Everyday Systems

I am not a patient woman. When I get truly hungry (say six hours after lunch) I want to eat NOW! For that matter, I generally have breakfast around seven and it's a miracle if I hold out until one to have lunch.

This would make it difficult for No-Sing were it not for some other habits that do an end run around this.

I'm fond of steel cut oats, but they take forever to prepare. Unless... You soak them in water you've brought to a boil the night before. Then you can just heat 'em up. So, I've got a hot pan of oats on the stove right now.

Lunch? Reinhard has his Optimized Oatmeal (a great idea, by the way, and certainly worthy of exploring), and I do bento, or at least pack a sandwich, veggies and a hummus dip the night before. (I realize buying lunch is certainly No-S okay as long as portions are fine. I'm just too much of a tightwad to do it.)

Dinner? I don't actually much like coming home from work and cooking when I'm really hungry. So, I use the crock pot a lot. (Vegetable beef soup for tomorrow. Nom!) Sometimes I prep veggies the night before and put some meat in a mariande for a stir fry, too.

Does anyone else do any advance prep to make things easier on themselves and do an end run around bad decisions made on the spur of the moment?

I've even frozen cooked oatmeal, then heated it in the morning. But I often have foods that don't take long in the morning.

I used to cook a lot of chicken breasts, then add servings of them to a lunch box or plate with some kind of already prepared starch, lots of veggies, and a bought good-quality sauce, often Indian. Now I often buy either a roasted chicken or turkey breast and do the same. Maybe add a fruit. The whole thing takes about ten minutes to assemble, five more minutes to heat, even without a microwave, which I don't own.

I keep cooked beans frozen, grain, too, and often heat and add cottage cheese and a sauce, plus the rest of the above.

I make broth from the chicken/turkey bones and add all the other stuff for soup. Also fast.

Crockpotted pork or beef replaces the chicken sometimes. Or fried eggs chopped up for the lunch plate.

And leftover food from meals out, which often last two or three meals, added to the fresh freggies.

I have a paninin grill at work. I have parchment paper and I also use a layer of veggies bottom and top with the protein and starch sandwiched between when I heat everything. About three minutes. If I couldn't do that, I'd probably make a sandwich, but I likes my hot beans and cottage cheese. And whole grains more than bread. But I could live with sandwiches and veggies.

I work at a school, lunch is only 40 minutes. Not enough time to go out, and my food is better quality for a lower price. Even if I get home earlier, I don't make a fresh dinner often for just me.

So, yes, someone else does this.

This is why I eat instant oats (plain unsweetened variety, I get a supermarket own brand version of Ready Brek), I find regular oats hard to digest unless I cook them really well. Instant oats just makes my life easier. I also always have some sliced bread in the freezer for toasting and occasionally homemade waffles. These things make breakfast quick & easy for me.

I also cook ahead rice & lentils often and refrigerate so I can reheat for a quick lunch or dinner. Reheated rice & lentils makes a nice filling breakfast too

Although I don't follow Tim Ferris's slow carb diet (way too restrictive IMO), I liked his suggestion for keeping it simple by repeating the same meals on weekdays (kind of like Reinhard's lunch oatmeal) and saving the fun/variety foods for the weekend.

Except for oatmeal, I don't do advanced prep, but I always have defaults on hand. My current favorite is Optimized Ramen: use miso paste, soy sauce and sriracha instead of the packet that comes with it, throw some bagged broccoli or carrot slaw in, and just pour boiling water on top. Wait three minutes and then top with some peanuts, green onions and a squeeze of lime juice. It is surprisingly filling and not that unhealthy.

Crockpot beans are delicious and freeze well. Be sure to rinse well and let them cook for a long time. I don't do kidney beans because I'm worried about them not getting hot enough but I've never had problems with pintos or chickpeas.

I like to cut up a head of lettuce so I can make a salad quickly.

Overnight oats are pretty awesome: http://minimalistbaker.com/peanut-butte ... ight-oats/

Also I like to make double batches of things and freeze 1/2 for another time.