meal ideas!
low energy ("do not ask me to do any prep work at all, so help me god")
- mozzerella cheese wrapped in pepperoni ("pizza tacos"!)
- hummus and pretzels or naan (putting the naan in the microwave for like 10 seconds...heavenly)
- canned chili (with shredded cheese and sour cream if you have it! boom done!)
- instant miso soup (warm and lovely!)
- cheese and cured meat, olives, canned fish, crackers, dried fruit, or whatever easy "charcuterie" type items you like
- alternate bites of apple and spoonfulls of peanut butter (mixing honey or chocolate chips to the peanut butter is my favorite)
- a "deconstructed sandwich": bites of lunch meat, pickles, cheese, cherry tomato, etc (I love roast beef and white cheddar for this)
- yogurt and granola or fruit
medium energy ("I'll boil water but don't ask me to chop shit")
- boiled eggs and fresh veggies (put a little salt on top of the eggs for pizzaz!)
- buttered noodles (take it up to level 10 and add roasted garlic; takes 30 mins in an oven, only one swoop of the knife required)
- baked potato with toppings (I like cheese, bacon, broccoli, green onion, and sour cream)
- quesadilla (add some canned beans, cilantro, or avocado!)
- pot roast (requires a lot of time but not a lot of actual work. I love it with peas!)
- cuban sandwich (bread, swiss, pickle, mustard, ham... my favorite thing to panini-ify by far)
- pan-fried tofu with scallion sauce (this sauce goes well with everything and tofu is no exception)
- pancakes or waffles! (I love mine with jam)
- ham, pickle, and cream cheese roll-ups
- fried eggs (with toast and lots of butter...so comforting)
- fruit smoothie (bananas, frozen strawberries, yogurt...or whatever!)
- I hate salad but could write essays on this copycat olive garden salad (throw it in a bowl! chopping required if you use onion)
- spaghetti (controversial maybe but angel hair > spaghetti noodles)
- pasta salad (olives broccoli fresh mozerella... those little mini pepperonis... yeah)
high energy ("I don't mind chopping some things up!")
- stuffed shells with spinach
- chicken and roasted garlic (oh my god.....one of my all time favorites)
- beef tacos (I like mine with cilantro and onion, and when I'm feeling especially high energy I love a tomatillo salsa)
- chicken alfredo
- tom kha gai (a thai soup and my absolute favorite! you just need access to galangal)
- lasagna! (freezes well and then boom! low energy meal for later)
- pad thai! (not as hard as you'd think, as long as you have access to tamarind paste!)
- potstickers! (this is a lovely group activity if you want to cook with housemates!)
- rice and beans
- bang bang shrimp (ogughfhgfuh I love it. you can also do bang bang tofu!)
- minestrone soup (so many nice veggies!)
- fried rice (put whatever you have on hand in there! broccoli, peas, carrot, and beef is my favorite combo)
- broccoli cheddar soup
- spring rolls and peanut sauce
- skewers (such as beef, onion, zucchini, bell pepper... you don't need a grill, oven works!)
- roasted turkey with garlic parmesean asparagus
- pork chop with mashed potatoes
other tips:
- whenever you think of a meal you'd like to make, take 3 seconds to google search it, take a screenshot of the image results, and put it in a "food ideas" folder. instant visual menu!
- if you're on instagram, there are a bajillion different recipe accounts that post videos! a few of my favorites: jipsoon_kitchen, eatwitzo, cordandthekitchen, chungeats, tiffy.cooks, two_plaid_aprons
This is all great!
I got this website from a nutritionist and it’s become my absolute favorite way to find new recipes. The search filter options are fantastic! Sorting by method really helps me because I think that’s what makes the biggest difference in how much energy you need.
And here are some other ideas for low/medium energy meals:
- Cottage cheese with crackers, fruits and/or veggies.
- Guacamole with veggies and/or tortilla chips
- Chickpeas/garbanzo beans with tzatziki. You could add rice, lettuce/spinach, and/or pita.
- Buffalo cauliflower with yogurt dip. You can roast or microwave the cauliflower, top it with hot sauce, and add bleu cheese or shredded cheddar on top.
