm
That s goodk then, OP. If you don't mind the actual cooking, you are ahead of the game.
Does seem quite pricey. My standard fare is rice, beans, avocado and if I'm feeling fancy homemade hummus. I know you've send you live pretty close to the line. Is it affordable for you?
I will look at my budget, not sure if it is affordable but it does look like a good program. I won't sign up until I have another month of budget under my belt. And I realized summer program will get out much earlier than my current program, so only 3 more weeks of school before I will be home earlier.
I talked to a friend and we thought of a capsule pantry idea, like the capsule wardrobe. And so I worked on my eating plan tonight and it already reduced my stress! So Monday is sandwich night since I have a long day, Tuesday is soup, Wednesday pasta, Thursday taco night (or taco salad) and Friday burger, could be turkey or veggie but a basic burger. Tonight I was wandering around not sure what to eat, it was getting almost too late to eat and still get to bed at a good time, then I remembered it was soup night and I had a can of soup with toast. On the weekend I can cook fancier stuff like Indian food, and anything I may want for lunches. Over the summer I bring a salad for lunch every day with few changes and that is fine.
I also made a breakfast list of things to have on hand, and a snack list. I can shop on the weekends much easier with this plan I think. I should write about this on my mindfulness blog, it is mindful to realize you are overwhelmed and make purposeful changes to address it after all.
I do Bountiful Basket as a way to have inexpensive fruits and veggies in which to spring off and make meals. I rarely use recipes. Monday I had broccoli beef and yesterday I had chicken noodle soup with celery, carrots, onions and gluten fee noodles. Today I am planning to do a veggie stir fry with fish on the side. I split a basket with my brother every other week, so for about $10 I get at least two weeks of produce. It works well for me and is a lot cheaper than say Blue Apron.
When I was first starting out on my own, I was home most nights and brought my lunch to work. On Sundays I made two casseroles; one for lunch and one for dinner. Most recipes make 6-8 servings, so I had plenty to eat.
I pretty much bought only what I needed to buy, I controlled the ingredients (fat, sodium, sugar), all I had to do during the week was thaw and/or reheat,... I'll admit there were a few casseroles I never wanted to see again by the end of their week. But it got the job done without a lot of thought or money.
ApatheticNoMore
5-11-16, 12:15pm
When I was first starting out on my own, I was home most nights and brought my lunch to work. On Sundays I made two casseroles; one for lunch and one for dinner. Most recipes make 6-8 servings, so I had plenty to eat.
I pretty much bought only what I needed to buy, I controlled the ingredients (fat, sodium, sugar), all I had to do during the week was thaw and/or reheat,... I'll admit there were a few casseroles I never wanted to see again by the end of their week. But it got the job done without a lot of thought or money.
yea casseroles are a good one like soup, now I don't make so much food I get sick of it. I enjoy my food period. And I have salad everyday for lunch so I eat some raw veggies even if I was subsisting on soup and casserole otherwise.
I realize making the weeks food on the weekend is popular but I don't think I could pull it off - or what I'm spending much of the little time I have on the weekend that I want to spent at play or at best making a fancy weekend meal instead prepping for the week? So if not all food is made on the weekend (some might be) it necessitates some midweek cooking then, earlier in the week before profound fatigue has set in is best. But yea getting the job done was what I meant about change of philosophy, beans and rice, soup, casseroles - just whatever simple meals will prevent eating out or take out (if you really like eating out save it for Sat or Sun and enjoy). The every day a different meal thing - no not possible. All but the simple recipes or no recipe on weekdays - no not possible. Being on your own means noone criticizes you if you do eat the same meal several days in a row (of course being with someone who expected daily meals who didn't split the cooking 50-50 ..... hysterical laughter ... nope).
I realize making the weeks food on the weekend is popular but I don't think I could pull it off - or what I'm spending much of the little time I have on the weekend that I want to spent at play or at best making a fancy weekend meal instead prepping for the week?
You raise an important point -- I enjoy shopping for food and cooking, so I didn't have to sell myself on the idea. It would have been different if I saw cooking as another household chore and had many other things I'd rather do.
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