Soup! Throw whatever you want in there– lentils, canned beans, canned tomato, chopped veggies, mushrooms, onion/garlic, meat, pasta, potatoes, whatever. If you want to add leafy greens like kale, or use frozen veggies instead of fresh, add them at the end of cooking. Fill up the pot with however much veggie broth you want, boil then bring to a simmer for about 40min, tasting and seasoning as you go. To make it more stew-like, use less broth.
Pasta! Make it easy by using a simple sauce of jarred tomato sauce, basil, and mushrooms or ground meat of choice. You can also make a simple sauce with canned or fresh tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and cheese of choice.
Eggs! Scrambled or fried tastes great over rice, on toast, on a bed of greens, on top of ramen, ontop of beans, whatever!
Simple stir fry using frozen veggie and sauce mixes, add meat or tofu. If you don’t want to make rice, just boil Asian noodles instead, it’s faster.
I got the feeling I was about to hit a brick wall in the near future, so, with a little encouragement from my Discord friends, I went grocery shopping for easy-prep meals for the next week or so. Here’s some tips on doing the thing!
Note: not all of these tips are the most 100% budget friendly. I am in a situation where I can afford to weight easy-to-prepare over buying in bulk and making things myself so they cost less. The balance may lie in a different place for you and your budget, and all I encourage you to do is your best.
No one cares what you’re wearing in a grocery store.
This one’s from personal experience, having worked grocery. If you show up in a pair of pajama pants and a T-shirt, that’s not going to throw anyone off. If you’re literally wearing a hoody and shorts, no one’s going to raise a fuss. Just put some clothes on and go.
Stop at the deli for ready-to-eat.
In my case, this was potato salad and cabbage rolls (and ambrosia salad), but there were plenty of options for ‘nuke it and call it a meal’ dinners, as well as soups. Your friendly deli person can take ‘I’m looking for something pre-made for dinner this week’ and guide you toward what’s fresh and what’s good.
Do buy larger sizes if you don’t know when the next time you’ll have energy to grocery is.
The particular item that this applied most to for me was honey: I opted for a larger size than I usually do, because I know that depression and cool weather both lead me toward tea-drinking, and I don’t know when shopping will happen.
Buying in bulk can also cost less, if that’s something you’re taking into consideration.
Do buy the ‘fun’ varieties.
For example, one of me depression meals tends to be oatmeal, because it’s quick and doesn’t require actual cooking. Today I bought the dino egg oatmeal for kids, because I thought it’d make me smile. I also got a slightly fancier brand of ramen than usual, because I thought it’d be more likely to get me to eat when all I can manage is a ramen.
Do buy a post-grocery treat for yourself.
You deserve it for making it through the trip. A box or two of Botan rice candy, or a candy bar at the check out is not a bad thing.
The simpler the prep, the better.
Minute rice cups that you can nuke and be done with? Great! Uncle Ben’s rice packets? Superb! Tuna fish pre-flavored packets? Amazing! Uncrustables? Dandy!
Do try and manage a smile for your cashier.
Again, from my personal experience in this position. We can tell you want to be done and out of here as fast as possible. We can tell if you’re frustrated with how slow you’re going. Cashiers are underpaid and stressed and have been on their feet for hours. Give them civility, if not outright pleasantness.
If you have SPD/autism/sensory difficulties, go for food you KNOW you’ll eat. I don’t care how unhealthy it is, and even if you’re on a budget, it might be worth it to fork over the extra cash for on-brand comfort food. I know from experience that I straight-up won’t eat otherwise.
^^^^^
Like, sometimes that box of granola bars is going to be more appealing than any veggie in the world (and I totally got one while shopping last night). However, if you’re doing this for multiple days, consider adding a multivitamin.
There’s a fine line between “pushing yourself out of your comfort zone” and “pushing yourself into a mental breakdown” and we need to fucking find it and stop encouraging people to do the second in an attempt at making them do the first.
A German pedagogue named Tom Senninger developed this model called the “Learning Zone Model.” Senninger talks about three zones: comfort, learning (or growth), and panic. I think that’s really important because some people do talk like anything “outside your comfort zone” is automatically good and brings growth.
But Senninger knows that you can only stretch so far before you’ve stretched too far. Both experience, personal work, and therapy can help expand the first two zones and shrink the third, but we’ll always have that place where panic and/or pain sets in, and our goal should be to recognize and respect that in ourselves and others, rather than force ourselves or someone else to “push through it.” There is no “through it.” The only thing on the other side of the panic zone is more panic.
Do you guys ever get that feeling where nothing is exciting anymore?
Like, the holidays just seem like another day.
My 16th birthday that I had been looking forward to forever was just a school day.
New episodes of my favorite show don’t get me pumped anymore.
Everything is kind of dull and I can’t really like anything anymore.
this, ladies and gentlemen, is a top-notch sign of depression. this is not supposed to be a normal thing to feel.
Other sings of depressions can be:
No hunger. Like, you eat because of the pleasure of it or because you have to, but you aren’t hungry anymore.
Procastrination, even of things you like.
Feeling no sympathy for anything. You begin to question if you love something or someone at all.
Feeling like you are in a dream (depersonalization)
Having trouble sleeping. It can be nightmares, it can be difficulties falling asleep, difficulties waking up, waking up in the middle of the night, etc.
Being really tired without reason.
Intrusive thoughts (that may say that your family doesn’t love you, or that what you are feeling is completely normal, for example. It’s never true)
Not caring about your own security anymore, not because you want to die (most of the depressed people don’t want to commit suicide) but because you just forget it. You forget to look both ways before crossing, wearing your seatbelt or even you can forget about eating.
Desire of isolation. You just want to be alone, and anyone feels like a friend anymore.
Trouble focusing on things.
It’s actually really scary how many of these apply to me
honestly students with mental disorders such as depression anxiety etc that go to school should get more recognition and support, most people have no idea of what it is to have to pick yourself up every morning and attend class even when you feel like dying
I am so proud of each & every one of you that this post applies to. You are so much stronger, more inspirational, and more resilient than you realize or give yourselves credit for
ImagineCreateDevour 