"Emergency dinners"

Inspired by Losin25's thread "Setting myself up for failure" about not knowing what to eat for dinner, because of not planning it, I was wondering what you guys in general do in situations like these.
I'm sure many others have days like I do, where I just don't feel like cooking, and just want to order food.
Obviously, there are a LOT of bad choices out there.
For me, counting calories, I try to simple go with a less calorie-heavy choice. I usually pick a pita bread with lettuce, cucumber, tomato, some meat (I love tuna or shrimp) and no dressing. It makes me feel that I too can order food when the rest of the family wants pizza, and I really don't miss out. Also, it's pretty reasonable on calories, and taste great.
What about you guys? What do you do?

Since I eat low carb most of the time, I keep turkey burgers & salmon burgers on hand as well as tons of eggs. I always have some type of veggie around too so in a pinch I'll cook up a salmon patty in my little non-stick skillet & microwave some broccoli. Done. And we always buy Healthy Choice-type frozen meals or Lean Pockets when they're on sale, so I really only have to cook for myself at times like those. DH & the kids have plenty of stuff they can grab out of the freezer to eat.

The turkey burgers I buy taste great without tons of stuff on them, but if I do want to add something I might microwave some cheese & picante sauce together & blend for a sauce & add a low-carb pita if I just gotta have it on something.

I also always keep some type of lunchmeat around(deli turkey is my fave lately) & low carb wraps or pitas, so I can always throw a turkey wrap together & add anything else I have handy, like tomato, avocado, sprouts (those are my faves), whatever you like.

We don't order out a lot, but we'll go out to eat once in a while. I find that more servers are aware of what constitutes low-carb than you'd expect. And even if they don't know anything about it, I've been doing it long enough that I can make decent choices on my own, by just ordering foods that don't have the starches incorporated into the dish (like lasagna or something). I've done burgers without the bread, steak/seafood with double veggies instead of veg & potato, I've even eaten the toppings off a pizza. That's the good part, anyway.

Nice topic, interested to hear what others do!

I was just complaining about the need for healthy take-out/delivery options on my journal the other day. Best choices for me so far are Asian ... sushi/sashimi, Korean grilled meats, Thai soups or salads, or if we order Chinese I try and order simple stir fries of veggies without much sauce (like bok choy with garlic, or snow pea leaves). If I'm being good and smart I will make some brown rice while we wait for the food to arrive, rather than order the steamed white rice. All of the Asian stuff can be high in sodium from soy sauce or fish sauce - but if I drink lots of water along with it I usually don't see much of a gain. Although I will say I rarely lose weight after having takeout... I sort of know if we're doing take out I'm going to be in maintenance mode that night.

I always have eggs and cheese around, and I usually have some sort of sausage as well-- usually something like an organic chicken apple. I can whip up a frittata or omelet in no time flat. The only downside is that the sausages tend to have around 800mg of sodium in them, and that's about half my daily target in one item.

Subway is always my "go-to" when I don't feel like cooking and want something fairly healthy. If I'm not in the mood for Subway, I like to order sushi and edamame. If I want to stay at home, I'm a big fan of greek yogurt and toasted peanut butter and jelly. Some people think peanut butter is awful, but I believe that everything in moderation is fine.

I keep some lean cuisines in the freezer so I can microwave something. Though, sometimes it's like I'm eating more of the lean cuisines than I intend. I started freezing meals I do have time cook. I'll use my Food Saver and vacuum seal a plate with portions I want and then freeze it. I'll then cut open the package and then re-heat in the microwave. Hope that helps!

I also tend to make big batches of things like soups and stews, and freeze the leftovers in individual-serving portions. Part of my diet is not buying packaged processed/prepared foods, but I'm happy to freeze my own meals because I know what the ingredients are.

Meatloaf! We usually have some type of ground meat (beef, chicken, turkey) and some type of veggie (bell pepper, onion, mushrooms) in the fridge. Combine them all together with some spices(plus an egg or two to hold it together) and viola! Yumminess.

My freezer is always full. I usually keep lots of frozen veggies - broccoli, green beans, Trader Joe's fire roasted onions and peppers (really great in omelets!), spinach. Most veggies can be microwaved or fried very quickly. I also always have some kind of fish - portion packaged (Costco has so many choices! My faves are salmon, tuna, and tilapia). It's easy to defrost in a bowl of water and then fry or grill for 10 mins. If I don't want to cook at all, there are always pre-cooked frozen meats (chicken, beef, pork) from Trader Joe's (I love that store!) - their marinated chicken breast is awesome. The only catch in the pre-cooked meats is that they're usually pretty high in sodium, as Hoser mentioned, so I try not to eat it every day.

Wraps and pitas have covered a lot of bases for me lately too - I use Joseph's brand, which are awesome. TONS of fiber, so net carbs are 4-5 for a whole pita. A little mayo+green tabasco, handful of spinach, chopped tomatoes and whatever lunch meat or leftover protein I have laying around.

I also have a full freezer - favorites lately have been Steamers veggies and a frozen shrimp wonton soup from Costco. Those two things, along with always having some fresh fruit and/or veggies on hand, have saved my bacon on countless occasions. Actually, ain't gonna lie - the generic sugar free/almost fat free ice cream sandwiches from Walmart have helped keep my butt from going off the deep end, too.

Lenakh, I'm jealous of your Trader Joe's... but we're finally FINALLY going to get some in Dallas, so I'll soon be able to shop there again too. Keeping mental notes on your faves!

Ditto for me on the frozen veggie steamers. I also love these individual packs of frozen edamame (soy beans) that seapoint farms makes. They come in a microwave ready steamer bag and are 90 calories each. I also keep some frozen Quorn products on hand (fake meat products) because they are delicious and low calorie. Today for lunch I was not in the mood to cook so I just nuked up a quorn burger and put it on some whole grain bread.
Low-fat cheese is also good.

My pantry almost always has those foil packets of starkist chunk lite tuna. It's great for a one-slice-of-bread sandwich with a little lite mayo, or add it to greens for a salad with balsamic vinegar dressing. My other standby is cottage cheese, either plain or with a little fruit on the side.