Parker’s 2 Minute Meal
The excuse of “not having enough time” to feed our families a healthy meal just won’t do. In fact, a perfectly healthy meal should sometimes land on the side of being more easy than hard. Why? “Fresh food” is usually best when served fresh! These two pictures offer proof of how simple a quick and healthy meal can be. I photographed my 6 year old son, Parker’s and 8 year old daughter Ginger’s plates last night because I thought these dishes made a great case for fast healthy eating. I provided each child with several pre-cut vegetables and fruit, added scoops of either leftover whole grain pasta or brown rice with veggies, several slices of Boar’s Head sliced chicken breast and some skim milk to drink.
Ginger’s 2 Minute Meal
I did microwave both the rice and the noodles for 30 seconds each, but I still had their dinners on the table within two minutes flat! Easy, right? My dinner? It looked exactly like theirs, except my plate wasn’t as adorable. When feeding your family, keep these things in mind:
- Many fruits and vegetables are best served raw, just peel or cut and serve!
- Combine a variety of colors when choosing produce for each plate.
- Boar’s Head meats and cheeses contain no fillers, gluten, artificial colors, flavors or trans fat. I regularly keep some in my fridge to easily add lean protein to any meal.
- If you don’t have deli meat, smear a tablespoon of peanut butter on each plate for dipping carrots or celery in. You can also just provide a dozen nuts!
- Choose whole grains our sweet potatoes as your starchy carbs. Honestly, brown rice tastes fine cold and can be heated up in 30 seconds. Hard to get more simple than that.
- A glass of water or skim milk is a platinum way to top a meal off!
- Don’t insist that everyone eat the exact same thing. Parker loves spinach with cranberry salad and Ginger hates it. He loves brown rice, and she like whole grain pasta better. We give them the healthy stuff they each like and they happily gobble their healthy meals up.
- Overall, just keep a stash of healthy items in your home and when you’re rushed for time … play mix and match and throw them on a plate.
