Convenience foods?

[girl]

Hi all,

I am new to these boards but not to IC. I was diagnosed many years ago, but went into remission and only came out a couple of years ago. Due to a my other chronic illnesses, I have been literally to ill to worry about what I eat until lately. I have been living, quite literally three meals a day on oatmeal for most of those two years. (and water,of course)

I seem to be very diet sensitive, which was not at all the case the first time I was diagnosed, and due to my other health problems I do not cook often except sometimes for supper. However, I cannot eat many convenience foods I tried (frozen dinners, etc.) and quit trying becuase I was too ill to care. Hence, the oatmeal.

Now, I am a bit better with my other problems, and oh so sick of oatmeal!!

So, any suggestions for frozen foods, packeged foods, or just easy to prepare such as oatmeal would be very welcome. As well as the IC diet, I must follow a low salicylate diet, and am allergic to milk, peanuts, nuts, peppers, and some spices.

Please help. I really am tired of oatmeal!! Please??

Thanks,

girl

[leelee88]

I know there was someone that posted a very good list of foods and how to cook them.. I think it was Traceann.. You might want to pm her and ask.. If im wrong I apoligize...

[girl]

Hi,

No need for apologies! Thank you for your reply. I don't think my initial post was very clear; I am very familiar with the diet and what I can and cannot tolerate. I have done all the trial and error work, etc. and know what I can eat of the basic foods.

What I don't know, and am looking for help with, is prepackaged meals, frozen foods, etc. I quite often am simply too ill to cook; hence the oatmeal.

So my question should have been, what are your fallback foods when you simply cannot cook? (and unfortunately in my case, that is more often than not). Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks!!

girl

[judyblue]

When I eat frozen, I choose Stouffers. They have preservative free dinners like turkey or baked chicken with mashed potatoes. I also heat up their creamed chipped beef and put it on toast. Another one I like is escalloped chicken and noodles. It is in a cream sauce and has peas. I never had a problem with these meals, even when my bladder was at its most sensitive.

Edited to say I just re-read your post and saw that you are allergic to milk. So the creamed dishes may not be the best for you, but I'll leave those in in the event someone else has an interest.

[ICNDonna]

Some quick foods: Microwave baked potato, eggs (scrambled, boiled, or even omelet), toast, vegetables cooked in the microwave. There are also some microwave dinners you should be able to have - read the labels to be certain.

Donna

[mary124]

I was also going to say that I can have Stouffers and Michigolos(?) spelling is wrong! some of there tv dinners. Donna gave you some good examples. I really don't cook anymore, especially during the weeknights, because after I come home from work I'm too tired so its the family on its own. It also helps that a lot of times I do cook on the weekends and I make extras to last at least till either Wednesday or Thursdays. This week, my family wasn't so lucky, I was so tired, that I slept most of the weekend away.

[shell]

I love my crockpot! It's not really convenience foods, but it makes cooking so much easier. I can buy the less expensive cuts of meats and there isn't always a lot of prep needed. I use the new crockpot liners to avoid having to scrub out the crockpot after dinner - well worth the money! Use the ingredients you know you can tolerate and avoid the perservatives in some of the TV dinners. And I usually make more than I know I need for one dinner so there are leftovers for another meal or two.

I'll put a roast in with baby carrots that I buy already peeled & washed, then all I have to do is peel & halve the potatoes. I often do that the night before and leave them soaking in water in the fridge overnight. Then in the morning I throw everything in the crockpot and head to work - dinner's ready when I get home.

For stew I'll cut everything up at night - whenever possible using foods I buy already washed/peeled/cut - so I can just throw it all in before I head to work. If I'm using frozen or canned veggies I microwave them when I get home from work and add them to the pot then. If you leave them in the crockpot all day they get really soggy.

There's a local butcher shop where I can get marinated ribs that can go straight into the crock pot for about 5 hours. Microwave a veggie and/or rice and you have dinner.

I use a lot of the microwave veggies. Uncle Ben's makes several rice varieties that you microwave right in the packet in 90 seconds. Country Crock has premade potato and rice dishes in the meat section of the grocery store that you just microwave. I always keep around a few of the soups in the styrofoam cups that you just add boiling water.

Hope some of these tips might help. It can be frustrating trying to balance the dietary requirements of mulitple medical conditions.

[**Angie**]

Very good responses. I do the pot roast too--so easy--especially if everything is ready the night before. Someone e-mailed me a web-site that had some easy IC okay recipes--I'll see if I saved it.
I also do the Stouffers baked chicken/mashed pot. had it last night
Kadi posted just a few weeks ago--an easy food list from Trader Joe's and maybe Safeway. Check back thru diet stuff. I'll see if I can find it too or you could pm her. I am all into easy meals--my poor family suffers thru some very bland lifeless meals so if anyone has any other ideas??

[**Angie**]

Okay--I hope I did this right--try this

http://www.ic-network.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37677

it has Kadi's list.

[mom_in_ma]

Donna had some good ideas. I've been microwaving sweet potatos lately. Yummy!

Tonight I pre-made turkey burgers. Easy...1 lb ground turkey, one egg, 1/4 c. bread crumbs (I used ground matzoh), some ic friendly spices, etc. It took me 10 minutes to make them. 1 lb makes four burgers and the best part is that you can freeze them individually and take them out as needed. I made my two burgers first and then threw in onions and pepper into the rest of the mix for the rest of the family.

Tomorrow, I'll just pull them out, put them on the foreman grill and roast some sweet potato to go with them. Easy and healthy.

[girl]

Thank you all so much for all of your helpful advice!! I really, really appreciate it; some good ideas here. I definetley will try the Stouffer's and I do use my crock -pot when I cook quite often. Turkey breast done in it is great.

Thanks to whoever gave me that link; I wish I had a Trader Joe's or Safeway close; but many items are adaptable, I think. It helps so much just to have some fresh ideas!!

You are all ; thank you so much for taking the time out to help!

I had given up on hamburgers because I don't like them without comdiments. Do you guys eat them dry, or what?? (I can't have raw veggies, so no lettuce or anything either)

girl

[mom_in_ma]

For burgers....I use american cheese. It works for me. Others have mentioned cottage cheese as a topping and that sounds great too!

[mary124]

Just thought of something, I don't know who mentioned Safeway but if you don't have a Safeway, you might have a Randalls. (I think most of the Safeway stores are now Randalls-- I even see Safeway products in Randalls stores) so you might try there.

[emily1]

I make soup in my huge crockpot with beans, brown rice, and whatever vegetables are easy and handy, fresh or frozen. I use MSG-free broth or just water. Add salt and pepper and maybe some parsley and olive oil. I freeze it in single portion size (ziplock backs or tupperware) and heat that up when I can't eat with the rest of the family.

Good luck.

[born2swim]

Mom_in_ma,

What are good IC spices? (or what are bad ones?) I need guidance! I don't know how to handle changing my diet (as 80% of my fav. foods are on the avoid list). Thank you!

Tonight I pre-made turkey burgers. Easy...1 lb ground turkey, one egg, 1/4 c. bread crumbs (I used ground matzoh), some ic friendly spices, etc. It took me 10 minutes to make them. 1 lb makes four burgers and the best part is that you can freeze them individually and take them out as needed. I made my two burgers first and then threw in onions and pepper into the rest of the mix for the rest of the family.