Healthy recipes for someone that hates to cook

[Keely~B]

Have anything to share? I need to get back into meal planning, it makes my life so much easier but as I said, I hate to cook. I'd like to stay away from anything too labor intensive and I do like to keep things healthy, we don't eat much red meat, no cream sauces or heavy cheese, white flour etc. We're not picky eaters though. I'm sick of everything in my main rotation LOL.

[YepBrook]

Hah... see, this is why I have "hated" to cook lately. Everything healthy is a lot of work to cook, it seems.

Some of my healthy go-to recipes (AKA: easy)

- Baked tilapia with steamed broccoli and jasmine rice.
You can really use any mild white fish for this recipe. My kids prefer tilapia. I just rinse & pat dry the fish and put in a 9x13 glass casserole dish... then I season each one with some Old Bay and garlic salt (I eyeball it) then lay over each filet a couple slivers of butter and a round slice of lemon. Bake at about 415 degrees for 10 minutes... until the fish flakes apart. Then I steam broccoli and steam some jasmine rice which we eat with a little soy sauce on top. It all takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish.

-tossed salad with some type of bread.
It's fun to make a salad bar. I just pull out everything I have that could work and everyone makes their own salad. Toppings we usually have to choose from:
feta cheese, craisins, avocado, squeezed lime juice, olives, croutons, red onion, cucumber, tomatoes, chickpeas, hard-boiled egg, leftover meat like diced chicken, bacon or deli ham (which I roll up and then slice), torn up fresh herbs like parsley/basil/oregano, spinach, whatever salad greens l have... you get the jist. haha... Then I serve either bread sticks (pillsbury canned ones) or whatever fresh bread I might have bought from the bakery this week... multi grain, challah, pumpernickel & butter, jam & honey.

-soup! I just make homemade soup... there are so many healthy recipes out there for soup. I love that it only dirties one pot, too. Our favorite is a Tucson soup with onion, carrots, Great White Northern beans, whole wheat spiral pasta, and spinach. I toss in chicken if I have some leftover. 95% of the time we just eat soup as the main dish with bread and fresh fruit, but if the kids are SUPER hungry I have served it with hot ham & swiss sandwiches or something like that.

- grilled marinated ____ fill in the blanks____ with fresh green vegetable (my kids are not picky, but we tend to do swiss chard, green beans, salad, roasted asparagus or steamed broccoli) & carb (cous cous, rice, bread, baked potato, roasted starchy vegetables). I marinate the meat, hubby grills it while I make the veggie & carb inside. Love this formula.

[adi&co.]

i have no suggestions other than chicken tacos with homemade taco seasoning and tortillas. we don't do much in the way of cheese or wheat either, but we still eat tortillas! you could swap our the tortilla for big lettuce leaves. We add in a bunch of yummy veggies to our tacos like chopped avacado, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, onion, diced green peppers and if I"m feeling bold, jalapenos.

[bcgal00]

I like to freeze cooked turkey/beef mixture, rice, spaghetti squash (to use instead of pasta), stuffed potatoes, chili, spaghetti sauce. So when I need to put together a quick meal I can grab whichever frozen bags I need, put them in water in the sink to defrost for an hour or so (or nuke it) and then put together a quick meal.

One pot dump meals are easy to put together on the stove or crockpot.

[jak]

This... it is SOOO easy to make and its healthy (no meat either). You just throw all the ingredients into a bowl together, mix, and then whack it into a baking pan (prep time is about 10 minutes) and cook for about 30 minutes. Done. I usually serve it with garden salad. You can vary the ingredients too - e.g. add corn kernels, capsicum, onion... anything really. My kids love it and it tastes good cold too so I often give them leftovers to take to school for lunch.

[mariewilcox]

You need slow cooker recipes - Here's my Pinterest board (I substitute to make something healthier than the recipe if needed).

I also do a lot of stir fry - you can make it curry, Asian, etc. just toss in what you have on hand for veggies/meat and add spices/sauce, etc.

ETA: I know you live in Texas so it probably never gets cool there, but we eat a lot of hearty soups/stews loaded with vegetables. They're easy to make and freeze great.

[luckyme]

Here are some easy ideas:

Veggie omelettes/frittata, sliced tomatoes, and toast
Tacos and spicyice
Lazy lasagna (cooked noodles, layered with chunky tomato sauce, cooked spinach and ricotta and topped with shredded cheese and baked) and spinach salad
Homemade mini-pizzas on pitas and salad
Oven-BBQ chicken pieces, salad and glazed carrots
Chicken club wraps (grilled chicken strips, lettuce, tomato, crispy bacon and cranberry-mayo), and salad or baked sweet potato fries

[Keely~B]

Thanks ladies!! I already do a lot of these on a regular basis, I think I'm just in a funk LOL I do appreciate the suggestions, I'm definitely going to check out some of the recommendations, I'd like to use my crockpot more and find some new soups to make. ( I can't wait until we get out of the triple digits )

[Milmomma]

When I get in a funk, I typically spend sometime surfing Pinterest for new yummy looking things.

[sczos911]

Keely- I just tossed together 3 recipes on this site - http://onceamonthmeals.com/101-freez...-cookerecipes/ for the freezer. I have yet to cook them, but the Creamy Italian Chicken got a thumbs up on the sauce by my two VERY VERY VERY picky eaters.

I plan on making more when I have time, but the 3 recipes I did do took MAYBE an hour.

[Keely~B]

Originally Posted by sczos911

Keely- I just tossed together 3 recipes on this site - http://onceamonthmeals.com/101-freez...-cookerecipes/ for the freezer. I have yet to cook them, but the Creamy Italian Chicken got a thumbs up on the sauce by my two VERY VERY VERY picky eaters.

I plan on making more when I have time, but the 3 recipes I did do took MAYBE an hour.

I'm going to check those out for sure. Thanks

[jesskab]

I like getting a bag of light Caesar salad & putting bay shrimp in it. Sometimes I add a little avocado.