Ugh, my tummy hurts... I'd love some advice on my new situation and how to get back to TF

[eastkygal]

I just ate one of those macaroni and cheese kits from Save-A-Lot and my belly hurts.  YUCK!  Over the last 6 months or so, I've gotten really out of synch with my TF eating and cooking.  DH opened his own tattoo studio and has been crazy busy, which is great, but it means he isn't home to eat hardly ever.  He doesn't have a way to heat food at the studio, so he doesn't take leftovers.  I've basically quit cooking anything that is not an already portioned meal if you know what I mean.  Like soup and sandwich, hot dogs, salads, lots of yogurt, some frozen Kashi dinners, cereal, etc...  My girls and I deserve better food.  They won't even eat when I cook a real supper now.  I've gained about 15lbs. in this time as well.

I don't want to waste food because the girls won't eat, or it gets thrown out because I can't eat it all.  I have a hard time eating most leftovers too, so when I was doing TF really well, we ate it all gone unless it was soup or something like that.  I also work part time from home and homeschool the girls.  I'm just not keeping up and going for the easy band-aid food wise.  

Does anyone have any suggestions of how I can get back on track that is simple?  Good food is very hard to come by where I live, and I can't order it online.  It's getting ready to get even worse as well.  I've got to do something.  Would Paleo be easier to keep up with than TF?  Maybe I could do part time Paleo???

Thanks for your suggestions. 

[BubblingBrooks]

I would head to the closest box store and buy two crockpots. One for hubby to take to work, and the other to stay with you at home.
Its cooler weather now, and root veges are in season.
Don't worry about organic right now. Remember that at the least, it needs to be a real food and proper prep.
Just buy potatos, carrots, rutabegas, turnips and onions.
Look for cheap cuts of stew meats.
If you have a canner, you can chunk up that meat and can it for super simple stew prep.

I make the following in a regular basis now.
1 quart of stew meat and one can of tomato sauce.
equal amounts of carrots and taters or rutabegas.
An onion and salt, pepper and rosemary for seasoning.
Takes about 10 minutes to throw in the pot,and you can let it simmer all night or all day as needed.

You can make a chicken version as well.

[cristeen]

A crockpot is a great idea for the studio.  We keep our crockpot full of water, and just drop pint jars of food into it to heat up in a water bath.  We reheat oatmeal that way for DH's breakfast, I make a big batch, pack it into pint jars, then just pop one in the crockpot before bed each night.  The other night I did one of oatmeal and one of soup both, so he could take soup in his thermos. 

I'll also say that my DH never reheats his food.  I pack his lunch with leftovers every day, and he eats is whatever temp it is at lunch time.  Although using a stainless tiffin, I used to reheat my lunch in the toaster oven at work.  It had a timer that would let it cook for 10 minutes and then shut off.  I'd stick my food in, walk away and come back to warm food. 

As for how to get back on track, that one's harder, and one I struggle with from time to time.  One step at a time.  Or maybe one meal at a time would be easiest.  Maybe start with breakfast, do that for a week, then work on lunch (or dinner if that's easier).  Meal planning can be really great when you're trying to make the transition.