Quick Healthy Meal Prep Ideas & Recipes

I have a great favorite cook book called "It's good for you!" It's not trendy diets or anything-just sensible. My favorite recipe is spring rolls--and my kids even love them!

But it contains spinach...might want to wait a while!

Here are some websites that other moms have passed along and a few I like. All Recipes has a quick meal tab which is really great and that site also can generate shopping lists and such based on the recipes you choose for the week. I use it the most.

www.allrecipes.com

www.epicurious.com

www.cooks.com

www.foodtv.com

Chef James Ehler at http://www.foodreference.com/html/recipes.html
http://www.cookingclub.com/Recipes_Reference/Library/Main...
http://www.cookingclub.net/default.asp?p=6
http://www.foodnetwork.com
http://www.arcamax.com
http://www.pillsbury.com/Default.aspx
http://www.jamesbeard.org/recipes/
http://www.cooksrecipes.com/index.html
http://www.todaysmodernwoman.com/recipes.htm
http://www.tailgatershandbook.com/recipes.htm
http://www.cdkitchen.com/
http://chinesefood.about.com/library/bllamb.htm
http://recipes.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.recipezaar.com/

A few recipes-- the yogart smoothie and crepes make good 'treats' for breakfast on the weekends, you can put any type of fruit into the crepe to finish it off. . .

Cheese, Rice and Chicken Bake
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
1 Can (10 3/4 oz. Cream of chicken Soup
1 1/3 cups water
3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (4-6)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix soup, water, rice, onion powder and black pepper in 2 qt. shallow baking dish. Top with chicken. Sprinkle with additional pepper.

Cover and bake at 375 F for 45 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and rice is done.

Uncover, sprinkle cheese over chicken.

Also: you can stir in fresh, canned or frozen veggies into rice mixture before topping with chicken.

Tips: if you have a gas stove, this dish takes 1 hour 15 minutes to bake. Also if you use frozen veggies-- reduce water by 1/3 Cup for faster cooking.

We usually add one small chopped onion and a bag of mixed frozen Asian veggies-- it tastes great and is super easy.

Baked Ziti
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound dry ziti pasta
1 onion, chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
1 1/2 cups sour cream
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.
In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.

CHICKEN WITH PEPPERS, ONIONS & LINGUINE

Ingredients:
1 lb linguine (cook pasta in large pot of water, drain)
3 tbsp EVOO (3 turns of the pan)
1 to 1.5 lb chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
2 tbsp fresh thyme (or less ground thyme)
+/- 2 tsp lemon zest (or 1 tsp lemon juice)
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 - 1 cubanelle, poblano or jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced
1 red (or orange/yellow) bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced or chopped
salt and pepper to taste
+/- 1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
14-28 ounces petite diced tomatoes
grated parmesan (or other type) cheese for topping

Heat a deep skillet/pot over high heat, add EVOO. Add chicken & cook over high heat until lightly browned. Add thyme through S & P. Cook 5-6 min. until veggies are tender. Add wine & mix well with chicken drippings on pan bottom. Add broth and tomatoes & bring to boil, simmer for 10 min. Top with parmesan cheese & serve.

Slow Cooker Ribs
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 pounds country style pork ribs
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 dash ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Combine ribs, maple syrup, soy sauce, minced onion, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, garlic powder and pepper in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on Low for 7 to 9 hours.

TEX-MEX LASAGNA
(preheat oven to 450 degrees)

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef, chicken, or turkey
1/2 to 1 chopped onion
1 small can chopped green chiles
2 cups bottled salsa
2 tsp ground cumin
2 (14.5 oz) cans petite diced tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
8-9 precooked lasagna noodles
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
2 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed & drained
2 cups (8 oz) preshredded mexican blend cheese
1/4 cup chopped green onions

Cook meat & onions on stovetop. Combine meat through tomato sauce.

Spread 1/3 of meat sauce into casserole dish. Arrange 3 noodles on top. Top with half of corn and half of beans. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese and repeat layers. Make sure noodles are topped with sauce so they cook well. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2-1 cup cheese. Cover & bake for 30 minutes or until noodles are tender and sauce is bubbly. Top with green onions.

FRUIT AND YOGURT SHAKE

Ingredients:
2 cups frozen sweet cherries or other frozen fruit
2 cups plain yogurt
1 cups pomegranate juice or orange juice
16 ounces crushed pineapple in juice, drained
2 bananas
Puree all ingredients in blender until smooth.

BASIC CREPES

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
2 tsp sugar
� tsp salt
1 cup milk
� cup water
2 tsp melted butter
2 large eggs

Mix ingredients until smooth with wisk. Pour � cup batter into skillet over medium heat. Quickly tilt pan in all directions so batter covers pan with a thin film. Yield = appoximately 13 crepes

PASTA, CHICKEN & POBLANO SALAD

Ingredients:
2 poblano peppers
2 red bell peppers
� bag frozen corn
4 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp extravirgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
� tsp pepper
� tsp cumin
2 minced garlic cloves
3-4 cups cooked hot pasta of your choice (8 oz uncooked)
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 onion finely chopped
1-2 cups heated, chopped rotisserie chicken breast
2 chopped avoacados & cheese if desired

Preheat broiler. Cut poblano & bell peppers in half lengthwise, discard seeds & membranes. Place pepper halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet, flatten with hand. Add corn to baking sheet. Broil 10-15 minutes or until peppers are blackened & corn is lightly browned. Place peppers in a ziploc bag & seal. Let stand 10 minutes. Peel and coarsely chop. Mix juice, oil, S&P, cumin & garlic in large bowl. Mix in peppers through onion. Top with cheese & avocado.

HI K., I found a site that I really like. It has food ideas and fitness ideas, planners, etc. and its free (thats the best part) anyway, you should check out sparkpeople.com

They have alot of great info on there. Good luck to ya!

K.

Hi K.,

I am a busy Mom too, and am hoping to implement healthy and easy meals. I have found that Dream Dinners is a good solution for us. I can spend 2 hours one evening and pre-prepare meals for (in our case) a couple of weeks. I can decide if there are ingredients that I want to keep out of the meals, or add flavoring where I see fit. Also, since I am planning for myself, my husband, and our 2 year old twins, I don't need a full meal (they feed 6-8 people) so I split them and make two from some of them. They can be frozen for several months, and I plan a weeks worth of dinners, take them out of the freezer on Sundays, and then follow the instructions that come with them to prepare them on the days I want them.

There are other company's that have a similar format, and I am sure they are good as well, I just haven't tried them yet.

For your little veggie eater, I would try some of the things here: http://vegetarian.allrecipes.com/

I hope this helps!

Subscribe to Cooking Light Magazine; they have quick meals, vegetarian meals, etc. My daughter-in-law turned me onto it and it is a great resource.

K.-
Tofu stir fry is a big hit at my house:
cut firm tofu into small squares, toss into HOT frying pan add a little soy sauce to taste-once browned and crisp add peas, baby corn, water chessnut, green onion...
(I add a little chinese red pepper to mine-it is hot,not for little ones)
serve over steamed rice
fast and easy!
Enjoy

Black bean quesadillas...

Grilled or baked chicken can be added to this recipe

Whole wheat tortillas taco size
Low fat cheddar or cheese of choice (shredded)
Black beans (one Can)
diced onions

On half of the tortilla add all ingredients
Fold over so it makes a 1/2 moon shape. You may want to put toothpicks to hold in place.
Grill in pan until tortilla is brown and cheese is melted
remove toothpicks and flip....
Cut into triangles

I have made this recipe dozens of times.... Bake extra chicken and you can make as many as you like or make the rest for lunch
Low fat and low cholesterol... Let me know if you would like some more

-T.

K.,

I found sone really great, fairly quick, and healthy meal ideas in a book called "Feeding the Whole Family" You can usually find it at your local whole foods store. If you can cook ahead of time and heat it up later than helps too, as in when your husband is home and can help take care of the kids while you prepare meals ahead of time.

Good luck

I am the same way. What I do is buy lots of veggies (onion, bell pepper, carrots, celery, mushrooms...) and I slice them how I want and blanch them, then throw them into ziplock bags in "cooking" portions into the freezer. That way, when I am cooking and I have no groceries or time, I have a pretty good meal with my lifesavers. I also do the same thing with ground beef and link sausage, and spagetti sauce. Do a google search and it will give you a list of how long each different veggie/fruit should be blanched. I'll just toss them all in a pan together and heat them up, add a little garlic or some flavoring and you have a good main course. Also roasted potatoes are great. Just cut it in half, then into quarters, throw them in a roasting pan w/ olive oil, thyme, rosemary, pepper, salt (or a product called no salt) and garlic. My favorite!

I too am a busy mom - of 3 kids - so I know how hard it is to put in the effort to make healthy meals (or any meals for that matter) for my family. Have you ever heard of Dream Dinners? I have been using them for close to 3 years now and absolutely love the meals.

The crock pot is my life saver! I cook everything in it.. even roast chickens in it (comes out like rotissary chicken).

I'd check out fix it and forget it light... it's a recipe book filled with low fat, crock pot recipes.

K.,

My 3 y.o. son isn't a meat eater either. But he does like Morningstar Farms stuff. They make "chicken" nuggets, sausage patties and corn dogs that he really likes. I recently tried their "ground beef" added to spaghetti and he really liked that. All of their "meat" products are actually meatless. I also use the Barilla "plus" noodles that are fortified with protein and Omega 3s. I figure every little bit helps. I've recently been making rice (boil in the bag stuff), beans (canned black beans) and corn (canned) quite a bit and trying to convince him to eat it (I serve it regularly and he eats some of the rice and corn). I'm hoping he'll get into black beans because they have lots of protein & iron. One of my neighbors regularly makes quesadillas and adds black beans in with the cheese (her kids are less picky than mine) and it is tasty that way - she's also done them and added some cooked, chopped chicken breast. Quesadillas are really good and kid friendly. Also, have you tried hummus? My son won't eat it but if your kids will, it has good protein & iron.

You can also make a really quick "chicken" parmesan using the Morningstar farms chicken patties. Boil noodles, heat up the "chicken" patties, put some noodles on the plate, the patty, some spaghetti sauce and a little motzarella on top and melt the cheese. Easy, fast and tasty.

I work full time so by the time I get home my son is ready for dinner. So his dinner is usually something that I can make in 5 minutes or less.

Hi K.,
My new favorite is sweet potato (or Yam) french fries. I usually get about 2-3 yams, slice them in wedges (they are kind of hard to cut) and throw them in a gallon zip lock with some olive oil,get them covered with oil, spread them on a cookie sheet, put salt and a little paprika (optional) on top, bake at 450 or so for 15 min, flip em, salt em, and bake another 10-15 minutes. Super good, you can cut and put in bag and oil ahead of time.

Another favorite is smoke salmon and capers tossed with some olive oil and pasta. easy and very nutritious! Good luck!
-A., in Juneau

K., I own Dream Dinners with my family. We provide a service that allows moms to come in once a month and prepare a month worth of dinners in about an hour to two hours. We have 14 different entrees every month so you have a variety to choose from. You can order in 3 or 6 serving sizes. It just makes life easier. The nutritional content is on the website also. Visit us at dreamdinners.com.

Hi K., Check out dreamdinners.com. Every month they have 14 different dinners. You actually go into the store and make them yourself so if you are trying to watch the calories you are in control. Most of the dinners do have meat in them however. Also they were in the weight watchers magazine not to long ago because they use healthy ingredients and worked with that program. And it saves a ton of time! Just the time I save not having to shop and clean up as much is huge! Good Luck!