Single moms feel the pressure to provide healthy meals to our children. After working all day (and sometimes all night), the last thing I want to do is chop, slice, dice or stir (at least for longer than a few minutes). And, by the time we do cross the threshold at the end of the day, I've already been hungry for quite some time. I want to eat NOW, my daughter wants to eat NOW ... I'm sure you can relate.
For the longest time, I was the queen mom of peanut butter and jelly, or hot dogs and beans, or mac 'n cheese and ... well, you get the picture. Not feelin' it in the "Mother of the Year" category, and I really wanted to do better.
While children have an unending capacity to eat the same thing for sometimes weeks in a row, as they're watching the same movie for the millionth time, I got sick of these choices and set out to find easy, simple and healthy meals that consist of just a few ingredients and take less than 20 minutes to make.
Here are a couple of my favorites:
Flatbread Pizza (15 minutes tops)
Heat oven to 350*1 piece Herbed Flatbread1 Tablespoon Pasta Sauce2 Tablespoons Mozzarella and 2% Cheddar CheeseToppings of your choosing ... veggies, meats, etc.One "pizza" is the perfect serving amount for one person.Bake for 10 minutes. Slice and eat.
Meat & Cheesey Roll-ups (20 minutes)
Heat oven to 350*Pre-made dough (from Trader Joe's, or use Pillsbury's refrigerated pizza crust), cut into 8 triangles16 pieces sliced lunch meat (turkey, ham, etc.) 2 slices on each triangle of dough8 piece of cheese (cheddar, swiss, muenster, etc.) 1 on each triangle of dough
Roll dough, meat and cheese, secure with toothpick. Bake for 15 minutes, serve & eat!
Please share yours!
3 comments:
Yum!! Yes, I think that healthy meals has been something I've really been challenged with. I have gradually gotten the packed lunches down to a science since I discovered that my daughter likes the little miniature pickles and will choke down a carrot if she has ranch dressing. She even asked for bottled water instead of juice. As far as dinner, there is nothing like a crock pot. I can throw some chicken, goddess dressing, and veggies into the pot and slow cook it all day. Nothing like walking into the house and dinner is ready (even though there is nobody there waiting for me..yet! lol)
I would love to use my crockpot! I am stuck though because it is just the two of us now, my daughter is almost 2 and kind of selective, I don't want to waste so much food. Any small crock pot meal ideas? keep in mind, my freezer is about as big as two pizza boxes stack one on top of the other. Thanks!
My fiance used to make us what he calls 'sausage stew' which he just cut up some sausages into bits, put some carrot, potato or whatever you want into a pot,cover with some chicken stock and boil for a little while. then you can add a bit of gravox to thicken it up - or just a bit of corn flour or whatever. cut the veges up small and it doesn't take too long to cook, and you don't have to worry about making the meat really tender cuz its a sausage.
I have real trouble figuring out what to cook - we live in a fly in fly out lifestly, daddy is only home for 1 out of 4 weeks and my 2 yr old is obsessed with peanut butter sandwiches. I am so sick of feeling like a terrible mother when it comes to our eating, but I am stuck for ideas!
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