7 TIPS TO MAKE A SIMPLE REAL FOOD DINNER in twenty minutes

Transcription

1 7 TIPS TO MAKE A SIMPLE REAL FOOD DINNER in twenty minutes

2 Hey there! Is getting dinner on the table a chaotic time in your home? Is the thought of making a healthy meal for your family overwhelming? Are you eating from your favorite drive-thru or take out restaurant more than you d like? I get it. I spent years perfecting my meal planning and food prep and had it down to a science. Then I had a baby. And everything I knew went out the window. Now, I m the queen of twenty minute meals. Our meals are tasty and made with real food ingredients. And they come together in twenty minutes. It s not magic. The secret is setting yourself up for success before you ever step in the kitchen to make dinner. No, I m not going to suggest you spend four hours in the kitchen on Sunday so that you can make a 20-minute meal on Tuesday. But you do need to be prepared if you want to start making quick, healthy, tasty meals. With a little planning and prep, the right ingredients and tools at your fingertips, and an eye for simplicity, you can kiss weeknight dinner chaos goodbye and stop feeling overwhelmed at your family s desire for dinner every. single. night. Seriously though. Can t we just skip dinner on Wednesdays? From my simple kitchen to yours, Beth Find a list of resources that compliment this guide at smallbiteswellness.com/20minutedinners

3 ONE: Build your meal template Let s kick off with an easy question: What do you normally eat for dinner? What does your typical dinner look like? If eating at home is new to you, what do you desire your dinners to look like? Do you always have a salad? Pasta? Protein? Fruit? To make quick dinners, we need to break away from the recipe mentality of following long lists of ingredients and steps. Instead, focus on simple basics. Create a meal template by breaking your dinner into three to four components that you d be happy to eat for most meals. For my family, that s a protein and two veggies, often with a side of rice. Your template is not rigid, dictating that you must eat chicken and broccoli every night. It s a flexible tool that provides guidelines for dinner so that when you open the fridge and wonder what you re going to make, you re not left overwhelmed by too many (or a lack of) options. You simply look for foods that fit your template, and get to cooking them (with the help of the other six tips in this guide!). The template keeps dinner from being an overwhelming endeavor that you d rather just not deal with. How I Use Our Meal Template Think a meal template sounds boring? I promise it s not. It s just there to help you eyeball what you have available and turn it into a meal. Here are 20-minute meals we ve enjoyed recently that all started with me poking my head in the fridge and picking a protein and two veggies: 1) Grilled burgers and asparagus with a side salad 2) One pot curry with chicken, carrots and bell peppers over rice 3) Grilled shrimp with sweet potato fries and a salad 4) Salsa verde chicken, rice, guacamole, salsa, and spicy zucchini

4 TWO: Shop with Quick in Mind In order to make quick meals, you need to have ingredients on hand that cook quickly. I like to go to the store without much of a list and buy food. Sometimes I have dinner ideas in mind and shop accordingly. But most of the time I m just buying foods to fit my template proteins and veggies. (I have other rough templates for breakfast and lunch that I follow as well.) I figure out exactly what to do with these ingredients later; the first battle is having quick cooking foods in the house. Ground meats, fish (fresh or canned), chicken breasts/thighs, steaks, chops, rice, quinoa, bulgur, and some beans all cook in under twenty minutes. Stock up on shelf stable staples (like grains, beans, and canned salmon or tuna). They are perfect for 20-minute meals when you haven t had time to go to the grocery store. I also love frozen veggies for quick meals. They don t need to be purchased weekly or washed and chopped and they cook quickly. Sauté, roast, grill, or add them to quick cooking soups. I also always pick precut fresh veggies if possible (I love TJs and Costco for reasonably prices precut vegetables). THREE: Prep What You Can Dinner You don t in our need home to spend is always hours a protein prepping and on two the veggies, weekend, sometimes but any prep with you a side can of do rice. will Here help are you two create recent more meals 20-minute we enjoyed, dinners that during don t the seem week. similar at all: Grilled burgers and asparagus with a side salad and a one pot curry with chicken, carrots and bell peppers over Not sure rice. what But they to do both with started limited with prep me time? poking Know my head what in the the hardest fridge part and picking of preparing a protein dinner is and for two YOU, veggies and focus from your what prep I had time available. there. Making dinner will feel less daunting if you have something done before you start. Especially if it s the thing you dread. I hate chopping veggies. HATE. So if I do nothing else, I find 15 minutes on the weekend and chop two or three. Sometimes I know what they ll be used for, other times I don t. But they are ready to go, which means I ve removed my own barrier to cooking dinner. Don t forget to defrost! How often have you called for take out because there was nothing defrosted? Right. ME TOO. Keep a defrost bowl in the fridge with quick cooking meats. (Be conservative about what you put in so that you don t end up wasting food.)

5 FOUR: Make It Tasty You can steam chicken breasts, broccoli, and brown rice every single night in under 20 minutes. But I m guessing your family will revolt by night two. The secret to loving 20-minute meals is making them tasty. My two go-to moves for tasty quick meals are spices and sauces. Spices are the easiest way to add flavor to basic proteins and veggies. Intimidated by individual spices and how they come together? Find a couple blends that you love, keep them on hand, and apply generously to your food while it cooks. Chicken + broccoli + a few good shakes of adobo seasoning will go much further to winning over the kids. Sauces are also a great way to tie together a quick meal. Have chicken, noodles, and a veggie, but that sounds boring? Top it will pesto, and now it s a tasty meal. Learn how to make a few different sauces that you can throw together while your food is cooking, or find a few store bought options that you like. Check ingredients to make sure you re okay with what s included. Some of my favorite quick sauce options are salsas, guacamole, marinara, curry, pesto, peanut sauce, and mayo (which is the base for many more quick sauces). If you decide to make your own, you may need to use recipes at first, but sauces are forgiving. I make mine by memory now, and don t worry when I m missing an ingredient or two. Other foods that add a lot of flavor and texture to quick meals are salts, citrus, nuts, dried fruit, oils, vinegars, garlic (buy pre-diced or get a garlic press!), and cheese. If you re ever feeling like a dish is a little lack-luster, a spritz of citrus or your favorite vinegar goes a long way. And bonus: You ll feel like a bad ass chef. Check out the resources page for links to my favorite spices and sauces!

6 FIVE: Invest in an InstantPot Without exaggeration, there is one kitchen tool that has revolutionized my ability to get food on the table quickly - the InstantPot. It s an electric pressure cooker that can also sauté, slow cook, and make rice and yogurt. Basically, it s a magician in your kitchen. Things you can do in 20 minutes or less with an IP: Cook two pounds of shredded chicken (add salsa verde for instant taco meat) Cook a spaghetti squash (add meat sauce and another veggie for spaghetti) Make hard boiled eggs (make tomorrow s breakfast while tonight s dinner cooks) Cook a pot of beans or rice (in less than 20 with NO EFFORT) Bake potatoes or other root veggies (and keep your kitchen cool) Throw veggies + broth + rice or beans or meat (instant soup) You can also do many other things that don t fit the 20-minute limit of this guide, like cook FROZEN chicken breasts or thighs in 30 min, make homemade bone broth in 90 min, and cook a whole chicken in 25 min. MAGIC. SIX: Embrace Repetition Dinner in our home is always a protein and two veggies, sometimes with a side of rice. Here are two recent meals we enjoyed, that don t seem similar at all: Grilled burgers and Having asparagus a few with meals a side that salad you and frequently a one pot rotate curry through with chicken, on your carrots dinner and table bell saves peppers time. over rice. But they both started with me poking my head in the fridge and picking a You protein save and time two at veggies the grocery from store what where I had available. you know exactly what you need to buy. And you save time when cooking when you make the meal on autopilot. Pick two to three 20-minute meals your family loves and rotate through them with whatever frequency you like. You don t need to go crazy making a strict rotation menu. Though if you like the idea of that, awesome! My mom does this and loves it. I prefer to save the time of formal meal planning and just stick with super basic (but tasty!) meals that I make on the fly. Make things just a bit easier on yourself by having a few go-to meals in your rotation that you can power through with little thought. Because Thursdays.

7 SEVEN: Cook Smart So, it s game time. You re ready to make dinner and you want it done in twenty. Keep in mind that when you re cooking with limited time, timing matters. First, use your meal template and take 30 seconds to decide on the evening s meal if you haven t already. Consider what you have in the fridge or pantry. Thanks to your savvy shopping, any prepped food you have on hand, and your selection of spices and sauces, you really can come up with a tasty meal idea in 30 seconds. Next, think through your meal and get out all of your ingredients and gear (pots, pans, boards, knives, etc.) before you do anything else. Being prepared helps cut down on chaos once you ve got food cooking. Finally, think about what order you re going to cook. Make sure to get the food that requires the longest cooking started first. Do you need to preheat the oven? Add chicken to the Instant Pot? Set water to boil? Do all this before you start chopping quick cooking veggies. For some reason, chopping always seems like the best place to start. But when you ve only got 20 minutes, you need to be a little more strategic. Do what you need to do to make the kitchen a little more zen (for me it s strapping the toddler in a carrier on my back and sometimes pouring myself a glass of wine) and then get to cooking! It s only twenty minutes, YOU CAN DO IT! DOUBLE DOWN Want to use tonight s 20-minute meal to set yourself up for a 10-minute meal later this week? Double what you cook to have leftovers for a quick dish later in the week. Cooking an extra pound of ground beef or chicken thighs or doubling your pot of quinoa or beans takes almost zero extra effort, but pays off big time two nights later when you can repurpose the extras.

8 Still don t believe you can make a healthy, tasty meal in twenty minutes or less? Feeling like you need to see some examples? Good news!! Look for my newsletter directly in your inbox every Wednesday, where I share a simple, real food meal I *actually* made that week in twenty minutes or less! I include the ingredients, steps, and notes on how you might change it up for your family. P.S. Not seeing the ? Check your spam filters and add me to your contacts. Find more resources around meal planning and food prep at: smallbiteswellness.com/20minutedinners 2016 BY BETH MARTIN SMALLBITES WELLNESS 20 MINUTE DINNER TIPS keep in touch! pinterest.com/smallbiteswelln ABOUT BETH Beth is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, as well as a first-time mom and wife to a tech geek. She loves to share the science of nutrition in practical and actionable ways. Beth is a firm believer that any change, no matter how small, made in the pursuit of health is worthy. She writes at SmallBites Wellness where her goal is to support healthier families through simple real foods and DIY-free natural living. She loves chips and salad, sunny Pacific Northwest days, and is the ultimate pragmatist.