Insider Today: Eating on a tight schedule

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December 2, 2023 • 5 min read

We made it to the weekend, friends. I just added this first-class train ride from Paris to Barcelona to my bucket list — the ticket is $177 and has wifi the entire ride.

In today’s big story, we’re looking at hacks to make feeding yourself on a busy schedule easier.

What’s on deck

Travel: Underrated travel destinations that’ll be popular next year.
Careers: Check out seven obscure but high-paying jobs.
Life: A list of 50 cities and whether their rents are surging or dropping compared to home values.

But first, have you eaten yet?

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digital illustration of a tired office worker at their desk, while two coworkers look at them

PCH-Vector/Getty Images

The big story

Fuel for your thoughts

Feeding yourself on a busy schedule can be hard.

Nearly 50% of workers skip lunch at least once a week. Plus, fast food isn’t that affordable of an option anymore.

But some busy people shared their tips and tricks for feeding themselves faster and easier.

Nicolas Abello

Culinary judge: Meredith Ochs uses shortcuts to quickly create meals that pack a ton of flavor and texture. Her favorite hacks include boiling water in a pan — instead of a pot — to cut down the wait time and using dried ingredients to save time from cutting.
Registered dietician: Jordan Hill shared three quick, easy, and delicious high-protein meals for those with limited time to cook. She uses wild-caught salmon and firm tofu as go-to staples for quick meals.
Michelin-starred chefs: Multiple Michelin-starred chefs shared their easy 20-minute meals. Val Cantu of Californios makes his favorite steak in 10 minutes and pairs it with an easy chimichurri sauce. Meanwhile, Andrew Zimmerman of Sepia’s makes a carbonara pasta with only four main ingredients.
Ina Garten: The celebrity chef has more than 1,000 recipes. One mega-fan spent years cooking many of her concoctions. Some dishes, like eggs in purgatory and chicken with a creamy mustard sauce, became his go-tos for an easy dinner.
Catering hack: TikTokers were (controversially) ordering Chipotle’s $100 catering spread as a meal-prepping hack. The boxes came with trays of rice, meat, and other toppings — enough for one week’s worth of meals. Some were blown away by this time-saving hack, but others thought it was a waste of money.
Instant meals instead of takeout. A frozen meal from Trader Joe’s is a more affordable — and time-saving — alternative to ordering food. They’re under $6 and have a variety of options, including potstickers, mini chicken tacos, pizza, and meatballs.
Lazy girl lunch (instead of girl dinner). Easy, staple lunches like quesadillas and omelets helped this reporter maintain her weight loss for four years. She ensures that her meals are high in protein and fiber — but most importantly, easy.

Most of these options take under 30 minutes and can keep you full for the rest of your day. Besides, even highly successful people like Mark Zuckerberg and Michelle Obama make time to fuel up during the day.

3 things in

Travel

Roman Babakin/Shutterstock

1. A travel planner reveals nine underrated destinations that’ll be popular in 2024. Their clients are looking at off-the-beaten-path destinations. Some unique spots that they’re looking at for next year include Laos, Slovenia, North Dakota, and Tanzania.

2. Russia reportedly wants to make foreigners entering the country sign a “loyalty agreement.” It would ban foreigners from criticizing official policies and Soviet military history — among other contentious topics. The move could quell the criticism of Vladimir Putin’s regime.

3. “I’ve finally visited all 50 states. As it turns out, I saved the best for last.” This author thought the biggest, most remote state — Alaska — would be the best to visit last. It was filled with incredible food and activities and is so big each city almost felt like a different state.

3 things in

Careers

digital illustration of office people lined up at exit door

Getty Images

1. The final straw: Former employees of prestigious companies share the moment they knew they had to leave their dream jobs. Many were walking away from high-paying jobs. But none of them regretted leaving, and one even wished they left sooner.

2. Companies wanted to make Instagram-worthy offices. They got roasted instead. Some companies thought making a super-hip office would lure workers back. Instead, someone expressed how “this is cringe” and many said they’d rather just get paid more.

3. Weird — but high-paying — jobs that people don’t really know about. Thousands of Redditors revealed obscure, lucrative jobs. Some of the most upvoted answers include a teeth designer, artificial flavor maker, and pine cone harvester.

3 things in

Life

A cross-section showing Sagittarius A* at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

NASA

1. The black hole at the center of the Milky Way is spinning so fast it’s squishing time-space. The black hole Sagittarius A* drags the surrounding space-time along with it and squishes it down like a football. But don’t worry. The distortion won’t affect us, since Earth is so far away.

2. To rent or to buy: Experts share how to balance this tricky question. It’s an individual choice based on finances and preferences. But experts shared a few numbers you can crunch to determine the best option for you.

3. The magic discount number is 40. A sale isn’t worth it anymore unless you’re getting 40% off, according to a new study, because deep discounts are so common. Anything less is just a typical price cut at any given time of the year.

In other news

AnnaStills/Shutterstock

For your bookmarks

Bedroom trends

Interior designers shared eight bedroom trends that’ll be huge next year. They also revealed five trends on their way out, like minimalism and shutters.

News Quiz

Answers for the quiz from Friday's edition

From Monday: A growing number of Gen Zers are asking for this workplace benefit. Answer: Legal services
From Tuesday: We got a first look at this fast-food giant’s secretive new spinoff restaurant. Answer: McDonald’s
From Wednesday: This investing legend and Warren Buffett’s right-hand man passed away peacefully. Answer: Charlie Munger
From Thursday: This billionaire tech executive had some strong words for advertisers fleeing his company. Answer: Elon Musk
From Friday: This company’s CEO is ordering employees living within 50 miles of an office to “get your butt in here.” Answer: Broadcom

Let me know how you did at insidertoday@insider.com.

The Insider Today Saturday team

Diamond Naga Siu, senior reporter, in San Diego. Dan DeFrancesco, senior editor, in New York City. Hallam Bullock, editor, in London. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York City.

Get in touch

insidertoday@insider.com

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