"Fast Food" ideas...getting a healthy meal together FAST & on the fly!

[big brown horse]

Ok this happened to me tonight. I found out I had an equine group meeting today at the last minute. I had a meal planned for dinner that was going to take a lot of prep time, so I had to change gears fast. It would have been so easy to just order a pizza etc., I totallly understand how busy parents end up buying (convienent) fast food. Instead, I ran into the grocery store picked up some lettuce, a tomato, an onion, feta cheese, sliced salami, olives from the deli and a can of artichoke hearts. Chop veggies, toss in the salad and add balsamic and olive oil and you've got a great salad with very little prep.

Salads seem to be my "Fast Food" go to, do you have any other ideas?

 

[sunsaver]

I love salads. I like to chop up some fresh fruit to put in. .When i'm in a hurry i like to do a quick stir-fry with just veggies from the garden. Pasta cooks in just 8 minutes. Toss with olive oil, parmesean cheese and fresh basil from your garden.

 

[MorelCabin]

An oil pasta with peppers, onions, and shrimp. Fast and easy. I am also looking for healthy quick meal ideas...especially for camping.

Another thing we do is garlic cheese bread with salad for a quick meal

 

[miss_thenorth]

Hmmmm.... healthy fast foods.

Leftovers- we usually have lots of leftovers in the fridge. Since my meaties were 8-10lbs last year, we usually alwasy have some leftover chicken.- use in
chicken salad, (as in chopped up chciken and mayo), chicken caesar salad, etc

leftover last night were bbq'd lamburgers and salad

omelets or other egg dishes

soup ( I canned cream of mushroom soup in the fall last year,) and usually have a batchof some type of soup in the fridge in the garage form the chicken I rec ently cooked.

Idk if youdo these with your paleo diet, but I often make french toast or pancakes for a quick meal. Serve with bacon or ham, and sliced fruit.

Also, smoothies are a great quick meal.

My kids' standby's when I say it is FFYS (fend for yourself) obviously is pb&j's --I'm sure youdid't have thas in mind

 

[big brown horse]

Thank you everyone!

M_T_N, anybody's idea of healthy fast food is welcome here. I'll make an almond butter and jelly coconut flour pancake sandwich any day, if I have any extra c.f. pancakes!


I have to admit though b/c of my daughter's strict dietary needs I'm having a hard time coming up with quick on the fly ideas that maintain legume, glueten/grain free ingredients. Sooooo if you have any of those kinds of ideas, please add them too. I'm talking about having to pick up something to go (at the market/grocery store) when you have not been home all day~and don't have much time to make/prepare it kind of thing. (Leftovers are usually the next day's lunch.)

 

[hillfarm]

If its just me and the 8 year old, then frozen burger and sloppy joe fixins. Takes no time. Easy peasy.

If it all of us. frozen chicken, throw on a jar of alfredo and boil some pasta. Toast some crusty bread... Yummy.

Just me. Soup and sandwich. Cus i like that.

Nothin wrong with sgettios and a ham samich.

Translates to heating up a can of Speggetios and left over ham slice on bread slathered with mayo. One of my favorite comfort meals.

Or tomato soup and grilled cheese. yumm...

Im also a huge fan of the crock pot.

There is a cook book for cook and freeze ahead recipes that is really great.

I make extra food for a meal and freeze the leftovers. My kids love the meatballs in individual serving size, just heat and eat. Lifesavers.

I also keep salad greens in a planter to make quick salads.


Most meals are healthy when they are not too prepackaged. Also buy whole grain stuff and freeze as much of your own home cooking when you have time.

 

[Wildsky]

If my hubby doesn't eat left overs I put things like stew etc. into canning jars and freeze em... they can be defrosted pretty quick by putting in cold water and slowly warming it up adding hot water.

Lately I haven't wanted to cook because its so darn hot. I did make a tuna noodle salad the other night, and then a few nights later another one but with left over chicken broken up into the noodles instead of tuna, I served with a small green salad, some crackers and cheese... it was pretty darn good!

Its a good idea to keep some fully cooked ground beef in the freezer, you can make a lot of quick meals with that, taco's or something along those lines is our normal, but you could do just about anything with it, cutting ot the cooking time for the beef.

 

[abifae]

I like to have a bunch of quiche frozen that I can nuke real quick. Or meat shredded to toss on salad.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Salad is my favorite fast food

 

[freemotion]

Keep prep ingredients in the freezer: Broth, chopped scallions and onions, roasted peppers, cooked crumbled sausage and ground beef, fresh herbs rolled in wax paper and bagged, herb cubes frozen in ice cube trays and bagged, frozen chopped spinach, etc.

In the fridge: A jar of minced garlic (ferment it to keep it fresh for months) along with the usual fresh veggies and saved fats for cooking.

There's more but that is what I can think of. I've been known to run out to the coop for a few eggs and whip something tasty up with the above ingredients.

Did you know you can make a "pizza" by pressing ground beef into a small pie pan, baking it, pouring off the liquid, top it with pizza toppings and return to the oven to brown?