The arguments I've heard generally come from people who think it's more convenient than alternatives they could make themselves. In my experience, those thoughts are incorrect, but it still explains the reasoning. I think the other reality is that people who don't like to deal with food, or have issues with food such as problems with obesity, or an eating disorder might think it's a solution to the "I can quit smoking, I can't quit eating" issue.
So, serious question then, because I've honestly been looking for this as a Soylent alternative.
Do you have any pointers to a meal plan that would give me full daily nutrition for say, a time/effort expenditure of around 20 minutes a day in preparation?
Let's say I'm totally cool eating the same thing for any given meal each day (though I'd prefer different breakfast/lunch/dinner within same day), and let's say I'm fine buying appliances as long as the maintenance/cleanup is within that time period too. Money isn't a concern here within reason. Since you mention rice cookers and crock pots (and I also have an instant pot) I can also work with set-and-forget as long as I only have to pay attention for 20 minutes or so.
The draw of Soylent to me is that I basically have no clue how to feed myself within time allotted, so I eat like crap grazing on what amounts to snacks or ordering out. I know Soylent isn't great but it's better than what I do on my own.
I'd love to have a healthier alternative, but I also know from experience that unless I can find something dead easy like described, I won't build the habit.
For me? I'm partial to cooking a lot of stuff at once and portioning it out, then freezing it. Pretty much anything with any kind of beans or lentils is easy to make in large quantities, tastes good and lasts a long time in the freezer. Rice cookers are a great multipurpose tool as well, and as a bonus they're great at making (and keeping) rice. Toss in the water and rice in the morning, come back to rice. Protein of your choice on a skillet or toaster oven, or nuke some of your stews, on the rice... boom.
I like (again this is my taste, yours of course may vary) oatmeal, coconut and fruit bars (the internet is full of good recipes for energy, protein, fiber, etc bars and snacks). They last a while in the fridge, and basically forever in the freezer. Another case of, "Make it when you have some time, and eat them for the rest of month or quarter".
Finally... sandwiches, salads, and soups. I also love granola with yogurt and honey, and eat that as my "I have some time to enjoy this" breakfast; only thing to cook is the granola, again once a month or so.
OK, those are good tips. Batch and freeze makes a ton of sense, though I'm not sure my freezer is up to it, and I do like the timer function on my rice cooker and instant pot (and also like rice, oatmeal, etc.)
I just wish I could actually find a decent and specific "sandwiches, salads, and crock pot" type 7-day (or even 1-day) meal plan out there that covered all the bases for times when I haven't done prep work. I'm a little lost as to how to combine the ingredients effectively--I know the concepts of nutrition, of course, but not the intersection of those and what practically works.
Edit: My best advice is to think about what you have to work with in terms of appliances and such, and google search for recipes using them, along with things like "For a month" and that kind of thing. So much of this is down to personal taste; I mean if you don't like black beans, no amount of recipes for them will help you out.
I eat super healthily, and I've managed to get my daily prep down to about half an hour in total, with a little extra time on weekends.
Breakfast - yogurt and frozen fruit blended into sherbet. I have 8 different kinds of frozen fruit in my freezer so there's plenty of variety.
Lunch - replaced by a protein shake at 11, then another one at ~2. I mix it with powdered drink packets, so there's plenty of variety there too.
Dinner - a crock pot with some kind of bean (again, I mix it up), a can of some kind of green (spinach/kale/collards/etc), some spices and some kim chi.
Elevensies (yeah, I'm like a jacked hobbit) - a piece of smoked meat and some sauerkraut.
The key is to keep the structure of your meals the same, and just have a rotation of ingredients that you swap out to keep things fresh.
Of course it's more convienient! Soylent takes 0 time to prepare. Most other things take at least some time, and are often less healthy.
It takes me at least an hour to cook and eat 3 meals a day. Soylent takes almost no time to cook and consume. If you value your time at all (say, a very minimal $20/hour) that's $600 a month saved right there.
