Making healthy meals at home can be challenging when you’re always on the go. Eating well and my family is a priority. I love to cook but don’t have much time during the week. There are so many times I just want to call Cheesecake Factory or P.F. Chang to order food for curbside pick-up. Those are convenient but not practical on a daily basis. The alternative was to find meals I can make in a few minutes at home with very little to no meal prep (I’m not a weekly meal person).
I have some easy ways to make healthy meals that can be put together in minutes. These are items I keep in my refrigerator and freezer to be prepared to make healthy meals on the fly. The places I frequently shop are: Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Nugget and Bel-Air to name a few depending on what I’m buying.
Here is the rundown on what I pair to make my favorite meal creations.
Taco Salad:
- Use half a tortilla (I like Mi Rancho flour tortillas) for the base
- Top with lettuce (I used butter lettuce)
- Seasoned meat (I like Foster Farms ground turkey)
- Cherry tomatoes (halved)
- A couple slices of avocado
- Shredded cheese (I used a blend)
- Dollop of plain yogurt (I prefer to use Greek yogurt but sour cream works too)
- Hot sauce (I like the Taco Bell mild or La Victoria sauces)
I will make variations of this depending on what I have on hand. Sometimes I just have half a tortilla with ground turkey, pico de gallo, avocado and drizzle with hot sauce.
Caesar Salad with Salmon:
- Bag of Caesar salad mix (I did not use the croutons)
- Precooked salmon I picked up at Whole Foods
No cooking required, just plate and enjoy!
Penne Pasta:
- Penne pasta
- Chicken sausage
- Fresh spinach
This is one of my favorite finds from Trader Joes! Dinner is served in 15 minutes.
These three recipes are some of my best go to meals during the week. I have tried meal prepping and cooking meals for the week but sometimes things come up and dinner plans changes. We went out eat or had dinner with family or friends and the food that was prepared for that night didn’t get eaten. Then when I got home with our leftover and see the meal prepped food sitting in the refrigerator, I think how am I supposed to eat all this food before it goes bad. I don’t like being wasteful, this why I make meal each night to eat fresh. Sometimes there are leftovers for the next night, it all depends how many people are eating dinner that night. Usually the penne pasta is pretty much gone that night and the same with the salad. The tacos salad is usually dinner for two nights. These meals pretty much get me through the work week and stil give flexibility to have other options last minute without feeling guilty or wasteful.
