Fast food the healthier way for busy families is a blog on developing a meal that is both healthy and fast. These days time is a luxury that many people want to spend in the kitchen cooking the meals many of us remember as kids. However there are ways to speed up these meals and there are recipes out there just waiting to be tried. But who has time to go looking for these recipes and tips? This is why I created this blog as a way to help busy parents and people get a quick recipe or use a fast tip without looking all over the internet. Be sure to bookmark this page as I am going to keep adding on to the recipes.
Must Haves in the “Kitchen”
Some of my favorite kitchen gadgets that help make our meals better than fast food in our house:
#1 – Crock Pot (I personally have 4!). When you are looking for a crock pot, look for one that has settings for a timer and different cooking temps. This allows you to start cooking right away in the morning and keep it warm when you come home to grab a bite to eat. If you may be cooking for the team on the go, get one that the lid locks on too. Be sure to get a size that will work best for you and your family. Are you hoping to do a roast or whole chicken? Next you may want to get a 6-quart or larger. I also prefer the oval to the round. As it fits the chicken, turkey breast or a roast easier. Don’t forget the crock pot liners! Save on clean-up time too!
#2 – Tin Foil. Believe it or not, using tin foil in preparing your foods means it is meals on the go. When was the last time you cut up some chicken, potatoes, onions, and added seasoning. Check out a recipe below in the Chicken Recipes. You baked it in the oven, right? Well, make individual serving sizes, put them in the crock pot and have them cooking all day. Grab the crock pot, put it in the car, grab some plastic ware and strong disposable plates and the kids can eat while you drive them to practice or game. You can enjoy your meal while you watch the kids. Its a win-win for everyone! The best is that clean-up is easy. Ball up the tinfoil and toss it. With the tinfoil, clean-up is a breeze and there are No dishes!
#3 – A picnic basket. So you don’t have to go all fancy, this is fast food after all. Even a storage container with a flip top will work. Now what do you put in it to make your life easier and meals-on-the-go doable?
a. Disposable plates b. Plastic ware c. Napkins d. Handwipes e. Small garbage bag or even empty plastic grocery bags
With this menagerie of items in the bin, it is easily stored in your vehicle or just to grab and go when needed. You can even through in a blanket to make it seem like a real picnic.
#4 – Instant Pot. The Instant Pot is a newer appliance appearing in kitchens all around the world. It hasn’t made it into my kitchen yet (that is a HINT to the hubby since he will be reading this soon). Having heard from many friends who have their own Instant Pot getting creative and saving time in the kitchen, makes great meals that used to take hours. I look forward to getting some great recipes from those same friends to put here too. Finally I will even get some of their tips listed as well!
Chicken recipes start off your planning. By clicking on this section to see the chicken recipes we have loaded so far. Come back often for new recipes. One of our family’s favorite recipes was one we actually created in Boy Scouts on a camping trip in a Dutch Oven. Needless to say it was a hit for both the boys and the adults! I have adapted it here for the good ole Crock Pot, but I am sure those of you who have an Instant Pot will learn this as well.
Beef, it’s what’s for dinner. Where’s the Beef? Okay, I may have just dated myself as I grew up hearing these on TV commercials. However, I had fun researching for these recipes! Finally many of these recipes can adapt for Turkey, Chicken or Pork! Buy whatever ground meat is on sale and prep it ahead of time for your meals for the week.
No blog would be complete without some healthy snack ideas that keep kids that are in motion at their very best in performance. It doesn’t matter if it is sports or theater, karate or dance, band and orchestra or choir. Kids need to snack and so do we busy adults. While many times rather than a quick unhealthy meal, a healthy, energizing snack is all we need! With these simple make ahead snacks are easily prepped ahead of time for the week. Consequently the best part is that your kids may even help assemble them! Note: some of the snacks may not be suitable with those with tree nut allergies.
SPAM is one of the world’s favorite foods. It is affordable and is very versatile with meals, especially when trying to come up with fast food. So please don’t judge this food for a preconceived notion just give it a try. Then when you come to check out this blog, learn a little bit about SPAM and check out the recipes!
