What to Eat!

I'm home for Christmas break. I'm fine with breakfast, and usually fine for dinner, but lunch is tough. I really can't cook (would you trust a blind guy cooking? :O), so my mom usually brings home something, or can make something fast. Usually she brings home fast food, or subway. It's absolutely killing my best efforts. Sure I could fit it into my calories if I wanted, but I dont' want to get hooked on that stuff again.

So, any suggestions for what I could do? Something easy to prepare perhaps. She suggested sandwiches but those get old after a while, too.  I just want to vary it a bit. Cheese quesadillas is another idea, but I'm already pretty low on protein and I don't want to have a lunch totally devoid of it.

I wish I could cook sometimes lol, but I don't have to at college so I'm postponing that skill for a later date.

Cheese has protein in it!  But this is kind of a variation of the sandwich, but pitas?  They are delish.  And for quick and easy you can buy those salads in a bag and have them slice deli meat thick at the store and then dice it up and throw it in the salad.  I don't know, I'm not big on lunch. 

I concede--cheese does indeed have protein. But not as much as, oh, say, meat.

Really though, the salad idea sounds good. I don't like salads with a whole bunch of vegetables and such, but I do like them with some cheese and sliced up meat.

Thanks for the suggestions. Keep 'em coming. :D

Hello Brandon!

My basic lunch is 400 calories every day... and it is usually some combination of soups, sandwiches, salads or vegetables.  I try to get 100-150 calories from lean protein, usually from one of these:

turkey, chicken, tuna, ham, fat free cheese (cottage cheese, string cheese, sliced cheese), hardboiled eggs, salmon, or even vegetarian or vegan "burger patties" (I prefer the Boca or Gardenburger brands.)

Sample lunch:

100 calories of bread (I have several to choose from ... or sometimes I will use 120 calories of crackers)

100-150 calories of protein

100-125 calories of vegetables (sometimes a whole PILE of the same vegetable, like broccoli or spinach or cabbage or squash, or a variety of veggies, possibly a salad)

And, I like to save room for an apple (medium sized apple is 72 calories).

There are also all sorts of frozen dinners out there that are diet-friendly. They can be high in sodium and some have small portion sizes, but if you find ones about 200 calories, you can supplement them with an apple, some cheese, and more veggies.

If you need more help, let us know.

MOLLY

mollymouser, thanks a lot. That should give me some good ideas.

Soups with a bread roll are a good option. theres so many variety of soups, and easy to microwave rather than using the hob so that should help you with the cooking.

Alternatively i love jacket potatoes. Just 8-12 minutes in the microwave and you have a yummy hot lunch. Huge variety of toppings so you can get plenty of protien eg cold meats, tuna, cheese, baked beans, cottage cheese, and add some salad to the side.

Devbanana - hows the diet going? i remember emailing you when you first joined calorie count and you were venturing off to college.

chelseagirl, thanks for asking. It's going great so far. I've lost 29 pounds since joining here, and 34 from my highest weight on September 6. :D It's just hard back at home again because my mother is not health conscious at all. She eats a lot of fast food herself, and it doesn't seem to register that I can't eat that stuff too often.

Wow thats some serious weight gone, thats amazing especially for your first term at university, most people put on weight. Well done you for sticking to the diet. Check the food and recipies forums theres always loads of good ideas on there, and most of them are pretty simple.

i just thought of another good easy option is pasta. Quick and simple. You can even make it in the microwave, just pop dried pasta in a bowl, add water, cover and zap for 5 mins or so. Then add a jar of sauce or some fresh veggies etc.

Im assuming microwaving is possible. Its got to be easier than working out the over on the hob. Should also be safe as the microwave doesnt get hot so you cant accidently touch the wrong bit and burn yourself.

Do you think you could manage to use a microwave oven? The timer will ding to tell you when it's done. You could get those bags of 'steamfresh' or individual serving frozen vegetables. Or you could have a frozen dinner - a Cafe Steamer, or a Healthy Choice or Lean Cuisine frozen dinner doesn't take any skill to prepare other than being able to find the right buttons on the microwave. 

Or you could have salad for lunch. No cooking/cutting needed there, just opening some bags and containers and putting the stuff into a big bowl so you can eat it. Start with bagged lettuce and add some pre-chopped salad vegetables,  pre-sliced (and cooked) skinless chicken breast, already-peeled boiled eggs, diced cheese, pre-drained tuna, or lunchmeat. Most of this stuff makes me think 'who actually BUYS it when it's so easy to fix yourself?' but if you can't see I could see it being very useful! Finish off with an individual serving of salad dressing and some crackers or bread.

Hillshire Farms also makes a 'salad box' and all you have to add is the lettuce.  

Thanks everyone. I imagine I could use the microwave, though I have to check if the panel is completely flat because then it'd be hard to use unless I labeled it with braille.

We have some weight control oatmeal, so that's what I'm having for breakfast. :D

the control panel will either be a turn dial, or better a flat touch panel. Simple just label the buttons all you will need is the 1 min and 10sec buttons, the rest are unecessary.

Get you mum to help you make something using it and then i promise youll be making lunch everyday

My grandmother is now completely blind and cannot cook for herself. We put these little raised dot stickers on the microwave buttons. You really only need one for the "minute plus" button that is on just about every microwave now. That way you could put in a healthy microwave dish, press the minute button a few times and take it out when its done. 

 Any supermarket will have something like the "healthy choice" or "south beach diet" microwave dishes, and if you have a "Trader Joe's" supermarket nearby, they have some VERY tasty stuff. 

 South beach diet also makes some sandwich kits in the refrigerated deli section that are relatively tasty and quick and easy to put together.

  

i love mixing a can of black beans with a can of corn and some salsa. heat it up in the microwave and you are good to go in about 5 minutes (depending on your can opener :) ) this usually lasts me 2-3 meals and it has a ton of protein/fiber/iron! im not a cheese person, you you could def throw some melt cheese on top!