Roasted almonds. Tons of protein, lots of fiber, often keeps me sated for longer than a “balanced” meal.
I buy them raw and roast them myself, it takes 15 minutes in the oven on a pan, that’s it. I have a giant tub that I go to when I need them.
Yes, they are calorie dense due to the oil but this is a replacement meal, not a daily thing.
It’s actually amazing how far 100 g of almonds will take you in a day. I managed to lose 130 lb of fat by incorporating various high protein nuts into my diet.
Edit: Unsalted only. Salted nuts just provoke greater sensations of hunger.
yup plain whole yogurt is so versatile! You can always add jam or honey for a sweet tooth. Plain is also great with curries. A good yogurt has no thickeners like corn starch (eew!) or added sugar.
Sure! My best tip is this: use store bought yoghurt as “seed” to make it the first time. Less hassle and there is no difference. Also, if you like Labné like me, freeze your yoghurt until rock hard, thaw at room temp using a cheese cloth to strain the liquid and form balls with the resulting paste. It is my favorite treat with olive oil and oregano.
Totally replied to the wrong thought chain, I pour boiling water in my cup and drop the egg. Usually once it’s cool enough for me to handle, about 10mins-ish egg has cooked through
Ah are you talking the cup of noodles in the styrofoam? I was thinking the square package that you put in a boiling pot for 3 mins. I’ve heard an egg is great in it, but never tried it.
I have done the cup and my own bowl with it. I make sure to have my noodles broke in half in my bowl before I pour my water in, then egg. With the cup it gets a little messier because of space but still doable.
I break an egg directly into the pot of boiling water when there’s about 2.5 to 3 minutes left on the noodles’ recommended cooking time. This usually gets the whites solid and leaves the yolk runny in the middle.
I’m not a food expert though. This might be unsafe. I’ve done it a lot though and haven’t gotten sick.
4 minutes would probably cook the yolk all the way through if you want a solid yolk.
Egg in, do not stir, make sure water isn’t heavily boiling
After :50, it’s perfect
Season with bullion/better-than, chili sauce, hoisin, etc. so easy, cheap, delicious, caloric for sweet “I have no energy to make food” depression meal.
Get a great big giant soup bowl (buy one before making, it feels better to eat from)
Drain lots of water out before adding seasonings, you want concentrated flavour
Update: I cracked my yolk when I made lunch. I didn’t crack my partner’s. Their soup wasn’t as creamy as mine, so maybe a little hole in the yolk isn’t so bad.
Instead of egg, I usually have surimi (or imitation crab sticks). They’re not expensive at Asian markets (about $4-6 here in California for a couple dozen sticks) and can be stored in the freezer for a long time.
I am not into the foreign food being an American. The potstickers are an excellent suggestion though. But the carbonated water? Sounds Italian. Or Swiss. One of those foreign countries.
I’m always happy to put a throroughly frozen meal for 9 minutes in the wave instead of making any sort of effort. But freezing food kinda ruins most flavours and texture.
Really depends on what you make! Absolutely wouldn’t freeze say, a steak. And texture, generally agree with you. But some jerk, adobo, honey garlic, curry chicken work just as well reheated. (Make the rice fresh though.) Same with a lot of pasta based dishes (or sauces, a bolognese freezes perfectly.) Even marinated chicken thighs and veggies are great!
I’d say generally any pasta or rice or veg will turn to paste if frozen. You kinda also lose any flavor apart from salty and sweet. But don’t misunderstand me, it’s fine and a very good way to conserve meals but you will lose most of the magic, the ice feels like it’s breaking everything down.
But try just freezing say the bulk tortellini at costco and then popping it out as needed to boil it and heating up bolognese in the microwave. I would be slackjaw stunned if you could tell the difference between the fresh tortellini and previously frozen tortellini.
I did try those exact tortellinis and I can tell when they’ve been frozen vs straight from the pack. It’s all in the texture not the taste. They get mushy as soon as they get hot enough even though I tend to undercook pasta because I like them very al dente. Totally edible but far, far worse than cooking fresh ones especially considering it’s almost the same time and effort. But don’t get me wrong I’m not arguing it’s stupid and that nobody should do it. I know not everyone has the opportunity to just go across the street to get fresh ingredients on a daily basis and freezing is a fantastic mean of conservation. It’s just a personal preference.
Though that sounds more like a handling issue than freezing itself. It’s important to remove all the air and use high quality bags etc. (I remember when I was first freezing things I did so in crappy zip locks until an ex made of fun of me and showed me the way!)
I tend to defer to the Italian grandmas who will make tortellini and freeze it immediately to save the flavours. If it destroyed texture, some of the nonnas in our friend group would be mortified!
Grilled cheese sandwich. It’s as lazy or as fancy as you’re feeling.
Super lazy? Grease bread with cheese slice. Fry flip eat.
Feeling less lazy as you start? Cut a hole in one of the pieces of bread and fry an egg in it while you toast the other side, and upgrade the cheese. Just be careful. When you start eyeing meats and mustards to pair, you’re in danger of making yourself a pretty epic sandwich.
Always have some frozen shredded chicken in the freezer.
It’s super easy to make. Chicken, broth or water, some veggies like celery and onion and salt if you just used water and let it simmer in pot with a lid on at a low temp or use a pressure cooker for even more hands off and then hit with a mixer to shred the chicken.
You can make several pounds of it in advance and then just wrap up portions of it in Saran wrap or foil. Bag it and put it in the freezer. It’s now very resistant to freezer burn and it’s a perfect ingredient for lazy days.
Tacos, grab some chicken add some cayenne cumin and lime juice and throw it in a tortilla.
BBQ, mix with BBQ sauce and heat up throw on bread or a bun or even better some yellow rice or rice-a-roni. You can add it to soup, you can turn it into all your classic chicken dishes and it’s there and waiting for you.
Fried tofu. I mean it’s way more effort but freeze it to get all the water out and then you can even freeze it again.
Each time you do it makes the tofu more chewy than creamy and has a tougher texture which actually makes it easier to work with.
From here I would have differing suggestions depending on desire. I personally love to cut them up just straight into cubed strips and lightly toss them in cornstarch with some salt or msg added and some white pepper and then fry them in a pan with generous amount of coconut oil. Get a nice golden crisp on them and you have basically strips that can also be used for sandwiches or nugget replacements or things of that nature. But if you want to have the shredded chicken style option.
Once frozen for the second time shred the tofu or cut into really thin strips when it thaws out and you want to toss it in veggie bouillon powder and some black pepper and a touch of soy or vinegar and then bake at 350 until golden or panfry.
It’s a different texture and flavor per say but should be very useable for the same purposes of just being able to quickly toss it into anything and have it add some protein to a otherwise plain meal.
Both store very well and can be reheated easily. Preferably baked to reheat. But not everyone has a toaster oven.
I know I recommend freezing it but also if you prefer the creamy texture I know some people who recommend boiling the tofu block for just like a minute in salt water to quickly get the moisture out but I’m aiming for easy and little work and I’d put this above freezer if below tofu pressing.
Mac & Cheese with a can of tuna. Usually either Kraft Deluxe or Velveeta Shells and Cheese and usually white/albacore tuna. Sucks that shrinkflation has made the cheese packets watered down so much that it’s no longer tons of sticky cheese and that the cans of “solid” tuna are now only mostly solid pieces with added filler. But it is still a decent tasting, simple meal.
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