good things to make when cooking makes you want to puke?

[ksera05]

I'm okay with eating right now, but I'm not so hot on cooking. Last night I tried to make a veggie lasagne and I had to do it in shifts...5 minutes in the kitchen, 5 out, 5 in, 5 out... I'm having trouble coming up with ideas of things to make while I'm feeling this way, that are also easy enough that if DH has to make them after he gets home from work, he can.

So far I've come up with:

-spaghetti with salad
-BLTs (mine without bacon)
-grilled cheese
-frozen pizza (don't judge me )

help? Mexican sounds horrible to me so easy things like tacos and burritos are out. Right now the only things that actually sound really good are kraft mac and cheese and mashed potatoes, sigh. we do have a membership to Sam's club...I'm thinking of maybe buying a bag of chicken tenders or something for DH, I don't know. We wouldn't usually eat that stuff but desperate times call for desperate measures. DH is working a lot lately so I don't want to just dump cooking on him too...

[ksera05]

well, we went shopping and figured out a few things tonight:

-tri cheese tortellini have a lot of protein per serving and don't look too bad
-bagels
-angel hair pasta

Bleh. why does nothing look good right now?

[Leilalu]

steak salad

veggies sauteed(we do CSA) with beans and cheese in a burritto

TJ's sausage with cheddar

some of my current favs

[ksera05]

hmm. if i left out the beans, veggies and cheese in a burrito would be really good!!! (beans make me sick right now...sigh)

[rootzdawta]

Not in your DDC but my philosophy is . . . don't feel guilty about not eating the *best* during the first trimester. Eat what is appealing to you and what you can stand. Once the nausea goes away, go all out with the healthy stuff. That being said . . . I could tolerate

pasta with cold sauce
TJs soy nuggets made in the oven
boiled eggs and toast with butter (Earth balance)
veggie burger (soy based) made in the oven
cold cereal
frozen waffles and soy sausage (made in the oven)

I found that making stuff in the oven made the smell less intense than pan frying.

[tsfairy]

Also not in your DDC but what saved me in the first tri was those frozen bag meals - I think Stouffer brand was the one we liked. They have a decent amount of meat, not too much sauce, and some good veggies. They do have some preservatives, but no msg or hfcs, so they were overall much healthier than almost anything else I could tolerate cooking. And they're almost completely hands-off - throw it in the pan, cover, walk away for 8 min, come back, stir, walk away, come back in 8 min and dinner is ready. That was the kind of cooking I could handle!

[Mama2-4]

I have really been struggling with cooking, tonight I went to the grocery store and bought a few frozen dinners....the kids were really happy, they love them, and I was happy b/c they were fed! Whatever gets you through the first trimester is a-okay in my book!

Sandwiches are great b/c they don't produce any smells when making them!

[Wabi Sabi]

I'm right there with you. I just can't tolerate cooking right now- I'm much too queasy to deal with food preparation. I won't even admit how much we've just been living on fast food lately...it's been horrible, but there's just something about Taco Bell bean burritos that call my name, and french fries are sometimes the only thing that appeals to me- and when I'm feeling sick, we need to eat, and need something cheap, well...you do what you've gotta do. :

However, in an effort to curb our eating out I've now bought some prepackaged convienance foods at the grocery store. Maybe not the healthiest things possible and certainly way more processed than we normally eat, but it's gotta be better than the fast food.

Kashi makes some frozen meals that are pretty good and I don't feel too bad about eating, plus there are a few other decent frozen things in our local grocery store's health food/organic freezer section- various ethnic meals, Amy's frozen meals and pizzas, veggie burgers, etc. I also bought some canned organic soups. Sandwiches are also pretty easy, so is pita bread and store-bought hummus. For the kids, they're more than happy with a lunch that consists of cheese, crackers, a cut-up avocado and an apple or other piece of fruit.

When all else fails, cold cereal and milk often does the trick too. We normally don't eat much breakfast cereal and I rarely buy it, but lately it's been a lifesaver. Oh, and I've discovered that homemade oatmeal is really soothing to the stomach as well and the smell isn't offensive when it's being made. Yogurt is also easy to grab and eat without any preparation at all (I've resorted to buying the individual pre-sweetened cups rather than our normal bulk-sized containers of plain, unsweetened stuff).

[NamastePlatypus]

Originally Posted by ksera05

well, we went shopping and figured out a few things tonight:

-tri cheese tortellini have a lot of protein per serving and don't look too bad
-bagels
-angel hair pasta

Bleh. why does nothing look good right now?

we get that stuff too!!

I have the same problem... I have made lasagna by layaring raviolis and ricotta mixed with spagatti sauce.

we have angel hair and alfredo, form a jar:

um I wiil write more when I remember them.

[NamastePlatypus]

Originally Posted by rootzdawta

Not in your DDC but my philosophy is . . . don't feel guilty about not eating the *best* during the first trimester. Eat what is appealing to you and what you can stand. Once the nausea goes away, go all out with the healthy stuff. That being said . . . I could tolerate

pasta with cold sauce
TJs soy nuggets made in the oven
boiled eggs and toast with butter (Earth balance)
veggie burger (soy based) made in the oven
cold cereal
frozen waffles and soy sausage (made in the oven)

I found that making stuff in the oven made the smell less intense than pan frying.

AMEN!! THANK YOU!!! As I sit here with my fourth bowl of coco puffs:

for the record, I have been so anal about organic and vegginess but alas this first trimester is DETERMINED to make me go back to my hfcs, msg, meat ways: as soon as I get to feeling better I am back on my wagon:

[BinahYeteirah]

Originally Posted by mom2-3

Sandwiches are great b/c they don't produce any smells when making them!

Speak for yourself, lol. The smell of bread is really gross for me right now.

[zulupetalz]

ugh, I know just what you mean. I hate hate hate cooking right now. Basically anything where I have to handle any kind of meat just kills me. I've been making my husband do a lot of it, because if I do it I find that I can't eat it when I am done.

[taralv]

I've had a hard time with cooking, too. I just can't do it. And, in addition to my two children, I also have my step-son (14) and his brother (17) visiting for the summer. So, this is what I've done: lots of deli meats and cheeses and sub rolls so that they can make sandwiches for lunch, pbj sandwiches for the little ones, cereal/donuts/waffles for breakfast, and yogurt, fruit, crackers and cheese/pb for snacks. Dinners have been mostly more of the same but occasionally we go out to eat. I can't eat any of that, but I get by with oatmeal or an english muffin in the morning, velveeta mac n cheese for lunch, avocados with chips for snack and depending on how I feel, I'll make something for dinner. Like everyone else has said, this is NOT how we normally eat. We are all gluten intolerant/sensitive (but not celiac), so normally I make our own bread and we eat a lot of veggies, chicken, rice etc... But, I have to eat whatever I can eat right now. And I just hope that I feel better soon! Good luck.

Tara

[ksera05]

last night my husband ended up making kraft mac and cheese : to go with the rotisserre chicken we bought. because that was the only thing that sounded even remotely good to me. : at least it doesn't have transfat.

veggie burgers! I'll have to pick some up. That's a great idea and lots of protein.

Leah, this baby is also conspiring against my wish to go organic :

[ksera05]

Originally Posted by BinahYeteirah

Speak for yourself, lol. The smell of bread is really gross for me right now.

[loraxc]

I like cold things with no smells. For me, this means sandwiches, salads with protein on top, and vegetarian sushi.

[PlayaMama]

boy, me too! we have tons of fresh veggies in the fridge that i just can't handle cutting up. i'm usually sooo non-processed and healthy and lately i just keep putting things in the oven so i don't have to cook them.

i'm making a grocery list (which is almost too much in itself!) for my dh that basically consists of anything frozen and prepackaged from trader joe's. amy's stuff, taquito's, frozen bag dinners (gnochi, rice w/veggies), veggie corn dogs, veggie "chick" nuggets.

it's ironic that right before i got pregnant i went shopping for all the staples so i could make even more of our food at home (tortillas, crackers etc.) and now i can't even look at the bag of flax seeds without gagging.

[phillybama]

I am having this same problem. I am living mainly off of non-cooked food (cereal, crackers, etc.), but I can handle cooking grilled cheese sandwiches. The only thing I can figure is that it is really the intense smells I cannot handle. As long as it doesn't smell strongly (heavily spiced, garlic, onions, and herbs), I "may" be able to handle it.

Whenever my DH asks, "Do you think you can eat this?", my response is, "I make no promises."

I was able to stomach some homemade fish sticks (not fishy smelling) last night, so I felt good.

Anyone else craving sour things, like sour patch kids and cranberry juice?

[justmama]

Originally Posted by ksera05

well, we went shopping and figured out a few things tonight:

-tri cheese tortellini have a lot of protein per serving and don't look too bad
-bagels
-angel hair pasta

Bleh. why does nothing look good right now?

that's my problem. I am so nauseous half the time and the other half I have absolutely no appetite and try to force myself to eat anyway and end up nauseous again. What do I do? You aren't the only one. This pregnancy is rough!

[True Blue]

I'd make a phone call for delivery LOL!

Cereal is good, scrambled eggs, waffles...at least for me, breakfat foods sound heavenly!