Meal Experiment 1: Garlic Chicken & Spinach Noodles

Part 1: Ingredients

First we have to pack in the "raw" ingredients:

One grilled chicken thigh, cut into chunks

About a half cup of frozen chopped spinach

About a tablespoon of butter and a quarter teaspoon garlic

And a pack of ramen noodles

Part 2: Cooking

First I add the spinach to the bowl.

YAY VEGETABLES!

Now before I open the ramen I break the noodles up inside the pack by punching it a couple times.

This makes it easier to cook in the bowl, easier to eat, and simply is kinda fun.

Now pour the chunks of noodles over the spinach

 And cover with water.

 Then microwave for about 2-3 minutes.

 Add the chicken in (since it was pre-cooked) and microwave for about another minute or so to get it nice and warm.

 Finally add the garlic and butter, stir well, and enjoy!

Part 3: Eating

I only had one flaw today - too much garlic on the day I have a performance appraisal.  Together with my trusty water bottle, this proved a aromatic, tasty, and not-too-bad meal.

How can you tell I enjoyed it?

That didn't go to the trash can

Part 4: Final Thoughts

The entire thing - bowl, food, and all, fit in my lunch box quite easy.  The bowl is now a permanent fixture in my office so that's not even a transport issue.  Pre-night prep wasn't bad, mostly shove stuff in baggies, and in the office cooking was quite simple and quick.

On top of that, I think the recipe provides a good basic guide from some simple dishes.

 

Quick Refining of the Guidelines

I just want to take a few minutes to also refine the guidelines that I am setting on the challenge:

• No Tuna.  I just don't like the stuff
• Should not require freezing.  My "freezer" has enough space for an ice cube tray.  If it cannot fit in there then it is not coming in
• I have access to an office fridge, a microwave, running water, a coffee pot, a bowl, paper plates, and a strainer.  I want to try and keep things to using these items.
• I want to keep packaged meals to a minimum up front.  I may do reviews on them in the future, but in the mean time this is about survival!

I think that is about it on my guideline update for the moment.  First meal of the challenge coming up in about 3 hours!

The Office Desk Diet Challenge

(Note to readers: diet is what you eat, not eating to lose weight.  This is just to keep me alive through the work day lol)

So - I'm in an interesting conundrum:

I work for a private university and, normally, I eat my lunch in the cafeteria on campus ($4 meals woo!)  However at the end of April the students go away and that closes until August.

Now - I hate taking my lunch for two reasons. The first is that I am not usually fond of leftovers as unless my wife makes a really good dinner AND enough that our family does not eat absolutely everything, there is not much good to take.  The second is I really do not like doing a lot of "prep" work the night before.

So we now have some guidelines for the challenge of feeding me through out the day.

1. NO LEFTOVERS
2. Meals must be packable into a small lunch box
3. Meals must have no more than 15 minutes prep time the night before
4. No more than $20 a week may be spent on food

So - those are the rule.  Let's also think about some other critical things to do:

• Meals should contain both protein as well as carbohydrates in order to sustain energy through the day
• Meals should ideally contain some sort of vegetable  
• Where possible, ingredients that can be "stashed" in my desk long term
• Dehydrated vegetables and ramen may feature heavily
• Bread will not - too bulky and spoils easily
• Mass weekend meal prep is a good idea.  This may include things like boiling eggs, cooking chicken, etc.

So for the next month I hope to start trying out new recipes and posting them as well as their reviews. I'm setting a goal of one per week minimum.  Please comment here if you have any suggestions!