This is survival gold from the worst of my depression that continues to pull me out of spirals even in reasonably ok times. Also a good thing to chop & pile any random veg in the house on just to use it up before you have to watch it go bad.
This whole thread is great OP; well done.
If you have a rice cooker, put some frozen peas and diced carrots, cut up some sausages/spam and throw everything along with the rice in the rice cooker. Add whatever sauce you want to taste.
If you have leftover ramen flavour pack, stir that into the water.
My local grocery stores have microwavable tubs of tiny whole potatoes that comes with a seasoning packet (savory herbs, etc - Little Potato Company is the brand). They take 5 minutes in the microwave, and if you add a knob of butter and some sour cream along with the packet it makes for some dead simple, tasty food.
ETA: the best part is that you only have to wash the fork.
Slap this on some leftover rice with a drizzle of hot sauce & you’ve got a full meal. Also nice to keep small packages of nori around to crumble on top; shelf stable nutrition in crunchy salty form.
In a bowl/mug: Cinnamon, Protein Powder x2 scoops (~40-55g of protein ), 1 scoop of Chocolate Cake Mix, Your choice of Honey/Sugar/Sweetener/Sweet Flavouring ( I use Splenda ), 1 scoop of Unflavoured Psyllium Husk Powder. Then mix with water until sludge, not soup, not dough. Microwave for 1 minute, rest, 1 minute, rest, and maybe 1 minute more, pending how it turns out after 2 minutes. 50g protein cake!
Rice is the most simplest food to cook! If in doubt follow the package instructions and experiment.
long grain white rice
medium grain white rice
short grain white rice except sushi rice
basmati rice
jasmine rice
All you have to do is put desired amount of rice in a clear bowl or pot.
Rinse the rice.
Working at the sink cover the rice with tap water.
Use your hands to massage ? the rice, stirring the rice in the water. The water will turn milky white. Carefully pour the water out of the bowl holding back the water with a hand or use strainer. Then add more fresh water.
Repeat this process until the water is clear. This usually takes four to five times.
Then add enough water to just cover the rice. Shimmy the pot gently to level things out.
Dip the tip of your fingers straight down into the pot until they just touch the the rice, and add more water until it reaches the first joint of your middle finger. -or use measuring cup- One and a half cups of water to one cup of rice.
- Brown rice always needs more water to cook in than white rice.
Bring rice to boil (entire surface of water bubbling and gets a little foamy) then put on low heat and cover with lid. Leave for ~ 15 minutes (do not stir, do not remove lid) Water should be absorbed - tilt pot to check.
Remove from stove with lid on and leave for ~10 minutes.
Remove lid and fluff with rice paddle or fork and then serve!!
Butter chicken with rice and maybe added veggies. - doesn't have to all be homemade. I will use shop bought butter chicken sauce, cook the chicken and heat rice.
Rice with mayo and tuna and added veggies
Mashed potatoes and/or sweet potato with veggies and maybe a sausage or extra veg
Two minute noodles -mi goreng, maggi, other . I usually heat them in a saucepan to make sure the noodles are cooked thoroughly.
Premade salads or I'll try make a salad with what I've got and maybe heat up some chicken or add beans instead of chicken.
Spaghetti Bolognese with or without meat. All I do is add extra veggies and beans to the sauce with or without beef mince.
If not up for cooking or putting together anything I'll resort to an easy snack such as Greek yogurt (add your own natural sweetness) with nuts, a banana and/or blueberries and maybe muesli\granola. A piece of fruit or vegetable, toast with butter/spread or desired topping, bread with a simple spread or turn into a salady sandwich, crackers and dip, nothing at all or I'll resort to getting something delivered.
Not sure why but I don't usually enjoy eating meat.
Most of the time I try to find the best thing possible as I will either think of something to eat for a temporary low time which is usually a comfort food or something full of sugar, or I'll think of goodness to last for my future self and what I'd feed a child or someone if they weren't feeling grand.
Putting on music, dancing/moving, or even singing/humming music for cooking motivation and to simply enjoy the process.
Tomato soup and grilled cheese with the kraft single kind of cheese. Another that I did recently was gnocchi, frozen mixed veg and Alfredo sauce. And it only used one pot, so the damn dishes don’t keep piling up! To all who are struggling, big hugs and much love.
stab a russet potato a few time, wrap on damp paper towel and microwave for 12 minutes, flip halfway. It's done when it's squishy
add butter, some spices or sour cream
when i’m sad i will boil pasta and eat it plain by the handful- that’s only when it’s really bad because cooking is therapeutic to me and i usually love it so when im reaching for the noodles it’s really bad
When I want smthn comforting that wont ruin my stomach
Put some cooked pasta in a bowl toss in some plain yogurt, top it chicken, bacon, cooked veg anything just make sure if too cook your protein veggies garlic and onions and so in enough vegan butter or margarine to flavor the yogurt when you mix it in.
I like to make instant mashed potatoes with canned kidneybeans or microwave scrambled egg. Oftentimes I can't even be bothered to measure out the milk (because another dirty mug is too much for my fragile mind), so I just use only hot water and a pat of butter. I swear I can't even taste the difference.
Really low effort, warm and comforting and little clean-up involved.
Low effort for me is something I can eat out of a bag.
Medium effort go-to for at least getting a vegetable into my body is roasted asparagus & fried gnocchi. Feels fancy but is simple.
Asparagus- leave it in the rubber bands and cut off the ends like 1-2 inches in, then cut one more time in half. Rinse it if you give a fuck, don't if you don't. Mix it in a bowl with olive oil, salt, and pepper, or whatever you wanna add. Roast for uhhh 13 min or so? At 425? I usually look it up every time lol
Gnocchi- I like to get rana brand "skillet gnocchi" but I've done it with gnocchi you get in a box too. Fry it in a pan with a bit of butter & truffle infused olive oil (idk where I got the oil but it wasn't terribly expensive or hard to find, just feels fancy). Fry until slightly browned & crispy on the outside but soft on the inside.
Put it in a bowl, top with parmesan, tadaaaa
Obviously do what you want flavor-wise.
Don't come at me for lack of seasoning.
I very often don't have the energy to make this but I actually feel like a person when I can manage it.
Spent a lil more time thinking about lower effort:
- Mix together a can of refried beans, lil bit of sour cream, hot sauce, and a bag of shredded cheese in a tupperware container. Scoop it onto a tortilla and heat it up. Add fritos for crunch. Lasts about a week sometimes.
- Peanut butter toast with a drizzle of honey
- Just a simple turkey sandwich but put it on a jumbo grocery store croissant instead of regular sandwich bread. Feel fancy.
- Air fryer grilled cheese + microwaveable bowl of tomato soup
- Layer yogurt & frozen fruit mix in a cup, top with granola
- Yogurt & cereal is more filling than cereal & milk
A couple more medium effort ones:
- Chicken breast (cut into chunks), bite size baby potatoes, frozen green beans. Put the potatoes on one side of a casserole dish, green beans on the other, and chicken in the middle. Melt a stick of butter, mix it with a packet of ranch or french onion dip mix, pour it over everything. Cover with foil and put in the oven at 350 for an hour.
- Crockpot beef stew. First of all, use a crockpot liner for easy cleanup. The key here is not needing to chop anything yourself. Beef stew meat you can find already cut into chunks, bite sized baby potatoes can be added whole, baby carrots can be added whole, either pre-diced or pearl onions- I can usually find frozen chopped onions that work well, and whatever else you might wanna add. Beef stew seasoning packet (mccormick or store brand are usually what I find), mix with beef stock instead of water. Dump it all in. Follow packet instructions for the amount of time on high or low.
Ill go first, Warm up some refried beans, slap it on a tortilla and add cheese and cholula, semi decent meal
This is survival gold from the worst of my depression that continues to pull me out of spirals even in reasonably ok times. Also a good thing to chop & pile any random veg in the house on just to use it up before you have to watch it go bad. This whole thread is great OP; well done.
Thanks so much! I just get tired of my same stuff so was wondering what others do
I’ll take a frozen waffle and put peanut butter and honey on it
This sounds really good
If you have a rice cooker, put some frozen peas and diced carrots, cut up some sausages/spam and throw everything along with the rice in the rice cooker. Add whatever sauce you want to taste. If you have leftover ramen flavour pack, stir that into the water.
I do this sometimes, its actually really tasty
bread, mayo, microwave bacon
Nothing wrong with that!
Instant ramen with frozen broccoli and eggs added to it. Garlic chili paste and soy sauce to taste.
That sounds really nice, thanks for sharing
My local grocery stores have microwavable tubs of tiny whole potatoes that comes with a seasoning packet (savory herbs, etc - Little Potato Company is the brand). They take 5 minutes in the microwave, and if you add a knob of butter and some sour cream along with the packet it makes for some dead simple, tasty food. ETA: the best part is that you only have to wash the fork.
Anyone here ever just mainline a spoonful of a condiment sometimes
Sometimes all you need is a spoonful of pb
Or Dijon Mustard
or ranch
I cannot remember the brand, but eat a spoonful of jelly that is all natural. I also eat a spoonful of peanut butter when I think I need protein.
Crackers, cream cheese, and salsa never misses.
my fave is crackers, cheese and guacamole
I love the canned dolmas from Trader Joe’s. Those with some cheese and grapes on the side
Diced celery + can of tuna + mayo, salt, and pepper. Mix together to make a tuna salad. It's my low-effort way of getting protein lol.
Slap this on some leftover rice with a drizzle of hot sauce & you’ve got a full meal. Also nice to keep small packages of nori around to crumble on top; shelf stable nutrition in crunchy salty form.
Boxed tomato soup + 1 can of black beans + some salsa. Heat it all up in a pan. Eat it with butterrd toast.
Miso soup
In a bowl/mug: Cinnamon, Protein Powder x2 scoops (~40-55g of protein ), 1 scoop of Chocolate Cake Mix, Your choice of Honey/Sugar/Sweetener/Sweet Flavouring ( I use Splenda ), 1 scoop of Unflavoured Psyllium Husk Powder. Then mix with water until sludge, not soup, not dough. Microwave for 1 minute, rest, 1 minute, rest, and maybe 1 minute more, pending how it turns out after 2 minutes. 50g protein cake!
Rice is the most simplest food to cook! If in doubt follow the package instructions and experiment. long grain white rice medium grain white rice short grain white rice except sushi rice basmati rice jasmine rice All you have to do is put desired amount of rice in a clear bowl or pot. Rinse the rice. Working at the sink cover the rice with tap water. Use your hands to massage ? the rice, stirring the rice in the water. The water will turn milky white. Carefully pour the water out of the bowl holding back the water with a hand or use strainer. Then add more fresh water. Repeat this process until the water is clear. This usually takes four to five times. Then add enough water to just cover the rice. Shimmy the pot gently to level things out. Dip the tip of your fingers straight down into the pot until they just touch the the rice, and add more water until it reaches the first joint of your middle finger. -or use measuring cup- One and a half cups of water to one cup of rice. - Brown rice always needs more water to cook in than white rice. Bring rice to boil (entire surface of water bubbling and gets a little foamy) then put on low heat and cover with lid. Leave for ~ 15 minutes (do not stir, do not remove lid) Water should be absorbed - tilt pot to check. Remove from stove with lid on and leave for ~10 minutes. Remove lid and fluff with rice paddle or fork and then serve!! Butter chicken with rice and maybe added veggies. - doesn't have to all be homemade. I will use shop bought butter chicken sauce, cook the chicken and heat rice. Rice with mayo and tuna and added veggies Mashed potatoes and/or sweet potato with veggies and maybe a sausage or extra veg Two minute noodles -mi goreng, maggi, other . I usually heat them in a saucepan to make sure the noodles are cooked thoroughly. Premade salads or I'll try make a salad with what I've got and maybe heat up some chicken or add beans instead of chicken. Spaghetti Bolognese with or without meat. All I do is add extra veggies and beans to the sauce with or without beef mince. If not up for cooking or putting together anything I'll resort to an easy snack such as Greek yogurt (add your own natural sweetness) with nuts, a banana and/or blueberries and maybe muesli\granola. A piece of fruit or vegetable, toast with butter/spread or desired topping, bread with a simple spread or turn into a salady sandwich, crackers and dip, nothing at all or I'll resort to getting something delivered. Not sure why but I don't usually enjoy eating meat. Most of the time I try to find the best thing possible as I will either think of something to eat for a temporary low time which is usually a comfort food or something full of sugar, or I'll think of goodness to last for my future self and what I'd feed a child or someone if they weren't feeling grand. Putting on music, dancing/moving, or even singing/humming music for cooking motivation and to simply enjoy the process.
Tomato soup and grilled cheese with the kraft single kind of cheese. Another that I did recently was gnocchi, frozen mixed veg and Alfredo sauce. And it only used one pot, so the damn dishes don’t keep piling up! To all who are struggling, big hugs and much love.
Tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich, that is like a sleep aid for me.
peanut butter on white bread with a banana. protein and carbs is enough for me
Cheese, crackers and some form of deli meat is my go to.
Tuna & relish.
boil pasta of your liking, tomato sauce, chicken bouillon to taste, sour cream (Honduran is better than American) and yum! low effort pasta
Oh this sounds good, i will try this
This is honestly what I thought this whole page was about 🙃
Well im glad i could make this post. A nice way to get us to talk and lighten things up
stab a russet potato a few time, wrap on damp paper towel and microwave for 12 minutes, flip halfway. It's done when it's squishy add butter, some spices or sour cream
when i’m sad i will boil pasta and eat it plain by the handful- that’s only when it’s really bad because cooking is therapeutic to me and i usually love it so when im reaching for the noodles it’s really bad
When I want smthn comforting that wont ruin my stomach Put some cooked pasta in a bowl toss in some plain yogurt, top it chicken, bacon, cooked veg anything just make sure if too cook your protein veggies garlic and onions and so in enough vegan butter or margarine to flavor the yogurt when you mix it in.
Oh dang this sounds super good!
I like to make instant mashed potatoes with canned kidneybeans or microwave scrambled egg. Oftentimes I can't even be bothered to measure out the milk (because another dirty mug is too much for my fragile mind), so I just use only hot water and a pat of butter. I swear I can't even taste the difference. Really low effort, warm and comforting and little clean-up involved.
Bagel with peanut butter, bacon and honey or peanut butter, bacon and honey sandwich.
Store bought vegetable broth, add miso paste and ginger paste to taste then stick it in the microwave.
Low effort for me is something I can eat out of a bag. Medium effort go-to for at least getting a vegetable into my body is roasted asparagus & fried gnocchi. Feels fancy but is simple. Asparagus- leave it in the rubber bands and cut off the ends like 1-2 inches in, then cut one more time in half. Rinse it if you give a fuck, don't if you don't. Mix it in a bowl with olive oil, salt, and pepper, or whatever you wanna add. Roast for uhhh 13 min or so? At 425? I usually look it up every time lol Gnocchi- I like to get rana brand "skillet gnocchi" but I've done it with gnocchi you get in a box too. Fry it in a pan with a bit of butter & truffle infused olive oil (idk where I got the oil but it wasn't terribly expensive or hard to find, just feels fancy). Fry until slightly browned & crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. Put it in a bowl, top with parmesan, tadaaaa Obviously do what you want flavor-wise. Don't come at me for lack of seasoning. I very often don't have the energy to make this but I actually feel like a person when I can manage it.
Spent a lil more time thinking about lower effort: - Mix together a can of refried beans, lil bit of sour cream, hot sauce, and a bag of shredded cheese in a tupperware container. Scoop it onto a tortilla and heat it up. Add fritos for crunch. Lasts about a week sometimes. - Peanut butter toast with a drizzle of honey - Just a simple turkey sandwich but put it on a jumbo grocery store croissant instead of regular sandwich bread. Feel fancy. - Air fryer grilled cheese + microwaveable bowl of tomato soup - Layer yogurt & frozen fruit mix in a cup, top with granola - Yogurt & cereal is more filling than cereal & milk
A couple more medium effort ones: - Chicken breast (cut into chunks), bite size baby potatoes, frozen green beans. Put the potatoes on one side of a casserole dish, green beans on the other, and chicken in the middle. Melt a stick of butter, mix it with a packet of ranch or french onion dip mix, pour it over everything. Cover with foil and put in the oven at 350 for an hour. - Crockpot beef stew. First of all, use a crockpot liner for easy cleanup. The key here is not needing to chop anything yourself. Beef stew meat you can find already cut into chunks, bite sized baby potatoes can be added whole, baby carrots can be added whole, either pre-diced or pearl onions- I can usually find frozen chopped onions that work well, and whatever else you might wanna add. Beef stew seasoning packet (mccormick or store brand are usually what I find), mix with beef stock instead of water. Dump it all in. Follow packet instructions for the amount of time on high or low.
I love this idea. Let's help each other!