four quick & healthy dinners.

remember how i only blogged about chicago last week? well, i promise i was eating dinner. all week long.

i was extremely busy playing catch up last week, so dinners had to be simple. i refuse to eat fast food, but i like the idea of having my food fast. here are the dinners we ate last week, hopefully they give you some inspiration and ideas!

monday.

tuna sandwiches + popchips.

i got home from the airport super late monday night. i was exhausted. marshall still insisted i make him dinner.

for the tuna, i combined albacore tuna, diced dill pickles, diced celery and 1 part light mayo to 2 parts greek yogurt. add as much as you’d like to get the consistency you desire.. some like it more “wet” than others. okay, i shouldn’t be talking about wet tuna on my blog. moving on.

tuesday.

big salad with protein.

i mentioned that marshall wanted to start eating more healthy & less processed foods. tuesday, after he signed up for a gym membership, he requested a “big salad with protein.”  that is exactly what i made.

this had spinach, spring mix, black beans, cottage cheese, diced grilled chicken, hard boiled eggs, avocado, sprouts, bell peppers, carrots and cucumbers.  can you say HUMUNGOUS? we topped it with TJ’s raspberry vinaigrette. which we are almost out of. feel free to mail us some.

wednesday.

simple spaghetti & broccoli.

this was a quick meal.. and even quicker for me because marshall made it while i did a bodyrock.tv workout! but if you are making it yourself, it is a breeze.

cook the noodles and the broccoli while you prepare the sauce. for the sauce, you simply brown  1/2 of a diced red onion with some ground turkey and then add a can of diced tomatoes (low sodium) and a can of tomato sauce (also low sodium). that’s it!

quick and healthy.

thursday.

meatloaf muffins + mashed sweet potatoes + green beans.

this meal takes a little extra time because of how long the meatloaf has to bake, but the prep work is a breeze.

simply combine 3/4 lb ground beef, chicken or turkey (we did beef) with 1/2 cup salsa, 1 packet spinach dip mix, 1 egg, 1/2 cup rolled oats and some salt & pepper. mix it well and portion into 6 muffin tins. bake at 350 for about 40 minutes or until cooked through.

for the potatoes, i diced them SUPER small before boiling, so they would cook really fast. once they were soft, i simply mashed them (plain) and boiled some green beans.

mashed sweet potatoes are so good plain. i love that they don’t need anything else.

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aside from the tuna sandwich, each and every dinner became my lunch the next day. we fixed enough so there was a marshall-sized portion and two janetha-sized portions. it worked out perfectly and we had just enough for dinner each evening and my lunch the next day.

with a little bit of planning and one big trip to the grocery store at the beginning of the week, you really can manage to make a quick and healthy dinner for you and/or your spouse and/or your family every night.

don’t sell yourself short or make excuses that you are too busy and HAVE to grab takeout or fast food. save your money for eating out on the weekends or special occasions. your wallet and your waist will thank you.

hope this gave you a few ideas!

Q~

what are some of your favorite quick go-to meals? links welcome!

xo. janetha g.