8 Fast and Easy Healthy Dinners

Everyone has those days where they just plain don’t want to cook. I know I’m not the only one out there! In my old, processed food days, those are the days that we would grab something from the drive through or order pizza, or sometimes we would grab a package of something super processed from the freezer and warm it up. None of it was healthy or satisfying, but in the moment when we were beat after a hard day of work, we really didn’t care.

But, even on those days, it is still possible to get a delicious, healthy meal on the table, and fast! Here is a great lineup of recipes to get you through those tough nights:

1. Sausage and white bean stew – From start to finish this recipe is on your table in about 1/2 hour, even when you make the delicious cornbread that goes with it. Soups are a fantastic way to get a nourishing meal in your belly fast! This recipe is one of the yummy recipes from my friends at eMeals.
2. Veggie corn chowder – We still love this one from the 100 Days of Real Food Cookbook. It is so easy, and it freezes really well. I love to double the recipe and freeze the rest so it is ready to pull out if I need a school lunch or a quick weeknight meal.
3. Sweet potato bisque – Yes, one more soup! I told you they were fantastic at being healthy and fast all at once! And this one is especially fast. In the video I show you how you can use your Blendtec and have the entire soup cooked from start to finish in 7 minutes flat. Seven minutes! Can you name any meal at all that is faster than 7 minutes to the table? No? I didn’t think so.
4. Granola – Ok, I guess there is one meal that takes less than 7 minutes to prepare. I think everyone has had cereal for dinner at least once in their lives, right? Our family has boycotted all commercial cereals since changing to a Real Food lifestyle, but I always like to have a batch of this granola on hand, and yes, we do sometimes eat it for dinner. My version is nut-free because of all the food allergies we have in our house, but you can add in nuts if that is what you prefer.
5. Clean eating marinara – When I was a kid, one of our super fast meals was marinara from a jar dumped over pasta. This recipe takes a little bit longer than just opening a jar, but not much, and it doesn’t have any scary mystery ingredients or high fructose corn syrup like those jarred sauces! Serve it over a whole wheat pasta with salad on the side, and you have a complete meal in less than 1/2 hour.
6. Chicken with warm mango salsa – The rice in this recipe takes about an hour to cook, but I like to cook up a batch of rice at the beginning of the week and store it in the fridge in case I need a quick meal. The rest of the recipe is delicious and only takes about 1/2 hour total to come together. If you don’t have rice made and need a quick meal, quinoa cooks up in only 15 minutes and would work very well in this recipe!
7. Chicken fried rice – I love this as a recipe to clean out and repurpose leftovers in the fridge. If you have leftover pork or beef, you can use that instead of chicken, or you can even use an egg or two as the protein in this dish. You can also throw in whatever veggies you have on hand. Again, if you don’t have premade rice, quinoa cooks up quickly and is a great substitute!
8. Smoothies – Who says smoothies just have to be for dinner? It is fast and easy to make a big batch in your amazing Blendtec blender, and you are getting massive amounts of nutrition in a treat that tastes like dessert. This is especially perfect for when the weather gets warm, when you don’t want to turn on the oven and heat up your kitchen, and when something cool and refreshing really hits the spot. This is a meal that also won’t bog you down before heading to bed.

Do you have a healthy go-to meal for those “I don’t want to cook!” nights?

You will learn so much about healthy meal planning, weight loss, and how to transform your eating habits and your life in my group coaching sessions that are starting in January. This is just in time for those New Year’s Resolutions! Make sure you get your seat by signing up today! Click the banner below:

[mc4wp_form]