Do you often find yourself stressing over what to fix for dinner?  Do you resort to that frozen pizza you’ve got in the freezer or do you stop and pick up something on the way home because you don’t have enough time to fix a healthy meal and quite frankly you are hungry now! Too many times I have found myself there!  I get home and nothing has magically appeared on my table! 

Cooking healthy meals doesn’t have to be an ordeal.  There are simple things you can do ahead of time to ensure your family and you are well fed.  While doing that load of laundry on Sunday, put a couple of batches of wild rice or brown rice on the stove.  I like to cook two cups of wild rice in 32 oz of vegetable or chicken broth. You can then serve the rice later in the week as a side dish or as part of a main dish like the two below. 

Now since you started the laundry, have the rice simmering on the stove, go ahead and cook a pound or two of ground meat. In my case its venison.  We put our venison up in vacuum sealed bags so they are easy to thaw in hot water should you forget to set one out. If you are really feeling motivated, go ahead and cut up your veggies, then come time to prepare dinner you’re only out the time it takes to preheat the oven and cook the veggies.

Option 1
cauliflower 
broccoli
carrots
purple onions
Preheat oven. to 400. Mix veggies together in a roasting pan with olive oil. Get them good and moist with the oil as this veggie combo will absorb the moisture. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper.  You can add garlic or cayenne pepper if so desired.
Cook time is aprox 20-25 minutes. Set your time for 5 minutes and check and stir the veggies each time.
Meanwhile combine the amount of meat and rice you want and season to your liking.  I added red pepper flakes to the dishes pictured below. 

Option 2
yellow squash 
zucchini
mushrooms
red bell pepper
purple onions
The prep is the same, however go lighter on the olive oil as the squash produces water when it cooks. Cook time is aprox 15-20 minutes.

If you didn’t use all the meat and rice, later in the week you can have use the meat for a great taco salad and the rice will make a great side dish to another meal.

Eating healthy isn’t difficult, it takes some creativity and willingness to experiment to see what works best for your family and you!

Let me hear from you! Share your own creations and variations by leaving a comment below.  And please, if you enjoyed this newsletter click the Facebook, Twitter or email icons below and share with your friends!