Evo said:
For dinner, the frozen food section will often have single serve portions of fish ready to be tossed into the microwave or frying pan, just cook with a bit of butter and lemon, a dash of herbs if you are creative.
Also, most grocery store meat departments have pre-prepared single portions of meat and chicken dishes ready to be cooked, along with cooking instructions which gives you variety and you don't have to worry about a recipe, and the deli has cooked foods that have healthy choices.
Think frozen for vegetables. These come either plain or seasoned and you can buy either individual portions or a big resealable bag. Those frozen skillet dinners like the Bertolli ones are sooooo tasty!
http://recipeeps4us.blogspot.com/2008/01/review-bertolli-frozen-meals.html
For breakfast, cereal, fruit, & eggs are all easy. Also, there is now an assortment of frozen breakfast foods available. Frozen isn't bad anymore.
When you consider that when you buy pre-prepared or frozen individual portions, you have no waste, there aren't a bunch of ingredients to buy that you only need a tiny bit of, the cost isn't any higher than buying a fat laden burger and fries. Of course, sometimes we NEED a fat laden heavenly thick burger and seasoned curly fries. :!)
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Stay away from the pre-prepared frozen foods, and ready-made yuck in the meat section or deli. That stuff has so much crap and chemicals added, you might as well eat the McDonald's. It's not that hard to get a piece of meat, add some seasonings that you can identify (salt, pepper, garlic, onion as simple basics) and broil or pan fry it (no fat needed). No need to buy that preservative-laden garbage. Just buy a box of Ziploc (or similar) freezer bags, so when you get 3 or 4 chicken breasts in a package, you cook one and freeze the rest for another week. Same for pork chops, steaks, etc. A few packages of meat will last you the month if you freeze single servings. Frozen vegetables are fine, but since it's summer, there are so many fresh, why eat frozen now? You don't even have to cook your vegetables. Get some that you can eat raw, or make a tossed salad...lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, carrots, mushrooms, celery can all be eaten raw. Or, just put a little water in a pan, add carrots, or zucchini, or asparagus, or any other vegetable that's in season, and lightly steam it. Eat while still crunchy...yum! No cooking or very minimal cooking, and much healthier than anything in the frozen food aisle. Or, grab some fresh fruits...peaches, pears, apples, avocado (technically a fruit, as is tomato) and have them as dessert.
Yes, as Monique pointed out, baked potatoes are quick and easy to make in the microwave. Running the oven in summer is not so pleasant. In winter, I'll bake them in the oven if I have the time. In summer, I often toss the potato on the grill. 40 min to an hour later, it's done to perfection.
If you prefer rice rather than potatoes (or want to mix it up), I never go wrong with this approach...put a splash of oil in a pot (maybe a teaspoon), add your rice (1/2 c is more than enough for one person), get the rice coated with the oil somewhat, add a bit more water than rice (i.e., 5/8 c water with 1/2 c rice), turn the heat on high and bring the water to a quick boil, as soon as it boils, give it a quick stir, put the lid on the pot and turn the heat down to the lowest setting, cook for 18 min exactly. Your rice will be perfect every time.
