Many, if not most, of us will be familiar with that "why should I bother" attitude toward things like cooking and eating well. I know I certainly am! However, while managing depression or other problems is not as simple as just eating well, making sure you're getting proper nutrition is certainly a step in the right direction and can make you feel better both because it's healthy, and because you have achieved something good for yourself. Making a quick, healthy meal is definitely worth it.
To that end, and thanks to the person who suggested this, I am starting up a thread with recipe ideas for those times when toast feels like the maximum effort to be made in the kitchen. I'm no dietician, but hopefully these ideas will be an improvement on toast or two-minute noodles! Please feel free to contribute any tips or recipes you have. They do not have to be gourmet. If you don't have the energy to chop veggies, frozen ones are definitely better than none at all. You get the idea.
The catch with some of these recipes is that you do need to be a little bit prepared in the shopping department. I guess I've been doing this for a little while now so I know what to have on standby. Even if these ideas don't sound very 'you', perhaps they might inspire you to come up with your own.
1. Cauliflower soup
Get out a stockpot and put it on a low-medium heat. Add some butter (maybe 25grams or so) and a roughly chopped onion. Cook over low heat until the onion is soft. Add a litre or so of stock (I keep a few bought cartons of it in the cupboard) and about 400g of cauliflower. Boil until the cauliflower starts to fall apart. Pour it into a blender and blend for 20 seconds or so. Add pepper and serve with cheese on toast.
2. Poached chicken and veggies
Bring a few litres of water to the boil. Add a chicken breast to the water, put the lid of the saucepan on, remove it from the heat, and ignore it for about 30 minutes. Steam some green beans and chop (fairly finely is best, but it doesn't really matter) some tomatoes and parsley. Remove the chicken from the water and cut into slices. Put the slices on a plate and squirt with some lemon juice and pepper, then put the parsley and tomato mixture on top. Serve with the beans. Or broccoli. Or snowpeas. Or something else green.
3. Tuna and pasta
Cook some pasta. Mix in a small tin of tuna, pesto (another staple in my fridge!), a little lemon juice, and baby spinach (which I usually buy instead of lettuce because I don't eat red meat - I think it has more iron). Sometimes I add some other veggies.
4. Vegetarian stir-fry.
I keep vermicelli rice noodles in my cupboard - they take about two minutes to soften in a bowl of boiled water. Stir fry the noodles with chopped veggies (could be frozen), soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, and a bit of garlic.
5. Burger
I buy good-quality burgers from the butcher and keep them in the freezer. They tend not to be too expensive, in my experience. Cook one. Cut open a burger bun, add lettuce, cheese, tomato, cucumber, beetroot or whatever else you like in your burgers. Preferably as many salady things as you can manage
5. Omelette with veggies
Chop some veggies, garlic, and maybe some herbs of your choice (e.g. basil or parsley). Give them a quick stir fry, maybe with some peanut oil if you like it and are not allergic! Mix a few eggs, a little pepper, and a slosh of milk together (obviously there's some really accurate cooking going on in my kitchen!). Heat a fry pan (not too hot, though!), add a little oil, and add the egg mixture. You can either leave it to cook through or you can attempt to flip it if you're feeling brave. Put the omelette on a plate, add the veggies on top of one side of it, and fold the other half of the omelette over it.
The omelette idea can also work well in other ways. For example, sometimes I buy a ready-made creamy sauce of some description (e.g., mushroom 'chicken tonight' or similar), cook some sliced chicken and veggies with it, and put that in the omelette instead. Can be quite yummy and doesn't take long.
6. Banana with yoghurt and toasted slivered almonds.
That's pretty much it, and it is my favourite thing to have for breakfast. You could use whatever fruit or nut you want. You can toast the almonds in a baking tray under the grill - it only takes about 20-30 seconds or so. You don't have to do that, but I think it makes them taste better and gives a nice crunch.
Ok, I really should get going to work, but hopefully there's something helpful for someone there. Some of these ideas are a few effort steps up from toast, but, truly, they don't take very long. I know cooking doesn't seem like a priority a lot of the time, but those nutrients are important and can make you feel healthier. Get some into you :goodjob:
To that end, and thanks to the person who suggested this, I am starting up a thread with recipe ideas for those times when toast feels like the maximum effort to be made in the kitchen. I'm no dietician, but hopefully these ideas will be an improvement on toast or two-minute noodles! Please feel free to contribute any tips or recipes you have. They do not have to be gourmet. If you don't have the energy to chop veggies, frozen ones are definitely better than none at all. You get the idea.
The catch with some of these recipes is that you do need to be a little bit prepared in the shopping department. I guess I've been doing this for a little while now so I know what to have on standby. Even if these ideas don't sound very 'you', perhaps they might inspire you to come up with your own.
1. Cauliflower soup
Get out a stockpot and put it on a low-medium heat. Add some butter (maybe 25grams or so) and a roughly chopped onion. Cook over low heat until the onion is soft. Add a litre or so of stock (I keep a few bought cartons of it in the cupboard) and about 400g of cauliflower. Boil until the cauliflower starts to fall apart. Pour it into a blender and blend for 20 seconds or so. Add pepper and serve with cheese on toast.
2. Poached chicken and veggies
Bring a few litres of water to the boil. Add a chicken breast to the water, put the lid of the saucepan on, remove it from the heat, and ignore it for about 30 minutes. Steam some green beans and chop (fairly finely is best, but it doesn't really matter) some tomatoes and parsley. Remove the chicken from the water and cut into slices. Put the slices on a plate and squirt with some lemon juice and pepper, then put the parsley and tomato mixture on top. Serve with the beans. Or broccoli. Or snowpeas. Or something else green.
3. Tuna and pasta
Cook some pasta. Mix in a small tin of tuna, pesto (another staple in my fridge!), a little lemon juice, and baby spinach (which I usually buy instead of lettuce because I don't eat red meat - I think it has more iron). Sometimes I add some other veggies.
4. Vegetarian stir-fry.
I keep vermicelli rice noodles in my cupboard - they take about two minutes to soften in a bowl of boiled water. Stir fry the noodles with chopped veggies (could be frozen), soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, and a bit of garlic.
5. Burger
I buy good-quality burgers from the butcher and keep them in the freezer. They tend not to be too expensive, in my experience. Cook one. Cut open a burger bun, add lettuce, cheese, tomato, cucumber, beetroot or whatever else you like in your burgers. Preferably as many salady things as you can manage
5. Omelette with veggies
Chop some veggies, garlic, and maybe some herbs of your choice (e.g. basil or parsley). Give them a quick stir fry, maybe with some peanut oil if you like it and are not allergic! Mix a few eggs, a little pepper, and a slosh of milk together (obviously there's some really accurate cooking going on in my kitchen!). Heat a fry pan (not too hot, though!), add a little oil, and add the egg mixture. You can either leave it to cook through or you can attempt to flip it if you're feeling brave. Put the omelette on a plate, add the veggies on top of one side of it, and fold the other half of the omelette over it.
The omelette idea can also work well in other ways. For example, sometimes I buy a ready-made creamy sauce of some description (e.g., mushroom 'chicken tonight' or similar), cook some sliced chicken and veggies with it, and put that in the omelette instead. Can be quite yummy and doesn't take long.
6. Banana with yoghurt and toasted slivered almonds.
That's pretty much it, and it is my favourite thing to have for breakfast. You could use whatever fruit or nut you want. You can toast the almonds in a baking tray under the grill - it only takes about 20-30 seconds or so. You don't have to do that, but I think it makes them taste better and gives a nice crunch.
Ok, I really should get going to work, but hopefully there's something helpful for someone there. Some of these ideas are a few effort steps up from toast, but, truly, they don't take very long. I know cooking doesn't seem like a priority a lot of the time, but those nutrients are important and can make you feel healthier. Get some into you :goodjob:
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