trying to find a way to feed myself in a healthy way but stress free

triade

Floss said:

You could also batch cook your beans or pulses & freeze them in portion packs, than put them together with other ingredients into meal packs in your freezer. It would then be one pack out to defrost, you could also list the non-frozen things on paper inside that pack, so you could gather everything together to cook.

That's a really good idea! Is there a website or something that can tell me how to do that?

timehastoldme

Pinterest is a good place to start for the freezer meals, anything you can defrost and bang in a slow cooker is a win. I like the ones that prep flat in freezer bags for maximum storage. Some of those food blogs are a lot though, the jump to recipe button is your best friend.


Green lentils and black beans are good for bulking things out as well.

goldfinches

Would this page on BBC Good Food be helpful Healthy Diet Plan - BBC Good Food There are three plans meat eaters, vegetarians and vegan plus there's an app that has a three month free trial offer at the moment.
The other full menu plan I've noticed recently is Dr Rupy's Improve your health using food — The Doctors Kitchen which again gives you a weekly menu to follow and has an associated app as well.

I'm suggesting these two to start with as they're the ones I've really noticed recently and they're free but if they aren't suitable for you I do have some other suggestions too so let us know what you think when you've had a look.

otb666

I eat mainly veg diet with a bit of protein (cheese/chickpeas or egg) This involves microwave and or slow cooker. Sometimes I use hand held mixer to make it smooth Sometimes I like it chunky I tend to cook double one week and eat the batched up meals the next as I like having a week off.  I have a cracker with soups and I try to have pilchards in tomato sauce once a week. I have porridge and dried fruit for breakfast.  I think its a good idea to stay away from processed foods anyway as especially hard to process these foods as you age.  This works for me

triade

goldfinches said:

Would this page on BBC Good Food be helpful Healthy Diet Plan - BBC Good Food There are three plans meat eaters, vegetarians and vegan plus there's an app that has a three month free trial offer at the moment.
The other full menu plan I've noticed recently is Dr Rupy's Improve your health using food — The Doctors Kitchen which again gives you a weekly menu to follow and has an associated app as well.

I'm suggesting these two to start with as they're the ones I've really noticed recently and they're free but if they aren't suitable for you I do have some other suggestions too so let us know what you think when you've had a look.

The BBC one doesn't really allow me to choose no potato or low carbs. The doctor one might be good but it's not available on android.  It seems like mealime actually. I do like mealime, it's just the issue with getting the groceries. I'm going to try ocado this time, some people have said they are very good and it makes sense for them to have a better handle on their stock levels because they don't operate a walk-in store.

I would still like to try and find smaller meals less often and easier to make, so I'm not closed to new suggestions. I'd really like to hear any more thoughts as ocado may not be the best answer ultimately.

Floss

Would your support worker help to build a list of meals that you would be able to prepare & cook? Or maybe they can assist with batch cooking? I'm not sure what their role is to suggest ways they could help you.

triade

Floss said:

Would your support worker help to build a list of meals that you would be able to prepare & cook? Or maybe they can assist with batch cooking? I'm not sure what their role is to suggest ways they could help you.

She comes for an hour each week. We're currently trying to get my kitchen organised better so I'm not so chaotic while cooking. I think she could possibly help with planning meals, at least, I can ask her for advice on snacks and smaller meals.  I'll talk to her about it this week and see what she thinks.

I think I can do some kind of batch cooking if I have a recipe idea or something. I do enjoy buying a whole chicken from time to time, and I butcher it and then boil the carcass to make meat stock and then bone broth. I also save my scraps and make vegetable broth. I need to watch that I don't get bored of that though, as I'd end up wasting it. To that end, I need to figure out some way to vary those, or to use the broth and stock in creative ways.  some of the mealime recipes do call for stock or broth actually, so yeah.

Blue_Doggy

Have you looked at Zoe Harcombe’s books? https://theharcombediet.com/ they have low/no carb meal plans and recipes.

ariarnia

some great comments. i was going to suggest things similar. 

my first thought was how you can press pause when theres something missing and not trying to deal with it right away.

can you have a day or two of things that live in your cupboard and freezer that you can cook when theres one missing ingredient for something you have planned? maybe tinned or frozen fish, frozen steam packets of veg and tinned chickpeas or dried buckwheat?

then you dont have to go right out to find it or make a full new order but can wait a few days until you have the spoons.  

and most things can freeze. fresh veg might not be the nicest defrosted as is but if you take it frozen and dump it in a curry or roasting pan then it can be lovely once cooked. even salad leaves can go in a soup or stew or curry and wilt down like spinach.  we have a pack of reduced parsnips that were just chucked right in the freezer when we got home. they'll go with a roast or go in soup. i put them right in the air fryer (on lowish) from frozen and by the time they're browned on the outside the inside is nicely cooked.

another thing is with your saying about beans and grains. not sure what your kitchen situation is but our pressure cooker is great. the old hob type ones used to freak me out but this is electric so if it ever detects a problem with the pressure it just turns itself off. no wobble top and no exploding! 

a initial investment but it means you can cook grains like buckwheat or brown rice really quickly and no need to pre soak beans or peas. 

triade

ariarnia said:

some great comments. i was going to suggest things similar. 

my first thought was how you can press pause when theres something missing and not trying to deal with it right away.

......

another thing is with your saying about beans and grains. not sure what your kitchen situation is but our pressure cooker is great. the old hob type ones used to freak me out but this is electric so if it ever detects a problem with the pressure it just turns itself off. no wobble top and no exploding! 

a initial investment but it means you can cook grains like buckwheat or brown rice really quickly and no need to pre soak beans or peas. 

I love the way you're thinking. These are things I am familiar with, I just really struggle lately. Like, I used to enjoy making buckwheat pancakes, I often have a tin or 4 of tuna in the cupboard (but i got sick of it), I have a pressure king pro, so I can make beans, I actually enjoyed making pork baked beans for a while. I could get a packet of pork for the freezer to keep in there. and I like to make a curry from time to time.These are all great ideas and definitely the kind of things I enjoy playing with... when my brain's working.

yeah I had one of the stovetop ones before, they are scary aren't they! XD