Dinner Can Be Fast and Healthy

If you think that a healthy and delicious dinner will take you hours in the kitchen, think again.

Dinner can be especially challenging for so many people during a busy week and, having the energy and ideas to make it happen can feel overwhelming. But, your health is important and having CF means you need to give a little extra attention to getting in all the nutrients you need.  Your body will thank you and reward you with better health!

Here are a few ways to dinner time easy,  delicious and healthy:

1. Meal Prepping.  Many of my clients like to devote two or three hours on a Sunday to meal prep for the week. When you have most of the work done in advance, dinner can be ready in minutes on a busy weeknight

2. Recipes with 6 Ingredients or Less. The fewer ingredients you have to deal with when time is short, the easier it is to get dinner on the table. Find 5 to 10 recipes you like and add them to your regular rotation. Aim to add a new one to your list every month.

3. Use your Freezer. On the weekend when most people tend to have more time, it’s great to prepare large batches of food such as soups, stews, veggie burgers and casseroles. Take several servings of the meal and freeze them individually. Once a week when you know time will be really short, you can remove a meal from the freezer in the morning and reheat in the oven for an easier dinner time.  Investing in some freezer safe meal prep containers is a great idea to make this happen.

Here’s a dinner my family loves and it takes me just about 15 minutes to get ready. My daughter who has CF loves this one and I’ll tell you at the end of the recipe how to alter this for your specific needs.

Tortilla Beef Skillet Dinner

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 pound grass fed ground beef

• 1 cup chunky salsa

• 1 cup water

• Taco seasoning

• 1 15 oz can black or pinto beans, drained

• 4 whole grain tortillas (or brown rice tortillas)

• 1 cup organic shredded cheddar or Jack cheese

Instructions:

1. In a large skillet, brown your ground beef until almost cooked through (slightly pink)

2. Add taco seasoning and stir to coat the meat

3. Add water, salsa and beans and stir to combine ingredients

4. Cut tortillas into 1 inch strips and mix into skillet.

5. Top with cheese, cover and cook together about 5 minutes to melt cheese.

For your individual case of CF, here are some modifications:

• Trying to lose weight:  use ground turkey and lite or vegan cheese alternative

• Trying to gain weight: saute beef in a bit of grapeseed oil or add some hemp seeds to your portion

• Constipated: add tablespoon of ground flaxseed to your portion