Are there meals that are faster than fast food?
I have been there so many times. It’s the end of a long day, the kids are hangry and crying, and the last thing you want to do is spend hours in the kitchen trying to get a healthy meal on the table. That fast-food drive-through is sounding mighty tempting, and you find yourself heading there almost without thinking.
In those moments, I want you to remember this one thing:
The single best thing you can do to improve your health is to cook in your own home.
That’s it! Seems pretty simple, right? Except sometimes getting a homemade meal on the table seems like the hardest thing in the world!
That’s why I have put together this list. During those times when you just can’t bring yourself to cook, grab one of these ideas and have dinner on the table in just a few minutes, way faster than waiting for that pizza delivery!
- Scrambled eggs – Eggs are incredibly nutritious, economical, and so fast and easy to make! Scramble in some veggies for extra bonus points. Yes, I’m giving you full permission to have scrambled eggs for dinner!
- Salad bar dinner – I usually have some kind of salad mix in the fridge. Some nights I pull this out along with anything that looks like it might go on a salad; leftover meats, nuts and seeds, chopped veggies, leftover anything, roasted chickpeas, whatever you have on hand! I like to keep some Primal Kitchen salad dressings on hand because they don’t have processed inflammatory oils. Throw everything on the counter and let everyone build their own dinner.
- Spaghetti from a jar – Yes, I did say to cook from scratch, and technically sauce from a jar is not from scratch. However, there are some sauces out there these days that have really great ingredients. Look for one that doesn’t have sugar in it, and no processed oils like canola oil, and organic is great when you can. But do the best you can! We love the Jovial brand brown rice noodles to go with this.
- Veggies and hummus – You can use store-bought hummus for this, but it also doesn’t take very long to make your own, and then you can make sure it is made with a nice olive oil instead of some kind of canola or soy oil. I use this recipe. Then chop up a cucumber, grab some baby carrots, mini peppers, and any other dipable veggies, throw it all at the kids and dinner is done! Remember, snacky dinners are great, too!
- Charcuterie – This is a fancy way to say cheese and crackers. Spread them across a cutting board with some cucumbers, grapes, tomatoes, sliced apples, whatever you have on hand, then feel fancy while eating a grown-up Lunchable!
- Rotisserie chicken – You can grab a rotisserie chicken and a bag of salad from almost any store and have an instant meal that is far better than anything from the drive-through!
- Taco soup – This is one of my favorite soups, and the kids love it too! If you forgot to defrost the meat, you can actually brown the meat from frozen, then then rest is just dumping things in, and cutting up an avocado to top it with.
What are you favorite super quick meals?