Quick healthy dinners?!
Quick healthy dinners?
We have 3 children and baseball 2 nights a week until 8 p.m. which sucks because what the heck do I make for dinner that is still healthy? I don't get home til 5, have to be to baseball by 6 and get home at 8:15, plus have to fit in showers and homework. HELP?!?
Answers:
I am in the same situation as you. Generally, I try to make some food on Sunday that I can reheat during the week. On Sunday I will make a few tin foil pouches of flavored chicken or beef that can be reheated for good meals.
For example I might make some beef or chicken with Mexican flavors and just throw some tortillas in the microwave. Then I add cheese, diced tomatoes, lettuce and sour cream for tacos.
I have done this with chicken and italian dressing as well. When you are ready just pop the chicken in the oven to reaheat and serve with pasta with butter, garlic and parm cheese and greenbeans. Or, toss it with pasta, veggies a little cream and parm in a pan until the sauce is almost thick. It will thicken more once it's cooled.
Or I will make pita pizzas. Generally pitas have more fiber and less fat than a Boboli crust. Just top it with sauce, cheese and whatever toppings your kids like and pop it in the oven for less than 10 minutes. Serve it with salad. My daughter only likes lettuce and cucumber, but it still works. Just make sure that the sauce that you buy doesn't have any preservatives or extra sugar in it.
Another good idea we do often is baked chicken. Make double the amout you generally would. Season your chicken like you generally would for baked chicken. Then on another day during the week you can brush it with bbq sauce or orange juice concentrate (I know it sounds nasty, but it's good). Just reheat it in the oven for about 10 minutes on 475. It will brown up quickly and get hot.
Also, make a pots of pene (my personal choice for most versatile pasta) and rice and keep them in the fridge.
I generally make a pot of rice using chicken stock instead of water. One of the things I do with this is make fried rice. Soy sauce, sesame oil, onions, frozen peas and carrots and shrimp. Voila. I like a little cabbage in mine, buy my daughter doesn't. You can also reheat the rice with a quicke sauteeing or broiling piece of fish. Just add some parm cheese, scallions, etc. right before you serve. We like this with salad.
For pasta, you can use it in any of the previous recipes I have mentioned, but you can also make a quick casserole with pepperoni, ricotta cheese, and mozz cheese. Make it like a ziti with pene. Serve this with salad.
I also keep bags of homemade meatballs in the freezer. In a pinch I can take them out of the fridge quickly and make a meatball parm sub with a salad. Or add them to sauce and mix with the pene.
Also, don't forget children's favorites. Oscar Meyer is making an all beef, nitrate free hot dog. I serve these on buns with a veggie and McCains fries. McCains has no preservatives in them. I generally bake them.
Good luck. We are having chicken and dumplings tonight. I have a left over roasted chicken from last night. I am going to make a thin soup with 2 tbsp. of butter and olive oil each, 1/2 small bag of baby carrots, 2 celery sliced celery stalks, and one large onion. I let them sautee for about 5 minutes. Then I add 4 tbsp. of flour and a quart of chicken stock. It will be a slightly thick soup consistency. Then I will add quartered refridgerator biscuts. I check for seasoning at this point. Generally it needs salt and pepper. I let this cook for about 5 minutes before I add the chicken left over from last night. Ten minutes later we are ready to eat!
A salad, a sandwich with healthy ingredients, juices, tea, fruit.
That's what I eat when I don't have enough time to cook.
grilled cheese sandwhichs ( you can add tomato, ham, turkey, or even different flavor cheeses to them to spice it up some)
and carrot sticks or raw brocolli on the side or we always had soup and grilled cheese sandwhichs but it being summer you may not like that idea but my family liked soup!
salad sandwiches, pasta,
Easy Tator Tot Casserole
* 1-2 pounds ground beef
* 1 can cream soup
* Cheese
* Tator Tots
PREPARATION:
Brown 1 to 2 pounds of ground beef, chuck or round in a skillet. Add one can of creamed soup( I use cream of mushroom)
Pour mixture into a casserole dish. Top with your choice of cheese( I use Velveeta) Cover with a layer of tator tots( the mini tots works best)
Bake about 20 minutes at 375 or until hot and bubbly Sprinkle with additional cheese is desired and put back in oven long enough to melt.