Current (Healthy!) Meal Obsessions
Written by: Brenna
So if you haven’t figured this out yet, I love to cook healthy meals for JT and myself. I’m finally at a place where I feel like they are good enough to share (because I’ve tried them enough) and I hope that at the end of this post you’ll see that cooking healthy isn’t any harder than picking what drive through you want to eat at… I’m like Callie, where I don’t like to scroll through five million pictures just to get to the recipe. So I’ll save you the trouble and provide minimal pictures.
For starters, I like my breakfast quick and easy. I’m talking five minutes or less and it better keep me fueled until it’s time for my mid morning snack. Yeah, you read that right, a mid morning snack. So here are my two go-to breakfast meals.
Baby food smoothie.
(It bears that name because it literally looks like baby food. Don’t be afraid though, it’s great.)
1 scoop Organifi Green Juice
1 whole package of the HEB Blendables- Great Escape or The Starter
1 tablespoon of honey- I swear this is the kicker.
1 cup-ish of water
6 ice cubes
1 large handful of fresh baby spinach. Honestly, the more the merrier. Or that’s just me because I love spinach.
Blend. Blend. Blend.
Sip your way into a refreshing morning that ALMOST makes you forget that you have to work.
Smoothies aren’t your thing? No worries, I’ve got a more savory option for you.
Eggs and Chicken (Trust me)
2 Large Eggs
3oz of cooked chicken- I like to shred mine but it could be however you like
1 very large handful of fresh baby spinach
Bell Peppers- they aren’t my favorite but they taste great with eggs.
Mushrooms if you’re feeling fancy.
Get all of your veggies going until the spinach is good and cooked down, add in the chicken. Scoot it to one side of the pan, scramble your eggs on the other. Mix it all up and season it with salt and pepper. Or everything salt from HEB. It’s delicious but a little goes a long way. Trust me.
If you have time to drive through somewhere, wait in line, pay and leave then you have time to cook breakfast. It will save you a small fortune in the long run. I’m a living witness to that… Well my bank account is at least.
PRO TIP- Chop up your veggies the night before and use them throughout the week! It takes away your “I’m not prepared” or “I don’t have enough time for all of this” excuse.
Here’s a lovely little gallery of pics linked to the brands I like.
Moving on to lunch.
Here’s the thing with lunch, it’s hard. Okay, CFA sounds good EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. However, this is where the whole “fail to prepare, prepare to fail” thing comes into play. The secret to a healthy lunch is to make enough dinner the night before to have left overs for the next day. The only catch is that your dinner has to be healthy. As you can see, for me it’s all about working smarter and not harder.
My FAVORITE go to meal that reheats well is the “Hughes Special”. Before the wedding, my buddy and favorite OTF trainer Nikia set me up with a 6 week program to get wedding ready and I swear this meal made all the difference. Some might consider it a casserole but honestly I don’t know what qualifies as a casserole or not so for me it’s just the “Hughes Special”. It’s so easy. If you just read that and you think you might need some extra help, let me know and I will put y’all in touch because she is the BOMB.COM.
Hughes Special
2lbs LEAN ground beef. Yes, 96% and above.
6 large eggs
1 yellow squash- chopped
1 zucchini- chopped
1 green bell pepper- chopped
1 red/yellow/orange bell pepper- chopped
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
1 red onion
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, a little bit of Tony’s, 1 cup organic spicy ketchup (I hate ketchup but this is a game changer)
Heat the oven to 450, get your ground beef going with a little bit of olive oil in a skillet. Season it all up. Add in your veggies and cook until the onions are still a little crunchy. Who likes soggy onions anyway? Add in the mushrooms and spicy ketchup.
If you don’t have a skillet, or you do and it’s just not cured yet like mine is, move this mixture to a casserole dish or “large brownie pan”. Make little wells for your six eggs. I crack mine prior and scramble them up but you do you. Pour the eggs or crack them into each well. Salt and pepper to taste.
Pop this bad boy in the oven and cook until the eggs are at your desired liking. Voila! You have a solid 4 days of lunches including the dinner you just made for your self and/or loved one.
PRO TIP- add in some spinach while your browning the ground beef. I mean why not?!
Lastly, Dinner. Usually this is the thing that I’m scrambling to make the fastest because I work out after work and I’m starving by the time I get home.
Grilled Chicken Tenders and Veggies
1 package of HEB chicken breast cut into tenders. Yes, they sell it like that.
Whatever veggies you’re feeling. For me its usually some asparagus, yellow squash, zucchini, red potatoes. and brussel sprouts. Cut these all up then toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and then spread the veggies out. Make sure you spray the parchment paper with olive oil first. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on the brussel sprouts and then bake it all until you feel like they’re ready. I like it all just about burnt so when they are almost finished cooking I’ll move them to the top rack.
Now for the chicken tenders, I spray one of those griddle pans with olive oil and cook the chicken for about 3-4 minutes on each side. I just season mine with salt, pepper and a little bit of Tony’s.
As far as servings go. I go for two or three chicken tenders and two or three heaping spoonfuls of veggies. Honestly, I could eat broiled veggies by themself and call it a night. The crazy thing is that I used to HATE veggies and now I can’t get enough of them. Seriously.
So there you have it! A few meal options to keep you on the healthy train or at least get you started. Let me know if you have any questions or would like to share your favorite recipes with us! I’m always game to try something new.
