I vote for chicken... baked, grilled or broiled with baked potato... in the micro for fast and frozen veggies from the freezer. Variations on this always work. All you have to do is think about a protein, starch and veggie... fruit for dessert. Change the types and you have an endless variety. Couscous is really fast... make it with boullion for flavor. Brown rice comes in instant now and is quick. We use fat free sour cream on potatoes. Good Luck!
AMELDA1 6/24/08 5:55 P
A CROCK POT MIGHT BE THE ANSWER, PREPARE NIGHT BEFORE AND PUT ALL IN POT TO COOK THROUGHOUT THE DAY, WHEN YOU COME HOME, IT IS ALL READY.
VETTE1977 6/24/08 3:18 P
When I am short on time this is a family favorite.
Poor Man's Salisbury Steak 1 pound of ground beef or turkey 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs 1 beaten egg 1/8 tsp. pepper 1/4 cup chopped celery chopped onion to taste 1 can reduced fat cream of celery soup 1/2 cup water
Combine first 6 ingredients. Shape into oval patties. Brown on both sides. Combine soup and water, pour over meat. Simmer for 20-25 minutes covered, flipping patties occasionally.
While the meat is simmering you can put together whatever else you want to eat. I would say you could easily have supper on the table in 45 minutes.
When chicken breast are on sale I buy several packages and bake them all up at once, cutting them up and placing 2 cups in a Ziploc baggie in the freezer. I use them in hot dishes and soups.
I like to make a big batch of small meatballs in the oven on an aluminum foil covered cookie sheet. After they are cool, freeze in ziploc baggies. I take out what I want for a meal like BBQ meatballs in the crock pot, spaghetti, swedish meatballs in the crock pot and soups.
Make a double batch of taco meat then you can have tacos one night and later in the week have taco salad with salsa as the dressing.
Meal planning and mass cooking on weekends are the key. Hope my ideas help. Merry
MY*3*SONS 6/16/08 1:34 P
My fave fast meal is stirfry. Slice meat thinly (sometimes I use chicken, sometimes beef, sometimes pork). Cook in a non stick pan with a little oil if needed. Add frozen stirfry veg or precut stirfry veggies from the produce department. When almost heated through (or cooked), add some bottled stir fry sauce (read lables for low sodium & other nutritional info - sweet sauces add more calories). Serve over rice. The more veggies when compared to meat, the healthier it is.
Christine
Christine
POLARCARDS7 6/16/08 1:00 P
Theres always grilled chicken with sides like baked potato, corn on the cob, salad, green beans, etc. I like to make hamburgers with ground chicken, grill turkey hot dogs or some salmon. Can you tell I like to grill? I also love to go to Trader Joes and get things like their multi grain lasagna which is amazing!
CRUISEGIRL1023 6/4/08 4:53 P
I got this basically from the meal plans, it was super delish! I took some chicken scallopinis (thin sliced), cooked it up in some olive oil and spices (garlic powder, pepper, nusalt, oregano) and then covered with marinara sauce (I used 1/2 a jar of low sodium, low carb, low fat), then topped each with 2 tblsp of parmesan cheese, covered for 10 minutes. During that time, cook some whole wheat spaghetti, toss together a quick salad or veggie, and voila, dinner is made. Took me less than 30 minutes from start to finish.
Tonight I'm slicing up some pork tenderloin, lightly coat in flour, cook it in some olive oil and spices, along with some wild rice and green beans or broc. Should take the same amount of time.
Good luck!!
EDEROSIER01 6/4/08 12:12 P
A suggestion for spices - try ethnic stores or online suppliers. Penzey's is a great online spice merchant that sells 1/4 cup sizes of most items for $1.50 or less. It can be a large outlay at the begining - but if you are spending $20 on spices once a year, think of how far that will go! Plus, they have a lot of blends - some without salt, dressing mixes to make low-fat dressings, etc.
Ethinic stores - especially Indian - have great selections of spices for much, much less than commercial grocery stores - and the quantities are usually huge. Like, 8oz bags of ground cumin for $2.00! That is something you may want to split with a friend. Also, I usually buy whole spices and grind them myself - really, takes 30 seconds in a cheap coffee grinder, or with mortar & pestle. And having a variety of spices in the cabinet makes jazzing up that plain chicken breast, tofu, ground turkey, etc, sooooooo much easier.
Can you tell I feel passionate about spices?! :-)
JAYDA0710 5/29/08 9:49 P
Have you tried eatingwell.com? They have a quick and esay section and the ingredients are not that fancy. Also someone gave me this four ingredient cookbook for my wedding this is the link to it on amazon(http://www.amazon.com/Four-Ingredient-Cookbooks-Three-Cookbooks-One/dp/0962855030/ref=pd_sim_b_title_2) and it has a low fat and light section. Cookinglight.com also has a quick and easy section. Also http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=197771 is the link to a recipe that I submitted on sparkpeople that is super easy and fast. Just serve with some mixed veggies or a salad and it will ready to go in 30 minutes or less.
SABBY217 5/29/08 6:21 P
I am new to sparkpeople and need some help. I am married, have a 2 year old and a 3 month old + My husband and I both work full time. By the time we get home from work, the last thing we want to do is cook for the next 2 hours, so we would always pick up fast food or cook something not so healthy. That is probably the reason as to why I am now here on sparkpeople! Anyways, do you guys have any easy dinners that are healthy that you could recommend to me? I have looked and looked online, but most of the websites call for crazy ingredients that I would have to take out a small loan to go and buy all of the different spices to make it! Anyone who can help, you would really be helping me out a tremendous amount! Thanks and God Bless Sabrina
Anyways, do you guys have any easy dinners that are healthy that you could recommend to me? I have looked and looked online, but most of the websites call for crazy ingredients that I would have to take out a small loan to go and buy all of the different spices to make it! Anyone who can help, you would really be helping me out a tremendous amount! Thanks and God Bless 
