Create a Better Convenience Meal

One of the most healthy things you can start doing with your family is to start having regular, family meals. A family meal means everyone sitting at the table and enjoying the same food at the same time (it does NOT have to mean an elaborate 4 course dinner). Whoever is in charge of the cooking (it might be mom, dad, or someone else) has a big responsibility to get a good tasting, healthy meal on the table. A lot of times this can seem like too much work and pressure and it is easy to give up on family meals. However, the benefits of family meals are worth some trouble to get everyone together to eat at the same time.

And cooking does not have to be hard! Convenience meals are a great way to get a meal on the table quickly. Here are some ideas to take typical convenience foods to a higher level. These tips add extra nutrition and variety to common convenience foods:

Boxed Mac & Cheese: Add cooked chicken, turkey or ham leftovers and veggies like broccoli, peas, or bell peppers. If you don’t have any leftover meats to add, open and drain a can of tuna and add chopped tomatoes. Now you have a complete meal instead of a side!

Frozen Pizza: Buy a plain cheese frozen pizza and top with your favorite veggies (broccoli, peppers, tomatoes, olives, etc…) You know they never put enough toppings on frozen pizzas…

Stir Fry Dinner Kit: Add extra veggies and protein (like chicken breast) to stretch the meal further and cut down on sodium.

Frozen waffles or pancakes: Top waffles or pancakes with ½ cup berries or cut up bananas, fat free whipped cream, and lite syrup. My favorite version is pancakes with peanut butter, bananas, and syrup.

Frozen ravioli or tortellini: Mix with your favorite prepared marinara sauce and add in some frozen veggies.

And finally, the mother of all convenience foods….

Ramen noodles: These noodles are pretty much just starch and fat- they do not have a lot of staying power. To make a meal, add some protein like cooked meats or egg. Add in some fresh or frozen veggies and don’t use the entire seasoning packet and you have yourself a pretty decent meal.

- Allison Leonard RD