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You cook the pasta in water and then you put it back in the microwave with the sauce? Or is this like cold, pre-cooked pasta?
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Avocado toast, actually. Toast bread, mash avocado on it, maybe sliced onions and if I have any cheese I have that with it or on it.
Try some pomegranate seeds on your avocado toast 😉
I’ve got a bunch of frozen mashed potatoes pre-divided into meal-sized tupperware. Microwave one of those and it’s quite hearty.
I’ve also got a rice cooker and it’s super easy to make something both substantial and tasty with one of those, dump in the rice and water and then add a tin of condensed soup as well. Push the button and come back later to dump it onto a plate. I’ve found most kinds of condensed soup work well, though avoid anything with “cream of” in the title as those can end up unpleasantly goopy.
700 grams of hot wings into the airfryer or alternatively 450 gram pack of french fries. More often than not though I simply just don’t eat if I’m not feeling like it. I skip meals each week. Yesterday I only ate breakfast for example.
Overnight oats, just steel cut oats in whole milk left in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Healthier and cheaper than a box cereal and so so easy. But if I didn’t think ahead to chuck some in the fridge beforehand, then it’s gotta be hardboiled eggs. I always have eggs in the fridge and chucking them in a pot and waiting 11 minutes is as easy as it gets.
Well, aside from eating fruit/berries with cheese and crackers but that could be argued to be a snack not a meal.
Jamaican patties. You can pick up a big box of them frozen from almost anywhere (at least where I live) and heat them up in one minute. I mentioned to a Gen Z in the fall that this got me through many a college all-nighter and noticed when I was at their place last weekend, they were all stocked up! Feels good to pass on the torch…
Just to elaborate a bit on why I consider these the quintessential lazy food, I went through a process of whittling down the options. In the all-nighter context, you will need to use the bathroom several times in the wee hours (no pun intended), and a patty will be ready for you by the time you come out. They come individually wrapped, and while it’s a good idea to have a plate or bowl under them to catch any crumbs, you can typically eat them straight out of the packaging with little mess and dust off the plate each time. So your sink will not start piling up even as you work through as many as it takes.
A friend suggested pizza pockets as an alternative? I tried that. I found them a bit messier and the mozzarella can sometimes stick to the roof of your mouth and burn if you’re not paying attention (which is quite likely while you’re cramming). Anyway, a well-stocked store will have at least a few choices in terms of protein and spice level for variety’s sake.
Now that I’m not as frequently under a desperate time-crunch but am still lazy, my go-to at work is Indian curries in little shelf-stable pouches. You need to pour the curry into a bowl and heat it up, so there are dishes involved, but they taste so good for so little effort otherwise!
I had to go look those up, I had not heard of them They look tasty but, damn they are a little pricey, at least in my area. Are they pretty good sized/filling?
The classic ones are beef inside, and while not huge, tend to satisfy my food cravings, and I’m not a little guy. They often have jerk chicken and veg options too if you look around, and if you’re in an actual Jamaican neighbourhood, you can find a big variety at restaurants or even corner stores. (I grew up in Toronto and they were just everywhere for whatever reason.)
There’s also some strategy in terms of whether to get the spicy or mild ones? Spicy makes you eat slower, which can be good to regulate one’s tendency to gorge while cramming.
Thanks! Some good info to know, when I go to try them!
Yoooo, Jamaican patties and a red stripe are a combo I picked up in Orlando late one night at this little hole in the wall. They had some kind of yellowish Scotch bonnet (I think) hot sauce and these jerk wings that were so amazing. It was around the corner from this horror themed cocktail drag bar. I don’t remember the name but if you’re from Orlando you might know the spot. One of the best nights out I’ve had. Some guy offered me heroin as my friend threw up on the sidewalk.
It definitely made an impression, Orlando is fucking dope and I look forward to my next visit.
Disney, drag bars, and heroin. That sums up Orlando for me.
I often consider them when I’m in the frozen food isle, but have never tried ‘em. Maybe I should.
Cup noodles with two eggs
Tacos! Quick to throw something together from scratch and easy to make ingredients ahead.
They’re versatile and can have all sorts of ingredients too. Really the longest part is cooking the meat and even that is pretty quick, just chop up the veggies and chuck everything into the tortilla. 10 minutes tops.
pasta
Bags of carrot sticks is my go-to for when I really don’t feel like cooking or eating unhealthy.
Depends on your definition of cooking. My “lazy and unpretentious” meal is pasta with whatever. If I have a pre made sauce, that. Perhaps some frozen cream spinach, that works too. A couple eggs mixed into the hot, strained noodles is pretty tasty too. If my stash is completely empty, a piece of butter. Then top it all off with some grated parmesan, and eat it quick before the shame sets in.
Edit: works just as well with rice
Grilled cheese sandwich. It’s as lazy or as fancy as you’re feeling.
Super lazy? Grease bread with cheese slice. Fry flip eat.
Feeling less lazy as you start? Cut a hole in one of the pieces of bread and fry an egg in it while you toast the other side, and upgrade the cheese. Just be careful. When you start eyeing meats and mustards to pair, you’re in danger of making yourself a pretty epic sandwich.
I batch cook and freeze stuff, so honestly, most of my food.
I’m always happy to put a throroughly frozen meal for 9 minutes in the wave instead of making any sort of effort. But freezing food kinda ruins most flavours and texture.
Really depends on what you make! Absolutely wouldn’t freeze say, a steak. And texture, generally agree with you. But some jerk, adobo, honey garlic, curry chicken work just as well reheated. (Make the rice fresh though.) Same with a lot of pasta based dishes (or sauces, a bolognese freezes perfectly.) Even marinated chicken thighs and veggies are great!
I’d say generally any pasta or rice or veg will turn to paste if frozen. You kinda also lose any flavor apart from salty and sweet. But don’t misunderstand me, it’s fine and a very good way to conserve meals but you will lose most of the magic, the ice feels like it’s breaking everything down.
Rice, fully agree, that’s why I said cook ahead.
But try just freezing say the bulk tortellini at costco and then popping it out as needed to boil it and heating up bolognese in the microwave. I would be slackjaw stunned if you could tell the difference between the fresh tortellini and previously frozen tortellini.
But to each their own!
I did try those exact tortellinis and I can tell when they’ve been frozen vs straight from the pack. It’s all in the texture not the taste. They get mushy as soon as they get hot enough even though I tend to undercook pasta because I like them very al dente. Totally edible but far, far worse than cooking fresh ones especially considering it’s almost the same time and effort. But don’t get me wrong I’m not arguing it’s stupid and that nobody should do it. I know not everyone has the opportunity to just go across the street to get fresh ingredients on a daily basis and freezing is a fantastic mean of conservation. It’s just a personal preference.
To each their own!
Though that sounds more like a handling issue than freezing itself. It’s important to remove all the air and use high quality bags etc. (I remember when I was first freezing things I did so in crappy zip locks until an ex made of fun of me and showed me the way!)
I tend to defer to the Italian grandmas who will make tortellini and freeze it immediately to save the flavours. If it destroyed texture, some of the nonnas in our friend group would be mortified!
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