Healthful meals don't have to take a lot of time to be tasty.
In fact, the notion that a home-cooked meal is time consuming is obsolete.
Being prepared with frequently used whole foods in your pantry and having a few pre-made healthy items on hand is the key to successful hassle-free nutritious mealtimes.
A few extra minutes planned in advance of your busy week will reap ten-fold during your most hectic days.
I find that for busy families, basic ingredient bulk cooking takes the least amount of planning and trouble, because cooking extra ingredients for another meal doesn't take additional time.
In addition, basic ingredient bulk cooking allows for meal planning, multi-use recipes, and spur-of-the-moment meals.
Three pre-made items will solve your dinner dilemma when your day runs wild! Having brown rice, pre-grilled chicken, and failsafe no-think hardboiled eggs ready in your refrigerator will ease your daily routine.
By preparing these foods in advance, you'll dramatically cut meal preparation time (a plus for any busy cook), while taking a step in the direction of optimal nutrition for your family! In fact, already cooked brown rice, grilled chicken and hardboiled eggs can be substituted for raw ingredients in recipes, dramatically cutting your time in the kitchen! Brown Rice Brown rice is a wonderful source of protein containing the eight essential amino acids needed for health.
Rice is gluten-free and easily digestible; therefore, it's a good choice for infants and people with wheat allergies or digestive problems.
Brown rice has five times more vitamin E, three times more magnesium, and provides two to four times as much fiber as white rice.
Brown rice is much more nutritious than white rice, although it takes about forty-five minutes to cook compared to the twenty minutes (or less) for white rice.
The good news is that brown rice keeps nicely for at least five days covered in your refrigerator.
Plan ahead! Cook enough brown rice at one time to incorporate into additional recipes during the week.
Adding already cooked brown rice to your favorite casserole dishes cuts the cooking time to minutes.
Brown rice has a nutty flavor and a slightly crunchy texture.
If you have an aversion to the al dente texture, cook the rice a few minutes longer.
(You'll want to add a little more water, to keep the rice from sticking to the pot.
) Grill Chicken in Quantity Once or twice a month grill a large package of skinless chicken breasts and freeze in individual pieces.
Defrosted grilled chicken pieces can be shredded for quick addition into salads, tacos, casseroles.
Grilled chicken can even substituted for raw chicken in recipes, cutting the cooking time for your favorite casserole.
First, brush skinless chicken breasts with extra virgin olive oil (also brush or spay the grill with olive oil) and sprinkle with mixed herbs.
Then, grill the chicken breasts about ten minutes on each side, until all pink juices have turned to white.
Freeze individual pieces so that they're ready to defrost for extra-quick meals.
To speed things up even more, purchase inexpensive glass salt and pepper shakers and fill the "P" shaker with seasoning for poultry and the "S" shaker with seasoning for steak.
For steak seasoning mix together 2 teaspoons salt, 4 teaspoons each garlic powder and pepper.
For poultry seasoning mix together 2 teaspoons salt and 4 teaspoons each pepper and poultry seasoning or rosemary.
That way you won't have to bother measuring each time you need a seasoning, but just shake the pre-measured seasoning on the meat.
Failsafe, No-Think Hardboiled Eggs Eggs are God's perfect food as they contain nine amino acids and are one of the few foods containing the hard-to-get vitamin D.
The egg protein is of such high quality, that all other proteins are measured by it.
Eggs are also a good source of lysine, also found in beans, meat, fish, and dairy products.
In addition, there are only five grams of fat in a large egg yolk.
Hardboiled eggs make protein-filled fast breakfasts.
For those nights when a chef's salad is the quickest means to dinner, include sliced or crumbled hardboiled eggs for added nutrition.
Also eggs make a great after-school snack.
Boil eggs the failsafe way: First, cover the eggs with two inches of cold water in a pan.
Then, bring the water to a full boil.
Place the lid on the pan and turn the heat off.
Wait thirty minutes.
Finally, remove the eggs, pat dry, and cool the eggs.
With already cooked brown rice, pre-grilled chicken, and hardboiled eggs on hand, you'll have your own fast-food, avoiding an expensive stop on the way home from work.
In fact, the notion that a home-cooked meal is time consuming is obsolete.
Being prepared with frequently used whole foods in your pantry and having a few pre-made healthy items on hand is the key to successful hassle-free nutritious mealtimes.
A few extra minutes planned in advance of your busy week will reap ten-fold during your most hectic days.
I find that for busy families, basic ingredient bulk cooking takes the least amount of planning and trouble, because cooking extra ingredients for another meal doesn't take additional time.
In addition, basic ingredient bulk cooking allows for meal planning, multi-use recipes, and spur-of-the-moment meals.
Three pre-made items will solve your dinner dilemma when your day runs wild! Having brown rice, pre-grilled chicken, and failsafe no-think hardboiled eggs ready in your refrigerator will ease your daily routine.
By preparing these foods in advance, you'll dramatically cut meal preparation time (a plus for any busy cook), while taking a step in the direction of optimal nutrition for your family! In fact, already cooked brown rice, grilled chicken and hardboiled eggs can be substituted for raw ingredients in recipes, dramatically cutting your time in the kitchen! Brown Rice Brown rice is a wonderful source of protein containing the eight essential amino acids needed for health.
Rice is gluten-free and easily digestible; therefore, it's a good choice for infants and people with wheat allergies or digestive problems.
Brown rice has five times more vitamin E, three times more magnesium, and provides two to four times as much fiber as white rice.
Brown rice is much more nutritious than white rice, although it takes about forty-five minutes to cook compared to the twenty minutes (or less) for white rice.
The good news is that brown rice keeps nicely for at least five days covered in your refrigerator.
Plan ahead! Cook enough brown rice at one time to incorporate into additional recipes during the week.
Adding already cooked brown rice to your favorite casserole dishes cuts the cooking time to minutes.
Brown rice has a nutty flavor and a slightly crunchy texture.
If you have an aversion to the al dente texture, cook the rice a few minutes longer.
(You'll want to add a little more water, to keep the rice from sticking to the pot.
) Grill Chicken in Quantity Once or twice a month grill a large package of skinless chicken breasts and freeze in individual pieces.
Defrosted grilled chicken pieces can be shredded for quick addition into salads, tacos, casseroles.
Grilled chicken can even substituted for raw chicken in recipes, cutting the cooking time for your favorite casserole.
First, brush skinless chicken breasts with extra virgin olive oil (also brush or spay the grill with olive oil) and sprinkle with mixed herbs.
Then, grill the chicken breasts about ten minutes on each side, until all pink juices have turned to white.
Freeze individual pieces so that they're ready to defrost for extra-quick meals.
To speed things up even more, purchase inexpensive glass salt and pepper shakers and fill the "P" shaker with seasoning for poultry and the "S" shaker with seasoning for steak.
For steak seasoning mix together 2 teaspoons salt, 4 teaspoons each garlic powder and pepper.
For poultry seasoning mix together 2 teaspoons salt and 4 teaspoons each pepper and poultry seasoning or rosemary.
That way you won't have to bother measuring each time you need a seasoning, but just shake the pre-measured seasoning on the meat.
Failsafe, No-Think Hardboiled Eggs Eggs are God's perfect food as they contain nine amino acids and are one of the few foods containing the hard-to-get vitamin D.
The egg protein is of such high quality, that all other proteins are measured by it.
Eggs are also a good source of lysine, also found in beans, meat, fish, and dairy products.
In addition, there are only five grams of fat in a large egg yolk.
Hardboiled eggs make protein-filled fast breakfasts.
For those nights when a chef's salad is the quickest means to dinner, include sliced or crumbled hardboiled eggs for added nutrition.
Also eggs make a great after-school snack.
Boil eggs the failsafe way: First, cover the eggs with two inches of cold water in a pan.
Then, bring the water to a full boil.
Place the lid on the pan and turn the heat off.
Wait thirty minutes.
Finally, remove the eggs, pat dry, and cool the eggs.
With already cooked brown rice, pre-grilled chicken, and hardboiled eggs on hand, you'll have your own fast-food, avoiding an expensive stop on the way home from work.
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