6 Strategies for Healthy, Quick & Convenient Dinners

The biggest obstacle I hear from the people I coach is that they “just don’t have time.”  People are SO busy today with work, families, managing a house, and the million other things that come up.

So it’s too often that they find themselves grabbing food for convenience – food that not only doesn’t serve their bodies but that also ends up negatively impacting the family and their waistlines.  This leads to further guilt and a vicious cycle begins.
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It breaks my heart to see these ​smart, hard-working, and deserving people go down the rabbit hole of convenience because they just don’t know another way.  So, I’m here to help! 🙂

Check out my strategies for ​healthy, fast, and convenient ​dinners (or whichever meal you choose!)

YOU MAKE IT:

1. Pre-cook proteins, pre-wash and chop veggies. You can do this 1-2 times a week depending on time. I’m a fan of the Sunday Ritual, where you prep and portion for the entire week. How to do this:  Simply grill or bake enough protein to sustain dinner each week. You can prep the veggies to be prepared on the spot in the evening before dinner or in advance like the protein.  Heck, throw it all on the grill!
2. Purchase pre-chopped veggies. If to the first point you were thinking…"Yeah, but the part I HATE is washing and chopping!" Pretty much every grocery store sells vegetables that are ready to throw in a pan, in the oven, or on a grill.  It’ll typically cost you a little bit more, but it’s worth it if this is what it takes to make the right choice.
3. The 10 minute, minimal effort meal. This is one of my favorite strategies!  It’s as simple as this:  Baked tofu (or for you meat-eaters rotisserie chicken), bag of steamed veggies, and wrapped microwavable sweet potato.  Serve the chicken, grab 1-2 cups of veggies for your plate out of the bag (season if you like), and eat half the potato with a pat of grass-fed butter. And you’ve got leftovers!
4. Crock Pot meals. It doesn’t get much easier than throwing a bunch of ingredients in a crock pot in the morning then coming home to a fully prepared meal (and a house that smells awesome).  Also requires minimal clean up! This is definitely easy to make in large portions, so you’ve got leftovers!

Here are my GRAB AND GO strategies:

1. Hit the hot bar. Have a grocery store like Whole Foods nearby? Chances are they have an awesome hot bar! 
2. Healthy take-out. This is easier to find than you think. I love Asian restaurants for this because you can almost always find grilled protein and order it with a side of vegetables. And it’s pretty easy to find a vegan dish too! You’ll typically be able to get a few servings out of it too, so you’ve got lunch for the next day!

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Believe me, I am all about convenience when it comes to food, so I always suggest making more than you need so you’ve got left overs!  

I'd love to hear what you do to help put together quick healthy meals. Share in the comments below!