5 Family and Fat Loss Friendly Meals in fewer than 15 minutes….say that 5 times fast 😉
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!
You guys know that I’m pretty much a creature of habit. I tend to eat the same things over and over again and not get too creative in the kitchen. I’m not one to try new recipes, or make things with a ton of ingredients. I always tell my husband that as soon as we do our kitchen over that will change, but for now we stick to quick and easy!
Here are 5 simple recipes that I pretty much rotate through on a weekly basis. Michael and Drew eat everything we eat, but there are definitely nights when they’ll have “moni-rac and cheese” and nuggets, and Ed and I will have something else, usually fish. They haven’t taken to fish yet, but they keep trying 🙂
1. Chicken sausage with peppers and onions over farro or rice (or Cauliflower rice)
This takes no time at all and is probably my most favorite meal. I often make it for lunch it’s so quick. Slice the sausages (I use Trader Joe’s or BJ’s Italian chicken sausages) and sautee with a bag of frozen peppers and onions (fire roasted from TJ’s are the BEST). While that’s heating up, I’ll either microwave some rice, cauliflower rice, or make the farro (all TJ’s). Easy peasy.
2. Crockpot Salsa Chicken
Pretty much the easiest thing ever. 4-6 frozen chicken breasts, 1 jar of salsa and 1 packet of 40% less sodium taco seasoning. Cook on low for 6 hours, or if you are using thawed chicken breasts, you can cook on high for 3-4 hours. I’ll top this with a little cheese and either wrap it up or eat as is. This is also great for leftovers (and I’m not a huge leftover fan).
3. Rotisserie chicken dinner
I ALWAYS have at least 1 rotisserie chicken in the fridge. Pair with brown rice, quinoa, farro or sweet potatoes and microwavable veggies and you’ve got a super quick and easy – not to mention family and fat loss friendly meal – in no time at all….as long as you have everything on hand. Target sells little cubed sweet potatoes, and as I mentioned above, I always have frozen brown rice bags from TJ’s, their 10 minute farro, or microwavable brown rice and quinoa from BJ’s. It takes just as long, if not longer to eat nuggets, pasta, frozen pizza or order take out. It’s all about choices 🙂
4. Cobb or Chicken Caesar salad
This is kind of hit or miss with the boys. They were on a Caesar salad kick for a while but lately it hasn’t gone over too well. For the Cobb, I’ll top with rotisserie chicken, hard- boiled eggs (already hard-boiled in a bag – TJ’s obv), avocado, carrots, bacon and top with a little Bolthouse farm ranch dressing.
If I’m doing Caesar, I’ll top with chicken, bacon, parmesan cheese and a little Bolthouse farms Caesar dressing. My husband and the boys (when they’re into them) add croutons and a wrap and a side of baby carrots and sugar snap peas.
5. Breakfast for dinner
This is definitely a weekly thing in our house. Whether it’s omelets or protein pancakes, you can bet that at least one of our dinners will consist of breakfast foods.
For the protein pancakes, I’ll mix 4 eggs, 4 egg whites, ¾ cup almond flour (or 1/2 cup old fashioned oats), 1-2 TBS flax meal, a little vanilla and a lot of cinnamon. We’ll top with a little real maple syrup and berries. It’s definitely a favorite in our house and super easy to make a batch and either freeze or refrigerate for easy meals and snacks. Another snack idea that my guys love is almond butter and banana sandwiches using the pancakes as bread – SO good, and a great lunch for the beach, pool, zoo – wherever!
A couple times a week I’ll take the time to make things that take a bit longer, but for the most part, this is it. I don’t do a ton of meal prep, I just make sure that we have the basics in the house so that I always have a quick and easy go to, otherwise take out it is.
If you have any fat loss friendly meals to share, I’d love to try them! Add them to the comments section below 🙂
