I have no time, Help me eat: Home Edition

Continuation from my previous post on health(ier) options when in transit for eating.

You are home, hooray! But you are not about to spend the next hour plus making dinner when you have finally gotten the chance to have a moment at home after a busy day.  
Or perhaps it is morning, and you just are not that ‘morning person’ some people are and have ten minutes before you have to leave to catch your train.  Have small children and therefore no time, period? So many situations today where we are pressed for time and want to just grab the quickest option to eat-- not necessarily the healthiest...

Here are some quick tips & tricks to both getting healthier food into the home and choosing healthier options when eating:

-Planning on the go

    -Have a notepad on your phone? Yes, I know you do.  Keep a tab for the grocery store so you can add to it as things pop into your mind, rather than trying to figure it out when in the large and crowded store when you are already tired and hungry.  

• Less of a chance of forgetting if you add to it throughout the days, and a much faster stop at the store with everything already written down.

    
    -If you are in a city and walking past many grocery stores, note what has better prices for what.  I tend to look at Food Emporium for their weekly sales, Whole Foods for frozen fruits and vegetables, and Amish Market and Stiles for fresh fruits like apples and bananas.  If I didn’t pay attention to these things and just went to the closest store to my apartment, I would be spending a fortune!

• Also to my city dwellers, Whole Foods offers free delivery through Amazon Prime if you want to stock up on the less expensive options and not lug them 20+ blocks ;)

-Healthy options on hand

    -I have heard the comment, ‘but I can’t eat fruits and vegetables fast enough and have to throw them out’.  FIX: frozen foods.

• Often less expensive, and they do not go bad in a matter of days.  Also, frozen foods are picked at a prime time, so you get maximum flavor.
• Check the frozen aisles at your grocery stores.  I know for me, Whole Foods offers the best mix of cost and quality for frozen foods (‘whole paycheck’ no longer!).  

            16oz strawberries frozen: $1.99 at Whole Foods (similar at Trader Joe's)
            16oz organic spinach frozen: $2.29 at Whole Foods (" ")
        
    -’Making a balanced meal takes too long.’  No way.
There are tons of recipes offered on the subject, but here is my go-to trick to maximize health and time:

• Take out a big pan, bit of water and/or olive oil, toss on any frozen vegetables you want. 
• Grab a can of tuna, or throw a piece of grilled chicken on another pan and cook it. (Or I choose eggs a lot of the time for a scramble.)
• While waiting, clean a sweet potato, carefully put some slits on top, put it in the microwave on ‘potato’ setting. 
• Add some spices of your choosing to the veggie mix.
• Mix in protein of choosing when vegetables are cooked.
• Pour onto plate
• Top with balsamic vinegar and parmesan cheese.  Have avocado? Slice that on top, too.

 

• Boom. Less than ten minutes, and you have a healthy meal.

 

• What vegetables?  Seriously, whatever you like.  My ‘most-used’ are spinach, asparagus, and peppers….sometimes brussel sprouts, peas, mushrooms, whatever you have.

-Other quick ways to prep meals:

• Crock pot-- in less than two minutes, throw in protein, chicken stock, spices, and vegetables.  Hours later, without any effort on your part, you have a meal. Tons of recipes online.
• Make chicken or turkey in bulk and save to grab quickly
• Sweet potato in the microwave topped with anything: turkey mixed with tomato sauce, chickpeas and olive oil, mustard, hummus, avocado and sliced chicken, balsamic glaze, chopped up with scrambled eggs
• Make a soup, freeze in portioned out bags to have on hand
• My favorite morning (or anytime of day really) protein & veggie snack to make quickly: recipe here.  I estimate the veggies, no need to spend extra minutes trying to be exact here.

-Snacks for ‘in-between times’:

• Slice an apple, 1-2 Tbsp almond butter with it
• Celery or carrots with hummus ( note serving size for hummus)
• Mix raisins, almonds, walnuts together for a healthy trail mix (note your portions)
• Smoothie: unsweetened almond milk, frozen blueberries & pineapple, pea protein powder, spinach, and BLEND 
• Make a batch of grilled chicken to have a slice of with mustard when desired (great source of protein!)
• Plain Greek yogurt with blueberries and almonds
• Healthier processed snacking: 

            Ba da bean
            RX Bar (½ or whole)
            KIND bar minis
            Rice cracker with smashed avocado or almond butter or jelly
            Quinoa puffs    
    

Will continue to add on here, but time to go teach!  If you have any favorite tips you'd like to share, comment below!