How to live in a flat as a guy?

Stay near a food lovers market with buffet :D cheaper than cooking, faster and much much tastier.
 
One of my close friends who has MS pays her neighbor R30 a meal as she is unable to cook for herself. I have seen the meals and they are really good nutritious home cooked meals.

IMHO The Woolies meals are very good but the cost versus portion size make it a bit expensive in the long run. When I bought them years ago, I found that I was hungry an hour after eating 1 portion and would start rummaging around for something else to eat which sort of defeats the purpose of these meals.

I would suggest that you consider looking at a low GI lifestyle.
I do this as I was recently diagnosed with diabetes. The food I now eat is healthy and it keeps my glucose levels under control so I can have a healthy life ahead of me.

Its very easy to follow this eating lifestyle and does not take too much time to have decent meals.

For breakfast, I have a bowl of muesli with a glass of milk (Low fat and no fat milk is horrible so I use full cream [normal] milk)

For lunch, I have a slice of low GI bread, some vegetables, some protein and a large salad.

For supper, I do the same as lunch but also have a piece of fruit.

Since following this eating lifestyle, I have never felt better and jump out of bed every morning full of energy. The big plus is that my waistline has gone down by 3 sizes and the libido has increased 10-fold.

For vegetables, buy yourself a veggie steamer (about R400 at Clicks) and you can prepare veggies and rice with this.

For example I would steam a whole cauliflower or broccoli or sweet potato and have enough veggies to last me 2-3 days at a time. I just heat it up in the microwave when I need it.
Also you can steam some rice to last you 2-3 days. Heat in microwave when needed. You really cant stuff this up.

For salads, I have made up little containers of diced tomatoes, diced onions, diced yellow peppers, sliced olives.
So when I want to make a salad, all I have to do is wash 2 lettuce leaves, break them up and add about 1-2 tablespoons of my "salad mix" from the containers and a bit of feta cheese crumbled in as well.
Each little container of my "salad mix" lasts about 3 days so I only need to do a prep about twice a week so it saves quite a lot of time daily.

For protein, buy some smoked chicken from Pick n Pay or Checkers and have sliced on low GI bread with lettuce, decent mustard and some sun-dried tomatoes (the ones in olive oil). - I normally do this for lunch as it is easy to pack for work.
I have a gas braai on my balcony so I grill some meat to last me about 6 portions (3 days of lunch and supper). Just reheat in the microwave when you need it.

What also works well is buying a packet of skinned chicken portions or diced beef and some cook-in-sauces.

I was slated on this forum some time ago by peeps who say these cook-in-sauces are gross but I tend to disagree.
I found the Denny range of cook-in-sauces such as Durban curry, Rogan Josh, Butter chicken and Thai green curry not bad at all.

Obviously this is a matter of personal choice and taste. But if you are a person who lives on your own with rudimentary cooking skills, beggars cannot be choosers.
The instructions on the packet are very easy to follow and if you cook it on a low heat, you really cant stuff it up too badly.

3 chicken breasts or 500g of diced beef cooked in these sauce give me 4 portions which is 2 days worth of meals for me.

On Saturdays or Sundays for lunch I normally treat myself with a small pizza (and a salad if needed) and it works out well for me. (Mozzarella cheese on a pizza is low GI)

Google for low GI foods and you can see what is available as ingredients out there.
Low GI foods work by taking longer to digest so you feel fuller for longer. Hence you actually eat less and stay healthy in the process.

Anybody who is interested, PM your email address and I will email you a list of low GI ingredients that I refer to all the time.
 
Last edited:
Woolies have nice pre-cooked meals. Just follow the instructions on the packaging (usually just microwave) and you'll have something yummy within 30 minutes.

Also get a few packs of microwave popcorn for when you get the munchies.
 
ITCynic said:
....
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips. I've been picking up weight recently from buying fast foods, most times I'm too tired to make something to eat when getting home from work. My cooking skills are limited as well. Those seem like quick easy meals but are they filling though?

edit: Sorry didn't read the end of your post question answered
 
Khanya said:
I mean you wake up at 6.30. You go to work, come back at 6.00, tired and all, then have to hit the books! Can't one make it in a cook-free environment?
Click to expand...
Go work in NZ. There you come back later, cook , clean the house, wash and iron.
 
theone said:
Thanks for the tips. I've been picking up weight recently from buying fast foods, most times I'm too tired to make something to eat when getting home from work. My cooking skills are limited as well. Those seem like quick easy meals but are they filling though?

edit: Sorry didn't read the end of your post question answered
Click to expand...

Yes, they are quite filling as you read correctly at the bottom of my post. Also, lettuce is mostly water and fibre to give that lekker full feeling without actually adding to your waistline.

Unfortunately most takeaways are high GI foods (not too mention high in salt) so you find that you feel full for a very short time (your body processes the food very quickly and then you feel hungry again) resulting in buying larger portions of takeaways or more and that's where the damage gets done.
 
Last edited:
For the micro+woolies solution the trick is to add one of those R10 veggie packs (3 for R20) to bulk up your meal.
 
biometrics said:
For the micro+woolies solution the trick is to add one of those R10 veggie packs (3 for R20) to bulk up your meal.
Click to expand...

Or buy a big bag of peas/mixed veg and prepare a bit with your rice/spaghetti/whatever. Should be cheaper in the long run.
 
Saying you can't cook is just an excuse for being lazy. Cooking basic things like stews and stir-fries and lasagnes and other such stuff is pretty much just that ... basic.

Shame on you for not being able to do the basic.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Bake beans, noodles , hotdogs, paloney, jeans and shirts that you can get away with without ironing
 
I'm moving in alone tomorrow as well, glad I stumbled upon this thread :)

Very nice tips. Hopefully I will add a few of my own.
 
Experiment. Everyone here has watched BBC Food (if they have DSTV)

Ive been living without my parents for 2 years now. never used a cookbook, besides the occasional internet recipe search when guests are coming
 
Best advice I can give is to freeze. If you are living on your own, you won't be using big portions and you'll find alot of food will go to waste if you cook every night. I freeze rice, cheese, milk, bread and left overs for days I don't feel like cooking.

Get some frozen mixed veg, some oven bake frozen potato wedges (McCain sells them) and they are very good. You can also buy oven bake fries. Buy some fish fingers, or some woolworths freezable food. My recommendation is the big pies they have. They not excessively expensive compared to the TV dinners and you can get at least two meals out of them.

So, here is a meal I would suggest:

1,5 cups rice - cooked on stove as per usual (45 min)
clump of frozen potato wedges oven baked (30 - 40 min)
place Woolworths pie in oven same time as wedges (30 min)
5 minutes before you eat, place a decent amount of frozen mixed veg in pot with water. Bring to boil.
some instant gravy.

You'll have enough for atleast two meals, so whatever you don't use - stick in the fridge and have the next day.

It takes 45 min with very minimal effort and you get a very "homely" meal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X