Healthy Easy Fast Recipes

Get a subscription to Cooking Light magazine. I use their recipes all the time and have yet to find a lousy one. They have a section now of quick and easy weeknight meals. I really look forward to getting each new issue because I know I'll find some great ideas.

Stir Fry.
We use a rice cooker; just dump in rice and water and push a button. Done in 30 min and super cheap. We have switched to brown rice as well. You can buy stir fry veggies in the freezer section, usually about $3.00 a pack (and we generally need 2 packages for a family of 5.) Or chop up your own veggies; I do it ahead of time and keep them in the freezer. The type of veggies we use varies depending on what is on sale or what we get in our produce basket from a CSA. Broccoli, onion, peppers, zucchini, water chestnuts, carrots, celery, asparagus, mushrooms, etc. We stir fry the veggies on high heat till they are crisp- tender. Stir fry meat separately. We just buy stir fry sauce to go on top (House of Tsang brand, we like the Thai peanut sauce and the Korean stir fry sauce). Easy, cheap and healthy.

This is a weight watchers recipe that a neighbor gave me super easy and my family loves it!

Chicken taco soup

3-4 frozen chicken breasts
1 envelope ranch dressing mix
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
1 medium onion diced
1 can diced tomatoes (rotel)
1 can black beans
1 can canelli (or any white) beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can vegetarian baked beans
1 can kernel corn

Put everything in crockpot in order listed. Do NOT rinse or drain beans.
Do NOT stir. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Take chicken out and shred with two forks. Put chicken back in, stir and eat. Suposed to freeze well, however we never have any left to freeze.

Some of my favorite healthy things to eat are…

Salmon with a veggie on the side like steamed broccoli or corn (we buy frozen blackened salmon from Sam's club and it's sooooo yummy)

Turkey burgers

Turkey taco salad (I use Jenny-O 99% fat free turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, onion and fat free shredded cheese & toss with Baked Tostitos) serve with Salsa or Ranch

Pork Loin in the crock Pot…season with salt & pepper or put some BBQ sauce on it. Fill crock pot with water until it's covering just under half the pork. Set for 8 hours and dinner will be ready when you walk in the door. Use a crock pot liner for easy clean up.

Cut up chicken breast, green pepper, red pepper and onion and marinate the night before. We cook on the grill in tin foil or one of those grill pans with all the holes in the bottom. Very Yummy! And so, so simple. You can do kabobs with these ingredients if you prefer, just a little more work.

If your kids are not picky you should totally be using the crock pot! There are healthy recipe books out there now for this.

I have a couple of stand-by quick meals:

veg sausage, peppers and tomato sauce with whole wheat pasta
couscous with shredded zucchini and corn (modified cooking light recipe that we love)
tofu sloppy joes
stir fry (if you put the brown rice in a pot with the water to soak in the morning it cooks faster)
fresh spring rolls (just chop ingredients the night before)
fajitas
black beans and rice

But I usually do a lot of prep work ahead of time to make my life easier during the rush when everyone gets home. I make a big batch of veggie burgers or bean burgers to freeze and pull out when I need them. If I'm making a casserole on the weekend I'll double it and freeze one. I also second the idea of using your crockpot. I prepare everything in the crock the night before, stick it in the fridge and pull it out in the morning and hit start. (I'm vegetarian, and I don't think this works with meat because of bacterial growth, but you could try a few veg meals with your family)

Stir Fry and fried rice are both easy, fast, and healthy. Lots of veggies and a quick cook.
Tex Mex is another great one. If you have the ingrediants on hand its a quick throw together. And can be done in a tcao bar so everyone can build thier own. Just put everything out on the table and let them go at it. Tortillas - corn, white, or whole wheat. You can buy a sleeve of tostada shells for very cheap. Check your refrigerated section, maybe near sourcream or cheese for Azteca taco sald shells. Beans, refried pinto or black bean. Taco meat or diced leftover chicken. Steak and chicken strips for fajitas. Lettuce tomato cheese, salsa, and sour cream. With those ingediants you can make tacos, quesadillas, fajitas, enchiladas, tostadas, taco salad.
Pizza. If you have spaghetti or alfredo sauce, and cheese, you're good to go. You can make pizza on a bagel or french bread, or buy canned pizza dough in the biscuit section. We like alfredo, chicken and mushrooms on our pizza, the kids like traditional peperoni. Takes 5 minutes to spread it out on a loaf of french bread. One side for us, one side for them and pop in the oven.

My whole family loves lentil tacos. The first time I made it they all were hesitant and worried. By the end they were devoured by everyone. And now they are a staple. If you put the shells in while you are cooking the beans, it takes about 10 minutes from start to finish to prepare.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tasty-Lentil-Tacos/Detail.aspx

e-mealz.com

I have been using it about a month now. you get new recipes every week with an included grocery list. Most meals require few ingredients and are easy to make. They have many choices on the type of recipes you get. Low fat, regular, portion control, weight watchers. It is $5 a month but so worth it! I can usually make the meals in about 30 minutes. I like going to the store once a week and knowing that I have everything on hand for dinner!

Make casseroles on the weekend you can just heat up in the microwave. Its easy to hid diced or minced up veggies in them.

I'm really into 2 ingredient cooking! Beef, pork or chicken slathered in any kind of herbal salad dressing is easy. My favorite is covering pork ribs in zesty italian dressing, bake 350 for an hour and serve w/instant rice.

Cheese plates are so easy and can be healthy - cuts of meat (salami & sopresetta), cheese (Asagio, Monchego, cheddar, gouda), crackers (special table or water crackers), fruit (grapes or blueberries) and hummus of any kind. Tastes great w/a glass of wine (adults) or Capri Suns (kids)!

I second the crock pot idea. my cousin bought me one for christmas and i love it! i have chicken in there right now