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Hey y'all!

In Episode 2 of my podcast, I’ll be tying in decision fatigue and the invisibility of mental labor. Often, when I’ve made decisions all day, the last thing I want to do is pick what I’m going to eat. Throw an AuDHD kiddo who is an extremely picky eater (who I happily oblige, mind you - this ain't a complaint) into the mix, and I’m standing over the stove six times a day if I’m not careful. I don’t run a short order diner out here in the boonies.

Since I’m a work-at-home momma, I cut corners where I can while still trying to be as healthy as possible.

I often omit beef, pork, and large amounts of dairy from my diet as much as I can since I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Your mileage may vary if you have it, too, but this is what certainly helps mine. That being said, most of these are chicken, turkey, or seafood-focused.

I know as soon as I post this, this shit's going to go out of stock at my local grocery because it always does. Every time I post recipes, y'all go out and buy up all the ingredients!

Poor Man’s Wedding Soup

When it’s not hot as Satan’s asshole outside or my air conditioner is working extra well on a summer day, I’ll throw some soup in a pot. I eat on it for 2–3 meals and then freeze the rest. My current favorite has the following ingredients:

• 1 can of white navy beans

• Half a bag of Pictsweet Southern Collard Greens

• Half a bag of Great Value turkey meatballs

• Diced chicken breast from a Walmart rotisserie chicken

• Chicken stock

• Onion, garlic, and bay leaves. Salt and pepper, obviously.

Chunk it all in a pot and let it simmer about 20–30 minutes on medium-high. Just make sure if anything was frozen, it’s thawed.

Grilled Chicken Veggie Medley

• 1 bag of Green Giant Garden Vegetable Medley

• Half bag of Great Value grilled chicken

• Onion, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder

Sauté onion and frozen grilled chicken in olive oil and garlic powder. Salt and pepper as needed, but not too much because the veggies are seasoned already. Steam the veggies in the pot with the chicken according to the package directions.

You can also put all of this in a foil packet and cook it in the air fryer.

Chicken Pasta Bake

• Half a box of Banza pasta, cooked by package instructions (in chicken stock, to feel fancy)

• Frozen grilled chicken

• Mozzarella

• Rao’s pasta sauce (or your sauce of choice)

• Optional: Parmesan, Romano, or an Italian blend

• Optional: Italian seasoning

Cook the pasta by the box’s directions using chicken stock. Once it’s cooked, mix in frozen grilled chicken, mozzarella (to your heart’s content), and any of the optional ingredients if your ancestors tell you to.

Bake it at 425, covered with foil, for 20 minutes. Then take the foil off, add more cheese, and bake until the cheese is melted and starting to brown around the edges.

Turkey Sausage & Cabbage with Onion

• Half a head of chopped cabbage

• Half a white onion

• Sliced turkey kielbasa sausage

• Chicken stock

• Salt, pepper, olive oil

Sauté the sausage in a little bit of olive oil, remove it from the pan, and set aside. Sauté chopped onion and cabbage in the drippings for about 3 minutes. Deglaze the pan with chicken stock (or water if you don’t like flavor), about 2 cups—enough to cook the cabbage down. Add your sausage back in. Cover and simmer for 20–30 minutes until the cabbage is soft to your liking.

Taco Chicken & Rice

• 1 pack of Knorr’s Taco Rice Sides

• Half bag of grilled chicken

• Half can of drained black beans

• Half a packet of Taco Bell taco seasoning

• 2 cups chicken stock (as per the instructions on the rice pouch)

• Optional: Burrito wraps, sour cream, lettuce, cheese, etc.

Bring the stock and rice packet contents to a boil. Once boiling, add in your black beans. I use a spoon to add mine in because I’m too tired to run that shit through a colander and make another dish to wash.

Add in frozen grilled chicken. Cover and simmer for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When it’s done, if you’re feeling froggy, wrap it up in a burrito with cheese, sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt), lettuce, or whatever you want. I usually just put it in a bowl and eat it that way.

Lazy Chicken and Broccoli

• 2 cups broccoli

• 1 ½ cups frozen grilled chicken (roughly—I just reach in and grab a fistful)

• Sesame oil

• Soy sauce

• Chicken stock

• Kikkoman’s Teriyaki Sauce

• Optional: Onion, red pepper, black pepper, ground ginger

Heat a pot with 2 tablespoons of sesame oil. I like Cookwell’s more than any kind I’ve ever tried. It’s pricey, but it lasts forever because a little goes a long way.

Sauté broccoli and chicken for about 1 minute to get it coated in the oil. Add ½ cup of chicken stock to the bottom of the pan to steam the broccoli and chicken. Sprinkle in some soy sauce to give the chicken some color.

When the broccoli is bright green and the chicken is no longer frozen, add in the teriyaki sauce (about 4–6 tablespoons). Simmer for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the sauce is hot and starts to thicken.

You can add ginger, red pepper, or black pepper at this point. Don’t add the ginger earlier, or it’ll turn bitter from overcooking.

That's It.

These are my go-to’s when I’m just too damn tired to put much thought into it.

If I’m extra lazy, I throw grilled chicken in foil and toss it in the air fryer, then dump it into a bagged salad. Caesar is my favorite. You can also make good wraps out of that if you don’t want to eat a whole salad.

Also, not all of these are extremely low carb. Your brain needs carbs, or else you become an asshole. Ask me how I know.

If you’re still not sure what to cook from this list, send it to a friend who has the bandwidth and ask them to help you decide. Another one of my tricks is to put all the options into a roulette wheel and spin that bitch.

Leave a comment or message me on the socials to let me know which one of these you’ve tried. Or hell, give me your own, and I’ll try it out.

Talk to ‘ya.