Quick meal ideas

I wanted to write a post with some quick meal ideas for those times when you really just CBF cooking, or you get home from work and have no idea what you want to cook!

While I think meal prepping is the key to success with nutrition I still think there are quite a few different things you can do if you are short on time that are relatively nutritious given their quickness.

Firstly – go for eggs – find a style that you like and do that!

Scrambled Eggs – add in whatever veges you have that are starting to wilt in your fridge.
Poached Eggs – my favourite, have with a slice of bread or bacon or just have a few eggs if that’s all you feel like!
Omelette – Similar to scrambled eggs, add in whatever veges you have lying around the place, heck add in a little (note little) cheese if your that way inclined.

Next I would recommend going for something like Corn Fritters  – so easy to make and you can make a batch on the weekend and pop them in the freezer into single servings, grab one out and throw in the microwave for a couple of minutes (or reheat in the frying pan) and your good to go. These are also super easy to make at short notice as they only take a couple of minutes to prep – literally throw everything in a bowl and mix together. I sometimes add a tin of tuna into the mix as well to bump up the protein content.

One we use a lot is Chicken and Rice with Frozen Vegetables – if your really time pressed you could even use the boil in bag or other pre-made rice which you can just pop in the microwave.  Chicken only takes 5 or so minutes to pop in a frying pan – or even better the George Foreman (smash the fat away!) and rice can be done in a very short amount of time as well. We often have chicken, rice and vegetables after work and the gym. If your making the rice from scratch you can speed up the process by boiling the jug and using this water to boil the rice. Even quicker you could use Couscous which literally only takes a couple of minutes to make, boil the jug, pour water over the couscous and wait for it to soak up the water.

Stir Fries and Curries  are also relatively quick as well and are great as you can use any vegetables you have in your fridge. Cook the meat, add some sauce (I use coconut milk, green curry paste and some crushed ginger and garlic for my curries) once nearly cooked at the vegetables in to cook.

Salads are also easy to put together if you have the ingredients in your pantry, all you need to do is load the items directly on your plate and drizzle your dressing of choice over top (I suggest a balsamic dressing over a creamy dressing) and voila, meal ready.

Along the lines of the Chicken and Rice, Steak and Vegetables or Salmon and Vegetables are just as quick, even add an egg if you like to get some good fats in. If you really want some ‘chips’ peal your potatoes or kumara, chop into chips and throw in the microwave for 10 minutes and you’ll have home-made chips to go with your steak or salmon.  I like to put a bit of Cajun seasoning on the top while they are cooking. Whilst oven fries are nicer, the convenience of being able to have them with your steak can outweigh this.

There we have it, a number of quick and easy and nutritious meals that you can pop together when you just really can not be bothered cooking at the end of  a long day.

What are your favourite easy and quick meals?