I keep climbing into bed, realizing I'm ravenously hungry, and then remembering that I ate little more than cereal, crackers, and fruit all day long (carbs, anyone?). The problem is that, when I realize I'm hungry, it's often time to feed Klara, so I just grab a snack that curbs my hunger for a while, and I end up forgetting to eat "real food."
As I get ready to head back to work and anticipate even crazier days than the ones I have now, I'm trying to brainstorm some snack-type foods that actually have nutritional value that I can prepare and have ready to grab. My school-night dinners tend to be something like granola and yogurt, cheese and crackers, almonds and fruit, or pita and hummus. The reality of my eating habits is that I grab things that are ready to eat.
Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to keep me from starving myself and my child. Will you help me brainstorm and give me a little inspiration? Easy (or something I can prepare ahead of time) and healthful...whatcha got to suggest?
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Give a girl some fresh ideas.
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8 comments:
What if you make big pots of soup and freeze them in small sizes? That way you are getting plenty of veggies and meat as well.
Good idea, Melissa! All of my favorite soup recipes are veggie and low in protein, though. Do you have any good recipes to recommend (something with beans or meat)? Thinking of beans, I'm remembering that Steph posted a bean salad recipe not too long ago. I think I'll look that one up...
If you aren't opposed to baking, you can make muffins with yogurt (and Greek yogurt for double) in them so there is protein in them. Muffins freeze super well and you can pop what you need in the microwave as you need it.
Also, do you have a crock pot? There's a lot of recipes that you just dump stuff in there and let the crock pot do it's magic. Then you could even split it up into individual containers for the freezer.
Also, bean and cheese or scrambled eggs with cheese/bacon/sausage on tortillas freeze well. You can add salsa after you reheat them or just eat as is on the go.
Hard Boiled eggs may help and you can buy them boiled and peeled at the grocery store even. Babybell cheeses are great to have on hand, and trail mix saves my life on a regular basis still. :)
I can give you some recipes if you're interested!
It gets easier, it really does!
Here are some links:
http://reluctantwwfoodie.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/cho-cho-giveaway-and-deeeelicious-muffins/
Lemon Zucchini and Black Cherry Zucchini muffins with Greek yogurt in them.
Guidelines for using yogurt in baking:
* When a recipe calls for butter, replace half the butter with half as much yogurt. For instance, instead of 1 cup butter, use 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup yogurt.
* When a recipe calls for shortening or oil, replace half the oil with 3/4 the amount of yogurt. For example, instead of 1 cup oil, use 1/2 cup oil and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons yogurt.
* Substitute yogurt cup for cup for sour cream in recipes.
Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings:
http://www.thegorenablog.com/2011/09/stephanie-cooks-chicken-and-dumplings.html
Anything on that blog under the "Stephanie Cooks" topic is going to be great. I've made a bunch of her recipes. She's on a big crockpot kick right now too!
And here's my recipe for a pot o' pinto beans:
http://meljamc.blogspot.com/2010/01/mmmm-delicious.html
If you want to turn it into charro beans, add bacon and a jar of your favorite salsa. You can also make the whole thing in a crockpot, but be sure to soak the beans overnight first.
Awesome! Thanks so much for the ideas :)
You can always buy pre made dinner/snack stuff at trader joes. They are usually protein filled and have no icky preservative junk in them, you do have to exert minimal effort in heating them up (ex.microwave).
Or, invite your mom over for an afternoon and spend it prepping and cooking food so you have a bunch of little meals to go throughout the week. I'm thinking, as intimidating as it seems, you might have to start putting a little effort into some prep to survive. I hope your baby doesn't starve ;) I'd really love to meet her someday!!
I live on Trader Joe's snacks. You're right, Kim. Now that I have another mouth to feed, I want to get into the habit of cooking more often/being intentional about meals. I think it's funny that I can feed a crowd with gusto, but I so rarely cook for myself. Now that I have someone else to share with, hopefully it will give me some more motivation!
I'm a horrible carb-pounder myself, but I got together with a friend of mine last month and we made 6 meals in a few hours together to freeze for later, and it really helped me eat healthier. Two of the things were chicken salad and egg salad recipes, and when I needed a snack, I slapped a bit between bread, or toast if I had an extra ounce of energy (I didn't end up freezing those because I knew they would be gone in a couple days!). Another thing we made was quinoa pancakes to freeze--I made like 40 of the suckers! I'm trying to be healthier, so I decided to like them, especially with smart balance butter. :)
Other healthy snacks: fruit, salads (I throw everything I can think of on mine, especially eggs, deli turkey, garbanzo and kidney beans for the protein), celery in a nut butter, hard-boiled eggs, and healthy energy bars. I love making shakes too, my parents do Herbalife, so they keep me supplied with the stuff and the girls LOVE it. As well, Claire Robinson of 5 ingredient fix had a fun energizing trail mix recipe I watched not too long ago:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/pumpkin-seed-dried-cherry-trail-mix-recipe/index.html
It's so hard to take care of yourself as a new (or old! Ha!) Mommy, but it makes it a bit easier knowing that you're taking care of your little one too! :) Happy healthy eating!
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