Favorite recipes? Kitchen/pantry must haves? Organizational hacks?

I'm a bit tipsy so I apologize for the random nature of what is to follow;

I have some dietary requirements that require me to steer clear of store-bought foods as much as possible. I have major issues with diary, wheat, and sugar so most of what I eat is fruits, veggies, and lean proteins. You'd be surprised at what they sneak into even supposedly healthy pre-packaged foods (like buttermilk on salt and pepper potato chips).

A vacuum packer has changed my life. It does so much to keep me organized and healthy. I make my breakfast smoothie packs with it, so that every morning when I am in a hurry I grab one, dump it in the blender with some coconut milk, and hit the button so it blends while I take my vitamins. It's also great for portioning out meats that I buy in bulk and freeze. I often make and freeze marinades for those meats ahead of time, then as I'm packing them up I throw a cube or two of the frozen marinade in with the meat. That way when I pull it from the freezer to the fridge a day or two in advance and it will marinate while it thaws. I vacuum pack herbs and veggies from my garden in the summers/fall and freeze them, and whatever wild meats I hunt myself (which is what I originally bought it for lol).

A heavy duty blender is probably my most used appliance apart from my vacuum packer. I use it every morning for my breakfast smoothies, I make fresh herb salad dressings, salsas, marinades, and condiments like sugar-free ketchup with it. I currently have this ninja and bought some extra smoothie cups to use with it.

I MAKE SO MUCH STUFF WITH MY AIR FRYER. It makes perfect herb roasted potatoes, air-grilled salmon steak, roasted chicken, healthy fried eggs, I swear there's an air fryer recipe for just about anything cooked. What I like most about it is that I can set it when I get home and have my evening meal ready to eat by the time I'm out of the shower.

I also like to organize my fridge for easy-grab quick meals, like all the salad fixings in these containers. Mason jars with portions of salad greens, boiled eggs, single servings of shredded carrots, red cabbage, etc that I like to put on my salad, and a mason jar of whatever dressing I recently made in a mason jar with one of these type lids and I can just grab the whole thing from the fridge and put it back after I'm done with minimal back-and-forth. I also will take a mason jar salad with me on days I know I won't be home for my lunch (I live a 5 min walk or 2 minute drive from the shop I work from, but as couple times a week I'll be on a long-haul and can pull-over to have my lunch on time).

A few things I make every week are bruschetta, mango salsa, and diary-free ranch dressing. I always carry apples, clementines, salted nuts, no-sugar beef jerky or sausage sticks, and appropriately healthy potato or vegetable chips in whatever bag I take to the shop. That way I am not tempted to order out or drive-through somewhere for lunch.

Definitely look into mealprepping. You don't have to do it every week for every meal, but having a few prepped meals and versatile staples ready in the freezer for stressful days when you have little time and energy to cook and are tempted to order take out. That way you can simply cook pasta, rice or whatever side dish you want, while the part that would actually be work thaws in the microwave.

Staples I always have in the freezer (I'm a vegetarian, so I can't really give you advice about meat dishes):

• a lot of homemade tomato sauce frozen in portions (can be used on pasta, as pizza sauce (use bread or tortillas if you don't have pizza dough and don't want to make it) or for oven baked dishes (my favorite lazy low-carb version: dump a portion of tomato sauce into the bottom of an oven safe dish (the bottom should be covered about 0,5cm high), slice whatever veggies are left in the fridge thinly (zucchini or eggplant work great but it can be done with pretty much anything) and put the slices in the dish vertically (not layered like lasagna but standing up), add herbs, seasoning etc., drizzle with olive oil, top with a little shredded cheese (or a vegan alternative) and bake at 180-200 celsius until the veggies are tender and the cheese is brown (for zucchini and eggplant ca. 35-40 minutes). The more-carbs-version: dump the tomato sauce in the dish, add store bought gnocchi and whatever sliced veggies you want, follow the rest of the steps above.

• shredded mozzarella and parmesan, different frozen herbs (for seasoning and topping dishes)

• leftover curries, stir-fries, veggies with sauce etc. to be used on rice or potatoes or to be eaten just with bread

• some kind of soup (usually something seasonal made with whatever my garden produces en masse right now... currently it's zucchini soup because I am literally drowning in the damn things)

• smoothie packs (pre made mixes of fruit that was about to go bad for smoothies-> great quick breakfast)

• frozen, sliced bread - this may be a me-thing but I often forget to buy bread or buy too much so it goes bad/stale before I can eat it all. I always have emergency bread in the freezer.

I’ve recently stopped eating out since the beginning of July, with exceptions for going out with friends, and what I found helps is having really simple stuff to make in the house. Like I’ll buy some fruit and cut it up or there were these bagel sandwiches that I would make with egg patties and avocado that I had for a bit. I think others may disagree with me, but as someone who hates cooking, you don’t have to make full course meals for yourself every day. I find that pasta is a good simple meal that can help ease away from eating out as well. I get the kind that is made with pea protein since I’m vegetarian so I get more protein.

Oats!!!!!

All sorts. You can cook them quickly or you can soak them overnight for a meal that is ready in the morning. You can have them sweet or savoury or tasteless also (if that's your jam).

My personal favourite is oats+milk(of your choice)+ chia seeds + nuts all microwaved for a min. For sweetness one can add honey, jaggery or date paste. I prefer date paste as it is full of energy and boosts haemoglobin and so so tasty and sweet. This breakfast keeps me full for a while (and also gives you healthy poop lol. Very satisfying)

For savoury recipe, think of any fried rice recipe and just swap the rice for oats. Although i don't prefer adding any soy sauce with oats, feel free to explore. You can experiment more with south asian recipes, for western ones I do not have enough knowledge.

Bananas are awesome. They are also quite filling. And also other fruits.

Boiled eggs can be carried easily and shelf life is also easy to manage.

Soups can be easy if you just boil the ingredients and blend them with some herbs n spices. I understand sautéeing the ingredients first would be preferable, however boiling also works with a slightly less fun taste. And you can carry a thick form with you in a sealed container, add hot water and/or microwave (if possible) whenever you want to consume it.

That's all i can think of right now.

Hope some of the amazing things everyone has listed here work for you and wish you all the best on your journey :)

A basic lentil soup tastes great, with some bread it is very filling too!

Microwaving a baking potato and adding fillings.

If you are less confident in your culinary skills you can buy prepared stir fry veggies, noodles/rice and sauce from most supermarkets and make a dinner in 10 minutes tops.

Could get a blender and make smoothies.

Cous cous with added beans, veggies etc is another quick and healthy option.

Also, remember to drink your daily 2L of water a day (adjust according to your weight and daily activity).

For breakfast, oatmeal with added fruit is great.

There's so many things you can cook, it depends on whether you know how to cook or not. I have known to make most things since I was a teenager, and lived indepedantly for 5+ years. I mostly make curries, soup, meat stews, pasta with added chopped onions and peppers, baked sweet potatoes and stir frys.

https://www.mygreekdish.com/

I always make enough for several meals to save time. I also like to cook a big batch of potatoes and/or grains to use in multiple meals.

Easy way to improve your health is eat more dark leafy greens. It's hard to eat a lot at once, so I make smoothies with water and about 75% spinach (by volume), 25% frozen banana & mango, and chia or flaxseeds for omega 3s. I make one-pot pasta or grains.

For "creamy" pasta, I cook onion & mushrooms in broth then add soy milk and pasta. The dry pasta can just cook in the sauce. Thicken it up with almond yogurt or almond flour.

I like one-pot farro. I cook onion, mushroom, other veggies in broth. Add farro and cook til done. I like to add fresh parsley, saffron, dried tomato, capers, etc. Curry is easy too. I just cook veggies in broth and add curry powder and garam masala. For healthy convenience foods, I recommend frozen rice (when I make a pot of rice, I freeze individual portions but you can also buy it) and canned beans. As a previous poster mentioned, a good blender is worth it. I have a Blendtec from Costco, which is powerful enough to grind chia seeds and flaxseeds in green smoothies.

The InstantPot or a similar pressure cooker makes it easy to make grains, beans, soups, etc. without having to watch over a pot on the stove.

I would recommend anything by Jacques Pépin. Two favorites of mine are:

Tomato & eggplant gratin

Slice eggplant and place in an oiled baking dish, put in the eggplant and then quickly flip it over so both sides get oil. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Flip and bake 10 more minutes. Slice tomatoes and layer on top of eggplant, top with 1 cup breadcrumbs and 1 cup parmesan and some thyme and cook for 15 more minutes. Smells Delicious and sits in the fridge well for about 4 days. I like to take the leftovers and make a sandwich .

Small pot Roast in the slowcooker with fresh thyme and garlic. Leave it to cook while you're at work and throw in carrots and potatoes when you get home. It's so nice to come home to the smell of beef and garlic and you can make a few days meals or lunches out of it. put the beef in to cook *fat side up* and it will melt into the beef.

A little trick I have is to have a 6 pack of high protein meal replacement shakes in the pantry. I hope this is helpful for you!