Welcome to my new series: Eat Healthy ~ Save Time. I hope to share many of the time saving ideas that work for me in my efforts to feed my family a healthy diet.
As I began jotting down some post ideas for this series, I was shocked at all the many ideas I came up with to share. It would seem that I am the queen of cutting corners and being completely non-fancy. If it isn’t quick and easy to make, I don’t typically mess with it, unless it’s a special occasion.
And that, my friends, is why the tips and recipes you’ll find here are all simple and basic. Healthy. Tasty. Fun. But simple.
If you want fancy food recipes, you should probably check out a different website. But if you’re looking for easy to throw together, kid friendly, real-food-ingredient recipes…you’re in the right place. Simple is how I roll. My sanity depends on it.
Don’t buy into the lie that healthy food somehow takes so much longer and is so much more complicated to prepare than non-healthy food. It can take longer, but it doesn’t always, especially once you get into a good, healthy food routine in your kitchen. And I hold to my opinion that going out to eat or even going through a drive through can often take longer and be more stressful (when it’s all said and done) than preparing a simple healthy meal at home. (If you feel like you’re resorting to take-out more often than you would like, you can read a list of my “fall back” homemade meals here.)
When planning meals that will be healthy for your family, try sticking with the basics. All you really need to serve is a main dish and vegetables, and maybe a glass of milk. Don’t over-think it. Don’t make it complicated. Just stick with basic, whole foods.
When planning meals and snacks that will be healthy for your family, I believe a lot of stress can be relieved if you simply think about real food. An apple, a slice of cheese, some natural peanut butter on celery, raisins, nuts, a scrambled egg (or three if you are one of my boys) are all great, real food snack options. Are M&Ms sometimes more appealing? Sure. And hey, I’m all for splurging on fun treats sometimes! But don’t tell me that eating a handful of M&Ms saves you time and energy compared to eating a handful of peanuts or raisins. That doesn’t even make sense. See, this is why I think it’s a little silly when people tell me that they don’t have time to eat healthy food. I don’t think it’s always about time. I think it’s often about choices.
Healthy eating can be as simple as buying grapes, baby carrots, and your other favorite nutrient packed foods at the store. Take a deep breath and relax. You can do this!
Coming up next in the Eat Healthy ~ Save Time series…I’m planning to do a little Macaroni and Cheese Experiment. I’m going to make a box of mac and cheese, and I’m going to make my Creamy Mac and Cheese recipe. The stop-watch will be coming out, because we’re going to see how long it takes to make each. I’m excited to see if making Mac and Cheese in a more “real food” way takes much (if any?) extra time to prepare and clean up after compared to making a “convenient” box of mac and cheese. I’ll be posting my results for you in a few days! What’s your prediction as to how my experiment will turn out?
What are some tips you have for keeping healthy food simple?
I’ve seen a real food blogger do a time comparison before and the results were pretty close with real food vs conveniences. I would have to say for me I choose not to use pre-shredded cheese so that would be the only thing making boxed mac & cheese slightly faster than homemade. Because it takes at least a minute to get my grater, grate the cheese and toss said grater into the dishwasher!
My healthy food go to for every dinnertime meal is a big salad loaded with veggies. I buy lots of salad greens and wash and spin them and have them ready to go so it is quick and easy. It took a bit to get my family on board for all the salads but this way I am sure that everyone eats some raw foods everyday which are so important for detoxing the body.
A lot of time the adjustment to our thinking and our habits takes more time than the actual task! I am really looking forward to this series. Thanks!
Tara
For me, your mac and cheese recipe does take longer than a box because of grating my own cheese, plus it’s more hands on as I have to keep stirring all the time so I can’t make a vegetable or something to go with it unless I prep it beforehand, but the difference is pretty minimal timewise and your stuff is way better :-)
These were the points I was going to make as well. Love the mac and cheese but it takes longer due to grate my cheese and making sure the milk doesn’t scorch. I find the time vs. nutritional value in this area to be worth it (most of the time!)
Yea, and my kids can make the boxed stuff, leaving me free of responsibility. My hardest adjustment to no convenience foods is that i do all the cooking…it takes time to teach boys to do it…plus they arent all that interested in labor intensive cooking either.
Looking forward to this series! Healthy and simple is what we strive for here too.
I shred my cheese in my food processor. It is super fast and all the pieces can go in my dish washer. :)
One way we keep things healthy here is my husband and I sit down before we go shopping on Mondays and make a lunch and dinner menu for the rest of the week, then we only buy what is needed for the menu. The menu stays on the fridge all week and even if we end up mixing and matching, sometimes even ditching one idea for another, I know I have a plan and I’m not stressing at dinner time wondering what to make, or saying “just call Dominoes” ;)
I keep pre-grated cheese in the freezer in quart size bags. Purchasing 5 lb. blocks from my co-op and grating with a food processor once a month saves me a ton of time in the kitchen.
My guess is that it won’t take very much time more, if any. I would actually say that it might take you less time by a minute or two.
Something helpful that I don’t do as often as a should but it is super helpful when I do is pre-cutting/slicing veggies and sticking them in the fridge, then their easier and quicker and more inticing to grab thoughout the week. And when I don’t have lettuce don’t feel like chopping up lettuce preparing a full on salad I just stick a bunch of veggies on a plate at dinner. Good way to eat them raw too ;)
Great post! You are always so positive and encouraging. I need to hear “it’s not that hard to eat healthy” at least once a week because the world is constantly trying to convince me the opposite all the time (and get me to spend a lot of money too). I really appreciate your blog, Laura.
For me boxed mac and cheese is not an option, we simple don’t like it ,so we always make homemade. I even make it in the crock pot. I also use my crock pot for the meat or main dish on busy days then add a salad and bread on the side.
My best tip,….go to Heavenly Homemakers! :o) I so appreciate all you do!! Thank you for sharing with us!
I’m excited to read more postings like this! What a great way to motivate people like me. I have a feeling that the box vs the “real food” mac and cheese will time out to be pretty close.
The “real food” mac and cheese was ready so fast that it caught me off guard-I didn’t have the rest of the lunch prepped ahead of time. All of my kiddos loved it, and I was able to use unsweetened coconut milk and rice cheese for my lactose intolerant little one-it was yummy! Healthy doesn’t have to be complicated, thank goodness!:)
Hi Tracie–Where do you find rice cheese? Never heard of it. I have some lactose intolerant children too!
It really doesn’t take a ton of time to cook from scratch – it just takes planning.
And I’d rather be busy cooking dinner and waiting on it than setting at a table and waiting for my food to come – that always seems to take foooooooooooooorever. lol
It’s probably going to be close, you have to shred the cheese for your recipe, but boil the water for the box. Do you have a gas stove, if so the water will boil more quickly. Also how much water are you putting in the pan and which size burner are you using? Are you hand grating the cheese or do you have a food processor, if so are you counting the 15 minutes the cheese should be in the freezer before processing according to the Cuisenart manual? Regardless you will still have more dishes for your version. Yikes…too many variables. That being said,I make mac and cheese with a bechemel based cheese sauce (your version was too creamy for my husband). It involves hand grating cheese(grater/cutting board), scalding milk(pot,lid, measuring cup) cooking pasta (pot, lid, basket strainer) and making sauce (pot, measuring spoon, whisk, large spoon). It is not quick and creates a ton of dishes which are washed by hand. That said, I would NEVER feed my family the boxed stuff, but it sure would be quick and easy, not to mention cheaper!
Try this recipe from Southern Plate. So easy and tastes like you made a white sauce but you don’t have to. This our favorite mac and cheese and it is a cinch to make.
http://www.southernplate.com/2008/10/baked-macaroni-and-cheese.html
I think the difference is that those trying to switch to real food are used to the “just add water” mentality of all those processed meals/foods. Real foods definitely taste better and are more nutritious and filling. But this weekend I was eating at my mother in law’s and she had made a ham, potato, & cheese casserole. It was pretty good (not great) and I complimented her on it. She pulled out a box and said ‘all I had to do was add water and throw it in the oven’. And I started thinking about the days when I could “just add water” and have a meal on the table. Everything in one box, one dish is all that gets dirty, and dinner was done. I almost went to the store and bought a few boxes. Since baby girl #4 arrived I am having lots of trouble getting anything accomplished in the kitchen. I have compromised our food so much it hardly resembles real food any more.
Like your mac n cheese-having to stand there and stir is the biggest draw back. And grating the cheese. I broke my food processor and 2 hand graters grating cheese. I really hate grating cheese. And its almost impossible to do while holding a baby and with a toddler crying at your feet.
I am really looking forward to the rest of this series. I was raised on ‘convenience’ food and have had to work hard to learn how to cook from scratch. I am sure there are things that could be streamlined in my kitchen!
When you have a baby in your family, you just need to give yourself a break. I remember only having
15 minutes to myself at a time when I had a toddler and a baby. If you can afford it, look for the closest
to real food in convenience items – whole wheat mac & cheese with minimal additives, for instance.
It will get better! In the meantime, I hope that some other readers can give you some additional tips. :)
It is sooooo hard to cook with a new baby!!!! After baby #5 we decided to simplify our meals. The best thing we did was we started grilling. We grilled our meat almost every night. My husband would man the grill and play with the older kiddos while I steamed some veggies, tossed a salad and made rice. Super simple but yummy!!!! Also, I double everything I could for anothet time. For example, spaghetti sauce. It takes no extra time to double, triple or quadruple it. When making a salad wash enough lettuce for three or four salads and spin very dry. Put in a Ziploc bag with a paper towel and it will keep for almost a week. Anyway, I hope you get some other tips. Enjoy that baby!!!!!
I only grate cheese in my food processor and I grate every cheese in the house at that time, so I only dirty the food processor once. I freeze all of it in ziplock bags for when I need it. f you’re managing to cook with a new baby, even cooking with a box and water can be tricky, though!
I haven’t done this myself, but I think it would be an awesome system for you. Basically you set aside an hour to prep your meals for the week and keep them in the fridge until
you are ready to cook them. http://5dinners1hour.blogspot.com/ Renee posts
her weekly work here : http://www.livinglaughingandloving.com/ It might be
worth a try if you are struggling with meals. I will second the idea of
making two to freeze one–love doing that! A grilling hubby is also a
brilliant plan :)
If we stop watching us much TV as we do in America, we do have more time in the kitchen!
What I do when I want my TV time is I will bring items to the TV room to prepare. Chopping veggies, grating cheese, peeling foods. That way I am getting my wind-down time, but being productive and not sitting on a couch being an unproductive mother.
I challenge anyone who “doesn’t have time” to cancel their cable bill, wah-lah – you have time! As will you children have more time to help you as well. ;-) Think about it, if we each spend 30 mins a day watching TV, that is 3.5 hrs we could be spending in the kitchen instead!!
One key item to cooking is to batch cook. No, not some major 48-hr hour period slaving in kitchen. Make it simple. Any time you make a pasta sauce, beans, taco meat, rolls, lasgana, casserole, and the like, always make twice as much and freeze half to have 2 or 3 weeks later.
I find that if you freeze meals, they taste better if you use them with in a couple weeks and not dig them out 6 months or a year down the road – that is just my experience.
Sounds like a fun experiment. don’t forget to include cheese grating time!
I have a mac & cheese recipe that uses cornstarch to thicken the sauce – it ends up taking about 3 minutes longer than making the boxed stuff, and honestly it’s easier to make up a pound of macaroni from “scratch” than it is to try to do 3 boxes of the pre-fab stuff. (Not to say I don’t still fix up the boxed stuff sometimes, but it’s not a go-to meal for me anymore.)
Here’s another guy who did that: http://www.macheesmo.com/2011/01/the-homemade-trials-mac-n-cheese/ It’ll be interesting to see what your results are! :)
If you grate the cheese while the noodles cook, it does not take time away. Are you using Annie
Organic pasta in a box so that your family can eat it without the preservatives?
Even if your mac and cheese takes a few minutes longer…that is totally fine with me!!! Oh, my goodness, I love your recipe for mac and cheese! It is my new favorite and 100 times better than box!
Looking forward to the results of this challenge. I am thankful that my husband does not mind grating cheese while I stir the milk and noodles. He even does it for our pizza night.
I think it will be a close call as you test out both recipes.
Just wanted to thank you for all of your encouraging posts! I love how you really make it seem so attainable to eat healthy. I go up and down in my efforts-one week will be great, the next, not. It’s discouraging! But I am not giving up. Thanks again for the recipes, stories and encouragement!