s/o prepackaged foods.... what do you do for fast and easy

[Parrothead]

So if you aren't buying prepackaged foods what do you do for fast and easy? Right now I've got two single serving pizzas in the oven for lunch. These aren't something we have every day or even every week, but they are handy.

 

But now that I'm more conscious of what we eat, I'm wondering what to do when the stockpile is gone. What do you do for a quick pizza fix? What about other types of prepackaged food that are specific for fast and easy meals?

[krisperry]

But a few super simple dinners:

 

2-3 boxes of mac n cheese, stir in canned tuna & peas

 

There is a dinner in the box - blanking on the name that is chicken in gravy with a biscuit topping. I make that but throw in a can of peas and can of corn to make it more well rounded.

 

Precooked noodles (does this count) that I've frozen. Just run hot water over them, and open a can of mariana sauce. Heat and serve.

 

dang - totally misread this original post! I'm GIVING the opposite of what you want. Ignore me *blush*

Edited January 18, 2010 by krisperry
Misread op

[chickenpatty]

I like to cook up a batch of refried beans & freeze them in ziplock bags. For a quick lunch, I can heat some, sprinkle with cheese & serve w/tortilla chips. Or roll up in tortillas for burritos. Or spread on a tortilla, sprinkle with cheese and bake straight on the oven rack until the tortillas are crunchy.

 

Beans are our main convenience food around here.

 

A lot of times, when we have potatoes for dinner, I cook extra and reheat those for lunch the next day (with toppings added).

 

Then there's always cheese toast.

 

Keep pizza ingredients (mozzerella, sauce, pepperoni) on hand and put them on tortillas, bagels or english muffins and bake for a fast lunch.

 

HTH!

[aggieamy]

I'm another mostly from scratch cooker and my go to favorites are:

 

Spaghetti and meatballs from the freezer - make a double batch and have one to freeze

 

Fried rice - day old rice, veggies (frozen or fresh), an egg, soy sauce, hoisen sauce, garlic, a little ginger if we have it, and it's good to go. This is actually a FAVORITE at my house

 

Lo Mein - same as fried rice except I use spaghetti noodles instead of rice

 

Sometimes I add meat to the fried rice and lo mein. Sometimes I don't. All are easy and pretty inexpensive. I can usually get these dishes to the table in about 20 minutes.

[*********]

Keep pizza ingredients (mozzerella, sauce, pepperoni) on hand and put them on tortillas, bagels or english muffins and bake for a fast lunch.

 

HTH!

 

Both Zee and my dss like this. I make it on the stovetop in a skillet sprayed with nonstick spray; spray the skillet, put in a tortilla, top with sauce, cheese, and pepperoni, then put a lid on. The cheese melts, the bottom gets a little crisp. The boys love them.

 

A lot of times for lunch, we do things like a fresh fruit, a veggie, yogurt, and some leftover meat or lunch meat. Very little prep, almost no cooking usually. Or, leftovers from last night's dinner is usually easy to reheat, and goes over well.

 

I try to keep things stocked in the freezer, like you. But if the freezer is looking bare, I just get creative. :D You know, no one here has ever died from having a 'non-traditional' lunch of oatmeal or eggs and toast. And a less-than-exciting lunch (or breakfast, or dinner, for that matter) makes the next home-cooked meal even more appreciated, I find.

[LauraGB]

For a quick pizza fix we take pitas and smear tomato sauce (mixed with oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, crushed garlic and grated onion) on them and top with mozzarella and parmesan and bake. Other convenience type stuff we have on hand are home made refried beans; we like to mix some of the beans with salsa and top tortilla chips (or even just tortillas) with that, some onion, peppers and cheese, then broil it.

 

Also, when I make soups I usually double it and freeze the rest, either in a separate one serving containers for easy warming or in one big one for a quick dinner. I like to do this with calzones, too.

[Desert Rat]

Pita bread works great for pizzas too! I broil mine.

[RoughCollie]

I cook mainly from scratch and most of the fast & easy stuff is prepared in advance.

 

I buy ground beef in bulk, brown it, drain it, package it in 1 lb. lumps, freeze it.

 

I'm going to try that with chicken, too: cut it up, freeze it in marinade, and it will be ready for stir-fry by the time it defrosts. I could cook it first, but I'm not in the mood.

 

In the summer, I buy plum tomatoes. Some of them I boil down and freeze as is, other batches I turn into spaghetti sauce and freeze. I also chop up bell peppers, and freeze them. Basically, if the farmer's market sells it, and I can figure out how to freeze it without hurting the flavor, I do it.

 

If you eat a lot of beans, using a pressure cooker to cook them is a lot faster than conventional methods.

 

You can also make pizza dough, shape it, freeze it on a baking sheet for an hour or more, then take it out of the freezer and wrap it up and stick it back in the freezer. My family is not into using pizza dough substitutes like pita bread because they are a collective big PITA. :-)

 

Cookies: make dough, put on cookie sheets, freeze, remove from sheets and put in freezer bag, refreeze until you need a batch of homemade cookies. Write the baking time and temp on the freezer bag.

 

Sometimes I freeze muffins the WTM way (because someone here posted it) - put batter in muffin cups, freeze, remove muffins from pan & put in freezer bag, refreeze until needed.

 

I also mix up pancakes and muffins in advance and store the mix in the pantry. For this, I use powdered milk. I write the additional needed ingredients on the storage bag (milk, eggs, oil, chopped apple, and the like) and the quantity needed of each.

 

I double or triple lots of recipes and freeze the excess. For things like chili, I freeze both family-size meals and individual lunch portions.

 

My favorite fast & easy lunch is peanut butter sandwiches, fruit, milk. Dinner: eggs, bacon, toast or pancakes or French toast.

 

The kids' favorite fast & easy lunch is quesadillas. I like this too, because they make these themselves. My sister bought them a qeusadilla maker, which I thought was a big waste of $$, but the kids have used it nearly every day for 2 years. (My kids eat meals between meals now that they are teens.) Note: I do not make the soft tacos they use.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Santa-Fe-QM2R-900-Watt-Quesadilla/dp/B000KL09G4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1263839356&sr=1-1

Edited January 18, 2010 by RoughCollie

[Renee in NC]

Often we have raw vegetables with dip of some sort (usually ranch dressing), cheese (1-2 ounces each), and fruit. Sometimes I will get crackers as well.

 

Pasta and sauce or pasta and parmesan.

 

Salad. They all love salad. Actually, they really love ranch dressing, so anything they can dip in that or have it on is good.:tongue_smilie:

 

Apples and peanut butter

 

Rice and vegetables

 

Spanish rice

[houseofrabbits]

I cook mostly from scratch and try to cook a lot for dinner so I can use what we don't eat for lunches and dinner the next couple of days because there are some days we don't have a lot of time to cook!

I make chicken and steak casa-fajitas by using the leftovers from chicken or london broil, cheese, and a flour tortilla. Takes just a few minutes under the broiler. Fold, cut and dip into salsa, sour cream, etc .

 

In the winter I try to do soups in the crockpot and make large quantities.

 

I try to make a batch of chili every Sunday afternoon and put that up in the freezer for a quick meal.

 

When I make lasagna, macaroni & cheese, or other pasta dish I make large quantities so we can do an encore presentation for lunch.

 

My easy pizza is toast an english muffin lightly and then add some sauce and grated cheese and back in it goes. Works for that quick pizza craving.

 

And on the days I don't have this we have the general standbys of cheese, fruit, and crackers; yogurt and fruit; peanut butter and jelly, etc.

 

I also try to wash three heads of romaine after I grocery shop so that salad is always available.

 

Organic hot dogs are a reasonable replacement for the other kind. My two love corn dogs but no way I'm buying them, so I make a batch of corn muffins and cut up an organic hot dog into pieces, drop into the batter and bake. It's a good substitute for the processed kind, freezes well, and can be ready in a snap.

 

I think that the answer to quick and healthy fixes is more about planning before so that the food is available quickly when yoiu want it, at least that is what I've found to work best in our house. I get to control the ingredients this way.

 

My children and I sit down when the grocery flyer is delivered and plan our meals around what is on sale for the upcoming week. If chicken wings are on sale I cook them in the oven so they have less fat and then coat with a honey bbq and/or hot sauce so everyone gets what they want. I also try to wash up a package of carrots and celery, cut into sticks, and put into baggies so it is easy for them to grab a quick snack without interrupting me and it's healthy. My guys also love sugar snap peas so I buy packages, wash and baggie for quick grabbings!

 

Hope this helps!!

 

Liz

[LauraGB]

You can also make pizza dough, shape it, freeze it on a baking sheet for an hour or more, then take it out of the freezer and wrap it up and stick it back in the freezer. My family is not into using pizza dough substitutes like pita bread because they are a collective big PITA. :-)

 

Cookies: make dough, put on cookie sheets, freeze, remove from sheets and put in freezer bag, refreeze until you need a batch of homemade cookies. Write the baking time and temp on the freezer bag.

 

 

 

RoughCollie - do you thaw the pizza crusts before dressing and baking them? Or do you just go from frozen?

Also, with the cookie dough - do you make individual raw cookies and bake from frozen, or just freeze the whole thing and thaw before dropping the cookies?

TIA!

[*********]

Sometimes I freeze muffins the WTM way (because someone here posted it) - put batter in muffin cups, freeze, remove muffins from pan & put in freezer bag, refreeze until needed.

 

I'm telling you, I learn someting useful every day here on this forum.

 

So, then, once you want to bake the muffins, do you put the frozen clumps of muffin batter back into the tins, thaw it out, then bake? Or do you bake from frozen? Does it taste just as good as made fresh? I have a banana muffin recipe my boys love, and this seems like it could save me a bit of time if I made the batter in bulk.

 

Couldn't you also freeze baked muffins? I've never done that, but I think I've seen it mentioned on the forum before, too. That might be even quicker yet; then I could just either set them out in a tupperware on the counter the night before, or even stick them in the microwave in the morning.

[Lovedtodeath]

We eat a lot of chicken breasts (on the bone). You only need to throw them in the oven with enough time to cook. Ditto for baked potatoes.

 

I also make this meal that is super easy... spiced meatballs. You make huge meatballs and stick them in the oven. I serve with either mashed potatoes (leave the skin on and they are easy to make) or egg noodles (not homemade).

[LBS]

for some reason they love this one: Pastaroni White Shells and Cheddar. Its actually shells with an alfredo sauce, not yellow...I would sub this for the mac/cheese and sneak in some real cheese and maybe an egg, till I could get them to eat real macaroni and cheese, meaning scratch. So, they still love the White Shells and Cheddar box, and mix in tuna or canned chicken, if they are in charge of "scrounging" their own meals. I think its better than Ramen, at least. It really is pretty good as a tuna casserole, with Swiss melted on top.

 

In my search for the best nutrition, wheat bread that is soft and dense enough for the kids to not mind, I have settled on Costco's split loaf...really nice texture, and you can refridgerate it for a couple-three weeks and it is still perfect.

 

LBS

[Peri]

I fI am pressed on time I just make some rice and steam some veggies. I always have lots of frozen veggies in the freezer. I stock up on them when Krogers has their 10 for $10 special. I will also cut up some raw veggies like a tomato or a cucumber. That's it. it takes about 20 to 30 mins total wait time but only about 5 or 10 mins of prep time.

[Laurel]

Pasta is quick and easy. I can make a sauce in the time it takes for the water to boil and the pasta to cook. White sauce (with cheese and/or chopped spinach), or homemade canned tomato sauce, or just veggies (frozen, or whatever is kicking around in the fridge), and maybe some grated cheese on top.

 

Scrambled eggs, muffins (from the freezer), smoothie

 

Nachos (chips, canned/frozen black beans, frozen corn, chopped tomato, avocado, red pepper, cheese)

 

PB&J, with fruits and veggies - If I don't have bread, I'll use waffles that I've previously frozen.

 

Red beans and Rice

 

Crackers and Cheese, veggies and dip

 

Hummus with veggies and naan/pita

[Amira]

We eat a lot of rice. I usually have something left over in the fridge (today it's this yogurt curry) that goes with rice, or we eat rice or rice noodles with chicken broth and everyone puts in different condiments (vinegar, chile paste, fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce, etc). Pasta and bulgur pilaf are also easy for quick lunches. And we can always fall back on peanut butter sandwiches if we need to, or eat leftovers if my husband doesn't take them with him.

 

It's pretty rare that I haven't been able to plan ahead for dinner and need to make something quick, but I have a few meals that are very quick to put together. Red lentils are great for quick meals because they cook quickly, and if you have cooked beans in the freezer, you can do something with those quickly. Fish is also pretty quick. Here are a few of our quick favorites that, at most, use a can of tomato paste or coconut milk.

Laghman

Couscous with garbanzo beans

Bibimbap

Various fish recipes

Dal with coconut milk

Dal with lime

[Lovedtodeath]

omelets and biscuits are stand by's here too.

[Parrothead]

So you ladies that are freezing meals and fixings for snacks are using a microwave to cook these? I guess I'm going to have to break down and buy one.

[*********]

Hey, roughcollie, I really am curious about the freezing muffins thing....:bigear:

[Laurel]

So you ladies that are freezing meals and fixings for snacks are using a microwave to cook these? I guess I'm going to have to break down and buy one.

 

Not necessarily, but it does take a little extra forethought without one. I usually reheat muffins in the oven (in foil), soups on the stovetop, casseroles in the oven. Waffles in the toaster oven.

[kalanamak]

GardenBurger's Veggie Medley with onion and lettuce on WW toast is pretty durned fast and does NOT taste like faux meat.

 

TJ's Masala patties are richer, but you can break one up into a bowl of canned lentil soup and improve it greatly. Munch with a carrot and some raita. Fast.

[RoughCollie]

Hey, roughcollie, I really am curious about the freezing muffins thing....:bigear:

 

You mix up a batch of muffins and put the batter in muffin cups that are already set into a muffin tin. Freeze it. A few hours later, pop the filled muffin cups out of the tins and stick the muffins in a freezer bag. Write on the bag how long to bake them and the oven temp.

 

When ready to bake just pop those babies back into a muffin tin and into a preheated oven.

 

The kids like them; they taste just like freshly made muffins. Someone here told us how to do this a couple of times -- this is not an original idea of mine.

 

I have frozen baked muffins before. I thaw them and the kids eat them without heating them.

 

BTW, I recently started putting muffins in the cookie jar. I don't say a word, and they are gone within a day. This is a lot healthier than chocolate chip cookies, I figure.

Edited January 19, 2010 by RoughCollie

[RoughCollie]

RoughCollie - do you thaw the pizza crusts before dressing and baking them? Or do you just go from frozen?

Also, with the cookie dough - do you make individual raw cookies and bake from frozen, or just freeze the whole thing and thaw before dropping the cookies?

TIA!

 

With the pizza dough, whether or not I thaw the crusts depends on whether I remember to take them out of the freezer on time. I've heard of people partially cooking the dough before freezing it (like brown 'n serve rolls, I guess), but I haven't done that yet.

 

I form individual cookies with my handy-dandy metal cookie scoop. I bake the cookies straight from the freezer. If I think of taking them out before I need to bake them, I sometimes let them sit awhile to thaw. It makes no difference to final product.

[RoughCollie]

So you ladies that are freezing meals and fixings for snacks are using a microwave to cook these? I guess I'm going to have to break down and buy one.

 

I do not heat up frozen main dishes in the microwave. The microwave, IMO, is for heating up water for coffee (French press or instant). I am a throwback to the dinosaur age.

[Lizzie in Ma]

I cook from scratch a great deal but I do use prepackaged things to make my life easier.

I use frozen veggies a lot in soups and stews and pot pies, cuts prep time in half and I can be guaranteed they are fresher than most of the stuff in the produce aisle.

I use premade pie crusts and I often pie the pizza dough at the bakery.

My youngest would live on bagel bites so I will stock up on them with they are on sale.

I keep a stash of 3/$1 burritos for my dh in a pinch, I add cheese and fresh salsa to them.

And though I make popcorn from scratch, I do get lazy sometimes and make microwave popcorn.

[Blueridge]

I wanted to try salads for lunch, and this idea has helped me tremendously. I bought a set of stacking rubbermaid containers in various sizes. Then I washed and cut up the veggies that we like (broccoli, sugar snap peas, red peppers, red sweet onions, mushrooms, 3 bean marinated salad, cauliflower, cabbage) and put each one in their own container. Have them stacked on one fridge shelf, and the shelf underneath has bags of ready-made salad greens. Next to the containers are tiny ones with raisins, sunflower seeds, and crunchy nut mix. Everything is ready and in one place. We also have tuna on the shelf and frozen corn or peas for some days, and once a week will boil some eggs. My dd grabs the 'salad bar' stuff and puts everything out on the table, and lunch is ready. On Sundays I gather all the containers that have anything left, and make a stir fry. Monday is salad bar day, when I wash and cut a new batch of everything. It's been a real blessing to us all.

[mom31257]

:bigear: I do buy pre-packaged foods and would like to see how others do it. How much do most of you spend a week for a family of 4 and what do you do if you have a child who can't stand beans any way they have tried them?

 

I've been doing coupon deals for a while, but I know we are probably eating too much of the packaged stuff. The kids do eat some raw fruits and veggies every day, though. Sometimes I get our groceries for the whole week for $50, so it's hard to leave that behind. It's even harder to think about with more pay cuts coming and we don't know when they will start, which will change the amount each month.

[Parrothead]

:bigear: I do buy pre-packaged foods and would like to see how others do it. How much do most of you spend a week for a family of 4 and what do you do if you have a child who can't stand beans any way they have tried them?

 

I've been doing coupon deals for a while, but I know we are probably eating too much of the packaged stuff. The kids do eat some raw fruits and veggies every day, though. Sometimes I get our groceries for the whole week for $50, so it's hard to leave that behind. It's even harder to think about with more pay cuts coming and we don't know when they will start, which will change the amount each month.

I'm having a problem with affordability. Until I get this streamlined I'm spending about $50 per person per week. I'm looking for a food co-op type thing in our area, but I'm not sure there is one. I've got an appointment with the lady who runs the local bakery/health supplement store.

[chickenpatty]

I guess you could make the tortillas, bagels, pizza sauce, etc... from scratch. LOL, but even salt comes in a package?

 

Making them this way means you are not buying frozen pizzas, bagel bites, pizza rolls, etc... for when you need a "quick pizza fix". Maybe I am misunderstanding the question.

 

:)

[mom31257]

I'm having a problem with affordability. Until I get this streamlined I'm spending about $50 per person per week. I'm looking for a food co-op type thing in our area, but I'm not sure there is one. I've got an appointment with the lady who runs the local bakery/health supplement store.

 

There is no way we could afford $50 per person per week. I know it is an investment in your long-term health, but if the money isn't there, it isn't there.

[cjzimmer1]

I'm having a problem with affordability. Until I get this streamlined I'm spending about $50 per person per week. I'm looking for a food co-op type thing in our area, but I'm not sure there is one. I've got an appointment with the lady who runs the local bakery/health supplement store.

 

I realize food expenses vary widely from one region of the country to another but I spend less than $20 a person per week. My budget is $500 for the month for a family of 7, granted 2 are still pretty little but the other 3 are big eaters since they inherited my husbands high metobolism. At $50 a week we could be eating steak and seafood mutiple times a week. I'd start with whatever packaged ingredient you spend the most on in a week, if it's bread products that would be the first thing I'd start making, if it's breakfast cereal start working on making oatmeal, homemade muffins, pancakes etc.

 

As far as finding a co-op the 2 big ones that I'm familiar with are Country Life Natural Foods (http://www.clnf.org) and United Buying Clubs (http://www.unitedbuyingclubs.com/). I would simple call the companies and ask about any groups in your area and see if they will give you a contact name and number.

[Mrs Mungo]

I'm having a problem with affordability. Until I get this streamlined I'm spending about $50 per person per week. I'm looking for a food co-op type thing in our area, but I'm not sure there is one. I've got an appointment with the lady who runs the local bakery/health supplement store.

 

I cook almost everything from scratch. Bean burritos, pizza shells, muffins, breakfast burritos, there are lots of things you can cook from scratch and freeze. I generally reheat in the oven, not the microwave. I typically spend $30-$40 per person per week and I live in one of the most expensive places in the US. The key really comes down to meal planning. You buy and waste a lot less with a good menu plan that includes daily snacks.

[Julie in CA]

So if you aren't buying prepackaged foods what do you do for fast and easy? Right now I've got two single serving pizzas in the oven for lunch. These aren't something we have every day or even every week, but they are handy.

 

But now that I'm more conscious of what we eat, I'm wondering what to do when the stockpile is gone. What do you do for a quick pizza fix? What about other types of prepackaged food that are specific for fast and easy meals?

When we need a quick pizza fix, I pull a single-serve pizza out of the freezer and bake it.

The only difference is that every couple of months I make pizza dough, pizza sauce, and make single-serve pizzas from scratch. I freeze them on cookie sheets, and once they're frozen I stack them in a freezer container or large ziploc bag. It doesn't take that long, I think it's a bit (or a lot) healthier, and I can choose exactly what toppings and in what quantities. Yes, on the day you make them the first time, it won't feel worth it. Even the second time, you'll wonder why you're going to the trouble to make them from scratch when they're not *that* expensive from the grocery, but on the third try or so, it'll be easy, and you'll be converted forever! :)

[mom31257]

When we need a quick pizza fix, I pull a single-serve pizza out of the freezer and bake it.

The only difference is that every couple of months I make pizza dough, pizza sauce, and make single-serve pizzas from scratch. I freeze them on cookie sheets, and once they're frozen I stack them in a freezer container or large ziploc bag. It doesn't take that long, I think it's a bit (or a lot) healthier, and I can choose exactly what toppings and in what quantities. Yes, on the day you make them the first time, it won't feel worth it. Even the second time, you'll wonder why you're going to the trouble to make them from scratch when they're not *that* expensive from the grocery, but on the third try or so, it'll be easy, and you'll be converted forever! :)

 

I think I could do this because I have a bread machine with a dough cycle. If I understand this right you make the dough, put on the toppings and freeze before baking just like a frozen pizza from the store, right? If I do not have the money to invest in a mill for grinding my own wheat, what are healthy options on flour? Would you mind to share your dough recipe?

[Julie in CA]

I think I could do this because I have a bread machine with a dough cycle. If I understand this right you make the dough, put on the toppings and freeze before baking just like a frozen pizza from the store, right? If I do not have the money to invest in a mill for grinding my own wheat, what are healthy options on flour? Would you mind to share your dough recipe?

Yes, I freeze them when they're completely ready to bake, just like a store-bought frozen pizza. It's helpful to freeze them on waxed paper, so you can peel them off easily and stack them when they're fully frozen.

 

As for recipes, I have to confess that for pizza dough, I'm still using regular white unbleached flour. :blush: You can use whole wheat if you prefer, I just am not ready to go that far yet. We use a lot of whole grain products, and we eat bread/fruit/veggies with tons of fiber, so I feel ok about the occasional homemade pizza crust. I find almost all my recipes (and I cook a lot) on allrecipes.com. I have a pizza sauce that we love, and if you are interested in that recipe, I'll pass it along. It's a bit spicy, but you can adjust that very easily to your taste.

 

Another thing I thought I'd add for the original poster, I also premake and freeze burritos, taco bowls, and enchiladas, in single servings. When we want them, we either microwave them for a few minutes, or thaw on the counter and bake in the toaster oven. It takes some preparation to make those things from scratch to have on hand for convenience, but you can control the nutrition/ingredients and keep the costs to a minimum.

[LibraryLover]

When my teen come homes from school, he often cooks up some pasta (pasta often goes on sale, even good whole grain pastas, and I stock up), drains it, tosses with salt pepper and a little olive oil (you could use butter). It's very fast and it's very filling, esp the whole grain kind. Angel hair pasta cooks in a couple of minutes. Sometimes he adds broc or frozen peas to the boiling lightly -salted pasta water. You can do this at the same time you are cooking the pasta. The angel hair cooks about as quickly as the veggies. Add the veggies first to the boiling water, let it come to a boil again and add the pasta.

 

Grilled cheese sandwiches, cheese enchiladas, bean enchiladas or burritos. Also super -fast & easy for kids to prepare. Heat skillet, put tortilla in skillet, drop some cheese over it, cover with another tortilla, flip when cheese starts to melt. Cut in quarters to eat. For bean burritos, do the same , or, but the beans or bean mixture on the tortilla, roll it snugly tucking in the corners, and nuke it.

 

You can buy dry beans (no! not the dry bean suggestion again! lol) and cook up a bunch to keep in the fridge (lasts a few days) or in the freezer. Sometimes I find organic canned beans on sale and I will stock up. The other night my dh opened and drained a large can of beans, dumped them in a skillet, added some spices and mashed it all with a potato masher. The kids scooped the beans from the pan and did their tortilla thing and that was that. I had made a batch of rice a couple of days earlier and they heated it up with some frozen corn and salsa. Very easy and quick.

 

Baked sweet potatoes are fast (if you don't mind using a microwave), filling, and healthy, even with a bit of butter.

 

I make at least one large pot of stew and one pot of soup a week, often on the weekends. This is good for an evening meal with bread, and then for breakfast, lunch or snacks for a couple of days (but not much more, there are 6 of us, and two males are ages 21 and 16 lol).

 

Cook a whole chicken on the weekend, and use it through the week. You can shred some for wraps or sandwiches or add to that bean or cheese tortilla. You can do a lot with a whole chicken. If you have angel hair pasta and some frozen vegs, you can do a fast stir fry with some while the pasta cooks. Use tongs and add the pasta to the veggies straight from the water. You can make a soup with the leftover pan of stripped bone.

 

My kids bake snacks. Oatmeal cookies, brownies a couple times a week. Sometimes I manage to save some and freeze for lunches or snacks. Popcorn is another fast snack.

 

Bagels - you can spread tomato sauce & cheese to bagels halves for a quickie bite.

 

Scramble eggs, frittatta, or quiche is another very fast meal. I do but whole wheat pies shells, I don't often make my own. There are two in a pack and they are under $5. Add a fresh or sauteed frozen veg (if you use frozen spinach, you can dump some in a colander and run it under warm water) to the egg mixture and bake for 20 minutes or so.

Edited January 19, 2010 by LibraryLover

[Lovedtodeath]

 

I cook almost everything from scratch. Bean burritos, pizza shells, muffins, breakfast burritos, there are lots of things you can cook from scratch and freeze. I generally reheat in the oven, not the microwave. I typically spend $30-$40 per person per week and I live in one of the most expensive places in the US. The key really comes down to meal planning. You buy and waste a lot less with a good menu plan that includes daily snacks.

Well, I spend about the same as Chucki. So help us please! Give me a menu!

[eternalknot]

We always have stock on hand, and we always have noodles on hand (both homemade, but easily kept on hand if you're buying pre-packaged for the time being) -- five minutes away from noodle soup. Add in some frozen or need-to-use-up veggies, if they are on hand. Serve with bread or sandwiches for even more filling.

 

Quick, easy, hot.

[LibraryLover]

I cook almost everything from scratch. Bean burritos, pizza shells, muffins, breakfast burritos, there are lots of things you can cook from scratch and freeze. I generally reheat in the oven, not the microwave. I typically spend $30-$40 per person per week and I live in one of the most expensive places in the US. The key really comes down to meal planning. You buy and waste a lot less w

ith a good menu plan that includes daily snacks.

 

It must be the scratch cooking. We have 6 in our family and I **rarely** spend $200/week on food. I don't think I have ever spent $300 a week, unless it's been around hosting holiday dinners for a crowd. I am an organic buyer as well.

 

I don't do weekly menu plans, but I shop carefully.

[Lovedtodeath]

I typically don't get convenience foods other than lunch meat. I usually don't buy snack food at all.:confused:

[LibraryLover]

I typically don't get convenience foods other than lunch meat. I usually don't buy snack food at all.:confused:

 

 

I have a dd who likes deli ham. I buy that and I buy deli cheese. Can't figure out how not to at this point. :)

[Amy loves Bud]

So if you aren't buying prepackaged foods what do you do for fast and easy? Right now I've got two single serving pizzas in the oven for lunch. These aren't something we have every day or even every week, but they are handy.

 

But now that I'm more conscious of what we eat, I'm wondering what to do when the stockpile is gone. What do you do for a quick pizza fix? What about other types of prepackaged food that are specific for fast and easy meals?

 

Soups. Saute an onion in some olive oil, add some broth and some seasoning and some frozen veggies (fresh if you've got them). Then either lentils or meat. Simple and easy, healthy and filling.

 

ETA: YOu need to throw a starch in there - noodles or rice, for example, but rice adds to the time factor.

Edited January 20, 2010 by Amy loves Bud

[Parrothead]

GardenBurger's Veggie Medley with onion and lettuce on WW toast is pretty durned fast and does NOT taste like faux meat.

 

TJ's Masala patties are richer, but you can break one up into a bowl of canned lentil soup and improve it greatly. Munch with a carrot and some raita. Fast.

Oh, dh and I are loving our veggie burgers. Dd not so much. I'm really surprised that dh likes them, and that dd doesn't. That is such a switch on normal.

 

On a side note, I've got dh okaying one meatless meal a week.

[Pippen]

Pasta is quick and easy. I can make a sauce in the time it takes for the water to boil and the pasta to cook. White sauce (with cheese and/or chopped spinach), or homemade canned tomato sauce, or just veggies (frozen, or whatever is kicking around in the fridge), and maybe some grated cheese on top.

Hummus with veggies and naan/pita

 

You can even precook the pasta. I cooked up a big box of spaghetti noodles in December to go with sauce I'd previously frozen. I drained the noodles well, and froze them in one meal portions. I run hot water over them to defrost and then finish them up in the microwave.

[Parrothead]

I do not heat up frozen main dishes in the microwave. The microwave, IMO, is for heating up water for coffee (French press or instant). I am a throwback to the dinosaur age.

How long does it take to bake a frozen meal if you aren't using the microwave? Do you put it in the oven frozen or thawed? What kind of dishes or containers do you freeze in?

 

I wanted to try salads for lunch, and this idea has helped me tremendously. I bought a set of stacking rubbermaid containers in various sizes. Then I washed and cut up the veggies that we like (broccoli, sugar snap peas, red peppers, red sweet onions, mushrooms, 3 bean marinated salad, cauliflower, cabbage) and put each one in their own container. Have them stacked on one fridge shelf, and the shelf underneath has bags of ready-made salad greens. Next to the containers are tiny ones with raisins, sunflower seeds, and crunchy nut mix. Everything is ready and in one place. We also have tuna on the shelf and frozen corn or peas for some days, and once a week will boil some eggs. My dd grabs the 'salad bar' stuff and puts everything out on the table, and lunch is ready. On Sundays I gather all the containers that have anything left, and make a stir fry. Monday is salad bar day, when I wash and cut a new batch of everything. It's been a real blessing to us all.

I'm going to do this. I have a perpetual salad going now. I made a salad last week for a meal and just keep adding to the left overs. I may have some week old veggies in there on the bottom so I've got to ditch it.

 

There is no way we could afford $50 per person per week. I know it is an investment in your long-term health, but if the money isn't there, it isn't there.

Oh, it has been bad. The last couple of weeks we've been short before pay day. Right now I'm sitting on a 10 that I've been hording since Sunday. It is all we have until pay day. That can't continue.

 

I realize food expenses vary widely from one region of the country to another but I spend less than $20 a person per week. My budget is $500 for the month for a family of 7, granted 2 are still pretty little but the other 3 are big eaters since they inherited my husbands high metobolism. At $50 a week we could be eating steak and seafood mutiple times a week. I'd start with whatever packaged ingredient you spend the most on in a week, if it's bread products that would be the first thing I'd start making, if it's breakfast cereal start working on making oatmeal, homemade muffins, pancakes etc.

 

As far as finding a co-op the 2 big ones that I'm familiar with are Country Life Natural Foods (www.clnf.org) and United Buying Clubs (http://www.unitedbuyingclubs.com/). I would simple call the companies and ask about any groups in your area and see if they will give you a contact name and number.

One of the problems we have here is that we are at the end of the line. Everything is expensive here because things have to be shipped/trucked up to the end of I-95. I spend the most on produce. I spend more on produce than I do on meat.

 

 

Another thing I thought I'd add for the original poster, I also premake and freeze burritos, taco bowls, and enchiladas, in single servings. When we want them, we either microwave them for a few minutes, or thaw on the counter and bake in the toaster oven. It takes some preparation to make those things from scratch to have on hand for convenience, but you can control the nutrition/ingredients and keep the costs to a minimum.

Will you tell me how to make these things, please?

[Goodallmomma]

LOL...just had to share a thank you for this post. I had complete forgot my lunch was sitting in the microwave for almost an hour now! :laugh:

[lllll]

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Edited March 23, 2013 by 3kt68

[Parrothead]

Cook a starch: big pot of rice, big pot of pasta, roast a lot of potatoes in the oven, canned beans of some kind, loaf of bread in the bread machine, etc.

 

 

How do you store these? How long do they keep?

[lllll]

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