Covenant Natural Health Care

5 Easy tips to make meals faster while keeping them healthy

Lately, it seems as if I don't have much extra time and the last thing I want to do is take a shortcut on healthy meals. And, it's probably safe to say that many of you are running into the same dilemma. Here are a couple things that I've been doing lately that have saved me some time:

1. On Sunday's, before the hectic work week, I:
• Steam 6 potatoes, white or sweet (or a mix), let them cool, wrap them in foil and put them in the fridge. Gently reheat for a few minutes for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
• Make a roasting chicken. I can use it for wraps, sandwiches, salads, etc., without the hassle of cooking individual chicken breasts throughout the week. Plus, I can use the bones to make chicken broth (getting 3 quarts of broth per chicken)
• Chop and wash vegetables for quick snacking or ready to steam or saute.
• Make small containers or fruit, yogurt, and nuts for easy lunch packing.
• Slow cook a pot of beans.
• Slow cook a couple cups of rice.
• Cook up 4 burgers (beef or turkey).

2. Keep dinners light. We eat a large breakfast and lunch with light snacking in between meals and eat a hearty salad with a cup of black beans, a baked potato, or brown rice for dinner. Eating a light dinner ensures easy digestion, less work after a long day, and a good night's rest. With the vegetables for the salad already chopped (see above), salads are a breeze to make.

3. Create a meal plan. I can't say enough how helpful a meal plan can be when it comes to eating healthy and maintaining a busy schedule.

4. Don't fret if your meals aren't fancy. There are days where my lunch consists of a can of tuna, a slice of Ezekiel Bread, a couple slices of fresh tomato, and a cup of plain yogurt. Or dinner is a salad with walnuts and olives and a baked potato with sour cream. It would be awesome if every meal could be gourmet, but it's just not realistic, especially for those who work outside of the home. Take pride in the healthiness factor, not whether or not it's a special recipe that took hours to make.

5.Make double batches of food and freeze (or refrigerate) or a later meal. Soups, burgers, meatballs, tomato sauce, etc, are all easy to make double batches of. Then, it's as easy as pulling it out of the freezer/fridge, thawing and lightly reheating on the stove.

Recipes: Healthy Dinner Ideas For The Week

We know that making homemade meals can be challenging and time-consuming, especially the planning part! We thought we'd help you out this week and share some dinner menu ideas. Feel free to substitute foods with whatever you already have in the house or to fit your dietary needs.

MONDAY:
• Salad with fresh vegetables and homemade dressing
• Grilled chicken breast
• Mashed potatoes

TUESDAY:
• Turkey wrap loaded with spinach & fresh vegetables
• Three-bean salad

WEDNESDAY:
• Tuna Salad with Sprouts
• Baked potato topped with cheese, chives, and butter

THURSDAY:
• Sugar-free meatloaf
• Sauteed zucchini, onions and red peppers
• Slice of whole-wheat toast with butter

FRIDAY:
• Salad with fresh vegetables and homemade dressing
• Gluten-free lasagna rolls

SATURDAY:
• Salad with fresh vegetables and homemade dressing
• Stuffed Peppers

Want more meal planning tips? Click here.

{Healthy} Grocery Shopping

I think one of the hardest things to do, especially when just starting to eat healthy, is grocery shopping. The store is lined with aisles of stuff to choose from, so how do you know what to buy and what not to buy?

Click here to download a PDF that contains a list of unhealthy ingredients to avoid, food items to stock the pantry with and healthy snack ideas.

Print it out and tuck the list in your wallet or purse so that it's available every time you go to the store. If you have a question about whether or not an ingredient is healthy, you can check the list. Eventually, you won't have to refer to the list that often as you become aware of the not-so-good ingredients in food products.

The best thing you can do when it comes to buying food is buying fresh instead of boxed, frozen, or bagged. But, that's not always possible so always check the ingredients in packaged food. I made a mistake a couple weekends ago when buying some dried fruit to make granola. I assumed that there would be nothing added to dried fruit, so I bought it. When I got home and started making granola, I read the ingredients list and found high fructose corn syrup, so I am going to return the product for a refund.

Have a great weekend!

While reading a list of ingredients, a good rule of thumb is, if you can't pronounce the ingredient or it sounds unhealthy, it probably is.

A great way to make out a grocery list is by planning a weekly menu. Click here for an example.

 

Take the stress out of healthy holiday food preparation

Typically, I find holidays to be stressful with all the traveling to parties, cooking, and cleaning house. And, preparing healthy, wholesome foods during the holidays can add unnecessary stress if not planned in advance. Unfortunately stress can often interfere with the healing process and weaken our immune system

Let's take a few hours each day this week to prepare for celebrating Thanksgiving, rather than stressing out and preparing everything the night before or the day of. Let's also not forget to take some time out for ourselves to rest, relax, and make a list of what we're most grateful for.

Here are some suggestions for preparing healthy food in advance:

MONDAY:
• Make mushroom soup for the green bean casserole
• Prepare cranberry sauce and put in fridge until ready to serve
• Make sure your turkey is in the fridge thawing out (it typically takes a frozen turkey a few days to thaw)

TUESDAY:
• snap ends off of green beans and put back in the fridge until you're ready to prepare green bean casserole
• Make dessert (pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, or maybe carob cupcakes)

WEDNESDAY:
• Make green bean casserole and store in fridge until ready to bake (30-40 minutes before serving turkey)
• Make stuffing and store in fridge until ready to stuff the turkey
• Slice onions and make crispy onions for the green bean casserole.

THURSDAY:
• Stuff and prepare turkey, then bake. Temperature for a cooked turkey is 180 degrees.
• When the turkey is done, take the juices and fat and make homemade gravy.
• Make mashed potatoes or a healthy sweet potato casserole.
• Bake green bean casserole 30-40 minutes for dinner time.
• Warm whole grain rolls or bread just before serving.

Now, hopefully you aren't preparing ALL of these things, and you are delegating to friends and family. We have to remember that we get together and celebrate the holidays with those we are thankful for—wouldn't it be nice to spend lots of time with our loved ones rather than in the kitchen? Inviting others to help prepare healthy options is a good way to make sure everyone enjoys a healthy holiday with lots of love and laughter.

Remember, the less processed your holiday fare, the better you'll feel after the holiday. So, skip the sugar and make good choices full of protein, fruits and vegetables and whole grains. If you need a quick reminder of all the unhealthy ingredients in typical, processed holiday foods, check out this free download.

Slow Cookin'

There are some days when my schedule is overbooked and spending time in the kitchen is cut short. This, however, doesn't prevent me from putting a healthy meal on the table. My secret? A slow cooker/crockpot. This is one of my must-have, can't-live-without kitchen gadgets because I can practically toss broth, vegetables, beans and cooked chicken, beef, or turkey into it and have a delicious soup or roast with little fuss. It's a great way to use leftovers and save a little time. I can easily prepare something before I leave for work and come home to a slow-cooked meal for dinner.

I've collected several recipes to share, but don't feel limited by these. Get creative, use up your leftovers and create your own recipe. And, even though a recipe may not technically be a slow cooker recipe, you can easily make it one. Slow cooking will only bring out rich flavors all the ingredients.

Tuscan Chicken with White Beans and Wilted Greens

Minestrone Soup with Pasta, Beans and Vegetables

Beef Stew

Mediterranean Lamb and Lentil Stew

Slow cooker honey baked apples

Crockpot Oatmeal with Cranberries & Dates