Cooking While Working Long Hours

That's what I do. I eat boring food most days you probably don't wanna make, but here's some links:

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/ http://boards.wikieat.org/ http://www.browneyedbaker.com/ http://www.marksdailyapple.com/#axzz389VRK6zY http://everydaypaleo.com/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0088BLBH4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag…

Books are good cuz you don't wanna be fiddling with a laptop with sauce on your hands.

http://www.kitchendaily.com/ http://www.foodnetwork.com/

Very cool, but a bit low on calories: https://naturebox.com/

https://www.onnit.com/ http://hipleasures.com/

Last but not least:

http://thugkitchen.com/

Like @Dingdong08 above points out, cooking for one is never really feasible, unless you do it in big batches on a Sunday. But do you really want to be reheating the same chili all week; will you really eat it?

For me, and I work for myself in Dallas so I have more time, I still eat out a lot/pick up food. It's just easier and there's so much variety & options.

But if you really want to cook for yourself in batches, either do it on a Sunday, or put stuff (stews, roasts etc.) in a crockpot on low before work. You can also sous-vide steaks, pork loin. But then you need sides.

It's hard for most people to have enough willpower to want to meal plan & cook after long days, and working out and every other life commitment. The sandwich place one block over just takes over.

On the point of cooking, I cook for about 5 days worth at a time. While I don't know if most people can deal with the monotony of my simple diet, it does meet your requirements of (1) easy, (2) cooked in large bathes and (3) healthy. Long story short, 90% of my caloric intake for dinner and lunch are based on rice, beans, and mixed veggies. (The latter only happens if I'm not catching lunch with the team - this happens roughly 30% of the time). Rice can be cooked and stored for about a week and a simple rice cooker takes all the guesswork out. Beans of almost any variety just need to be soaked overnight and are fully cooked within an hour of boiling. These store well and can be frozen for longer term batches. I typically stir fry beans and veggies to add variety to my diet and use misc. seasonings such as curry or whatever I'm feeling that week. Layer the bottom of a Pyrex 3 cup container and cover with said beans/veggies and you'll have a very filling and healthy lunch.

On the point of cost, a week's worth of regular beans will run you about 2 dollars (2lbs). Brown rice will be less than a dollar if you don't go out if your way to get organic. Organic beans and rice will run you approx. 5-8 dollars a week. Veggies is a mixed bag in terms of cost with an effective daily cost ranging from $0.30-$1.50.

I've been following this diet for approx. 9 months now. Obviously have deviations when I hang out with friends, grab lunch with coworkers, or just feel like grabbing a burger every now and then, but I rather enjoy it and I've definitely improved overall health on observable metrics (e.g. Blood pressure, resting heart rate, gym performance, etc).

Lastly, as a trailing point, my hours are 6:30-20:30 on average in the office. Not as bad as bankers, but I think this demonstrates the ability to abide by this diet even with above average hours.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Try Hot Pockets. You can make those at home pretty quickly.

Cobb salad, salade chevre chaud, bread salad and greek salad are all very easy to make and require minimal effort. Creamed spinach (be sure to add dried red chili flakes), this one is money, easy to make and good with virtually any protein. Poule au pot is definitely a good one because it requires 15-20 minutes of effort and the rest is just waiting for it to finish in the oven. Nice thing about that is you can then take the leftover vegetables and make a stir fry the next day or two.

Quiche is a good one to make earlier in the week, I recommend any that have feta and sun dried tomatoes. Fish tacos are also easy, and again delicious. If you have a smoker (unlikely I realize), you can put in brisket and let that fucker go for 22hrs, or pork ribs or butt. Which then you have an awesome meat ready to go for anything you want to use it for, burritos, stir fry, on its own, pulled pork, ropa vieja etc. IF you go that route, consult me, I am a master at smoking meats. Israeli couscous can be used to make an awesome pasta salad, also a go to. I'd plan your meals out, because you don't want to be buying very different ingredients for a dozen different recipes, one it gets expensive that way and two you are more likely to throw excess away. It's also the little things, like if you buy fresh bread and starts going stale (it will!!) make french toast with it, believe it or not it was initially designed to be made with bread that's going stale. Last one I'll recommend, get those take home and bake pizzas and then just doctor it up with extra meat, olives, cheese etc.

The reality is you are probably going to eat out more often than not and you don't want food going bad, so unless you are willing to freeze your proteins I'd only buy them 2-3 days out max. On another note, you may just not want to cook after working so many hours which is going to be a significant adjustment from college life. I'd just get some staple meals and snacks around the house so you aren't hungry in your home and see what your schedule is like. Last thing I need is someone slinging MS at me for buying a shit ton of groceries that all sat and went bad :)

Cooking dinner on the weekend for the entire week should be your best bet. Freeze what you're not going to eat immediately and thaw as needed. Some cheap meals I make are chicken/salmon and different veggies, chile, peppers stuffed with meat and rice, and stews. Get a rice cooker / slow cooker too.

I know I'm gonna catch shit for this but www.skinnytaste.com is a great site. Food is relatively healthy and, for the most part, very easy to make. Mrs. MistMaker couldn't cook to save her life but since she started following the site, she's improved a lot. Cooking really isn't hard just following the directions and after while you'll get a hold of what works and doesn't.

Personally, I LOVE to cook (wanted to be a chef for a while) but i HATE cooking anything complicated during the week. When I get home I just wanna workout, eat and turn my brain off for a bit before bed, so I tend to take a big part of the day during Sunday to cook a ton of food. Example - This past Sunday I made enough ropa vieja, black beans and rice to last me though the middle of next week.

As far as other meals... Breakfast is the simplest of all and normally includes 1 egg, 2 egg whites, 1 piece wheat toast, 1/4 tbls butter. Once in a while I'll eat some oatmeal or cereal to change it up. I have the best (or worst) perk at the office in that they buy me lunch everyday so I don't have to plan ahead for it. Normally I will get salad or a sandy with fruit or side salad.

Happy to answer any cooking questions. I am well versed in the culinary arts.

I haven't read through the rest of the comments, but on Saturday or Sunday morning I'll do a week's worth of cooking so that I just have to take the food out of the freezer everyday and I''ll have my meals ready for the week. It can be monotonous, but you can always mix it up.

Here's what I do For breakfast (can do early morning): - Easy 2 min microwave oatmeal with bananas, protein powder, strawberries (5 min max) - Or some eggs with onions and toast (10 min max) - Or smoothie with protein powder with toast and peanut butter (2 min max)

Lunch/Dinner: (Cook everything on a Saturday or Sunday) - You can broil or bake a bunch of chicken breasts (5x) - Use the crockpot and get some pulled pork going (Can easily last a week) - Salmon (may not be the best for late in the week but have it Mon/Tues) - Huge 1 pounder bowl of pasta for the week - Get some instant rice or instant quinoa for a side - Pre-chop all vegetables and add them (if you even eat vegetables)

But sometimes, just going for a good night out will do the trick for dinner...everything in moderation

Hope this helps

I did this for a while, it does suck eating the same thing over & over, but you gotta do it. my personal favorites were pesto pasta, chili, burrito bowls (sans tortilla), and paella.

I use this at school:

http://www.cookinglight.com/food/quick-healthy-recipes

All of them are relatively healthy and can be made in 20ish minutes. Some might require some extra prep work but nothing that takes very long at all.

Would highly recommend the spicy honey-brushed chicken thighs:

http://www.cookinglight.com/food/quick-healthy/quick-easy-chicken-recip…

IlliniProgrammer's marinara ravioli with fresh vegetables:

LIST 1: -Broccoli -Mushrooms -Yellowtail Cabernet Sauvignon. -Salt -Pepper -Garlic (garlic salt is ok if pressed for time) -Rosemary Optional: Chicken Breast (adds 2 minutes to prep time)

LIST 2: Marinara Sauce

LIST 3: Ravioli (Bertolli or Rana are both good) OR Penne or Rotini (will take longer)

LIST 4: Parmesan Cheese Dole Salad Low-fat Salad Dressing (EG Ken's lite vinaigrette)

Step 1: Put list 1 in a pan. Sear vegetables and chicken in wine.

Step 2: put list 2 in a pot of water. Heat until 2-3 minutes past boiling for Ravioli or until al dente for pasta (~10 mins)

Step 3: add list 3 to pan with list 1 in it. Stir.

Step 4: Put contents of both pots on plate, pouring lists 1 &3 over list 2.

Step 5: add list 4 to plate.

Step 6: (Optional but strongly suggested) drink remaining cheap wine that was not required to cook vegetables.

APPROX PREP TIME: 10-15 minutes (Ravioli), 15-20 minutes (dry pasta)

Works best with dishwasher to clean saucepan.

If youre looking to minimize prep time and maximize ability to either keep in the fridge or make extra on the fly I would suggest some version of Paleo. Im not trying to tout its claims of health or anything like that, its just i find it generally takes the least amount of time to make because it revolves around fresh fruit/veg, nuts, and proteins that you dont necessarily have to cook. If youre not into it, ill echo everyone else and say its easiest if you find what you like and just stick the same types of stuff with some variation on day to day (i.e. rotate oatmeal, protein shakes/smoothies, eggs all week for bfast). Try the link below if you wanna give paleo-equese eating a shot.

http://nomnompaleo.com/recipeindex

Making time every day is impossible. I tried making batches at beginning of the week, but that's challenging because it's tough to predict how often I'll be going for lunch with co-workers or higher ups.

I can't wait for my Soylent to ship already.

I'm happy if I manage to cook one or two meals in a week...

Clutch device number one: crock pot. But be warned...if you don't clean it, it's going to make your apartment/house/condo smell terrible. I made that mistake, and I've dealt with it ever since. First world problems.

In general, I'll fry up things in a non-stick pan, but use olive oil instead of other, less healthy oils/non-stick sprays. I can usually cook food really fast and basically just throw it in and leave it there. I also get tons of frozen vegetables and throw them in the microwave.

One additional tip: go buy a ton of meats on a Sunday when you can get some time off, prepare them all (seasoning and cleaning) immediately, and then you can cook them throughout the week. I'll usually cook enough for 4-5 meals and then go from there.

I went through a period of eating sweet potato mash, broccoli & sweet potato mash with a bit of Nandos hot sauce.

I try and cook 2-3 times a week, each time for the 2-3 days ahead mainly because I'm inept with freezers otherwise I'd cook once.

in my experience it's not the cooking but the prep that's hard - learn how to cut veggies properly and drill a few recipes you'll commit to so you move fast...

I used to do it religiously, but this past year I gave up on it - it's just too much time and effort for too little payoff, especially when I pre-order Chipotle and hit all of my macros

That said, if you're dead set on shopping for and cooking most of your meals, it is absolutely imperative that you eat pretty much the same thing day in and day out.

My meal plan used to be:

Eggs, Broccoli, Instant Oatmeal, Glass of OJ

Protein Shake w/ water, Almonds, piece of fruit

Turkey Sandwich + Soup OR a Foot long sub

Protein shake w/ water, Almonds, piece of fruit

Chicken/Salmon/Steak, Rice/Potatoes, Broccoli

Here is a bulk recipe for some super healthy chili - http://www.food.com/recipe/dr-johns-chili-150787. Berardi has some legit protein bar recipes as well, I would check out his stuff.

Last but certainly not least, http://www.soylent.me/. I was a backer on kickstarter and unfortunately they haven't started shipping to Canada yet, but this is what I've been waiting for. I would 100% make this for 90% of my meals if it ends up tasting OK and not causing some strange physical/mental ailments.

Cesar salad is the easiest thing to make and it's pretty good if it's all fresh...

Important to me to make dinner myself as often as possible while working the long hours. Breakfast and lunch are an afterthought but cooking after a long day forces you to relax and concentrate on something entirely unrelated from work which I think does some good.

Nothing crazy but I'll get some chicken breast, sausage, vegetables, eggs each week and make sure I've got some pasta/pasta sauce and rice in the apartment. Pretty basic and not the meal of a world class athlete but good and fresh.

Couple really easy dinners that aren't exceptionally expensive.

Pasta Carbonara Ingredients: Pasta, eggs, bacon, parmigiano-reggiano cheese (don't skimp) Slice bacon into small pieces and cook until crisp. While this is happening, cook the pasta until al dente. When it's done, drain, and add the cooked bacon and some of the grease. Mix together two eggs for each pound of pasta you use with a generous amount of parm and black pepper, and toss the hot pasta with this until it's a nice creamy consistency.

Pasta with meat sauce Ingredients: Pasta, ground beef, arrabiata sauce Season the ground beef with a combination of paprika, cayenne, onion and garlic powder, and red pepper and cook. Once it's done, add in the arrabiata and let it simmer. Cook pasta until just before al dente, drain (leave in about a half cup of the pasta water), and add in the sauce. Let it cook for a few more minutes and enjoy with fresh parm.

Stir fried rice and veggies Ingredients: rice, veggies, eggs, protein of your choice Cook the rice ahead of time and in bulk. You can use this shit for just about anything. The next day, cook up whatever protein you want, marinated in soy sauce, sriracha, olive oil, and a little bit of minced ginger, until it's cooked through. Remove the protein, but add veggies back into whatever is left in the pan, adding more vegetable oil. Once those are cooked, add in the rice and protein and mix. When the rice is browned, add in one or two eggs, and slightly scramble into the rice mixture. Finish with soy sauce and sriracha and dig in.

Also, the Four Hour Chef is great for some quick, really good recipes. It's by Tim Ferris and you can get it on Amazon.

Listen, If you want to eat right, you need to prep your own food and weight it out. When your working in a cubical, its easy to let yourself go, I was eating burger, and subs everyday and boy I was getting big (I was also hitting the gym too (no cardio)).

Nowadays my diet is better, I cook my meals 5 days a week and eating out the rest.

Breakfast = Turkey +wheat bread or Kashi Cereal for protein.

L n Dinner

Meat: Chicken Shrimp Pork

Starch: Yams Rice (easiest) Potatoes

Veggies Your choice

Bake everything bro.

And if you hate veggies ( I love veggies) you can also make your own protein shake.

just look it up.

Quick sauce recipe

What you need • Large can of crushed San Marzano tomatoes • Few things of garlic, diced • 1 large onion (or some shallots), diced • FRESH basil

Directions – Heat up some olive oil, add diced onion. Sauté until it starts to loosen up. Add the garlic, continue to sauté until garlic is soft and the onion begins to melt. DON’T BROWN ANYTHING. Now add the tomatoes, stir, and bring to a simmer. Next add in a bunch of torn basil leaves. Stir, let simmer for ~15 min, stir occasionally. Simmer it uncovered if you like your sauce a little thicker.

This will keep for a while (or you can freeze it) and you can put this on almost anything; chicken, veg, fish, steaks. Roasted broc with some of this on top, damn good. One of my favorites is to brown a lb of ground veal and mix. You could add some pasta to it or you could just spoon it into your mouth with some good bread.

The beauty of working in these demanding positions is that it will force you to examine your diet habbits and adjust as well as develop appreciation for free time. I'm in the healthy cooking camp myself and to pull this off I think you need to start with living as close to work as possible. This will give you the time to come home and actually cook meals that have short prep times without rushing and even have the time to catch up on a show. This was and will again be my diet and I don't mind cooking the same thing week-in and week-out simply because I adjust and play around with staples enough to satisfy that yearning for variety:

• Pasta dishes
• Fajita's
• Quinoa w/ vegetables
• Stir-fry w/vegetables
• Rice w/ various curries (Living with Indians helps)
• Homemade Sandwiches (Let your imagination go wild with this one)
• Quick/Basic Salads (Spinach/Romaine,Tomatoes,Peppers,Cucumber)
• Soups (Not the carton/powder crap, but from the local farmer's market in bottles)
• Salmon

By the time I get through my "arsenal" I can easily go back to the top of the list and bring a ton of nuts,fruits,seeds and bars to have by the desk to get me through the rest of the day supplemented with any company-sponsored meal. Just mix and match between these so you don't get bored of eating the same combinations.

To address the buying and letting it spoil issue: if you never did groceries or haven't lived on your own it might be tough at the beginning to know how fast things spoil, but there is no reason not to know after you throw out that 5th batch of vegetables. Figure out how much you'll need and how fast it spoils and adjust to your eating habbits. It's basic management skills that people before this generation would have before they even reached puberty.

And if you're feeling drained and just want something out, there is nothing wrong with that. No need to keep yourself on either side of the extreme all the time. In the end, your cooking will really just become throwing shit in, mixing it together and stressing over bigger things in life than whether or not you put enough salt or pepper.

To me, cooking is a pain and a waste of time. I'm incredibly culinary-challenged as well, so I feel you.

I'm guilty of eating out way too often, but I try to at least make some healthy smoothies here and there. I used to work at a bubble tea shop when I was in high school and learned quite a few smoothie recipes as well.

If you're into that stuff, a good one is the avocado and kale smoothie:

Half an avocado Kale Ice cubes Greek yogurt Milk (could be almond, soy, etc.) Brown sugar

The portions don't really matter, just don't overload with ice cubes otherwise the thing will never blend, and don't pour too much milk all at once since it tends to expand the smoothie and possibly make it overflow.

You could do the same with other fruits as well.