Today my guest blogger is Justine from www.healthymama.net! Justine inspired me to start prepping food ahead of time & pureeing veggies to pack in nutrition to our food - especially for the kids. Enjoy!
We
all run into this problem, your kids are hungry, or you are hungry,
you’re busy and don’t feel like making food, I mean, what do you make??
There is a Mc Donald’s down the street, a can of spaghetti o’s in the
counter, and you just want to stop your rumbling tummy, or the whining
kiddos. What do you do? Well, it’s only $1.00 for a double cheese
burger, and if you went to the store it would take so long, and what
would you make, anyway? Or you just grab the can opener…
I
don’t do either of those things, and yes I do spend time in the
kitchen. Healthy eating is a
commitment, but it does not have to be difficult for every meal. (For
those of you who know me personally, you now I do not enjoy cooking, but
my kids are worth it, and, you know what, so am I.) I choose a day,
usually Sunday, and I get all the ingredients together for the week, and
I prepare them. I puree the veggies I will be sneaking into the food, I
cook up and season the veggie sausage that I put on nachos and pasta, I
cook up the soyrizo I put in tacos or nachos, I slice bananas, I soak
shrimp in curry, I make guacamole for tacos, nachos or snacks, and I
make a box or quinoa (with black beans and a veggie puree.) for the
nachos, tacos, burritos, curry, and my easy lunches. I have a lot of
tupperware, and I just put everything in the fridge (I freeze the purees
and bananas, though because I like putting them in smoothies.) If you
are a meat eater, I would cook chicken, or pork chops to add to food as
well.
It
it so worth it to get everything started, because all of a sudden, it’s
lunch time, what do you choose? My favorite midday food is a bowl or
quinoa and black beans with melted (soy) cheese and guacamole and a
tomato (the purple ones from Trader Joe’s with some pepper are awesome!)
Sometimes I will add a tortilla, and salsa. It takes 5 minutes to
prepare.
Tacos are quick, tortillas, quinoa with back beans, shrimp (just add
some pepper and lime) or soyrizo, cut up some cabbage or lettuce, I love jalapinos, so I add that. And salsa!!
You
can very easily make your own chips with raw tortillas, or use coconut
oil to make your won chips, just brush with oil and pop in the oven. If
it’s a really lazy day, I love the flax seed veggie chips from Trader
Joe’s. You can dip your chips in guacamole, I use all fresh ingredients,
tomatoes, lots of limes, jalapeno, cilantro, garlic, basil (my FAVORITE
herb!!!) cayanne pepper, black pepper, and avacados, of course.
Acacados have healthy fat, so no guilt! I love to top nachos with
guacamole!
Curry
is delicious, I have been doing it the lazy way, Trader Joe’s has
really good jars of curry, I soak shrimp until we are ready for food,
and add tofu, and heat it up on the stove, add seasonings and pour it
over quinoa or brown rice.
(I
swear Trader Joe’s does not pay me!) Trader Joe’s also has really yummy
ravioli in the refrigerated section. Personally, I could live on the
butternut squash ravioli, and the lobster ravioli. The ravioli takes
about 4
minutes, and a sauce is quick, I still use animal friendly butter, and
garlic, basil, and rosemary… and I always add spice, a jalapeno, or
cayanne. You can add sage to the butternut squash, and (shhhh don’t
tell… a little brown sugar) I also put shrimp in the lobster sauce.
Pasta
is so easy! You can choose the noodles you like, brown rice, wheat,
spaghetti squash, you name it, and I add the fake meat sausage which I
already seasoned, and purred carrot or red bell pepper to the sauce.
Don’t
forget smoothies! I love giving the kiddos a smoothies with a meal. I
add frozen fruits and veggie puree, maybe some almond milk. I love flax
seed meal, and sometimes nuts, or dark chocolate chips. I also have a
shake that I drink every day, and I add the powder to the kids shake.
I
also buy lots of nuts and make my own trail mix, it’s the easiest
snack. And snack time for kids is a piece of cake, I have lots of fruits
and veggies, I just cut them up and up bowls out with various dips.
I
know it is a challenge to make a healthy easy food, but I promise it is
possible. Let me know if you have preferences, I can help you find a
system that works for you! I have a friend who is breast feeding and is
looking for easy meals that are wheat, soy, nut and dairy free, because
her son has allergies. I am feeling for her her, and hoping she can find
alternatives. If you have any ideas, please post them to my Facebook
page https://www.facebook.com/isahealthymama or comment
here!!!
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