How do you put a meal together?

You could check you tube for Jamie Oliver's meals. He often makes healthy and tasty meals. I use the Total Wellbeing Diet books as they have recipes that are balanced, healthy, tasty, and easy to follow.

Just eat basics if thats what you want to do.

Salmon, potatoes, veggies. Steam/boil/Steam
Prawns on lettuce with cucumber. Chop and throw together
Sushi. Eat out
Chicken, rice and veggies. Grill, boil/microwave/Steam
Layered boiled eggs and ham on spinach with tomatoes. Boil and chuck together
Beef and broccoli dry stir fry. Brown beef in pan, add broccoli, fry till cooked
Mushroom omelette. Mix ingredients, chuck in pan, flip half way eat with salad
Salads! Chuck together

Things can be as simple as they sound, just buy what you know is good and stick it together, you don't need a ton of ingredients as most foods have there own tastes if cooked correctly. If you do have a spice rack though add some extras to experiment with taste.

I've started looking at my MFP friends' food diaries for inspiration.
Every now and then I see a combo and I think 'ooh what a good idea'

Soup is always a great go-to. And cheap as chips. 1 pot goes a long way too and is easily transported around to eat on the go/work/uni/anywhere you can take a thermos.
Lots of veggies and liquid will fill you up and provide good nutrition; partner with some protein daily (e.g. meat, eggs etc.) and you have got a winner.

You would be amazed how far tins of plain chopped tomatoes, some water, some chicken stock cubes and some onions will go. You can blend in tomato soup or add any veggies you can find to make minestrone - even a handful; of pasta chucked in near the end will see you eat dinner for a week.

I have found that a pack of wraps and salad veggies (lettuce, red onion, red pepper) + 1 roast chicken or some tuna (spring water not oil) does a lot of meals too.

Another cheapie is baked potato - so quick and cheap as well. 8 mins in the microwave and then top with chopped raw cabbage, grated carrot, red onion, red pepper etc. Dust a small amount of salt, pepper, cheese and sour cream if you want but be mindful of the cheese, sour cream serving sizes.

Good luck!

I find roasting / baking to be my go-to when I want a meal with little prep time in the kitchen (which is often). Most non-steak frozen fish can go straight from the freezer to oven. Toss roughly chopped vegetables in oil and spices and roast in the same oven where the fish is cooking. Prep time is about 5-7 min, cooking time about 20-30 min.

Stir fry is another quick and easy way to make a healthy meal.

I also cook big batches of grains (quinoa, brown rice, kasha) and keep in the fridge for reheating, salads, fried rice, etc.

Soups, stews and chili are great one pot healthy meals.

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It depends on the meal, but for dinner I think in terms of protein, veggies, and extras.

I usually have my protein picked out (so it can defrost in the refrigerator during the day if necessary, sometimes it's leftover from a prior day) and I usually have lots of veggies on hand. So based on the protein I plan to have (say, roasted bone-in, skin on chicken breast, which I love), I decide which of the veggies I have to eat with it (I always make sure I eat what I have on hand, so I use it up) and what other foods (usually starchy carbs, like potatoes or sweet potatoes or rice or root vegetables, but sometimes I decide to do pasta and turn everything into a one dish meal) I will have on the side. Depending on my calories I might replace the starch with fruit or another vegetable or have fruit/dairy on the side in addition to the vegetable and starch.

But to me a balanced meal is made up of at least one source of protein, a good amount of vegetables, and something else to balance out the meal (usually starch, fruit, or dairy or some combination).

IMO, most good one pot meals (like stew) consist of a combination of these three things, as does a good pasta with a homemade sauce, or something like an omelet.

I also have a few super fast meals in my mind in case something happens and I need to whip up something quick. Omelet for dinner is my usual fallback there or maybe salad with leftover meat on it (I usually have olives and cheese in my refrigerator and always greens).

An easy meal for me would be something like this:

Lettuce with Feta or Blue cheese and a light dressing. Add in some leftover meat cubes. If you like some other great add ins include tomato, carrots, kale, green onion, spinach, just to name a few. This requires no cooking besides the leftover meat.

A really easy breakfast could just be a smoothie with plenty of fruits and berries with some peanut butter or protein powder to keep you satisfied.

urloved33 wrote: »

The more (natural) colorful your food is in your plate the healthier your meal is.

Not necessarily. Halibut, cauliflower, and turnips is quite healthy, even if you add a little greek yogurt and a pear.

It could be a lot more aesthetically pleasing, however, and I'm all for paying some attention to how a plate looks.

Here's a graphic from a good source:

For more information, can't beat http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/