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A Week of Super Quick (and Healthy!) Meals
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Karl Giles
Apr 27, 2010, 7:40:32 PM4/27/10
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I live in a complicated household - food-wise I mean. We have people
who are lactose intolerant, others who can't eat wheat and others who
are vegetarian. It can be a struggle to put together a dinner that
everyone can survive let alone enjoy!
Most of us have some dietary issues in our families - even if it's
just a "picky" eater. But there are a few tricks that can help
simplify things.
? Have a plan: Taking just a couple minutes to plan things out can
save you hours. For example, let's say you make a spiral ham one
night. Take it out of the package and heat it up. Serve it with a pre-
bagged salad and some bread and dinner is done. The next night, you
can make sandwiches with leftovers. And the next night, cook up a pot
of ham and pea soup. That's three dinners with about 20 minutes of
active prep time.
? Prepare ahead: What do you use a lot of in your meals? For us, we
use tons of onions, garlic, carrots and peppers. At the beginning of
each week, we chop up enough of each for the week. If you have a food
processor it makes quick work of the chopping and slicing. In about 10
minutes you have enough veggies cut up for the week. Toss the veggies
into stir-fries, soups, stews, salads and casseroles.
? Do double duty: Make twice the amount and freeze one batch to use
when you're too busy to cook.
? Keep it simple: Dinner doesn't have to be a gourmet adventure. It
can be enjoyable to create a magnificent feast when you have time but
a salad, sandwich or simple soup works too.
? Think variations on a theme: Come up with about 10 meals that you
enjoy making that are quick and easy. Then think variations on that
theme to come up with a lot of different meals. By changing one
ingredient or one spice in a soup, you can create an entirely
different meal. If you served the same sandwich night after night it
would be boring, but by changing up the types of bread and meats you
get a completely different experience.
Here's a sample menu from our house:
Mondays - sandwich night. Bread, mayo, mustard, ham, turkey, cheese,
peanut butter, jelly and chips.
Tuesdays - salad night. A tub of lettuce, bite sized tomatoes, salad
dressings and left-over deli meats from the night before. Meat always
goes on the side for the resident vegetarian.
Wednesdays -soup night...or chili or stew. Remember those veggies I
cut up at the beginning of the week? Three handfuls of those and some
spices and we're all set.
Thursdays - breakfast for dinner. Eggs, toast, bacon, ham, cereal,
pancakes....
Fridays - Left-over night.
Saturdays - delicious experiment day. This is when we try out new
recipes. If it tastes good we celebrate. If not, we order pizza.
Sunday - grazing day. Keep healthy foods around and let the family
pick all day.
Meals don't need to be complicated to be good. In fact, the simplest
meals are often the best. A little preparation and planning and you're
all set. Bon apetit!
who are lactose intolerant, others who can't eat wheat and others who
are vegetarian. It can be a struggle to put together a dinner that
everyone can survive let alone enjoy!
Most of us have some dietary issues in our families - even if it's
just a "picky" eater. But there are a few tricks that can help
simplify things.
? Have a plan: Taking just a couple minutes to plan things out can
save you hours. For example, let's say you make a spiral ham one
night. Take it out of the package and heat it up. Serve it with a pre-
bagged salad and some bread and dinner is done. The next night, you
can make sandwiches with leftovers. And the next night, cook up a pot
of ham and pea soup. That's three dinners with about 20 minutes of
active prep time.
? Prepare ahead: What do you use a lot of in your meals? For us, we
use tons of onions, garlic, carrots and peppers. At the beginning of
each week, we chop up enough of each for the week. If you have a food
processor it makes quick work of the chopping and slicing. In about 10
minutes you have enough veggies cut up for the week. Toss the veggies
into stir-fries, soups, stews, salads and casseroles.
? Do double duty: Make twice the amount and freeze one batch to use
when you're too busy to cook.
? Keep it simple: Dinner doesn't have to be a gourmet adventure. It
can be enjoyable to create a magnificent feast when you have time but
a salad, sandwich or simple soup works too.
? Think variations on a theme: Come up with about 10 meals that you
enjoy making that are quick and easy. Then think variations on that
theme to come up with a lot of different meals. By changing one
ingredient or one spice in a soup, you can create an entirely
different meal. If you served the same sandwich night after night it
would be boring, but by changing up the types of bread and meats you
get a completely different experience.
Here's a sample menu from our house:
Mondays - sandwich night. Bread, mayo, mustard, ham, turkey, cheese,
peanut butter, jelly and chips.
Tuesdays - salad night. A tub of lettuce, bite sized tomatoes, salad
dressings and left-over deli meats from the night before. Meat always
goes on the side for the resident vegetarian.
Wednesdays -soup night...or chili or stew. Remember those veggies I
cut up at the beginning of the week? Three handfuls of those and some
spices and we're all set.
Thursdays - breakfast for dinner. Eggs, toast, bacon, ham, cereal,
pancakes....
Fridays - Left-over night.
Saturdays - delicious experiment day. This is when we try out new
recipes. If it tastes good we celebrate. If not, we order pizza.
Sunday - grazing day. Keep healthy foods around and let the family
pick all day.
Meals don't need to be complicated to be good. In fact, the simplest
meals are often the best. A little preparation and planning and you're
all set. Bon apetit!
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