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homemade "convenience" foods

post #1 of 18
Thread Starter 
When I had DS1, I lived on Luna bars and snacks like that. Problem is they are loaded with soy (I try to stay away from the processed soy these days) and pretty expensive at about $1/each if you get a case of them.

However, due to nursing my giant baby non-stop I am always hungry and I wind up grabbing whatever is easy... usually cold cereal or lately halloween candy. Yeah, real healthy, right?

Any ideas for on-the-go homemade convenience foods I can prep ahead of time?

One thing I do keep on hand is nuts. I snack on them a lot, but they do get a little boring. I eat apples and PB and green smoothies sometimes too, but neither are grab-and-go.
post #2 of 18
I'm in the same boat. I try and eat healthhy snacks but they all seem to take a little time to make, and I don't plan ahead too much for snacks, I just wait till I am really hungry. Lately I have been reaching for the not so healthy snacks in the house that dh eats. So while I have no real recipes to share I have been meaning to try making a few things so now I have more motivation to do so.

We bought a bag of trail mix at costco, and I really like the sweet/salty mix. I will be making my own without the m&m's loaded with who knows what, why I didn't already do this I have no idea I mean I have always loved trail mix, I guess I bought it for the convenience and a reminder.

I have really wanted to make my own energy bars for a long time now. We do a lot of outdoor activites and eat Clif bars and the like when we do, or even when running errands. But I think they have way too much sugar, sometimes they hurt my teeth, and ds doesn't need all that not to mention the heavily processed ingredients. One thing I want to try and copy are Clif Mojo Bars, we just had them for the first time last week and they were really good and seemed simple to replicate, keeping out all the weird stuff.

So I will try some thing this weekend or next week and let you know.
post #3 of 18
As a full-time student with a full-time job, I have had to realllllly work on this. Here are some of my favorites...
Carrot sticks and hummus
Muffins!
Anything "leftover-y" in tupperware... (noodles, potato salad, seasoned black beans, applesuace, etc)
Bananas
String cheese
post #4 of 18
Alton Brown did an episode on making your own granola bars and protein bars, as well as a healthy Rice Krispies treats. I don't have the link on hand (NAK), but I'm sure it's easily google-able.
post #5 of 18
Have you had a Lara bar? My sister worked on replicating them with good success. I've not had one but I understand the ingredients are just dried fruit, pulverized, mixed with chopped nuts.
post #6 of 18
String cheese! So good!
Muffins or mini bagels
Any kind of nuts, we love nuts here! Peanuts, cashews, almonds etc
Dried fruits
Crackers and pre-cubed cheese [love love love cubed cheese, I either do it myself or try to find inexpensive cheese that's cubed in a variety pack]
post #7 of 18
Re: muffins - To save you on time, make big batches of muffins (2 or 3 times the recipe) and then freeze them. I add different things to a basic recipe so I get variety on each batch. You can do the same with granola bars. They'll defrost quickly either by leaving some out on the counter for later, or popping in the microwave. One of my favorites is a pumpkin & apple muffin made with whole wheat -- yummy and good for you. Banana muffins with walnuts - the possibilities are endless.

Also - you can make some savory muffins (cheese, meats, veggies) to get additional variety and again freeze and pull out what you want, when you need it. Think of a cheddar, bacon, spinach muffin....that kind of thing. Muffins are like mini-meals!

I do homemade yogurt, but you could look into some yogurt tubes for added convenience. I think Stonybrook makes some, but not sure.
post #8 of 18
Sorry you're not finding enough time/remembering to feed yourself. You need to keep up that energy for your big boy! I WOH, and need to be able to grab my bkfst and lunch as i am running out the door... so, i have LOTS of ideas for make-ahead type of convenience foods. they take some initial prep, but none more than 30 minutes or so if you have all the ingredients... (not including baking time) I'd be happy to get recipes together for any of these if you'd like, but I dont have them with me here.

I read on another site about breakfast biscuit sandwiches- if you made a large batch of cheese biscuits, you could add the egg (scrambled) and chicken or another kind of sausage... build individual sandwiches, wrap and freeze. thaw in fridge the night before maybe then put into the toaster oven, or microwave for a minute from frozen

I personally make pumpkin wheat bran breakfast bars. I modified a "pumpkin bar" recipe to include raw honey, applesauce instead of oil, toasted walnuts (or any nut would work), plain yogurt, added wheat bran and WW flour instead of white flour. they were DELICIOUS, and really filling. a medium baking sheet yielded 15 bars that I cut then froze. into the toaster oven for 2 minutes, or the mic for 20 seconds had them warm and delicious!

I second everyones reco's for muffins! they are so easy. I'm eating a WW banana nut muffin that came from a triple batch in the freezer. I also change up ingredients in the big batch of liquid- some get choco chips (for DH) some get walnuts, hazlenuts, etc, dried fruit... it's all so yummy, and fall is the perfect time to make-ahead and freeze! and the suggestion for savory muffins- i am SO trying that before Thanksgiving!

Do you have time/freezer space to make a huge pot of soup with beans, some kind of meat, and veggies? you can freeze (sorry, freezer is my BFF) individual portions, and have a whole warm meal, again in a few minutes in the mic or on the stove. I use 2C pyrex containers with some room for expansion, you could even use freezer bags set into a bowl if you let the soup cool first, then just pop the frozen contents into a bowl before microwaving.

this is also a great time for pot pie! (I admit to using store-bought pie crust) but a few 8 oz ramekins with a layer of dough on the bottom, some veggies and meat of your choice, plus broth, herbs (and more veggies!), topped with another layer of dough is delicious!! thaw on counter for 10 minutes, then into a 475 deg. oven for 15 minutes or until top is brown... YUM!

I make burritos/wraps ahead of time too- huge batch of some kind of seasoned meat or just seasoned black and red beans smashed up, spread into WW wraps, add cheese, veggies, and beans (if using meat instead for first layer) wrap individual wraps in waxed paper, restaurant style, put into ziploc bags with flavor written on outside, and into (you guessed it) the freezer! Unwrap, place fold down on plate, and 2 minutes on medium heat in the micro, serve with salsa, sour cream, guacamole, etc... so easy, and again, most of your food groups in here, if you can add veggies inside. you could have carrot sticks on the side, too, and dip in the salsa or guac.

OK, there are many more, but i think i've reached me marathon post allotment for the morning.

ETA: lots of these are grab-and-heat-and-go... sorry.
many could be left to thaw in the fridge a fw at a time, since ingredients are cooked first anyway...
post #9 of 18
Two of the grab-and-eat meals I make here are egg custard and egg muffins. If you can handle a bowl of cereal with a spoon, then you can do a custard. I bake them on the weekend and pop them in the fridge for the week.

Custards are egg, fruit, milk, and a touch of honey. Muffins are egg, veg, maybe some meat, and/or cheese. Both can be cooked, popped into the fridge and eaten cold.
post #10 of 18
A few things I didn't see mentioned:
  • hard boiled eggs (peel them before you store them)
  • cheese "crackers" (place piles of shredded cheese on a baking sheet and bake or broil until bubbly)
  • veggie sticks or toasted pita/naan with nut butter/baba ganoush/dal
  • vegetable chips with yogurt-ranch dip

Also, here's a link to the recipes from that Alton Brown show pp mentioned.
post #11 of 18
We make a lot of trail mixes and also keep a ton of dried fruit.
In the fridge we keep tubs of hummus and pesto to eat with crackers or veggies.
Pre slicing fruits, veggies and cheeses makes things a lot easier. If browned apples bothers you you can toss em with a little lemon juice.

You can pre slice some deli meat to cracker size and have that with the cheese as well.

One of my favorites is maple sweetened yogurt with strawberries, stone fruits or sprouted grain cereal.

Dh is very fond of bacon if you pre-cook it and keep it in the fridge it's easy to slap on a sandwich or just nibble with some fruit.

If you cook a quiche (or other pie) you can reheat it in portions in a toaster oven (or the like)

Yogurt cheese or cream cheese with smoked salmon is great on crackers, toast, bagels, whatever.

Years ago I used to pre-make a giant salad (minus the wet ingredients) and just add the dressing to the portions I took out.

Rice pasta salad (pasta, vinegar, olive oil, olives (or whatever you like), a little Italian seasoning and S&P and parmesan)... keeps for days and tastes so yummy.

A batch of soup makes for quick easy meals too.

HTH. I've been there... 7 years ago... I cringe to think what I ate during the day with a breast-locked, horribly colicky first baby and Dh gone for 11 hours a day.
post #12 of 18
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyFox05 View Post
Alton Brown did an episode on making your own granola bars and protein bars, as well as a healthy Rice Krispies treats. I don't have the link on hand (NAK), but I'm sure it's easily google-able.
I think a granola/protein bar would be perfect. I need to have a baking day and stock up my freezer I think.

THANKS FOR ALL THE GREAT IDEAS! I'm inspired.
post #13 of 18
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by LZP View Post
I personally make pumpkin wheat bran breakfast bars. I modified a "pumpkin bar" recipe to include raw honey, applesauce instead of oil, toasted walnuts (or any nut would work), plain yogurt, added wheat bran and WW flour instead of white flour. they were DELICIOUS, and really filling. a medium baking sheet yielded 15 bars that I cut then froze. into the toaster oven for 2 minutes, or the mic for 20 seconds had them warm and delicious!
I'd love this recipe! It sounds amazing. I think I need to grab some more pyrex for the freezer to make some of your pot pies too.
post #14 of 18
I've been making pumpkin waffles and freezing them. Lots of carbs, but it's nice to be able to pull 1/4 of one out and toast it to have something warm and crunchy real quick. Sometimes I smear them with cream cheese.
post #15 of 18
Not sure if you are veg/vegan, but I eat meat and I make 'bulk burritos' and wrap them in foil or plastic so I can just grab them and eat when I'm in a hurry. I do bacon and egg on low carb tortillas for breakfast, and chopped grilled chicken, rice, green onions, tomatos and some chipote ranch sauce wrapped in a burrito tortilla for lunch. I try to keep those 2 things stocked because those are the 2 main meals I always seem to be too busy for! But any type of burrito is easy to make ahead, grab and eat and still be pretty cheap to make!
post #16 of 18
I am crashing this party and hope I am welcome.

I am new to this forum, but not to MDC. I've been shying away from this forum, but have been led to it time and again. This topic really speaks to me. I am not the main cook in our house. DH is and he enjoys it FAR more than I. He cooks dinners from scratch that we all love. He also fixes his breakfast and DD's breakfast nearly every day. I only cash in on weekends...sometimes. I handle my own breakfasts most often and my own lunches and snacks. I would love to learn some of the above-mentioned items.

Can y'all help me with the details on the following, please?
homemade biscuits
breakfast bars
muffins (walk me through the hows of making a variety from one triple basic batch?)
pot pies
custard

I have some technical know-how in the kitchen. I whip up some yummy homemade soups and I make up pasta dishes that everyone likes. Um, that is close to the extent of my "talents" in the kitchen....although I do help DH trouble-shoot new recipes gone awry with good results.

Anyone willing to tutor me in the above???? Thanks!
post #17 of 18
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by sunnysandiegan View Post
ICan y'all help me with the details on the following, please?
homemade biscuits
breakfast bars
muffins (walk me through the hows of making a variety from one triple basic batch?)
pot pies
custard
Let me see if I can help.

Biscuits are easy. You can look up a recipe on Recipezaar.com or someplace like that. Basicallly flour, salt, baking powder and then you "cut in" butter until it looks like coarse sand. (I use a pastry cutter, but you can use two knives or a food processor for that step.) Then you put in enough water to make a dough. Roll out and cut them out. You can use a drinking glass as a cutter. The trick is to keep the dough cold and to not over work it. I haven't tried any of the suggestions on here to add fun stuff in, but I think shredded cheese and bacon mixed in sounds good.

I haven't made the breakfast bars, but most recipes I"m finding call for marshmallows to hold it together. Just like Rice Krispy Treats but with different cereals/nuts/dried fruit whatever.

As far as the muffins, I usually just make different recipes, but I'm guessing they meant making a plain batter and mixing in different things to make different flavors... like choc chips, raisins, etc.

I"ve only made big pot pies. But from what I gather it's the same deal for indivual sizes. Line the dishes with pie crust, fill with chicken/veggies/gravy and top with another crust.
post #18 of 18
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikkiethridge View Post
Not sure if you are veg/vegan, but I eat meat and I make 'bulk burritos' and wrap them in foil or plastic so I can just grab them and eat when I'm in a hurry. I do bacon and egg on low carb tortillas for breakfast, and chopped grilled chicken, rice, green onions, tomatos and some chipote ranch sauce wrapped in a burrito tortilla for lunch. I try to keep those 2 things stocked because those are the 2 main meals I always seem to be too busy for! But any type of burrito is easy to make ahead, grab and eat and still be pretty cheap to make!
Thanks for the idea! I made up some egg/cheese/bacon burritos w/ whole wheat wraps yesterday.

Tonight I'm going to make some muffins to stash in the freezer. And those pumpkin waffles sound awesome too.
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