Fern and Fog

Sometimes life is overwhelming. Shit, sometimes just one day is overwhelming and I just can’t with anything. Has that happened to you? Where you open your eyes in the morning and just the thought of the stuff that you have to get done is making you want to stay in bed? Just pull those covers right back up and just….hibernate for the day.

Other days, I have so much energy that I get everything on my list done and then some. I’ve been hyper-focused on baking things lately. Cookies, cakes, bread. Doesn’t matter what it is, I’ve been doing it. And then, I run out of energy and focus and just hit a wall. I’m done, no fork required.

On days where I just don’t have energy, we were ordering out for dinner and I am tired of it. There aren’t a lot of places here in town that I can eat safely so the choices are slim. I can’t just order anything, no matter how much I really want to. And even if I could pick something off a menu, it wouldn’t be completely safe for me to eat and I could get sick because of cross contamination. And that is just not any fun for anybody. So, I’ve been working on meals that I can just throw in the oven or instant pot and not use a ton of energy.

We have finally gotten into a new schedule with the kids and they are now splitting more equal time with both parents. Which makes it easier to plan meals and have a wider variety. They aren’t picky so much as there are just a few things that they have texture issues with so we stay away from those ingredients when we have them. All of this means making time to meal plan.

To be honest, it’s one of my favorite things to do. I think I have it to where it takes little to no brain juice to throw it together. I do at least a week at a time, but try to do the whole month. I used to make sure that I made the meal I had planned for that day, but now I put meals down on the calendar and if I need to move something, it’s no big deal. Especially if we end up with the kids unexpectedly or something comes up.

I keep a list….okay let’s be real, I try to keep a list of things in the freezer that I can use to make meals. We use a lot of frozen veggies because I can’t keep up with them fresh. And it’s so easy to just throw them in a casserole with meat and have a meal.

Some days, even pulling something out to go in the instant pot is tooooo much. I’m trying to make a list of things that I don’t even have to cook. Before I went gluten free, I used to eat ravioli straight from the can. Now that I can’t do convenience foods, I have trouble finding things that I can do fast without cooking.

So, these are some things that I do now. They require minimal energy and even the kids can do them when they get hungry.

1. Cereal. I mean it’s just pouring milk into a bowl. I can do that. Maybe.
2. Tuna. Either making the tuna salad with the mayo and stuff, or eating it from the can (the kids think that’s gross, but you gotta do what ya gotta do sometimes). Some of the pouches are also gluten free, so I just smear them on bread or crackers.
3. Sandwiches. We do them for lunch with some chips or cottage cheese. There isn’t a commercially made gluten free bread that I can eat without toasting. It’s gross and spongy and I just can’t with the texture.
4. Crackers and cheese. If you haven’t tried Boars Head dill havarti….oh man that stuff is good. I throw some meat on the crackers if we have some.
5. Cottage cheese and fruit. I love pineapple, tomatoes or strawberries
6. Chips and salsa. Pour it in a bowl and dip. We use either regular chips or tortilla, whichever is here.
7. Salad from a bag. I don’t keep lettuce because it goes bad, but if we grab a couple bags of salad it goes fast. We add whatever veggies and meat we have on hand.
8. Rotisserie chicken. I love this stuff. Shredded off the bone and we throw it in salads, casseroles, eat it straight from the dish.
9. Quesadillas. 2 tortillas, shredded cheese, maybe some of that chicken and 20 seconds in the microwave.
10. Fish sticks. Into the oven, flip them once. We usually have them with fries if we have them.

It’s not fancy. It’s usually not pretty. It’s something to put food in my body when I just don’t have the energy to do much.

What are your favorite meals to eat when you don’t want to cook a meal?