Quick Healthy Meals

Okay so you have worked all day. You brought the kids to school at eight in the morning, went to work, picked them up and it is now six in the evening. You are hungry the kids are hungry but your so tired you do not feel like cooking. Eating fast food everyday is not going to work. And if you are like me, cooking the night before doesn’t work either! So how do you get a healthy meal cooked in a short amount of time? It might sound pretty impossible, but it can be done!

I do not like to buy a lot of meat at one time and store it in the freezer. For one if I do that, I am most likely to forget to take it out to defrost it and two, I just like the way meat taste better when it is fresh rather than frozen. So I try to buy like two days of meat at a time. Yes its more trips to the supermarket, but if I froze the meat I would probably be making a trip anyway!

I like to create things. I like to throw different things together and see how it comes out. The other day I found a small can of salsa Verde in my closet which, you can use for cooking. I had a red pepper, so what I did was heat up a small bit of canola oil in the pan, added minced garlic, then cut up red pepper and added the salsa.

I had chicken cutlets so I cut them up into small pieces, seasoned them and threw them in the pan. After the chicken was fully cooked, I added in some frozen broccoli and cauliflower and reduced the heat, covered the pan and cooked it for about 15 minutes.

While that was cooking, I heated up a can of fat free re fried beans and some taco shells. When it was done, I put the chicken, some of the salsa, the re fried beans and some shredded cheese into the taco and put the veggies on the side. The whole process took less than a half an hour. It tastes great and was healthy too! You can also throw it over rice instead of using tacos if you prefer.

I am not a huge meat eater and do not need it for every meal. Sometimes I am not in the mood for a heavy meal. Preparing a nice salad can easily make a quick and light meal.

What I do is boil a couple of eggs. While the eggs are cooking, I make a can of tuna, mix it with some Mayo and put it in the fridge. (I like my tuna really cold so I keep the closed cans in the fridge anyway). I prepare my salad putting any thing that I like it in. Usually some croutons some cheese, those crunchy salad onions, maybe some olives, mushroom and peppers. After the eggs are done, I leave them in cold water for a little while so that they are not steaming hot. I take the tuna and place it in the middle of the salad. When the eggs are cool enough, I chop them up and spread them around the salad. I personally do not need to add any dressing since there is Mayo in the tuna. Use what ever you like. It takes less than a half-hour. Is healthy and delicious!

Love baked ziti but do not want to wait almost two hours for it to be done? Well you can still have that ziti taste but cut the time in more than half. Boil your noodles as you would. In the mean time season and brown your chop meat. When the noodles and the meat are done, take a jar or a can of sauce, your noodles and your meat and mix it in a large pot. While heating, add all the cheeses you would if you were baking the ziti. Turn the heat down to low and warm until all the cheese is melted and the sauce is hot. It tastes just as good as it does when its baked. You will get the stringy cheese and all. It can be done in about thirty to forty minutes! And to make it a little more healthy, use low fat cheeses and if you use butter, use smart balance or some kind of low fat butter. You can also use wheat pasta instead of white.

Sometimes I like to eat sandwiches for dinner, but cold ham and cheese just wont cut it! Here is one of my favorite sandwiches to make. Get some Italian bread. Cut off as much as you would like for your sandwich. Butter it (again use low fat butter) and add some garlic powder. I like this best with Roast Beef, but you can use what you like. So put your meat and your favorite cheese on it, any peppers or onions etc. close the sandwich, wrap it in foil and bake in the oven for about ten minutes. The hot meat and melted cheese tastes so delicious on your warm crunchy garlic bread! On the side I will take some fresh broccoli and carrots (cold), cut them up into small pieces and mix with some low fat ranch dressing. Takes great and is really healthy! This takes a total of about 15 minutes.

Eating healthy does not have to be a chore. You can make plenty of satisfying healthy meals in a short time, and things the whole family will enjoy. Once you know the right foods to choose, put them together to create something tasty will be easy!