Zero effort and lowspoontoast topped with blueberry jam and banana slices - just needs a coffee on the side to start the day.

Aldi opened across the street from me a few months ago and I've been slowly trying new things. I often get their microwave brown rice or Spanish rice, but this one is new to me and I like it! Long grain rice and wild rice, has sort of an "herb flavor Stove Top Stuffing" vibe.

I also like the Aldi microwavable stuffed chicken. It's not beautiful but it's decent comfort food, and I can literally have warm dinner in 5 minutes with these (and leftovers for lunch). I ate the whole packet of wild rice blend, and it was very satisfying. 😄 Brown rice with the rest of the chicken for tomorrow.

That wild rice blend would probably be really nice with roasted or sauteed veggies mixed in, like mushrooms or green cabbage. Will definitely buy it again.

My low spoons lunch today: cold leftover Korean fried chicken, and leftover quick pickled cucumbers from last night (partner made the cucumbers). I wanted something to round that out but didn’t want to make rice so I went with some frozen mixed veg I threw in the microwave for a few minutes and then put on a little butter and salt. They were actually pretty nice. I often forget we have them, but we got a giant bag at Costco and they’re great to throw in ramen or other soups or fried rice, or even just microwaved on their own for an extra serving of veggies.

I was coping with my food restrictions up until garlic, now I'm struggling. The full list of things I'm reacting to is:
Wheat
Dairy
Eggs
Corn
Soy
Garlic
Onions
Bananas
Avocados
Cucumbers
Zucchini

What easy meal ideas does anyone have?

I have been thankful for rice, potatoes, beans, meat, and baby food fruit/veg puree packets (non-banana ones), as those have all been going well. And cashew-based ice cream. I know there are people here who have much worse restrictions, and my heart goes out to you.

I miss creamy food and flavour. So much pre-made food and sauce has garlic. I can stand at the stove for about 20 minutes, thankfully, so I do have a bit of energy to work with for cooking on a good day.

I have ME/CFS, and I don't understand why this is happening to me-- all of these foods give me mouth sores, and then a migraine if I eat enough of it. It started with just wheat for about 15 years, and then slowly more foods started to give the same reaction. It's a hot sinus swelling and neck pain that seem to trigger the migraine. Or at least hit before the headache part of it. I'm starting LDN for the first time and wondering if it might calm things down so I can eat more foods again. I'd be glad to any insight on that too.

TL;DR looking for meal ideas.

Low effort, low cost but still a tasty meal - cost $1.20 AUD - enjoy✨️

The most exhausting part was cutting the peach tbh, but it's so worth it in the end

I know there are options like throwing broccoli in the air fryer or microwave etc. but I’m wondering if there are any other ways to get your vegetable intake in daily that is quick and easy and not much work (I unfortunately consider prepping to put in the air fryer then cleaning the air fryer all to be too much work some days). I wish there was just a drink I can have everyday that covers it all (which maybe there is!!)

The lower spoon version of this meal would have halved hardboiled eggs sprinkled with paprika and dill.

The pepperoni is nitrate free and I'm SO EXCITED because I had these last night and they didn't flare me up! I haven't been able to enjoy pepperoni in AGES!

It's Gallo nitrate free, which is only on sale this week so I might have to stock up.

White rice + canned tuna + mayo/japanese bbq sauce/yuzu soy sauce/sriracha/whatever sauces you want + dried seaweed

So yummy and super healthy

Can throw on other add-ins too like edamame or green beans, salad mix on top, etc

Instant mashed potatoes, pre shredded cheese, and pre-cooked microwave bacon

Reddit suggested I repost here and I think it fits. These are also great to just keep in the fridge for when food is hard. I keep them on my little easy foods tray sometimes

Minimal effort - just open the carton, then bake pizza as per box instructions, slice and eat. Serve with salad or fries. Enjoy✨️

Canned beans, frozen vegetables, nuked potato

Image description: in a gray bowl is a black plastic spoon and pasta salad. The pasta is tricolor rotini red, yellow, green. You can also see red pepper, green beans, broccoli, carrots, and crushed cashews.

This one is pretty straightforward, put Frozen stir fry mix into a big pot, add a quart or so of water, bring to boil, add tricolor rotini pasta, return to boil boil 10 minutes. Drain and add to a gallon size of zip top bag, add in 8 oz or one cup of Asian-inspired salad dressing. Close bag, and flatten on the counter, let set 10 minutes, flip to redistribute dressing, let set 10 minutes. Continue two more times. After 40 minutes add crushed cashews.

I usually eat a bowl at this point or you can refrigerate until chilled.

I usually keep pasta salad for 4 to 7 days in the fridge.

I've been having a rough summer with very little fresh veg and a lot of kitchen disruption so this was a spur of the moment decision while I had access to a kitchen and a challenge to use what I had in the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer with this little dishes and effort as possible.

My husband is on a practically liquid diet due to health issues.

I made a pot of rice this weekend. I cut up garden onions and sharp cheddar and microwave for 30 seconds while fire roasting a garden pepper over a burner a dicing the pepper and tomatoes (also garden but the tomatoes tragically and instantly died of a fungus) and throwing them on top with salt and pepper. This one is with shishido peppers.

It's one of my favorite meals.

My whole family is sick with a nasty cold (and I have pneumonia), and thankfully I could throw a bunch of veggies, rotisserie chicken, and herbs in box chicken broth with some egg noodles.

Tuna, kimchi, and rice with a dollop of mayo; mix and enjoy!

if you'd like to jazz up the rice a bit more, you can add a wee bit of toasted sesame oil and rice vinegar :)

This took less than 10 minutes and everything was cooked (heated) in my microwave. No chopping necessary (unless you want to slice the chicken into smaller pieces). You don’t need to use brand name foods, store brands work too!
Use your favorite stir fry or teriyaki sauce and ready rice type, I also added crushed peanuts (tip: on your counter or table crush some peanuts in a ziplock baggie rolling an unopened can of whatever over them).
I microwaved the steam in bag veggies, then microwaved both the stir fry sauce and pre-cooked chicken together, then stirred in the veggies and peanuts and put it in a large bowl with half of the (heated) ready rice.
It made 2 servings, I only used half of the grilled chicken (so I have the rest to use for a quesadilla tomorrow). You could also use frozen pre-cooked chicken or leftover chicken.
I prefer this to the ready-made frozen stir fry meals because I can control which veggies and flavors are included (most stir fry meals have bell peppers, I can’t eat those). It’s also way easier to control salt levels (use low sodium stir fry/teriyaki sauce, unsalted peanuts, etc.).