By which I mean a way for a poor busy worker to keep eating through pottage.
Vaguely Ethiopian Stew
- 1-2 bowls of water
- 1-2 handfuls quinoa, millet, or barley
- 4-5 shakes berebere seasoning
- 1 BIG SCOOP of peanut butter
- 2-4 shakes onion powder and or dried onion
- 1 shake of nooch
- 2-4 shakes of garlic salt or seasoned salt
- 2-3 globs mango chutney or orange marmalade or apricot preserve
- Hot pepper to taste
Vaguely Asian Lentil Soup (serves 4)
- 1/2 instant pot of water
- 4 handfuls red lentils
- 2 globs gochujang
- 1 glob better than bouillon
- 1 substantial portion pickled ginger
- 2-3 globs mango chutney or orange marmalade
Put all into the instant pot and pressure cook for 4 minutes.
Barley Slop
- ~3 cups water
- 1 hearty shake barley (1/3 of depth)
- 1 handful red lentils
- 2 shakes smoked paprika
- 3 shakes garlic salt
- 1 shake nooch
- 1 shake lime salt
Put all into the instant pot and pressure cook for 20-25 minutes. Barley will be a bit chewy at 20 minutes which I like. Lentils disintegrate and thicken the broth.
All these meals take at most 4 minutes active time and are ready to eat within 30 minutes. Very filling and fairly healthy. All can be made with shelf stable jar goods for the most part. All meals can be improved with fresh or frozen greens. Hardy greens can be added at the start of cooking, and softer greens can be added after cooking.
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Saving this for sake of easy peasy and cheap vegan slop that isn’t junk food. I need to get off my ass and do some actual cooking more often.
Thank you for this. I appreciate these super quick and easy but healthy meals with all shelf stable (and vegan) ingredients.
I struggle with depression and at times it can be really hard even to muster up the will to make food at all. I’m also constantly broke. That tends to lead to either not eating or just eating preprocessed garbage. But having these recipes in mind and being able to get the ingredients in bulk where you can just always have a bunch and not have to worry about them going bad, it really helps.
My go-to solution is a large sack of quinoa I can toss a cup or two of in a rice cooker along with an assortment of frozen veggies and spices.
it’s been important to realize the impact that eating regularly has on my mood and having these stopgap foods has been instrumental.I hope it can be of help to you! I am living in a fixer-upper house right now without a real kitchen and all of my spare income is going into expediting repairs so I don’t really have the energy or money to eat right now. Having these fairly tasty and healthy things I can always make has saved me from fast food and unnecessary expense. It’s also nice because you can make each one as a single serving in a small pot and just use that pot as your bowl to minimize the number of dishes involved.
just eating preprocessed garbage
This really resonates with me. That’s been a substantial amount of my diet. I got lucky that there’s bulk bins at a store near me so I have been able to get small amounts of very different grains and pulses so I can have more variety.
it’s been important to realize the impact that eating regularly has on my mood and having these stopgap foods has been instrumental.
Absolutely. I suppose I shouldn’t be, but I am still amazed sometimes at how big of an immediate difference healthy food has on mood and general sense of well being. We all know that not eating well has a major impact on long term health and that’s easy to understand. But it makes such a huge difference in how I feel if I’ve been sporadically eating only cup’o’noodles for 3 days vs having a real prepared meal, even just simple lentils and quinoa with fresh vegetables each evening for 3 days. When it’s the latter, there’s a marked improvement to my lethargy and mental state.
I hope it can be of help to you!
It will for sure. I’m adding these to my small but growing repertoire of “throw together even when depressed” meals. It’s very much needed and appreciated.
It’s also nice because you can make each one as a single serving in a small pot and just use that pot as your bowl to minimize the number of dishes involved.
Yes. All of that is important when really depressed and having severe executive dysfunction:
-Being able to quickly put something together without having to put any thought or focus on it.
-knowing you’ll have just enough and won’t be letting prepared food (and therefore $) go to waste.
-but also knowing there is still more there if you need it yet it won’t go to waste either if you don’t, since it’s shelf stable.
-Not having to worry about dealing with cleanup and dishes can be crucial.I got lucky that there’s bulk bins at a store near me so I have been able to get small amounts of very different grains and pulses so I can have more variety.
Same. I do get some food ordered in bulk online too. Getting things like grains (rice, quinoa, lentils, beans, etc.) dry in bulk has been a game changer though. So much healthier than processed foods and so so much cheaper.
Thanks again and good luck with your home repairs comrade!
love these names and units of measurement
if summer ever ends i’ll have to make some barley slop and dip rolls in it
I tend to cook intuitively so every once in a while I like to sit down and reason through what I make and how I conceptualized the units as I was making them lol. I’m trying to get the connection between my fist size and the related number of cups to help with rough adapting recipes for grains and things.
What’s nooch
Nutritional yeast. It has a lot of essential vitamins, fiber, and amino acids. It adds a subtle savory and nutty flavor to food. It’s a natural source of MSG and brings out other flavors.
Nutritional yeast, a vegan staple. Has kind of a “powdered cheese” flavor. “Braggs” is the most well known brand
Swap out the lentils for fava beans and a glug of olive oil in the barley slop and i’m already there
How do you find fava beans? I had some really good ones a friend had donated to them from Whole Foods but have no clue a normal place to buy them.
In Canada, i could find canned Gigantes beans at Food Basics, now i can find them in pretty much any Mediterranean market. Shouldn’t be too hard to find. I think broadbeans is another name for them? Butterbeans?
Always gotta add the oil. I have been using peanut butter or safflower oil depending on the meal too to keep the unit price down. I found some berebere spices at a bulk store a few months ago and it let me make a lot of savory peanutbutter dishes before I ran out. I should really get more!
Although I found a store by me that sells palestinian olive oil for about the same price per volume as wine which is very nice. I bought the one from Nablus. The flavor is strong and a little peppery.
