default meals

[Portia]

1. jamba juice, if I have it
2. skip
3. sandwich or tacos of some sort

[Tally M.]

1. English muffin with peanut butter
2. Peanut butter cracker snack pack
3. Quesadilla

[NerdGirl]

Breakfast: This thing where I take an oven-proof bowl, put a piece of deli ham on the bottom, put in some chopped tomatoes, previously cooked kale and mushrooms, a bit of grated cheese, then some egg whites from a carton, and bake it at 375ish while I take a shower (actually more like a bubble bath most mornings). I like to have niceness in the morning.

Lunch: A sandwich on Udi bread, some Greek yogurt, and some vegetables. Or sometimes a salad.

Supper: Chicken tacos, rice with microwave Indian food (I call them Indian MREs), or a veggie pizza made on a brown rice tortilla.

[Squirrel]

cook, cut, freeze, microwave/flash fry: I make a huge pot of rice, then freeze it in individual serving sizes. It makes for really quick rice dinners. I also do the same thing with veggies and meat. I've yet to try this with noodles. I wonder how it would turn out?

One of my default meals is Stupid Burritos:
Open a can of chili, a bag of frozen rice, and cook in a pan until boiling. Stir in about 10 packets of taco bell mild sauce. Grab tortilla. Make burrito. Yum. Makes about four burritos.

[Emiliana]

Breakfast: cereal, cereal, and more cereal.
Lunch: apple with peanut butter, string cheese, Greek yogurt, and carrots
Dinner: mac and cheese

[Violet]

Breakfast: Yogurt with a plastic spoon on my way out the door. Maybe a bagel. Occasionally I make a batch of scones and throw them in the cupboard for easy to go breakfasts.

Lunch: Leftovers. Alternately, string cheese, fruit (apple or orange—sometimes peaches or pears), and a granola bar. Even more alternately, trail mix or pretzels from the vending machines on campus and a can of Fresca.

Dinner: Pasta with sauteed vegetables and a sauce with whatever I have in the fridge (usually that means a browned butter and garlic sauce because garlic in jars is a thing of beauty), puff pancakes or crepes when I'm down to the time where I need to go grocery shopping but can't (take out the seasoning, serve with applesauce or jam), Quiche (frozen pie crust is much like garlic in jars), and quesadillas with whatever vegetables I can throw in.

NerdGirl: Gluten free? What other things do you do that are quick and easy?

Squirrel: I've never frozen cooked pasta (aside from lasagna, prepared manicotti, stuffed shells and other things that take an oven), but I've found frying or rewarming in boiling water while in plastic bags works best for refrigerated pasta. Also, if you go the fresh pasta route (you'll buy it in the refrigerated section), it's delicious, cooks in 2ish minutes depending on shape, and stays in the freezer pretty much indefinitely.

[Portia]

Is it just my impression (confirmation bias?) or did the Board become populated with health nuts? There are a lot of nutrition/medical/gluten-sensitive writers and readers these days, and when I think "Internet forum writers," the image I get is not the same as "health-conscious dietitians." Don't get me wrong; I admire it, and I even watch my weight pretty closely, but I am a lot more likely to be seen drinking sugary drinks or eating fries (but only fries! a calorie is a calorie, when it comes to weight, if you don't care about health, which I basically don't) than all the healthy recipes and Pollanesque homecooking stuff I see these days. Interesting shift, but maybe the health food oriented people were less outspoken five years ago.

[Whistler]

healthy eating is the new middle-class trend

[NerdGirl]

NerdGirl: Gluten free? What other things do you do that are quick and easy?

Many things! Most of which are on my blog: http://www.glutenfreewolf.com

Is it just my impression (confirmation bias?) or did the Board become populated with health nuts? There are a lot of nutrition/medical/gluten-sensitive writers and readers these days, and when I think "Internet forum writers," the image I get is not the same as "health-conscious dietitians." Don't get me wrong; I admire it, and I even watch my weight pretty closely, but I am a lot more likely to be seen drinking sugary drinks or eating fries (but only fries! a calorie is a calorie, when it comes to weight, if you don't care about health, which I basically don't) than all the healthy recipes and Pollanesque homecooking stuff I see these days. Interesting shift, but maybe the health food oriented people were less outspoken five years ago.

I wouldn't call myself a health nut. I just happen to have celiac disease. And like the good hipster that I'm not, I was gluten-free back when people still had no idea what that even meant. I wouldn't be gluten-free if I didn't have celiac disease. Don't get me wrong, it's very convenient for me that it has become a fad diet, because it means I can eat in almost any restaurant now and it makes my social life less awkward, but I think that people who think gluten-free means healthier are misinformed. There's nothing healthy about gluten-free donuts and pizza. In fact, they are often worse than their gluten-filled counterparts because gluten-free grains (at least the ones that get used in commercial products) tend to have more starch and less protein and fiber, and pre-packaged gluten-free foods tend to have more sugar and fat and overall calories in them than normal food in order to make them taste less like cardboard. I still manage to eat plenty of junk food. I try to eat healthy foods, and I succeed a lot of the time, but I still eat way too many snacks and way too much junk. But if people want to continue thinking that gluten-free food is some kind of diet miracle, they are welcome to, because like I said, it means more companies and restaurants make food for me.

[thatonemom]

I'm enjoying your blog, Nerd Girl. I didn't find out about my food issues until more recently (who knew it wasn't normal to have an upset stomach, all the time, for your entire life? My mom always said I must have just had a sensitive stomach. Um, no. It was food allergies.)

I can't have gluten, dairy, soy, or corn (and other stuff, but you get the idea). But I wouldn't call my diet super healthy, either. I eat way more eggs than I probably should, just because I can actually eat them. Same for nuts. I eat a lot of fruits and veggies, too. But I think a big part of a healthy diet is balance, and it's hard to do that when you're restricting some of the major food groups.

[krebscout]

I'm a trend follower.

I got some funky symptoms after having my last baby. I went to a doctor and they weren't helpful at all. After researching it myself I found that gluten could be a culprit (I think the symptoms were always there, I just didn't notice them until after I gave birth — and my second baby was my first vaginal birth — because of some of the other changes in my body). So I stopped eating it for a while and my symptoms went away entirely. I introduced it back into my diet in small amounts and I can handle that just fine, but I do tend to binge sometimes and then I pay for it later. My case is pretty mild, but it turns out that I'm a wimp and I don't handle pain or discomfort well. Feeling good feels good.

[Marduk]

I care a lot about the food that I eat and where I get it, but not for health reasons, so much as for flavor reasons. I think eating should be much more about the pleasure we get from good foods than it currently is. That being said, I don't really have what could be called "default meals" because that takes so much of the fun out of it. The closest I come:

Breakfast: oatmeal on toast, fried eggs and toast, or fruit and cottage cheese. This is probably the most "default" because these are the meals Bob makes, and she's afraid to go outside of her cooking comfort zone.

Lunch: Burgers and fries. Burgers are one of the most diverse foods in existence, so I eat them a lot.

Dinner: leftovers or new meals, but anything from chicken fajita quesadillas to grilled cheese and cream of tomato soup to barbequed pulled pork. I like a lot of diversity in meals, and dinner is often where that happens.

[bobtheenchantedone]

Breakfast: between 2-5 servings of fruit (combined fresh and canned), then fried eggs on toast for second breakfast

Lunch: tuna sandwich, between 2-5 servings of veggies (fresh, steamed, canned, roasted, etc.), either water or fruit smoothie

Dinner: whatever Marduk makes

However, that gets messed up pretty frequently depending on if Marduk is at work or not, plus there's the fact that I kind of eat non stop on days when I'm paying attention to how hungry I am.

[Portia]

I care a lot about the food that I eat and where I get it, but not for health reasons, so much as for flavor reasons. I think eating should be much more about the pleasure we get from good foods than it currently is. That being said, I don't really have what could be called "default meals" because that takes so much of the fun out of it. The closest I come:

Breakfast: oatmeal on toast, fried eggs and toast, or fruit and cottage cheese. This is probably the most "default" because these are the meals Bob makes, and she's afraid to go outside of her cooking comfort zone.

Lunch: Burgers and fries. Burgers are one of the most diverse foods in existence, so I eat them a lot.

Dinner: leftovers or new meals, but anything from chicken fajita quesadillas to grilled cheese and cream of tomato soup to barbequed pulled pork. I like a lot of diversity in meals, and dinner is often where that happens.

Do you live together? If not, then I'm not sure whether to give you kudos or be disturbed that you're eating breakfast together. I am not my best self before, say, 1.

[Marduk]

We do not live together. However, we've gotten used to not always being best selves around each other.