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How to eat better

Amazonianup

I struggle to motivate myself to eat healthy and cook a meal. I have really tried to find solution as it affects my health. I even got a hotpot. The issue is a weekly shop when i try results on food wastage as i find it hard to prepare and so the food goes out of date and that is alot of money. If i go out each day it helps me go out but i make bad or unhealthier choices and i have had stomach pains and issues over last years thst have got worse we are still trying to get sorted with doctor and pains in my fingers esp in morning.

I really thought a hot pot would help me as i could cook and forget about it but its not turned out this way. Any ideas to try get more healthy meals without food waste or lasts longer.

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Comments

JennieWren

I have chronic pain and fatigue and my husband usually cooks for me. If I do have to cook I e found I have more energy not only to cook, but clean up if I have dinner at lunchtime and then a bowl of cereal or toast at dinner time. I plan in advance, ‘easy’ meals eg bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and toast. I have an air fryer which helps with health and speed. But if I’m having a bad day I have things in my back pocket like a microwave meal or microwave a jacket potato with beans. Hotpots and slow cookers are great but because of my meds I wake up late, which means everything runs late - I get hungry, eat something unhealthy and then everything is out of synch. I think you need to be kind to yourself and start small, just aiming to cook a couple of times a week and build up from there. Any change is better than no change. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

helenjc

ost supermarkets sell a casserole mix or veg, just use that with some diced chicken as soon as you buy it. Might make enough for a few days. Add stock cubes, or cream and wine to make it posh. Make sure it is boiled up each day before you reuse it. Add curry paste on last day to change it. Try mince in it with a jar of pasta sauce, what’s left the next day add red beans and some chilli and have it with rice.

Kimi87

If a weekly shop isn't working, can you shop little and often?

I usually do this on top of a bigger shop once in a while.

Almost all my fruit & veg is bought loose from local greengrocer in the exact quantity I need, much higher quality so very little if any waste.

I make full use of freezer, bread slices & rolls defrosted daily as I need them.

Cooked sliced meat gets wrapped in small bits of cling film so I'm only defrosting what I know I'm going to use.

I look at dates when I buy making sure they are as long as possible.

I have a perching stool for kitchen and try to use my energy window for food prep, if I'm okay in the morning I prepare things for lunch & dinner after breakfast.

Frozen microwave potatoes are fab, although they do lack crispy skin!

You could also batch cook a certain meal, freeze in portions then defrost as needed, making rice, pasta, potatoes etc from cupboard into saucepan/microwave on the day.

Anything that says "not suitable for freezing" IS suitable for freezing, but you are likely to lose some quality/taste/texture after it's thawed.

"do not freeze" means it's not safe to freeze even with through cooking or will degrade too far after being thawed.

durhamjaide2001

I'm wondering the same because when I'm at home I have microwave meals so I can be a bit more independent

Kimi87

If I were to have an air fryer I'd need to get rid of something (cupboard or counter) to store it, at the moment I'm happy without and not wanting to get rid of anything.

Historically I've been rubbish at baking potatoes in the oven so I'd probably be the same with an air fryer 😂

5 mins in the microwave and perfect result every time 👌

colejames

Hi,

Batch cooking is a great way to go but it does depend if you have a freezer. Alternatively I will cook mince and onions and then divide it up. I'll make a bolognese type sauce from scratch but you can just cheat with a jar. If you're doing this then use a plainish ready made sauce as you can do a bolognese sauce and a chilli just by adding different seasoning and incredients. i.e mushrooms, oregano and basil for the bolognese and chilli & kidney beans for the chilli. Another portion of it I make into a cottage pie by adding some gravy and peas and carrots. You can also play around with a curry or a chinese style dish if you like. Once you've divided it up, you can either cook all the different versions in one go or simply put the portions in the fridge. They'll be fine there for a couple of days.

I am a fan of store cupboard cooking, especially if you don't have a freezer. Potatoes last a good amount of time if you store them in a cool dark space. By Smash (or supermarket own brand) is a quick and easy topping for a cottage pie. I tend to use half milk and water heated in the microwave, add the potato flakes and stir until you have the consistancy you like. I'll then throw in some mustard or horseradish and grate some cheese on the top.

Microwave rice is always handy to have in. If I really don't want to cook, then I'll simple choose a flavoured rice that I fancy and put in the microwave and opena tin of tuna to have with it. You can fancy it up but you don't have to.

I'm in my sixties so I grew up before we had more than a little freezer box (ours usually had ice-cream, fish fingers and petit pois in it) so am still a can/packet store cupboard cook and of course my parents lived through rationing. Tinned foods last a long time and you can get them in a variety of sizes. I always have baked beans, spaghetti in tomato sauce, Macaroni Cheese, tinned carrots, carrots and peas, mushrooms, sweetcorn, beans/pulses, Passata/Tinned Plum tomatoes, basic dried herbs, olives, tomato and garlic purees, tabasco, grain mustard and ready made horseradish, dried noodles/pasta, gnocchi, tinned soup, tinned fruit and condense and evaporated milk and ready made custard. With any of the above you can put together a meal in 10-15 mins. I also keep the bagged steam vegetables in my freezer as they are portion size, and heat in the microwave in a couple of minutes and provide some of your 5-a-day. Tinned fruit helps with that too. If you open a can you can generally make it go two days and you can have evaporated or condenced milk or custard. If you're partial you can allow get individual sponge puddiings which keep for months still sealed and work with the milks or custard.

A slow cooker is great if you want to cook from scratch but I must admit my airfryer has been a great buy and I did get a two drawer one as it really helps as you can schedule two things to cook for different times and at different temperatures and be ready together. I have a combi microwave and a toaster and don't use my cooker much these days. All of the others are smaller in size and therefore cost less to cook with.

I must admit my favourite quick dish still goes back to my childhood. Cheese on toast with baked beans or tinned spaghetti on top.

By the way, you don;t have to buy the things like dried herbs, purees, mustard etc all at once. Build them up slowly adding one a week or whatever you can afford, as most of them have longish shelf live.

WhatThe

I really thought a hot pot would help me as i could cook and forget about it but its not turned out this way.

Amazonianup, I wonder why this isn't working for you? Is it too heavy for you to wash up afterwards? Mine is a 6-litre pot and heavy but super-easy to clean. I don't like cooking every day or when I'm hungry so this keeps me fed for several days with plenty to freeze for emergencies.

Did you know you can roast potatoes or even a whole chicken in a large crock pot? You don't have to use liquid! I also have a smaller pot for rice pudding/stewed rhubarb.

In terms of your stomach pains, have you heard of the low-FODMAP diet for IBS? I no longer consume known irritants such as onions. garlic, chilli or pepper and this has made the most difference to my symptoms. I also avoid stoned fruits.

rubin16

I have a love/hate relationship with food, I always struggle with eating and eating healthy. I hardly ever feel hungry, I pass the hunger pains and go straight to feeling funny/weak. My appitite is non-existant so I never feel like eating anything, or I'll buy something to eat later and then just go without anything.

I try not to buy to much in advance and go shops to buy for only a day or so. But even still most of the time I will only have something to eat for lunch and then not eat again till the next day. I waste food all the time becuase of this. Or I only feel hungry when its around 8/9pm and don't have time to cook so just get a take out, but this is expensive and unhealthy.

Most days I just survive on a sandwich and thats it. I know its not healthy but I just can't eat unless I'm hungry, and being hungry is a very rare occurance for me. I think its a mix of having autism / having crohns. As with my autism I don't get feelings i.e needing to go bathroom/eat until its last second and my crohns with not having an appitite.

I just wish I could eat like normal and have a full healthy 3 times a day meal.

Ostia

Hello all and esp Amazonionup

Seems like organising and cooking food seems like a prob for many of us. We have to find what works for us esp if low energy is a factor. Crockpots are great if you buy a small amount of veg as someone said, then you don't waste a load of spare veg languishing in the fridge. Plus freeze a spare portion of cooked food.

I have an Instant Pot a friend told me about..does all sorts, saute, fry, soup, casserole etc. No room for airfryer!

I also invested in a table top mini dishwasher a few years ago...Cookology. Sits on draining board and means I don't dread food prep and washing up as it goes into the dishwasher asap. Really makes a difference.

Lastly, there are some healthy frozen things around if you seek them out eg Iceland does precooked baked potatoes to microwave..takes 5 mins! A good standby with baked beans etc.And the starch/sugar level is reduced with the second cooking.

It also comes down to caring enough about ourselves to organise a good routine, I have found. I find when I am low I don't bother and end up eating rubbish and the feel even lower.

It's a battle to stay motivated but as I remind myself, food is critical for our health.

Had a rubbish day yesterday with food so starting over today with healthy choices!

All the best

Amazonianup

Yh its the motivation and planning when i go down its like when i say i wash my clothes but it might sit in washing machine after i built up enough motivation to wash them and i have to then put it on again during week as they get left. I have tests for my stomach im hoping it comes back as IBS as worse case. My puppy gives me routine as he has to go out but otherwise indoors becomes very chaotic. Its like last night i couldnt sleep missed my meds and now today went down hill but i managed to get some shopping. I brought chicken like suggested.

Pickle72

Hello,

I buy frozen ready meals and frozen vegetables. I have one hot ready meal with vegetables each day. I’m vegetarian and I’ve found fairly healthy ready meals for £2 each. I then get a box of fresh fruit and veg delivered and produce from the milkman.
I don’t find that I have the stamina to shop each day. I try to keep my energy for doing things I enjoy. A friend of mine cooks for a family member from scratch and freezes the food so she has a week of freshly cooked food in her freezer. She pays the person to do this.

Good luck with everything.

WhatThe

A, you don't have to do it all in one go (unlike the laundry!). You can separate the shopping, preparation, cooking, blending, washing up over several days. That's how I do mine.

I've hardly cooked recently in this heat though. I keep microwaveable rice packets in the cupboard plus tinned tuna, mackerel, sweetcorn or dried mash for an instant meal. I've been more inclined to use my plug in grill for fish steaks, cheese toasties even 'fried' eggs rather than cook cook.

I mostly use my slow cooker in winter and it's very convenient to have a nourishing bowl I can devour when I've accomplished something else that day, exactly as Pickle describes.

Let me know if you'd like any tips for cooking the chicken, won't you? It pretty much looks after itself, perhaps one baste.

WhatThe

Historically I've been rubbish at baking potatoes in the oven so I'd probably be the same with an air fryer 😂

5 mins in the microwave and perfect result every time 👌

Kimi, I'm the complete opposite! I've had zero success in the microwave but bake great jackets in the oven.

I don't have a combi microwave but I've tried, wet, oiled, wrapped in kitchen paper and a spiky gadget to microwave potatoes but there's always an uncooked bit.

Frozen jacket potatoes are pretty good though 👍️

durhamjaide2001

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1055466#Comment_1055466

I have tried them but they are too bland for me and a bit too small for me.

rubin16

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1055466#Comment_1055466

Wiltshire farm foods was a godsend for me once when I had an operation a few years ago and couldn't cook. The portion sizes are small though for the price, however I don't know what I would of done without them at one time.