Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Quick & Easy Meal Ideas

Let's talk Dinners. I like to cook, but I also like to "pull things together" so that it looks like I cooked (and I get credit for it!) but it's really just taking already made items, doctoring them a bit & serving. It takes half the time of starting from scratch. Below are a few meals I "created" last week.
-Kashi Margarita Pizza. This is a great frozen pizza which I bought at Vons. It's thin crust and only has 230 calories in 1/3 of the pizza and is fairly good sized. I added fresh mozzerella cheese & sliced tomatoes to the top, which is maybe why I think it's SO delicious- but it was worth the few extra calories. Add a salad on the side and you've got a great balanced meal.
-Fajita Salad. You start this one with fajita stir fry mix from Trader Joes, which can be found in the frozen section. It's only 90 calories a serving, and 3 in the bag, so if you eat half a bag (like I did) it's only 135. Great combo of onions, bell peppers & chicken. You can use it to make tacos, or make it a Fajita Salad by putting it on top of some greens. Then choose a Mexican style dressing (my favorite is the Trader Joe's Cilantro dressing) and you've got a fresh, healthy Fajita Salad.
-"Fruit" Green Salad. This is a good option if you've run out of typical salad veggie toppings, and don't feel like eating plain lettuce with dressing. Last week I topped a salad with fresh blueberries & mango (the pre-sliced mango from TJs is great for this) and then a balsamic vinagarette (2 parts balsamic, 1 part olive oil, with a dash of salt & lots of pepper). I've found that the balsamic flavor goes really well with fruit. Not only did it taste great, it looked good too!

Last night I came home to what looked like an empty fridge and was starving after bootcamp- but I dug deep and created a decent meal. It's probably better as a lunch (Chris & I were both still a little hungry) but a good creation.
-Pizza Burger Pita (a terrible name- but I swear it's good!). You take a Morningstar Farm frozen Tomato & Basil Pizza Burger (found at TJs or Vons) and grill it in a pan for about 8 min (120 cal). Toast a whole wheat pita and cut an end off, so you can open it. Put the burger patty and lots toppings inside and dinner is served! I added lots of lettuce, sliced tomato (for Chris- I'm not a fan) and lots of grilled onions. I also put a little cheese in the pita right when it came out of the toaster, so it melted. You can also add some BBQ sauce or catchup for added flavor. Only 330 calories for the entire thing- and best of all I didn't have to go to the grocery store or get take out!
That's all for now- Have a great day!
Chel

No comments:

Post a Comment