When I lived in a big city, I used to love treating myself to lunches at trendy salad spots. Tasty as these take-out meals were, they were terrible for my wallet, and I didn't have full visibility into or control over the ingredients that went into them. I've since turned into an avid meal-prepper and make my own lunch - almost always a fiber- and protein-packed grain bowl - for a fraction of the price.
Lentils are an inexpensive source of protein, and they can take on many flavor profiles easily and without much effort. The tiny legumes are great in salads, but they really come alive when simmered with alliums, vegetables, spices, and a flavorful broth. Lentil soups and stews can be simple or extravagant, depending on how you garnish the soup, but they always make for a hearty, satisfying meal.
A few nights ago I pulled a block of pie-crust dough left over from the holidays out of the freezer, and it immediately made me feel triumphant. I envisioned pot pie - just in time for a cold snap in Los Angeles - filled with a creamy mixture of gently poached chicken, herbs and classic winter vegetables such as fennel and leeks. With pie dough at hand, I was nearly halfway there.
If you're trying to eat more vegetables, consider slurping more soup. Most of them rely on vegetables as a base, and from there, it's easy to add even more for a belly-filling, nourishing meal. Without much effort, you can easily work two servings of vegetables into a single bowl. Soup also happens to be one of the most simple and soul-warming things to make, a breeze to customize and easily packed for lunches,
These Middle Eastern chickpea balls are so meaty and satisfying, I feel like I could eat them every day! One of my favorite ideas for how to eat them is this falafel salad. Make a batch of my baked falafel, then layer them with crunchy veggies and top with a creamy, zingy tahini dressing. You can also use purchased frozen falafel, or even repurpose takeout leftovers! This one is a massive hit with my family.
In addition to selecting a mix of quality fruit, a key to constructing the perfect berry bowl is layering a creamy base with succulent fruit elements, plus contrastingly crunchy toppings. To keep toppings like granola, cereal, and puffed grains crunchy, though, there is one important rule you need to follow: Add the toppings on just before serving the berry bowl.
A sandwich might sound like a "boring" meal, but these vegetarian sandwiches are anything but uninspired! I've spent years testing different combinations of veggie sandwich fillings in my kitchen, and over the years I've collected my favorite ideas for making meatless lunches and dinners. These vegetarian sandwiches have become my go-to's for quick weeknight dinners and healthy lunches that actually make me look forward to the meal.
I'm Micah. A busy mom of a very active toddler, a business owner, wife, marathoner, dog mom, and a just trying-to-keep-it-together mom. Each week looks different, with both my husband and me traveling multiple times a month for work while navigating busy schedules and some kind of social life. Even though I work from home, I still struggle to get meals on the table. We rely a lot on leftovers, meal prep, and frozen dishes I made months ago.
Quinoa is a filling, nutty-tasting food that pairs well with a variety of ingredients. From breakfast bowls of quinoa topped with yogurt and fruit to savory meals made with chicken and roasted veggies, this powerhouse seed is ready for culinary embellishments. But there's no need to just prepare quinoa with water, instead, make things creamier by simmering the small superfood seeds in a can of coconut milk instead.
The great thing is that a lot of the following additions can be mixed and matched to achieve unique and fun flavor profiles. Salads don't just have to feature bland, limp, and waterlogged pieces of lettuce; there are so many ways to approach them and make them scrumptious and satiating. After trying some of them, you may never look at salad the same way again.
Want the best roasted vegetables ever? I've been making roasted vegetables for years, and I've found that that high heat in the oven caramelizes the vegetables and gives them a lightly crisp exterior which pleases even the most veggie wary eaters! This is my master recipe for how to roast vegetables: make it for a crowd as a side dish, or meal prep them to eat in grain bowls all week long. They're healthy, plant based, vegetarian and gluten-free, and even better: colorful and delicious!
Pickle fans know the joy of nabbing a fresh jar of any of the best pickle brands and enjoying the tasty snacking and sandwich-stacking possibilities. But there's a way to feel even better about your pickle purchase: reusing those jars. When you can repurpose a product's packaging, the benefits are plentiful. You're participating in an eco-friendly mission to reduce waste, and you're also putting the packaging to use for where you might have otherwise had to spend money to buy new.
A carefully calibrated amount of rice and water ensures everything cooks at exactly the same rate, so don't eyeball it. Making your own sofrito on a weeknight is a commitment that's well worth the effort; it provides a deeply savory foundation that perfumes both the rice and chicken. Serve it with a dollop of sour cream, some pickled onions, or warm tortillas for a stick-to-your-ribs dinner that tastes like it took at least two, if not three, pots to make.
There are exactly three meal-prep foods that I have on rotation: shredded beef, shredded pork, and, you guessed it, shredded chicken. All of these involve exactly two steps: Putting spices on a meat, and putting that meat into a crockpot. Every other dinner is leftovers or sandwich meat. Author Don't say I haven't tried. During the pandemic, I went through a jerky phase. I've sampled most of the meal prep boxes.
Note: As many redditors have pointed out in the original thread, these examples are not to discredit how useful pre-prepared foods are to those who are disabled or have a super packed schedule. There's nothing wrong with buying these from the store - we all do (I say, with a jar of pasta sauce literally sitting on my counter right now). There's no shame in it!
At 4:30 a.m., before her husband and two kids are up, Morgan Walker is typically just starting her workout. "I'm kind of a first-thing-in-the-morning type of person when it comes to exercise," Walker, a 32-year-old registered sports dietitian at Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania, told Business Insider. Walker focuses her own workouts on a mix of cardio and strength training. Each week, she spends three to four days building muscle mass by gradually increasing the weights and rep counts of exercises like bench presses, deadlifts, and squats. She also runs twice a week, for up to an hour at a time.
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