So far, I have focused all my previous blog posts about healthy eating and time management on how to prep frozen meals, cook meals that use kitchen appliances, or doing meal prepping ahead of time.
What if you didn’t have time to meal prep this week or if you forgot to set your slow cooker? Are you stuck with take-out or cereal for dinner?
I want to remind everyone that you always have options to eat healthy using what you already have at home. It took me several years of trial and error, reading lots of blog posts, tinkering with recipes, and raising my own children to come up with a list of things I always keep in my fridge, freezer, and pantry that allows me to be ready for anything when it comes to meal time.
In this blog post, I wanted to share a few recipes that can be made in 15-30 minutes and are essentially one pan meals. I used to watch a lot of Food Network when I was in medical school and during my two maternity leaves and I often felt like the recipes that could be made quickly were not very healthy and high calorie.
One of my most frequent go to quick and healthy meals is whole grain brown rice with chicken and frozen veggies. I ate this a lot when I was a resident but it became a family meal since both my children will eat this as well (my daughter not as much anymore unfortunately).
The trick here is to have the 90 second bags of rice but you can also always make a few cups of rice on Sunday night that you then have available for the week. I tried different brands of the quick cooking rice, and Uncle Ben’s has been the best( they have switched their name to Ben’s original but I couldn’t find any pictures with the new name). The other trick is to always have frozen veggies in hand. I keep several bags of corn, carrots, green beans, and peas as well as frozen spinach and broccoli. Chicken defrosts very quickly, so ideally you took it out in the morning on your way out but if not, you can easily defrost it in the microwave.
Quick chicken fried rice
Ingredients: 1 pack of 8.8 oz whole grain rice (any brand that cooks in 90 seconds), 1 cup of frozen vegetable mix (I use carrots, peas, green beans, and corn), 10-12 oz of uncooked chicken tenderloin (you can use chicken breasts or any other type of chicken that can be cut into small pieces), 1 egg, soy sauce (I use low sodium) to taste, 2 tablespoons sesame or olive oil, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, and spices to taste (salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil)
Heat up either sesame or olive oil in a large skillet or wok. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and basil and cut it up in 1 inch pieces. When the oil is sizzling, throw in the chicken pieces.
Meanwhile, heat up the rice according to package instructions for 90 seconds. Cook the chicken for 5 minutes. Add the frozen veggies and a little bit of soy sauce. Cook for another 3 minutes and then add the cooked rice. Throw in the minced garlic and stir everything with more soy sauce.
Make a little hole in the middle of the mixture and crack the egg in it. Then, scramble it with the rice, chicken, and veggies. Taste it and season with more soy sauce, garlic, pepper, and basil as needed.
This dish can be vegetarian if you use tofu or any meat substitute and vegan if you leave out the egg.
Tips to make this faster: already cooked chicken strips or grilling or cooking the meat you will use for the week on Sunday
One Pan Tilapia
Ingredients: 2 tilapia filets (you can defrost overnight or even grab them on your way out in the morning; you can cook as many filets as people you want to feed), 1 can diced tomatoes, 1/2 yellow onion, 2 cups frozen spinach, olive oil, basil or parsley, garlic powder, salt, and pepper (all to taste).
This dish is very simple and has a lot of freedom on how you make it as far as amount of ingredient. I make this mainly for my husband and I (so only use 2 filets) and was also a lifesaver during residency. I used to come home, prep the pan, put it in the oven, shower, and dinner was ready when I was out.
I keep several bags of frozen, individually wrapped fish. Target is my favorite brand but many stores sell them (Costco, Giant, Acme). I use tilapia, salmon, and swai fish and you could really substitute any of the fish here and adjust cooking time accordingly.
Set the oven to 375 degrees. I use a glass baking dish (8 x 8) but you can use any size you like depending on what fits the fish. Pour a little olive oil on the dish and use a brush to evenly cover it. Add the frozen spinach, then the onion, and set the filets on top of it. Paint the filets with olive oil and season them with garlic powder, basil/parsley, salt, and pepper. Drain the can of tomatoes and put the tomatoes on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes depending on when the fish is ready.
You can eat the fish with only the veggies on the side or make one of the 90 second rice bags I mentioned above. I find the wild rice ones are really tasty to eat alone (the brown rice is a little bland without mixing it with other food).
These are only two examples of very quick, healthy meals that have protein, veggies, and healthy fats and they are delicious! Stay tuned for more blog posts on healthy, quick meals for kids!