Busy mom looking for an easy protein fix
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slindsey137
Posts: 214 Member
For both me and the little people. Sometimes we are running almost up to bedtime, and I just dont have time to cook something (and I REALLY hate giving them chicken nuggets!) I usually end up giving them some whole grain goldfish and a fruit and/or veggie, but there is a serious lack of protein in there that really bugs me. Its just when Its so late I dont have the time to thaw and cook a chicken breast! So, the question is, is there a way to take something (like beans or tofu) that has plenty of protein, and make some kind of cracker out of it or something? Something I can make ahead when I have a little time, put in a ziplock and keep it in the pantry for the crazy nights.
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Replies
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I hate sounding as if I don't know what your life is like, but it really takes 15 minutes to make a chicken breast meal.
What you will need.
Olive
Chicken breast (seasoned)
Sharp knife
Favorite frozen Vegetables
Lid of the Pan.
Heat Pan over medium Heat.
Thinly slice the chicken breast (still frozen)
Season with whatever seasoning you have on hand
Add Oil to Pan and let heat up (should take a minute or less if your pan is hot)
Toss in Meat and Frozen Vegetables
Stir often
Add the lid to allow vetables to steam.
You can do the same thing with just meat and a little sauce.
The whole thing takes about 15 minutes.
I make these "Chicken stir fry" dishes all the time iwth various vegetables, even add minute rice and canned beans if I have them on hand.
I also want to add, that in my house we have a set Dinner time EVERY DAY where I go to the kitchen and make something. This varies with activities...and sometimes I pack dinner in a cooler or have it in a crock pot.
Denise0 -
Peanut butter and crackers is an idea. Peanut butter and apple slices.
When you have free time prep a few meals and have them in the fridge. Easy to pop in the oven or crockpot. When you make dinnre make extras and freeze... than when you are short on time you can grab one, microave it and eat a healthy meal.0 -
If you want to get the protien early, or do a breakfast for dinner try adding flavored protien powder to pancake mix! It mkes yummy flavored pancakes and its Quick. Tuna also has a lot and thats just a matter of opening a can. or greek yogurt- tons of protien! have it as a snack? You coud try pre making chicken for the next couple days on a day off? shrimp is quick and has protien all you do is boil it.0
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Ok, I guess I should have added that I have slow eating toddlers, and I would rather not get home at 730 or 8 and have them still working on eating at 9. Thus the cracker question.0
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For very quick protein and/or healthy fats:
beef jerky
string cheese or cheese of any sort
eggs (hard boiled, scrambled fried)
lunch meats (check the ingredients and nutritional content first)
canned tuna/chicken
nut butters
nuts
Thinly sliced meats, shrimp, and fish will all cook up very quickly if you are at home.0 -
I hate sounding as if I don't know what your life is like, but it really takes 15 minutes to make a chicken breast meal.
What you will need.
Olive
Chicken breast (seasoned)
Sharp knife
Favorite frozen Vegetables
Lid of the Pan.
Heat Pan over medium Heat.
Thinly slice the chicken breast (still frozen)
Season with whatever seasoning you have on hand
Add Oil to Pan and let heat up (should take a minute or less if your pan is hot)
Toss in Meat and Frozen Vegetables
Stir often
Add the lid to allow vetables to steam.
You can do the same thing with just meat and a little sauce.
The whole thing takes about 15 minutes.
I make these "Chicken stir fry" dishes all the time iwth various vegetables, even add minute rice and canned beans if I have them on hand.
I also want to add, that in my house we have a set Dinner time EVERY DAY where I go to the kitchen and make something. This varies with activities...and sometimes I pack dinner in a cooler or have it in a crock pot.
Denise
I have to disagree there... it takes my chicken longer than 15 minutes to defrost (and i have no knife that will cut through that thick piece of frozen meat, although it sounds delicious otherwise) so i know what you are talking about! lol yogurt is good (and you can add fresh berries or if you have my kids that dont like "saucy" things and "non saucy" things mixed together) you can just serve them by each other.
My sons both love cheese, sometimes we wrap a piece of deli meat around some cheese (or again serve with each other) peanut butter, or eggs are also pretty simple things that can be mixed with a lot of things :-)0 -
Thinly slice the chicken breast (still frozen)
I dont know how old your kids are or how much experience you have cooking, but -thinly- slicing frozen chicken would take me 15 mins all in itself! Thanks for the try though...0 -
I'm just going to step in here to say that a child's nutrition early in life can determine their overall health and performance (at school and such) for the rest of their lives. So there might be choices and sacrifices you need to make, but if it were me, I'd put my child's nutrition at the top of the list, no matter how much time and effort it takes to do so correctly.
That said, you could cook and chop chicken breast on the weekend when you have time, and thaw it in the microwave. Then the world is your oyster and if you chop it small enough it can be finger food and the kids can eat it easily.0 -
Hard boiled eggs, duh!! I used to keep these as a quick protein fix for myself all the time! Im not sure my picky eaters would eat the yolk, but, still a good idea! They love string cheese, that could work. Thanks so much!!0
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Protein shakes/smoothies..my kids love them. Add in some organic baby spinach (makes it green) call it Hulk Juice
Cottage cheese
Greek yogurt0 -
my kids love string cheese or peanut butter0
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I was lucky. When my kids were little, they loved yogurt (which I despise). There was a fancy whipped, whole milk kind that they would eat and eat and eat.0
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Agree with the protein shake smoothies. Best way to load my kids up in the morning along with applies slides (take apple and slice horizontally) and chunky peanut butter "sandwiches". If your kids are too small for that, slices of apple to dunk into the smoothie.0
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Greek Yogurt I like Chobani brand 2% fat but they also have non fat, sprinkle chopped almonds to add more protein0
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I'm just going to step in here to say that a child's nutrition early in life can determine their overall health and performance (at school and such) for the rest of their lives. So there might be choices and sacrifices you need to make, but if it were me, I'd put my child's nutrition at the top of the list, no matter how much time and effort it takes to do so correctly.
That said, you could cook and chop chicken breast on the weekend when you have time, and thaw it in the microwave. Then the world is your oyster and if you chop it small enough it can be finger food and the kids can eat it easily.
Their health is what I am worried about here! Sleep is just as important as nutrition, and they already dont sleep well. There is only so much I can do about my schedule, and I have already made sacrifices to help with this problem (as in paying $500 MORE in rent to live closer to my school and work!). I dont want them to eat to much right before bed and not be able to sleep. Please dont assume that I am a bad parent without knowing my life. I am trying to make their meals more healthful, did you even read the OP?0 -
Work on planning things out. I menu plan a month at a time. That way I know what to buy, what to take out etc. It takes about 30 minutes of my time during the month but then I'm not stuck with frozen meat at dinner time.
I keep nuts, peanut butter, almond butter, a variety of cheese, greek yogurt with berries, cottage cheese and eggs for me and the kids.
You could also cook large batches of things and freeze them. I double up recipes and freeze the left overs for swimming nights.
Someone posted about how important it is to have good healthy nutrition at a young age. My kids friends parents are amazed my kids eat healthy. It's been well over two years since I cooked chicken nuggets.
It can be done...it's just a new way of doing it. You can do it. If I can anyone can.0 -
I would like to also point out that I have tried the menu planning thing, and it just doesn't work for my family, it just doesn't. I asked for an easy snack like dinner option for a reason. Thank you for those who actually answered my question, you were very helpful. To the rest of you, maybe you should think about the reasoning behind the wording of a question, before you post a response at all.0
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Thinly slice the chicken breast (still frozen)
I dont know how old your kids are or how much experience you have cooking, but -thinly- slicing frozen chicken would take me 15 mins all in itself! Thanks for the try though...
I have been making this a LONG time and I am rather fast at it. Seriously, my older kids insist on frozen pizza when I make this dish and pizza takes longer.
As to the OP, have you considered Smoothies?
I usually have them for breakfast but you can do them any time.0
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