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Hey all! I am a seafood-eating vegetarian who has been Paleo for about a month now, and my discipline in preparing each meal is starting to wane. I HATE cooking, and have always been a grab-n'-go kinda gal and, (before you dare chide me for going Paleo with that attitude!) it always worked okay for me when I was just Gluten Free. There was no end to the cookies, frozen lasagna, snacks, and other nibbly little things that I could pick up at my grocery store. Now I feel as though I have to plan meals hours in advance! Anyone have any recommendations for good, Paleo products that I can order/ eat with little muss-n-fuss? (And no, before you ask, I cannot get over my cooking phobia!) Thanks alot, my fellow cave-people!

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What do you hate about cooking, specifically? Is it that you feel it takes too long, is too complicated or too messy? Or something else? – Suz - Paleo Oz Apr 23 2012 at 4:28
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find a caveman who will cook for you. – gydle Apr 23 2012 at 5:44
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Hours in advance? Try days. I usually spend Sunday afternoon making a big dish to eat for lunch the following week. As suggested below, get a crock pot. Using it barely counts as cooking. – trjones Apr 23 2012 at 15:03
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You said "nibbly little things." – Dave S. Apr 23 2012 at 16:40

10 Answers

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get a crock pot; put stuff in it and ignore until you are hungry. buy a stainless steel thermos so you can load it up and go. also boil eggs a half dozen at a time and keep in the fridge.

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boiling eggs probably counts as cooking... ;) For the record, Carson, it's a really good idea though. Here's what you do - put the eggs into a saucepan, till the water covers them. Bring to a boil then reduce to a low simmer, and 17 minutes later take them off the stove and put in ice cold water. It's not brain science. – gydle Apr 23 2012 at 5:46
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don't forget to turn the crock pot on, too. – gydle Apr 23 2012 at 5:47
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Seafood-eating veg huh. Well, I am the laziest kitchen-allergic Paleo eater ever, so I hope I can give you some ideas. I go every 2-3 days to my grocery store and buy the easiest, already most-minimally prepared food every. I eat the following (i'll skip all the meat/chicken dishes):
-piles of smoked salmon w/ red onion
-boiled eggs mashed w/ avocado and pepper
-kalamata olives. Other olives too. So yum.
-canned salmon, tuna, sardines, oysters etc. Any fish in a can. In tomato, water or olive oil.
-peeled, cooked shrimp. Sometimes in a ring. With salsa.
-nuts
-cooked, de-shelled crab -prepped and packaged by my grocer
-TONS of veggies. You name it. Mainly raw but I will bake a sweet potato. Mostly I don't forget it's in the oven and go swimming.
-fruit
-Vega bars, Lara bars and other Paleo-ish meal bars. I always read the ingredients and try to keep it super clean, but it's not always perfect. As these are processed, I try not to have them too often and only when I'm in a pinch.
- Soups from the soup bar. I will read the ingredients and decide if it's paleo enough. I had an amazing french onion soup the other day. Whole foods also has amazing seafood ceviches or fish stews.

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Why did my listing not format as such? Sigh, too tired to care. Sorry it looks so lame. – KellyBoBelly Apr 23 2012 at 6:18
You might have missed the spaces. I think they need to be in ' - Item' format. – Blitherakt Apr 23 2012 at 15:24
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PH requires two spaces at the end of a line for a new line (just <enter> won't cut it. I fixes it. – Dave S. Apr 23 2012 at 16:38
I did not know that. Thanks so much Dave S! – KellyBoBelly Apr 23 2012 at 21:34
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Canned Fish (I like ones in olive oil), Baby Carrots, Broccoli

You can eat all of these without a pan or fire.

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Since you eat fish, you could just get a bunch of canned fish, keep some salad mix handy, avocados, seeds, nuts and toss it all together to make a salad. No cooking involved. It won't take more than 10 minutes to plan.

Do you consider the microwave cooking? Sometimes I also microwave frozen vegetables and just eat it alongside my sardines. I have this egg microwave mold to make poached eggs, and I'll just throw eggs in, stick it in the microwave and then it's all done and I'll have a complete meal. You can drizzle some balsamic vinegar and a choice of fat over the vegetables.

If you really just want to not heat up/prepare anything AT ALL, then I guess you can shoot for salmon jerky/pre-boiled eggs at the store, pre-cooked frozen shrimp, portable fruit like apples and bananas, cartons of yogurt if you do dairy and cheese cubes. Sometimes the seafood department will cook the food for you if you ask them to for no extra charge (at least at my supermarket).

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If you choose to have choices made for you, then you have to accept what is given or available to you.

Luckily, there's usually tons of premade stuff at the grocery store that fits into the paleo paradigm: full cooked chickens, sushi, and (obviously) fresh veggies and fruits.

Your so-called "grab n go" attitude probably does work better with a lifestyle okay with tons of processed food, since it tends to evoke variety and lasts a while. With a creativity, you can easily combine fresh or premade ingredients from the store. Not really "cooking" so it should fit your criteria.

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fruit and veg are the ultimate grab and go. I eat whole carrots regularly when I need a snack. – gydle Apr 23 2012 at 5:47
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I don't mind cooking, but like you, after doing it for too much I get really, really sick of it.

Well-Fed is a cookbook that talks about how to prep a huge amount in advance, which helped me immensely. Sundays I spend shopping and then chopping and hard boiling and even pre-cooking a few meals or two. If I don't do this, I suffer for the week. If I do, everything is peachy-keen.

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Don't cook then. I actually love cooking, but sometimes would just rather chill out and not be tied to the stove top. my quickie: throw some salad in a bowl, some spinach, throw in a raw egg (OR TWO), some yogurt, cherry tomtatos, raw meat (or fish- though the juices of cooked meat really give the salad a great flavor), chopped or diced or sliced or grated carrots, celery, fennel, avocado... basically just empty your fridge out. Add some organic salt, vinegar or lemon, raisins, almonds...whatever, mandarin slices. A great tastie uncooked meal. Takes 10 minutes.

But guess what? You can't store it or freeze it so there are benefits to cooking after all.

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A tasty snack/meal sub is a can of coconut milk mixed with a scoop of chocolate whey protein powder. Delicious and filling as hell.

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Planning is not really needed.

Two methods to try :

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Also with the smoked salmon: grab nori papers avocados and sliced cucumbers and peppers and make 'sushi'.

Also, if you don't mind juicing a few limes: grab some shrimp, octopus, fish and let it sit in lime juice for a couple of hours.. then drain. add in some avocado and red onion (you can buy this pre-chopped) and cilantro. You now have ceviche.

Beg a friend to make you some paleo mayo (i find extra light tasting evoo the best oil). This can be added to any of the fish or hard boiled eggs. You need plenty of fat. You should also get plenty of fat from ghee.

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