Quick on-the-way-home eats?

[kadi]

Hello!
In the past, when tired after work, I'd stop off & get a burrito, Chinese food, or Burger King. I'm pretty limited on diet (all my food experiments out of the "okay to try" column have failed:( I'm feeling very discouraged. I've got the Bev L. cookbook & have made things-love the Firehouse meatloaf! but I'm wondering what do other people do when they are too tired to cook??? I've been on the extremely limited end of diet since August & am feeling very discouraged. (Just formally got diagnosed a week ago, up til now my uro was saying he thought it was temporary "allergic irritation".) The thought of this diet forever makes me want to cry. Any suggestions for quick pick up dinners or those with minimal cooking? frown

[ICNDonna]

I sometimes pick up a roasted chicken from our local supermarket. A loaf of french bread and some chopped lettuce with it makes a meal.

Another thing I have found is that I like pizza without the tomato sauce --- so we do that sometimes too.

Donna

[liz2]

Like Donna said, check out what your grocery store has that is pre-cooked. Have a discussion with their food preparers when the store is not busy.

I can eat just the flame broiled burger from Burger King. You can check its ingredients on the net, but I believe it is all meat. Forget about the trimmings. [You will have to check out home pages of other places for the content of their hamburgers.]

I get my hamburger dry and frequently eat part of the bun. I keep my own lettuce at home. So many salads at fast food places have a preservative that I cannot handle. You can usually look at the lettuce and tell. Salad bars esp. use preservatives. I keep lots of pears at home and peel them. Keeping sting cheese on hand and raw carrots help, too.

If you stop at most quickie restaurants--and I know regional chains exist in different parts of the country--you can get a hamburger cooked to your specifications and sometimes a chicken breast. I just make sure the chicken breast has not been soaked in Italian salad dressing (which happens with a lot of restaurant chicken). An occasional steak helps and can be split between 2 people or divided for more than one night. Baked potatoes are usually available. So many places have take-out now. Most kitches are very helpful when you indicate health problems.

I have noticed that steamed veggies are becoming more and more popular, too.

I have had fairly good luck with Subways' turkey and lettuce combo salad. [There must be other chain places like this.] I get just the turkey, lettuce and American cheese. If you can handle their bun, okay. I stay away from mayo, etc. I have finally cultivated the taste for plain buns or I do what the European do, and butter the bun. That did take some time to get used to.

I bet you will find some places in your area that will try to accommodate you for take-out. I have been surprised how people now days try to work with you. Americans are becoming more aware of prepared food content.

When I feel good, I broil hamburgers and freeze them on a tray and package them loose. You can thaw/heat them using your microwave defrost cycle. I do that with turkey patties. I even cook a roast and divide it into serving sizes and freeze the ziplock packages.

[Susan Davis]

I dont know if this is the right place to post this but here goes. I always take Echinacea when I feel a cold or flu coming on. I've been pretty lucky with just mini-flares but this has really caused my IC symptoms to worsen. I never thought about it when I took the supplement. Sue

[DanaW]

Hi Susan, I can't take any herbals or Vitamins. They all cause me to flare, badly.

[porphgoddess]

I get snacks from the health food store. Like whole wheat pretzels without salt. Something like that is okay for "starving in the car" days.

Also, I can eat the chickens from our local market. And I can eat "white pizza".

I have purchased a bread maker. You just toss in the ingredients and push a button and boom, you have bread.

I have also purchased a slow cooker. I put the meat in the crock pot the night before and cut vegetables over it. Then I put the crock in the fridge. The next morning I pull it out, pop it in the slow cooker and by dinner time it's done.

I can eat "dry" burgers from most fast food places, but don't really care for them. I'd rather eat real food.

[Claudia]

My best purchase was a George Forman Grill. It takes all of two minutes to cook a fish fillet, a cheese quesadilla, chicken strips, scallops, or a hamburger patty. That is faster than stopping in to pick someting up.

I also do a lot of cooking in advance for just those times when I am starved and rushed. Like every day. I freeze things in individual portions, and microwave for an instant meal.

[jeannef]

I have had luck with Taco Bell bean burrito with no sauce, cheese or onions. When my husband and I go out, sometimes I just get a plain potato and bring my own toppings from home that I know are safe. I love to cook, but I also enjoy eating out alot. Good luck.

[rnewman]

Hey there...

I agree with Porphgoddess. There are snacks at my health food store that I do well with ~ the pretzles, almonds, some trail mixes, depending on whats in it...

My health food store also has LOTS of frozen foods I can do when I dont feel like cooking. Vegetable egg rolls with no preservatives, these little spinach munchies (in a whole wheat wrap) that I eat all the time. Frozen white pizzas, frozen meat dinners, and all organic. And if I go to Trader Joes I get frozen buffalo burgers, frozen brown rice dishes (with or without sauce, I go for without) and every single veggie you could ever imagine organic and frozen, so all you have to do is microwave it up!!

Good luck, I hope this helps!!
Rachel

[radstudent]

I find that pizza is a great fast snack. blink

[Kim Schema]

Wnedy's chicken sand. seems to be ok for me. Any of them really are as long as they are not fried. Baked or broiled is fine. Maybe with a light, light, mayo.