to ask for easy meals to make when you hate cooking

[crochetmonkey74]

I live alone, can't be arsed. What really easy meals do you do?

I am at a beans on toast, frozen pizza level of effort and arsedness.

Help me!

When I was single, it was cheese on toast, a can of soup and some nice bread, shop bought pasty, sushi, pie, or a lasagna ready meal. Tomato soup and a cheese topped roll counted as dinner.
if I cooked, I’d make a big old chili, a pot of of rice, eat and enjoy on day 1. Add cooked rice to chili for day 2, enjoy same on day 3, finish on day 4.

Seriosly op, you know what’s available, you know what you like, you know how much effort you can be bothered with. I always had a good lunch, often made do with a cheese triangle, a pickled gherkin and a yogurt for dinner.

Need more information.

Such as any dietary, preference or budgeting requirements.

If money is no object, you could just eat out, employ a chef or live on good quality ready made food.

No point people suggesting 'a piece of fish and some spinach and tomatoes baked in paper' and the like if you're vegetarian or hate fish.

What in particular do you feel is wrong with beans on toast and frozen pizza? What sort of food do you like?

I live out the freezer too tonight I’m having toad in the hole mash potatoes sweetcorn and sprouts. I can’t chop stuff anymore but still have loads of veg my slow cooker does my casserole I batch cook it curries are sauce in a jar prawn's frozen mushrooms onions. I love fish pie yes brought spag bolognaise mix is made in batches too.

Budget allowing, I'd go to my local Cook and have some of their ready meals in the freezer for times when I couldn't be arsed but wanted something decent. Otherwise lemon sole fillets that take 5 mins in the frying pan, eggs on toast, cheese and crackers, a bag of prawn crackers and a wispa.

Eggy bread and beans 😋

Stir fry with a stir fry kit from Co Op or Tesco, or Uncle Ben's minute rice
Quick burritos with whatever you have in the fridge fried up and stuffed in a tortilla.

oh yeah sorry I should have put more info

I have reached the point of just not caring what I eat really- I have a really stressful job and I was responsible for all the thinking about, shopping for and cooking in my last relationship so I have just reached my limit.

Dietary requirements are none- other than I'd like to be vaguely healthy
I don't like stew type slow cooker stuff - I prefer dry food

Budget- average but I am fairly frugal generally

Tried Hello Fresh before but sometimes I could not even be bothered by that.
I often get home late
My lunch tends to be toast and fruit
I'm just a bit overwhelmed really - I even hate food shopping and try to get stuff that is frozen or lasts a while

So far I could do

Tomato soup (the only soup I like) and a cheese toastie
Beans or egg on toast
Lasagne ready meal
Frozen Pizza

It all feels a bit beige and carby

At the weekend I wold be more likely to go and get something fresh and nice like crudites and hummus and olives

I was thinking of a slow cooker - but for things like making pulled pork and jacket potatoes maybe? Can you do that in them?

Probably the best option is (freezer space dependant) batch cooking a bunch of things once per month. Curry, chilli, soup, bolognese, and cottage pie. If you make 6 servings of each of those on one boring Sunday, you have 5 dinners per week covered for 6 weeks.

previously, I have considered throwing money at the problem and buying myself a nice lunch or dinner each day (I pass a shop daily on the way to work) but I get there and literally fancy NOTHING

These are all a bit 'wet' and sloppy for my taste so I would do this and then they would sit in the freezer and I would never choose them

God I am annoying myself!

Fair enough, we all have preferences!

What would you choose to eat at a restaurant? Pick a few types... Pub, Asian, Italian, Mexican, and American. So you could have pie and chips, chicken fried rice, spaghetti and meatballs, fajitas, and burgers. Batch cook all of that once every 6 weeks!

When I was pregnant I went off lots of "sloppy and wet" foods too. I used to have pesto pasta, fish cakes, sausages and pizza. Omelettes are easy too, and French toast.

What about ready made fishcakes with bagged salad and cherry tomatoes?

Morrisons do a salmon one without breadcrumbs, so might feel less beige, and they can be frozen. Bagged salad and cherry tomatoes is my go to no effort side salad.

Make up some marinaded chicken and freeze in portions that will do 2/3 meals then cook and eat with the aforementioned salad and a pitta?

Steamfresh veg, or rice and veg bags are good accompaniments to a piece of meat or fish.

I like the batch cooking the meals idea- I hadn't considered making pie and chips and sort of freezing it as a ready meal- I could just microwave then

I could so frozen veg bags rather than fresh salad so I wouldn't have to go shopping too often

I like lemon sole or salmon with rice and peas or tenderstem broccoli.

tortelloni (fresh filled pasta), chuck some soy sauce and garlic granules over (maybe some butter too if it's a bit dry) and serve with a handful of bagged salad

microwave veggie rice, serve with salmon or chicken

You can make pulled pork and jacket spuds in the slow cooker, loaded jacket spuds can be served with bagged salad, you don't even have to fanny about with a dressing if you eat some leaves with each mouthful.

Alternatively get some ready chopped carrots, frozen veg etc and microwave some with each meal. Minimum effort and a cheap and quick way to get veg in you

Also spinach lasts longer than most salad bags, and you can freeze leftover spinach/mix it into pasta sauces/spag bol/ even pie filling. Lettuce is a bit nutritionally sad but spinach is good for most people and better than nothing

Part of this is I just need to get a grip! When I get really busy and overwhelmed though really basic routines like feeding myself go out of the window

I love cooking but when I don't have the time, I make something that's pretty easy to make and also make it to last 2 days. You can make a bigger batch, freeze it and then reheat when you feel like eating something substantial.
I can give you an example of what I made today and I simply had no energy to do something big.
I slowly cooked a small pork knuckle (I have two very hungry people in the house) with some bay leaves, cloves, star anise and juniper berries.
Then I chopped shallots and garlic, fried in oil till translucent, added cumin, black pepper, one chilli pepper, some finely chopped tomatoes, added grey lentils from a can, then added red paprika and fried quickly. Then I added the water from the knuckle and a cube of chicken bouillon, let it cook a bit, put in cream mixed with flour and when the pasty taste of flour cooked out, I added a table spoon of white wine vinegar.
Sorted.

I think to be honest, I'd just get nice oven chips and possibly a ready made pie, and cook in the oven (or get an air fryer if you don't already have one). Microwaved pastry and chips is not nice.

I’m currently on ‘what can I cook with no energy because I have a newborn and a toddler, and then eat one handed while breastfeeding’ which oddly I think might come to the same conclusions as your needs, and I recommend this, which takes only really the effort of chopping stuff but it is worth it. I leave the potatoes out and do it with mash instead but you don’t have to.

www.chelseasmessyapron.com/one-pan-healthy-italian-sausage-veggies/

Do u have an air fryer

Meat or fish (chicken, cod, salmon, sausages, steak, pork chop etc), jacket potato, wedges (homemade) or boiled potatoes and a range of green veg or salad. Very little effort really. If you're only cooking for one then chuck all your veg in one pan.
My can't be arsed dinner is a bag of chopped stir fry veg, chicken/prawns/tofu and microwave rice.

Pre-chopped or frozen veg, or those new potatoes with butter/herbs on that you shove in the microwave, or ready cut sweet potato chips. Anything that takes no prep. Plus sausage/chicken/fishcake.

Packet rice that you can do in the microwave or frying pan - throw an egg in the pan with the rice, some frozen veg, mix it all up, add a bit of readymade sauce (sweet chilli or something) and it's a meal in minutes.

Tray bakes like sausage or chicken breast, and the potatoes and veg go on the tray and you just cook it all together in the oven.

You can get tins of beans in sauce, like cannelli beans or whatever they are called. Those with a big of freezer fish in breadcrumbs is easy and relatively healthy.