When you get home after a long day, it can be really hard to figure out how to cook healthy meals when you still have a million things to do and all you want to do is lie on the couch.
I definitely know the feeling. When I worked in an office all day, I had absolutely no motivation to cook. Luckily, Phil stepped in back then and did most of the cooking for us.
But if you live alone, or your spouse is just as tired and unmotivated as you are at the end of the day, it can be really tricky to get something healthy together for dinner.
Replenish Your Energy
My first suggestion for this situation is to have a quick snack and unwind before you start thinking about cooking. An apple, a green smoothie, or some vegetable sticks with hummus are enough to give you energy but leave room for dinner.
Make Ahead
If you have some time on a day off, you can make large batches of foods to freeze for quick lunches and dinners. The best dishes to make ahead and freeze are soups, stews and tomato sauces.
You can also make a big pot of plain brown rice or quinoa, and use it as the base for your meals through the week. Top it with some simple steamed vegetables, a tomato sauce or toss it into a salad.
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You can do the same thing with beans, or just keep some cans in the cupboard for fast lunch salads or soups. Toss some beans in with dinner, or puree them into a dip or sauce.
Add Fresh Veggies To Prepared Foods
When all else fails, and you have to resort to buying a canned soup, frozen veggie burger, burrito or some other prepared food, you can always make it into a healthier meal by adding fresh vegetables.
Chop some onion, zucchini and red pepper and lightly steam them, then pour a canned soup into the pot to heat up together. Have a salad with your burrito, or top your veggie burger with a big slice of tomato and lettuce or sprouts.
It’s important if you do buy prepared foods to check the ingredients and choose ones that use minimal chemicals, salt and sugar. Eden and Amy’s are two brands that are pretty good, using organic and mostly whole food ingredients.
Learn To Cook Without A Recipe
Half the time I used to spend making a meal was spent trying to find a recipe that would work with the ingredients I had, and that I felt like eating. Now, I’m able to improvise and come up with a meal no matter what I have in the fridge and cupboard.
That’s what I’ve been teaching in my online cooking classes. How to make a recipe, but also how to think about food in a way that takes you beyond the recipe. When you understand the process, you can take the idea of the meal and make it in so many different ways.
If you want to learn more about healthy cooking without using a recipe, you can check out my here.
