Healthy Eating
Healthy eating can definitely be a challenge, especially after I’ve worked all day and have nothing planned for dinner. But a recent blog post by Diane Carbonell, author of 150 Pounds Gone Forever reminded me that a nutritious meal doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. It can even be faster than preparing a TV dinner.
Nutritious and Filling
Chicken and salad or shrimp and salad is standard fare in the in the summer when it’s hot and heating the kitchen isn’t appealing. It’s a fast, easy meal that is 
nutritious and filling. But now that fall is in the air, I want something heartier—stews, soups, casseroles.
These meals are my friend because I don’t just make a single recipe when I cook them. I double the recipe and freeze the other half for those nights I don’t have time to cook or just don’t want to cook. I just defrost it, and we have a healthy, nutritious meal in minutes. It just takes a little forethought and planning.
Rebecca J. Clark, author of The Checklist Diet, has been running the 30-Day Weight Loss Challenge on Facebook. She offered this eating tip, “Make a big batch of vegetable soup, cut the veggies really small if you’re not a vegetable fan (like me). Have a cup of this every day. Add some cut up chicken or beans or cubed tofu for added protein.”
And vegetable soup freezes great.
Fall Recipes
Here are a couple of my favorite fall recipes:
And don’t forget the slow cooker. It’s a great way to prepare a meal when you can’t be there. I love stew, and I’ll slow cook the meat. If I’m home, I’ll add the veggies a little later. If I’m not and short on time, I’ll cook the veggies in the microwave and finish my stew. When I bake potatoes, I cook extra. If I have those available I cut them up, skins and all, and add them to the stew.
Do you have a favorite fast and nutritious fall recipe? Would love to add it to my collection.