Today’s families are eating out more than ever. With school activities, sports, church – who has time to make home-cooked meals? I know we struggle in this area and here are 5 tips for quick and healthy meats at home from Ziporah Janowski, co-owner of the Camp Shane weight loss camp for children and young adults.

Make frozen veggies your friend. Stock up on frozen veggies like spinach, peas and broccoli florets to add to main dishes or serve as sides by themselves. In addition to lasting longer, research shows that today’s “flash frozen” vegetables can be just as healthful as their fresh counterparts.

Choose longer-lasting lettuce. Sure, the triple-washed bagged lettuce is easy, but it costs a fortune and it doesn’t last very long. Try seeking out lesser known types of fresh greens that last longer than the traditional green leafy lettuces. Examples of nutrient-rich lettuce types that last a long time–and are very inexpensive–include things like chicory, romaine, radicchio, kale and dandelion greens.

Get Technical. Subscribe to an e-newsletter that will email you healthy and quick recipes each week. There are thousands of them that you can sign up for on sites like FoodNetwork.com and RecipeNewsletters.com.

Leave the skins on. Not only will it save you tons of time from peeling, if you leave the skins on vegetables such as potatoes and carrots when you are cooking, it helps them to retain more of their nutrient value and fiber and keep you full longer.

Make it a family affair. One of the best ways to prevent childhood obesity is getting kids into the kitchen. Encourage your kids to ask questions and help out while you are preparing the meal.

What are some of your tips for making quick and healthy meals at home?

Image:m_bartosch / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Banilla Shake:

• 1 ½ cups skim or 1% milk
• 1 peeled and sliced medium banana, frozen (Wrap sliced banana in plastic wrap or place in a freezer storage bag. Freeze several hours or overnight.)
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract, optional
• ¼ tsp. almond extract, optional

In a blender combine all ingredients, except cinnamon. Blend until smooth, about 20 seconds. Pour into glasses and garnish with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon, if desired. Yield: approximately 2 ¼ cups.

Blueberry-Orange Whirl:

• 1 12-ounce package frozen blueberries, unthawed, or 2 1/2 cups fresh
• 8 ounce low-fat vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In an electric blender, blend all ingredients until smooth. Yield: approximately 3 ½ cups.

Very Berry Smoothie

• 1/4 cup berries (your choice!)
• 4 ounces skim milk
• 6 ounces calcium-fortified orange juice

Blend together all three ingredients until smooth. Yield: approximately 1 serving.

Camp Shane is the world’s longest running weight-loss camp for children. In partnership with renowned child obesity expert and Board Certified Pediatrician Dr. Joanna Dolgoff, Camp Shane has developed a well-balanced menu that is focused on portion-controlled meals and snacks intended to ensure healthy weight loss.

I was not compensated in way for this post.

If you are wanting to start planning your meals to help reduce your spending on your food budget, Relish! just may be able to help out! Relish is a weekly menu planner aimed to help busy families put wonderful meals on the table every night. No sloppy casseroles or expensive kitchen blunders. Instead look for everyday food…with a gourmet twist.

After signing up, each Thursday you will receive an email with a quick link back to the site. Log on to Relish!and get ready to treat yourself to weekly dinner menus that are customized to your own tastes. Choose the Express Menu and download the picks for the week or choose what you would prefer from the Custom Menu. Relish! offers a selection of vegetarian, kid-friendly, quick, low calorie and simple-gourmet menus. Just click the five you’d like to prepare during the week and your recipes/side dishes and grocery list will be assembled for you! Every day food just got easier.

Relish! guarantees that you and your family will enjoy the service. If you are unhappy with your subscription, they will refund your membership cost at any time.

Ingredients:

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (cut in half)

Olive Oil (just a swirl around the pan should work)

1/2 cup diced onion

1 cup whole wheat couscous

1 1/2 cup water

1/2 cup chopped black olives

1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes

Salt & Pepper to taste

———————————–

To get started give your pan a nice quick turn of olive oil. (I used EVOO)  Let your oil heat up for just a second over medium heat.

As the oil is heating up, I took the time to cut my boneless skinless chicken breast in half.  I always do this because the chicken cooks much faster and instead of having 4 chicken breasts, I now have 8. I also seasoned the chicken with a dash of salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

Add your diced onions and let them cook for a few minutes.  As you can tell from the picture, I totally forgot to put in my onions first, but it worked out fine.

Add your chicken breasts and let them cook.  You will know that they need to be flipped when the bottom of the chicken that is on the pan turns white.  I wait to flip the chicken until it turns white half way through.  The chicken will not take long at all to cook since we’ve sliced it in half.

While your chicken is cooking, in a saucepan get your water going for your couscous.  I added the sun-dried tomatoes to the water right when I noticed it starting to boil.  Once you get a nice strong boil, add your couscous and black olives.  Remove from heat, stir, and let sit for about 5 minutes.

Your chicken should finish up right when you couscous is ready. You may need to add just a touch of salt.

I had a picture of the finished product but my battery was dying on my camera and the picture came out horrible.

I served this meal with a spoonful of the couscous and added the chicken on top.  Everybody loved it and came back for seconds.  This meal fed my family of 5 and we even had one piece of chicken and some couscous left over for a quick lunch or a late night snack…for me.  Hee hee!

Now, I’m not a chef nor do I claim to be one.  I actually just started learning how to cook pretty recently.  My dad did the cooking while I lived at home, and when I got married, my wonderful husband Ryan always did the cooking.  But since we have started trying to eat healthier, I’ve been doing a lot of the cooking.  I know this recipe is really simple but it was tasty to eat and easy on the waist line too!

If you have any recipes that you would like for me to try and feature on the site, I would love to hear from you.

• 2 tbs EVOO
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbs chili powder
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1.5 cups corn

In large saucepan, heat EVOO, garlic and onion over medium heat.  Add celery and cook an additional 3 minutes or so.  Add ground turkey, chili powder and cumin.  Cook 5 minutes or until turkey is no longer pink.  Add your broth, diced tomatoes and corn.  Cover and let simmer 10 minutes.

As you can see its a really easy recipe.  In addition to being easy, its fast and healthy.

We had boneless, skinless chicken breast, green beans and mashed cauliflower.

When I cook boneless, skinless chicken breast, I always cut them in half so they are not as thick.  They cook quicker which is essential for  me.  Plus you can eat two pieces but really only one chicken breast.  You feel like your eating more than you actually are.  I think its a mental thing for me.  I put a small amount of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the pan.  Let it heat up just a little over medium heat.  Place your chicken in the pan and sprinkle with just a dash of salt and pepper.  Let the chicken cook and turn once you can see that it has cooked halfway.  You will see the where the pink turns white.  Flip the chicken and then let cook the remainder of the way.

While your chicken is cooking boil a pan of water for your cauliflower.  You can use salt in the water, but I do not.  Cut into florets.  Once your water has come to a boil, cook the cauliflower for about 8 minutes.  You don’t want it mushy, so keep an eye on it.  In a food processor or blender, place 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper, a dash of hot sauce, 1 tbs of margarine (to keep it on the healthier side I use non-hydrogenated margarine), 1/4 cup 1% milk, 1/2 cup potato flakes and your cooked cauliflower.  Blend until its the consistency of mashed potatoes.  If you’d like to add a dash of color, sprinkle a bit of paprika over the top.  It’s absolutely delicious and taste almost identical to mashed potatoes.

I’m pretty sure everyone knows how to cook green beans so I’ll go ahead and wrap this up.

Cost:

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast  $3.00
Head of Cauliflower $.50 (On sale for $1.50 at Target and used $1.00 coupon)
Frozen Green Beans $1.00

Total Cost: $4.50

This dinner is easy on the wallet and easy on your waistline.