Cheap, quick, and healthy recipes...am I kidding myself?

jdm0804

My fiance and I are both fairly active here on MFP. She doesn't really do anything community-wise, but I love my MFPeeps! Anyways, we decided that we want to start planning our meals when we see each other, rather than just going out to eat for every meal. That's where we run into the issue. I'm a graduate student who works full time, and she lives out of town; so when we see each other, life has only budgeted the bare minimum amount of time for us to enjoy each other. It is difficult to convince us to prepare our meals, and especially prepare healthy ones.

Now that the setup is through, the real question I posit to you guys is this:

What are some good, healthy, cheap, and quick meals (preferably with little to no clean-up) that we can play with for a start?

Thanks in advance!

nat102

I don't really have much in the way of recipes but I do have suggestions. The fastest and yummiest cooking for me and my bf is usually the stuff we plan last minute w the ingredients we already have in the house. We generally have some sort of meat either cooked or ready to go on the BBQ. Salads with meat and hard boiled eggs are a fast, easy meal. Also another is brown rice and stir fried veggies just cooked quickly in olive oil and add a little protien in.

As for desserts you can reduce cal intake by sharing that's how we do it!

darlalu00

Go to skinnytaste.com They have all kind of healthy recipes.

Fairysoul

I would say stir fry, it's always quick and I have a big family, and if you make enough you can freeze and re heat, soup is always a win, and what about grilled cheese and soup, you also could chop up some veggies and meat and skewer it, that is fast as well, epecially if you both put forth effort!

Kellytina

Omelettes are an easy go to at our house. And shrimp. Shrimp goes with anything, especially pineapple and pasta!

SueInAz

Stir fry is healthy, cheap and quick. Choose a protein (chicken, pork, beef, shrimp) and use the frozen bagged stir fry veggies. You can use fresh veggies but it takes longer and is more costly. I usually supplement the frozen by adding any fresh veggies I have left over, though. Use oil while cooking the protein, add in the veggies then add soy sauce, granulated garlic, ginger and whatever other seasonings you like. Serve with or without rice or noodles.

clw_888

One our our quick easy meals is to make wraps with some low cal tortillas...usually chicken and loads of veggies! Another idea is to use the crock pot. If you can plan the meal the night before...even prep and put the crock in the fridge then just pop it in and turn it on in the morning! I would love to hear more ideas from other MFP'ers.

IAmTheAwesomest

Easy ways to reduce calories are using skim milk rather than 2% or splenda instead of sugar or spray oil instead of real oil (it's been a BIG help for me),veggies and fruit (frozen or fresh), light butter instead of regular butter. These little changes help.

Spaghetti Squash is awesome and easy.
One large spaghetti squash
1 jar of reduced fat spaghetti sauce
a ton of sauteed veggies you like in a spray of oil (I put eggplant, zucchini, squash, onions, mushrooms, and red & green peppers)
cheap, quick, healthy and low calories

cdpm

We have a salad normally. Open a bag of pre-mixed leaves. Heat up some chicken goujons in the oven, 20 mins later a warm and tasty salad with protein and all the goodness of salad!

Benji49

I think your best bet is to make a list of the 2-3 things that you both like and make sure that your pantry is stocked with the ingredients needed to put those dishes together. Make the preparation of the food part of your celebration of being together. Preparing food together can be very sensuous if you let it be.

And if you start that process now then when you're married it becomes just part of the family routine and it makes food fun for you and for your kids when/if you have them (minus the sensuous part):ohwell: .

You can precook chicken breasts or thighs and freeze them. Then slice them, chop them whatever you need to throw into a salad or a pasta dish. There are quite a few cookbooks out there that have "quick and easy weekday meals on a budget". A lot of them have meals that you can prepare in under 20 mins or that you can prepare and then freeze to serve later.

kunibob

Quinoa! Great for you, cooks quickly and super versatile. Hot, cold, savory, sweet, mixed with veggies, mixed with meat or tofu or tuna, mixed with sauces or oils, mixed with anything.

Stir fries as well! Again, many variations.

Pita mini-pizzas are great and fast, too, and you can make them very healthy because you control what goes into them.

Whole wheat pastas with homemade sauces/meat -- not necessarily super quick, but sort of a "set and forget" kind of thing.

You can cook meats and veggies very quickly in frying pans/woks or grills. Greens like zucchini or bok choi cook in 2-3 minutes and can be very flavourful. (I like to season mine with cumin, pepper and a bit of salt.)

kunibob

Stir fry is healthy, cheap and quick. Choose a protein (chicken, pork, beef, shrimp) and use the frozen bagged stir fry veggies. You can use fresh veggies but it takes longer and is more costly.

This is a great point and I have to second it: so long as there is no added sodium, flash-frozen vegetables are as nutritious -- or in some cases, more nutritious -- than vegetables off the shelf, and the preparation time is much lower. If you don't mind the cost, they can be huge time savers.

nkswans

Minestrone is healthy and cheap...but isn't really quick however you could make it on a weekend and serve it throughout the week for lunch or dinner. This is my mom's recipe and it is delicious! But doesn't get more affordable than beans and pasta!

2 cans dark red kidney beans
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 potatoes, diced
1/2 stick butter (you could always reduce this to make it healthier)
about 2 oz of spaghetti
1-2 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

Fill large soup pot with water, add drained beans. Cook on medium until boil, cook for about 5-10 more minutes. Break up the beans while it boils. Add celery, carrots, onions, bay leaf, butter, season with salt and pepper and cook for at least 2 hours. You want the broth to be somewhat thick and very tasty. The last 20 minutes add the spaghetti and potato to cook. This soup will only get better as it sits. I like to add a little bit of Parmesan on top when I serve it. Also, you could use rice instead of pasta and whatever vegetables you want-spinach, rutabaga, canned diced tomato basically whatever you like or looks good at the store.

tjsmitty5

My fastest and lowest calorie item is to use the bagel thins or the bread thins.

For Breakfast I use the everything bagel and cook 100% egg whites then add two slices of ham and one slice of cheese. This is just over 200 calories and fills me up.

For Lunch, I use one of the bread (I love the Sara Lee Honey Wheat bread thins) and add the meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, etc. Fast and good and low cal!

Also, any of the healthy request soups are good and hearty and low cal!

PJmetts

I just started experimenting with the "Garden Pastas" that have veggies in them (Fabulous) and prepared sauces, like basil or sun dried tomato alfredo sauce, simply delicious and low cal. A side salad or fress steamed green veggie along side never hurts.

amybrauch

Do you have a grill? I love it when we grill as much of dinner as we can, because there is way less clean up. Grill a steak, chicken or boneless pork chop. Wrap a potato or sweet potato in foil & bake it on the grill. Veggie skewers w/ zucchini, onion, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc. You can grill corn on the cob and asparagus. You can do your whole meal on the grill really & then you will only have the plates, forks & cups you use to wash up when it is over.

Espressocycle

I used to keep a blog on this. I haven't updated it for forever and not everything on it is healthful, but it is icemancooketh.blogspot.com
I recently threw a chopped onion, chopped celery, a ham steak and a bag of dry navy beans in a pot covered of water and cooked until beans were soft, then chopped up the ham, added three diced carrots and half a jar of tomato sauce and some dried bouquet garni and it was fantastic for $1&350cal/pint.

Rachaelluvszipped

Hi,

Well here's something I found useful as of yesterday.. check out this site also..

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/sampmenu.htm

sarahwebb81

I'm super busy in the evenings, so quick and easy is all I do! I would love to be the type of person who spent an hour preparing an elaborate spread, but there's just no time for that. Here are a few of my super easy go-to favorites:

Turkey burgers on the grill (or George Foreman)
Frozen fish baked in the oven with seafood seasoning (I like any white fish- tilapia, grouper, and pollack are all pretty cheap)
Turkey bacon (precooked, microwaveable kind), lettuce, and tomato sandwich. You can add a fried egg for some extra taste and protein.
For a side:
Fresh brussels sprouts, halved and sprayed with olive oil and broiled in the oven
Kale, shredded off of the stems, lightly coated in olive oil and broiled in the oven
Pre-wrapped, microwaveable sweet potatoes, with a little splenda and cinnamin

Those are just a few ideas. Good luck!

Pickedlast4gym

The vegetable is your friend!!! It can be a date.....going through the farmers market together and planning your meals is fun!!! Try new veggies, or old, maybe scary veggies cooked a new way. I like to roast beets like baked potatoes, they carmelize and are yummy....braised cabbage, slice very thin, in olive oil with a garlic clove, cook til it is carmelized is amazing, my kids fight over it. Egg plant is great too.......cut a whole eggplant in half long wise. Spray a baking dish with pam. Bake at 350 for 1 nour. Scoop out all of the mushy stuff, never mind what it looks like...miix eggplant, 1 can crushed tomatos, 1 tsp, garlic powder, 1tbsp basil in a bowl. Add 12 oz. Part skim ricotta. Mix well....put in a casserole disn, spray with pam first. Sprinkle with low fat mozzerella cheesd, bake til bubbly and cheese is all melted.....my kids love this....you can add other veggies to the roasting pan with the eggplant, such as onion, zuccini, peppers, etc. Best of luck!

lori8431

Buy the meats, egg, cheese, tomatoes, onions, spinach, bread, mushrooms, lettuces...then you can make meat and veggie omelettes. then have a meat and veggie salad, and finally meat and veggie sandwiches. My husband and I do this when we are on vacation so we can utilize all the food for all meals.

cacraft

I have to plan all my meals, because I'm not there yet with coming up with quick healthy meals at the last minute, and if I dive in hungry I know I'll make the wrong choices.

Each night, after dinner I sit down and log on MFP my food for the next day. I make a plan so I know exactly what I'm going to eat and how much.

To keep my sodium down I cook as much as I can from scratch in big batches, package them in serving size ziplocs and freeze them until needed. This is a tremendous time saver. If you're making rice, for example, make a whole bunch extra and freeze it. It doesn't take any extra time to do that.

PLUMSGRL

Invest in a a crockpot (under $25) for a regular size. You can make anything in the sucker and all kinds of recipes are on line here, just use the search. Most can be started the night before and finished in the am to put in the fridge, or start in the am (on low) and done when you get home! I've made stews, roasts, ribs, "baked" chicken/roasts, beans, caseroles, cake, breads. Saves you time and money in the long run-less power used!

Kulli1

Like a lot of people have said making batches one day and freezing them saves me a lot of time. My fella and i love chilli so always make a lot and stick it in takeaway boxes that we saved. When it comes to cooking whoevers home first bungs it in the slow cooker (Crock pot) where it defrosts and cooks with no bother. I also make dishes of lasange a couple of meat ones for when were both in (some of which gets put aside for pack up or dinner the next day) and a large veggie one that i slice up and again put in containers to freeze. I either microwave or oven cook a portion when i'm home alone and have with salad from a bag. The same with mousaka, shepherds pie etc.

Another time saving tip for you is to chop and freeze onions and peppers, put them in portion sized sandwich bags ready for when you need them. I also find pastes of garlic, chilli and ginger are great and can be stored in the fridge. I found that the local Asian shop did the garlic paste in a larger jar than i normally get from the supermarket and it was cheaper! I was quite impressed with a lot of the stuff in there and was a bit miffed that i'd gone on the bike so couldn't carry much home!!!

marinadrobot

The quickest and simliest of all recipies is: Grilled Fish (salmon, tuna steak, swordfish) or skinless chicken or lean steak + steamed vegetables (broccoli, green beans, carrot, parsley) or salad (baby spinach leaves, italian salad (letuce, rocket, basil, chives), reddish, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado.

If you have some time on your hands than try fich pie without white sauce. Put fish pie mix (smocked haddock, salmon, cod and prawns) on backing tray. Bake for about 5 - 10 min, add grated catrrots, thin sliced potatoes or parrsnips, thinly slices onions, garlic, lot of herbs, chives and bake for another 15 - 20 min. sprinkle with some parmesan and mature cheddar and enjoy.