Healthy Eating At Dinner In Less Than 30 Minutes
After a long hard day at work who amongst us has the time to prepare and cook a healthy dinner? This is the main reason why a lot of people opt to grab a fast meal at a fast food restaurant on the way home from work. Fast food is easy, after all there is no preparation and no work.
The problem is that most fast food meals are unhealthy for your body to consume on a regular basis. Do you think that people would eat healthier at dinner time if they could have dinner prepared and ready to eat in under 30 minutes?
Getting a healthy dinner ready and on the table in under 30 minutes may not seem like a possible feat to most individuals but it can be done and without breaking too much of a sweat. How, you ask? In order to make a healthy dinner in under 30 minutes you must be willing to do a little bit of planning and organizing. There are a few things that you can do to achieve this healthy meal in less than 30 minutes and here are some tips on doing just that.
First of all it takes a little planning and making out of a shopping list. Take the list to the store with you and use it, but be flexible because you never know what the produce will look like, or when a totally delectable food item calls out to you. Try new recipes and expand your ability to add new colors and textures to your meals, which will tempt your family to eat more healthy foods.
Another way to trim time is to have your recipes organized so that you know where they are when you need them. Pull out the ones where the prep time is low (under 30 minutes).
If your recipes are in various cookbooks, use tabs or stickies to find them easily. If you use recipe cards have them in categories or arranged alphabetically so that you can find them, whichever is better for you.
If you clip magazine recipes, tape them to thicker paper and organize them by category so that you can make them into a sort of cookbook. Put them into a notebook or binder. You can also make up a recipe file with folders and tabs to throw recipe cards or clippings from magazines into .
For those of you who like to collect their recipes on the Internet, have a favorites folder marked “Recipes” for all your recipes, and have a folder for each food group or category.
Now that you have your recipes organized let’s move on to planning your menus.
Go through your favorite cookbook, or recipe file (listed above) and select some dishes that you want to include in your weekly menus. Make sure you chose a variety of colors and textures. Pick side dishes, main courses, fruits, salads, breads or rolls. Don’t forget cheese to go with your fruit.
Use these menus to write up your shopping list. Mark down the page # of the recipe next to the meal so that you can easily refer to it when needed.
If you know the store well you can make out your shopping list based on how you walk the aisles. Once you have a list that works well, photocopy it and use it as a master (make several copies and have these on hand).
Use a notebook for the shopping list and use the same notebook each week. You will have a handy record of your menus and your shopping list.
Prepare foods ahead of time and store them safely according to food guidelines until needed. You can chop enough carrots for all meals that week at one time, same with potatoes. Double recipes and make two dinners at once, freezing one for another fast meal later in the week.
Dilled Salmon Steaks
Ingredients:
4 salmon steaks (about 1/2 lb. each)
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons fresh chopped dill, or 2 teaspoons dried dill weed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
Instructions:
Put salmon steaks in a glass baking dish, 9″X 13″ in size. Stir lemon juice, oil, dill, salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Pour mixture onto both sides of salmon and coat well. Cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill for up to four hours. When ready to cook, place salmon on a greased, foil lined grill and cook for 30 minutes or until done on medium-low heat.
Serve with a side salad and boiled new potatoes.
Technorati Tags: recipe, recipes, healthy living, food, salmon
Minted Chicken Salad
Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups vanilla yogurt
2 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint OR 2 drops mint extract
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup honey
2 Tablespoon raspberry vinegar
1 pound box farfalle pasta
2 cups asparagus, cut into 2″ pieces
1 pound cooked chicken, cubed
4 cups strawberries, halved
baby spinach leaves
fresh raspberries
Instructions:
Mix yogurt, mint, mayonnaise, honey, and vinegar in a medium bowl, stirring until well blended, to create dressing. Set dressing mixture to the side. Next, in a large cooking pot, boil farfalle pasta following directions on package. During the last five minutes the pasta cooks, add asparagus. Complete cooking until the pasta is tender and asparagus is tender yet crispy. Drain pasta and vegetables. Stir in dressing.
Combine the turkey and the strawberries and gently toss. Add chicken and strawberries and toss gently. Place salad in refrigerator for a minimin of two hours to a maximum of one day. Once ready to serve, place salad atop spinach and garnish with fresh raspberries.
Technorati Tags: recipe, recipes, healthy living, food, chicken, salad
Egg & Turkey Quiche
Ingredients:
10 eggs, slightly beaten
2 green peppers, chopped
2 teaspoons of parsley flakes
1 teaspoon of oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups of diced cooked turkey
2 tablespoons of onion flakes
2 teaspoons of dried chili pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, slightly beat eggs and add green peppers, parsley, oregano, turkey, onion flakes, chili pepper flakes, garlic powder and salt and pepper. Spray an 8 inch cake pan with non stick cooking spray. Pour quiche mixture into pan and bake until set. (Approximately 30-35 minutes). Cut and serve immediately.
Technorati Tags: recipe, recipes, healthy living, food, turkey, quiche
Chicken Served on Spinach Bed
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 (8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved
8 ounces fresh baby spinach
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup low-sodium canned chop tomatoes with juice
Instructions:
Place olive oil in large skillet over medium temperature until oil is heated. Add chopped garlic cooking for 1 1/2 minutes. Add chicken. Cook approximately 5 minutes. Turn chicken and cook other side until chicken is done and juice runs clear. Once chicken is cooked through, remove from pan and place on separate plate. Place spinach in same skillet and cook 2 minutes until wilted. Place spinach in a separate bowl. In same skillet add vinegar and chicken broth. Stir with wooden spoon making sure to mix together well. Be sure to get all the drippings from pan mixed in also. Once mixed add tomatoes including the juice and simmer on low heat for 7 minutes. Remove skillet from heat. On single serving plates spread a layer of spinach. Place chicken in middle of spinach bed and cover with sauce.