Pre-Packaged Carb-Friendly Foods Shopping List?

[seattleatkinsfan]

I don't have much time to cook and am always on the lookout for pre-packaged food items/snacks to be found at any local major chain grocery store. Has anyone here created a shopping list of carb-friendly foods that are packaged and ready to eat with no or minimal prep time available at most available shopping chains? (not counting eggs, meat, cheese, etc.. of course.. which are all givens..)

[Miss Phode]

Bagged lettuce and celery sticks.

[LuckyD]

Almost everything that is pre-packaged besides vegetables has sugar in it. Or some other crud you really dont want or need. But it is nice to have something convenient to eat. In a pinch I will buy a pre-cooked chicken. I always buy my spinach and lettuce packaged. And I love Trader Joes Guacamole. Other than that I am hard pressed to think what else there is. The best thing to do is take some to cook for part of a day and cook meals that you can portion out and reheat later.

[Grant]

Sorry, I'm not sure where you are at in Atkins, if you are in the induction phase then one thing you might try are pork rinds. If you are like me then the idea of pork rinds may gross you out but I found that they were very useful, not only because they are so easy to find and pack around but because they have a high fat content which makes them great for fighting cravings.

If you are on OWL, and can have them, then then nuts and seeds are great to-go snacks. If you try those then I'd suggest either buying them in small pouches or separating them out yourself into single serving sizes. I find it's very easy to over indulge on these if you don't pay close attention.

If your minimal prep time includes a microwave then you might try all beef hotdogs, or another option is canned tuna or salmon. I keep a jar of lemon pepper at my desk and sometimes for lunch at work will just open up a can, dash on some lemon pepper and fork it up right out of the can.

[Scooterjam]

Canned tuna is a safe quick way to go. Seriously, it's hard to find 'lo carb' on the go snacks. You can try your local health food store, however, most of them are plagued with frankenfoods and just want your money. The best bet, and I know this isn't what you want to hear, cook your own, split it up into servings, zip lock bags, and grab what you need. I'm a musician, I'm on the road all the time, sometimes driving couple hours or more to get to gigs, if it weren't for my pre-packaged goodies sometimes, I'd be living out of convenience stores. Grant is correct about the nuts and seeds, be careful (if your even on that rung) you have to pre-measure that stuff, if you don't, you'll find yourself eating a whole can of macadamia's or almonds, we eat out of habit sometimes, bad habits at that! Hope we have helped a little bit!

[sadie147]

Take one day of the week (ie sunday afternoon/night) and make a weeks worth of make ahead meals that you can just pop in the microwave and reheat easily. I really don't recommended basing your meals on prepackaged foods which are usually full of additives and sodium. nothing beats whole foods IMO.


Some ideas: make a meatloaf, mini breakfast quiches, roast a couple of chickens, poach chicken breasts (great for chicken salad, quick stir fry's etc). Linda's site is great for ideas: http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/index.html

[cocobelle]

I like the tuna (especially with a pop top lid). You can grab some packs of mayonnaise, which makes tuna salad a quick, easy mix.

I keep a couple of cans of vienna sausages in my glove box, for those emergency hunger pains.

Grant is right - of course - about the pork rinds. You can find individual cups of ranch dressing at the grocery store (I think each cup is 2 tablespoons). I like it as a dip for the pork rinds.

There are also those small packages of shaved meat (check carbs here - the ham is NOT legal!) - they are 2 for $1 or something - perfect size for a snack or two.

A yummy snack with the meat is to spread some cream cheese on it, put a pickle spear on top and roll everything together. mmmm....

Tysons also has precooked chicken - with different flavors (southwestern, italian, etc) that they offer in bags. Really easy to toss on a salad, or to heat up with some garlic (I LOVE garlic!!). I think that they also offer beef, as well.

Walmart has boxes of filets that are vacuum sealed into individual servings. Pull it out of the freezer - put into some hot water for a minute or two (still in the package), then either nuke, grill or saute. You'll have a fresh steak in less than ten minutes.

oh! and string cheese, as well. You can also find baby-gouda rounds at the grocery that make snacking easy (again - watch portion sizes and carbs)

jars of olives (much better than cans, because you can pull a couple out and save the rest). One of those baby goudas, a couple of olives and pork rinds/ dip.... it's like an appetizer platter!

Walmart also has bagged peeled/cooked shrimp. Again, open the bag, fill with hot water. You'll have shrimp for dipping in a couple of minutes, or you can saute to heat up. (serve on some spaghetti squash....mmmm!)

Hope it helps!!

[seattleatkinsfan]

thanks for all the input.. i'm on the last 10-15 pounds to lose.. as i've been down this route before.. they were always the hardest..

i think i may be eating too many nuts, cheese. to lose the last pounds, what's the best foods to cut out, which one normally wouldn't consider? and how many ounces in nuts and cheese should i consider minimizing down to?

ps: i found my favorite new quick to make item. jennie-o turkey makes prepackaged stuffed chicken/turkey with cheese, ham etc.. flavors.. they taste excellent and only have 2-3gms of carbs per serving, heat up in the microwave in 3 minutes.

here's the link to my favorite new dinners: (minus the last one, which has 13g of carbs)
http://www.jennieo.com/product.asp?catitemid=18

[not2late]

Originally Posted by seattleatkinsfan

thanks for all the input.. i'm on the last 10-15 pounds to lose.. as i've been down this route before.. they were always the hardest..

i think i may be eating too many nuts, cheese. to lose the last pounds, what's the best foods to cut out, which one normally wouldn't consider? and how many ounces in nuts and cheese should i consider minimizing down to?

ps: i found my favorite new quick to make item. jennie-o turkey makes prepackaged stuffed chicken/turkey with cheese, ham etc.. flavors.. they taste excellent and only have 2-3gms of carbs per serving, heat up in the microwave in 3 minutes.

here's the link to my favorite new dinners: (minus the last one, which has 13g of carbs)
http://www.jennieo.com/product.asp?catitemid=18

Oh, since your in On-Going Weight Loss Phase, you should have completed (or on the way to completing) the Carb Ladder and you should have figured out your CCLL. So, the sky's the limit for you in terms of food choices. When you make the change to Pre-Maintenance Phase and find your CCML, you can eat about anything that doesn't affect your weight or mess up your blood sugar.

[SugarFreeSheila]

If you love fish and tuna, please try the pre-drained bagged real crabmeat, as it is such a great snack. If you are on the go, bring along a fork, a few mayo packets as well as some whipped cream cheese (so no softening in the microwave is required) in a disposable Tupperware bowl. Mix it all together, and it's just no-nonsense, inexpensive, filling heaven in a bowl.