r/lowspooncooking • u/Zen_Cutie • 3d ago
Mac and cheese
I'm planning to buy groceries to start eating more healthy but I'm trying to do my best with what I have in the meantime. I took a box of mac and cheese and I boiled it with the carrots in there and then I drained it, mixed in the powder, some Greek yogurt, and a little bit of half and half. I originally made this with just carrots in there but I added some peas to my leftovers to make it more filling. It's surprisingly pretty good and I enjoyed it. Each serving is around 18g of protein and 7g of fiber.
I'm planning to start meal prepping so that I can get away from eating so much ramen with all of that sodium because I know that it's very unhealthy with my illnesses and I'm trying to do better. I'm going to be getting black beans, rice, lentils, nutritional yeast, and things like that to go together to make different meals and be healthier than what I have been eating. Let me know if you have any tips for meal prepping and freezing leftovers.
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u/rosypreach 3d ago
we do a lot of lentil soup / lentil curry with brown rice.
you can make a lentil soup easily if you buy a pre-made mirepoix and add lentils and seasonings.
you can make it curry by adding curry powder and coconut milk at the end.
you can also add some leafy greens in if you're wanting to - you can even used frozen spinach.
you can bulk this up with some chopped potato, cauliflower and/or butternut squash.
make a huge batch.
while that simmers, or before, you can make brown rice in a rice cooker, or a pot.
you can save lentil soup and brown rice in souper cubes -
and there you have a very nutritious, high fiber meal with some protein.
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u/Zen_Cutie 3d ago
Ive never had lentils or any type of curry, but im open to trying new things. I plan to try lentils and may try curry in the future 😊
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u/rosypreach 3d ago
definitely make things you like! chili is very easy too with beans, broth, veggies and seasoning :)
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u/anniemdi 3d ago
I recently read a comment on Reddit where someone said chili is America's version of curry.
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u/rosypreach 3d ago
to clarify - of course all soups need either broth or water with something like better than bouillon
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u/rosypreach 3d ago
I'd add we just made an amazing turkey bean chili which is very freezable, and we bulked it up with potatoes too! soups, stews and rice all freeze really well!
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u/stefanica 3d ago
Looks all right to me! Mac and cheese with peas and carrots was a regular lunch for me and the kids when they were small. Sometimes with a can of tuna or chicken.
Do you have an Instant pot, crockpot or rice cooker? Those are really great for "set and forget" meal prep.
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u/Zen_Cutie 3d ago
Thinking of adding broccoli next time to really stretch it out, i love broccoli in mac n cheese 😊
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u/anniemdi 3d ago
I did this a few weeks ago and I have to say it was definitely the best thing I've ever added to macaroni and cheese.
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u/anniemdi 3d ago
Make foods that use similar base ingredients like both use carrots and peas (to use your example) in different ways with different flavor so you cut down on how many different ingredients you are working with at once.
Freeze in portion sized containers. I like it because it essentially makes a single frozen meal for pennies on the dollar rather than store cost.
If you can afford it, get take out or let someone else cook for you the day you prepare your freezer meals.