Prepared Meals ?

[chibelly]

Re: Prepared Meals ?

Hi.
If they haven't said anything to you, how do you know they are tired of you being in the kitchen? And what is the kitchen for, if not for cooking?
Maybe if you make a yummy recipe to share with them, you will not feel as bad...


***If you are on a $200 monthly food budget, stay out of Whole Foods!!!LOL.

The last time i ran into one of them while cooking they made a shrugging sound and left the door wide open. I assume it was to let the odor out.

1 roomy is a 70 year old guy who takes care of the mother in law. The only thing i have ever seen him eat or drink is wine. Hes only friendly around 1 AM when he has been drinking. The other roomy is from honduras and she hides in her room all night.

Before i showed up the kitchen was for keeping drinks cold in the fridge. The only time it has been really used in the last 20 years is during Hurricane Katrina when the main house was damaged and the family had to move into the guest house while it was being repaired.

Whole foods is the only option where i am at. There is a walmart and a neighborhood market. The neighborhood place is terrible. Its expensive and the vegetables are always rotten.

[chibelly]

Re: Prepared Meals ?

You really don't need to be a good cook to slowly boil chicken parts.

If it can be screwed up... i can can screw it up!

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Prepared Meals ?

>>f it can be screwed up... i can can screw it up!>>

Then you keep doing it until you get it right.

Julia Child took cooking classes.

[chibelly]

Re: Prepared Meals ?

My advice is go to WM or somewhere, pick up some of the divided storage dishes. They are small so won't take up much room in the freezer. Cook up whatever you want for the next few days and put it in your dishes and pop them in the freezer. That is pretty darn close to delivered service. When you want to eat you just take out a dish and put it in the microwave. I use to do that when I was working. The portion sizes are just right unless you are a big eater and you can easily add a salad or whatever you want to them when you eat.

This is what i have been doing since i started. But now i cant eat meat that has been warmed up. I have never been picky about food in my life but now if its not freshly cooked i wont eat it.

Then i catch myself tossing out the piece of chicken and eating more veggies with each meal and i know that eventually i will be eating more veggies then i should.

If i were home i would be able to grill food. Its super convenient. But frying and baking meat every day is a pain.

[chibelly]

Re: Prepared Meals ?

>> I have not tried making soups because even the broth at the grocery store has carbs in it.>>

You're not looking for "no carb" ... the carbs in store broth are minor.

>>I am not a good enough cook to try making soup without a box or can of broth to start me off>>

Then get started with store bought broth.

>> I have been getting rotisserie chickens from Whole Foods Market and i peel as much of the skin off as i can.>>

This might be one place where the rotisserie chicken isn't adulterated. However, since it's too spicy/salty for you, buy a chicken and roast it yourself.

And if money is an issue, why are you shopping at Whole Foods?

>>I could go for a good bowl of soup and a turkey sandwich>>

Make some soup and make a turkey sandwich with lettuce as the "bread".

>>I wish i could go back to the first 2 weeks and stay there>>

You can choose to do anything you want. Wouldn't progress be a better choice though?

Progress is a better choice but if one of you had an answer that would both provide me with progress and an easier way to get there it would be even better. Thats why i asked.

[chibelly]

Re: Prepared Meals ?

>>f it can be screwed up... i can can screw it up!>>

Then you keep doing it until you get it right.

Julia Child took cooking classes.

I guess i could.. but that would have me in the kitchen longer which is something i am trying to avoid.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Prepared Meals ?

Ok then.

[chibelly]

Re: Prepared Meals ?

Chibelly - are you looking just for foods with zero carbs? That's not the point of Atkins. My cheese has carbs as does my chicken broth. The key though is that the cheese is legal and the broth has all legal ingredients.

Depending on your phase of Atkins you are limited to a certain number of net carbs (carb grams minus fiber grams).

I'll look later but the broth I buy comes either from Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. There are also other broths. One of my favorites is Mushroom Broth. Used in the right quantities, it can be perfectly legal for induction. I also buy that at Whole Foods.

The reason i look for zero carbs is because i try to take into account something that i might eat and didnt gauge properly. So if i have to much vegetables it wont be that plus the broth.

Yesterday at WFM i see the lunch meat hanging. Same company. Smoked Turkey, Oven Roasted Turkey. Turkey With Herbs. How could these possibly be different? When you flip them around and look at the ingredients only the smoked turkey is 0 carbs. So i grabbed the Smoked Turkey. I really dont know what if any real difference there is between them or whether or not it will matter in the long run but i stress about picking the right thing.

Same goes for hamburger meat. Ground Round? Ground Chuck? Ground Sirloin? Lean Ground Beef? I stand there at the grocery store for an hour trying to pick one because i dont know which one i should get.

Same with cheese. I dig thru the selection looking for ones with 0 carbs because its "crazy" to pick the one with 1% when some are 0%.

The prepared meals idea is as much about me not stressing about what to choose as it is to avoid conflict in the guest house kitchen.

[Georgiana]

Re: Prepared Meals ?

If it can be screwed up... i can can screw it up!

You can't screw up a broth to the point where you can't eat it. Maybe you'll find that the first few don't taste like the ones you are used to if you're used to store-bought broth, but nothing other than that.

You also don't have to sit in the kitchen while the broth is cooking.

[Georgiana]

Re: Prepared Meals ?

Smoked Turkey, Oven Roasted Turkey. Turkey With Herbs. How could these possibly be different?

Maybe they have different ingredients?

Or they use ingredients in different amounts?

only the smoked turkey is 0 carbs

Is it truly zero carbs? According to the ingredients, not to the label.

Same goes for hamburger meat. Ground Round? Ground Chuck? Ground Sirloin? Lean Ground Beef? I stand there at the grocery store for an hour trying to pick one because i dont know which one i should get.

You can pick whichever you like more.

Same with cheese. I dig thru the selection looking for ones with 0 carbs

All cheese has carbs though.

You can pick any cheese you like, as long as it is a cheese allowed on Induction.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Prepared Meals ?

>>The reason i look for zero carbs i>>

You're looking for things that don't always exist though.

All cheese has carbs.

Did you read the section in your DANDR about how to read a nutritional label? Do you know that labels can round down ... and do ... so that 0 is mostly a myth?

>>Same goes for hamburger meat. Ground Round? Ground Chuck? Ground Sirloin? Lean Ground Beef? I stand there at the grocery store for an hour trying to pick one because i dont know which one i should get.
>>

Depends on what you're going to do with it.

It seems as if you need to read a cookbook. Just as with Atkins, you need the fundamentals.

I would recommend "The Joy of Cooking", "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman.

[poobears1972]

Re: Prepared Meals ?

Did you read the ingredients on the turkey? All but one kind here has sugar (sometimes under other names) in the top 3-4 ingredients. Even though the label shows no carbs sugar is high on the list so I avoid it. Just searched for some sugar free today.

I did find one that said all natural, nitrate free... it has potato starch towards the end of the list and sugar isn't even listed on the nutrition panel so I figured it was the best choice available. But the price was higher so it will be an occasional treat. I wanted some turkey roll ups for lunch.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Prepared Meals ?

Why not buy real turkey and roast it yourself?

[mizski]

Re: Prepared Meals ?

The last time i ran into one of them while cooking they made a shrugging sound and left the door wide open. I assume it was to let the odor out.

1 roomy is a 70 year old guy who takes care of the mother in law. The only thing i have ever seen him eat or drink is wine. Hes only friendly around 1 AM when he has been drinking. The other roomy is from honduras and she hides in her room all night.

Before i showed up the kitchen was for keeping drinks cold in the fridge. The only time it has been really used in the last 20 years is during Hurricane Katrina when the main house was damaged and the family had to move into the guest house while it was being repaired.

Oh my, sounds like a fun group. NOT! It doesn't seem like anything that you do is going to please these two so I would venture on cooking your healthy meals. Make sure everything is cleaned up afterwards so they can't complain about anything. This is a very tough situation to be in PLUS learning about Atkins and what to eat PLUS learning how to prepare things yourself. Kudos to you for hanging in there.

A Foreman grill is a great tool for quick cooking. They are often on sale as they seem to be continually coming out with new models.

Same goes for hamburger meat. Ground Round? Ground Chuck? Ground Sirloin? Lean Ground Beef? I stand there at the grocery store for an hour trying to pick one because i dont know which one i should get.

Depends on what you are using it for. Personally, now that I'm not on a low fat diet with Atkins I seldom get lean or extra lean ground beef as IMO it has the least flavor. Ground chuck is usually the cheapest and has the most fat and most flavor. It is wonderful for burgers and meatball type dishes. If using it for other things like casseroles where you have to brown the meat first, a colander makes it easy to drain the grease. (I usually drain the grease into a piece of aluminum foil made into a bowl-like shape. I wouldn't drain the grease down the drain. ) Ground round and ground sirloin are more expensive and have good flavor with some fat. They are good for most everything esp. casseroles, sauces and soups. HTH I also like ground chicken (and prefer it over ground turkey). You may like that too.

[mission to lose]

Re: Prepared Meals ?

[/B]The last time i ran into one of them while cooking they made a shrugging sound and left the door wide open. I assume it was to let the odor out.

1 roomy is a 70 year old guy who takes care of the mother in law. The only thing i have ever seen him eat or drink is wine. Hes only friendly around 1 AM when he has been drinking. The other roomy is from honduras and she hides in her room all night.

Before i showed up the kitchen was for keeping drinks cold in the fridge. The only time it has been really used in the last 20 years is during Hurricane Katrina when the main house was damaged and the family had to move into the guest house while it was being repaired.

Whole foods is the only option where i am at. There is a walmart and a neighborhood market. The neighborhood place is terrible. Its expensive and the vegetables are always rotten.
[/COLOR]

OK, Chi,
ARe you actually a resident of Chicago, currently working in LA.?
As I recall aren't you only going to be away from home for a month? When is this stint up? When you return home, will you have your own place and your own kitchen so you can do what you want freely in the kitchen?

If this is only temporary and you are going home soon, your situation should improve in short time.