Meal planning and preparing

[Lovinit]

My mom wasn’t a cook I grew up eating out a lot, cereal and breakfast sandwich’s and microwaveable meals.

I’m 38 I’ve been living on my own since I turned 27. I’m overwhelmed with trying to write down a meal plan for the week. Everything from planning to preparing I can’t seem to start.

For food I like almost everything. I’m super broke so I can’t buy some things like Maca Damien nuts $9 for a handful at frys. I also like simple, the less dish wear I dirty and the lest time I spend preparing the better. But another important thing is whatever I do make it’s got to have some good flavor I don’t know a thing about spices but I do know when I made chicken and rice once it was so plane I never ate it all and I wasted a lot of food.

With all that said can anybody please share tips, systems and ideas to help work on this

[addgirl]

Hi there! I can relate - I’m not a cook either - never have been - I think it requires a certain amount of patience which alludes me to this day. So my hubs cooks and I clean. Re: meal prep - when we are “on plan” - Sunday we spend 2-1/2 hours prepping for the following week. We use 21 day fix meal portion cups to find the right amount of food for the calorie intake we want per day - fruit, protein, veggies, carbs - cook up a gang of food - chicken, steak, pork, ground turkey, broccoli, green beans, sweet potatos, quinoa, etc. (there is a list of food suggestions and cup conversion info you can find online) nothing fancy - no “recipes” and then we portion it all out in individual plastic meal trays (from amazon) — 3 meals a day for each of us for 5 days and stick them in our garage fridge. Voila! Easy. We grab a tray and microwave at meal time. All the work is crammed into 2-1/2 hours on Sunday which means no hassle and tons of saved time during the week. AND we eat healthier this way.

We also get up at 6 am and work out 30 min a day - 5 days/wk in our bedroom - weight lift/cardio - Beachbody On Demand workouts. I’m 53 and my husband is 62.

Eating well and exercise helps my mood and energy level. It’s something that I can do myself that has nothing to do with medication but everything to do with my mental and physical health.

Hope this helps!

[Lovinit in reply to addgirl]

This helps so much. I’m going to copy exactly what you said for the food and I did say today I’m now exercising 5 days a week 15 min. Thank you so much you told me exactly what I needed to hear to help me start somewhere I like that you said you ordered the preportion microwave containers. So you but a weeks worth for me three trays a day 7 days. That’s 21 trays right?

[Diana_Late-Diagnosis in reply to addgirl]

Thanks for sharing this really great method to keep meal creation (and dietary needs) manageable! Great suggestions!

[QuirkyCookie]

Hi Lovinit! I'm a health coach who likes to suggest solutions that aren't overwhelming. Mealprepping is wonderful, just beware it can begin to feel like a chore and backfire for some.

There are a few books I recommend. The 5 Ingredient College Cookbook by Pamela Ellgen and Good and Cheap, Eat Well on $4/Day by Leanne Brown have fast, easy, healthy recipes that are a great way to save money and learn basic cooking techniques. How to Cook Without a Book by Pam Anderson teaches the foundation of basic dishes, e.g. soup, stir fry, pan sheet dinners, etc., then gives you suggestions on how to make them your own. This book is a favorite of mine. I now know the "rules" of making several dishes and can whip up a hearty meal in 30 minutes or less without following a recipe, sometimes using whatever is in the fridge on a busy night.

The library is a great resource for cookbooks if you don't want to commit to purchasing one without trying it. One of my favorite cooking blogs is budgetbytes.com. It was started by a college student trying to save money on food while making money with a blog. It turned into a huge success.

Always having basics on hand like eggs, cheese, wholegrain bread, some frozen veggies, rice, a few spices, etc. can quickly make it a fun and interesting challenge for any creative mind to make a delicious homemade meal. Delicious and healthy doesn't have to mean complicated and time-consuming Meet yourself where you're at...start slow with what you know.

[Lovinit in reply to QuirkyCookie]

Thank you so much for your reply I do look forward to reading the two books you suggested that I think they will be a great help for me and I’m really interested in reading them. I think it’s awesome that you are on this site and you are replying to people who have ADHD to give them support and help they need thank you for your service. You are truly so kind to go out of your way like this to help others with ADHD

[Diana_Late-Diagnosis in reply to QuirkyCookie]

Thank you QuirkyCookie for sharing these excellent suggestions!

[LoveDogs71]

When I have the time and energy and if I'm in a good mood I will cook. Mostly my partner, he loves cooking. During the summer time when it's so hot out here I really don't get hungry for cooking . Such as using the oven or stove. I make mostly sandwiches, tuna, tacos, adkins shakes in the morning. I'm not a morning person most of the time. The adkins shakes have protein and I function better with protein. When I'm in a rush in the morning I grab a shake. Jamie Oliver has a cook book or you can watch him on youtube on easy only 5 ingredients to make a recipe. Here is a sample. youtu.be/Uruo4cyDIWU(Not working as expected?) and his book is called Jaime Oliver 5 ingredients.

[RedJammer]

I LIVE by my Instant Pot, super easy to use, one pot to clean, and you don't have to babysit it while it cooks. That and I buy Better Than Bouillion, which makes it super easy to mix up broth to cook with for better flavor. Try PressureLuckCooking.com for easy recipes and the guy is super entertaining. There are both still photos and often videos of his recipes. The French Onion Chicken is amazing! Good luck --