Healthy Dinner Ideas Without the Work

When it comes to cooking healthy dinners, the main ingredient is to have a plan. If we end up waiting until dinner time (when we are hangry), we’re probably not going to eat a healthy, “real meal”.

Personally, I know at the end of the day my decision-making skills are burnt out—decision fatigue is real! I know for myself that I need some sort of healthy dinner idea ahead of time so dinner is quick, easy, and healthy. Even though I make meal plans and find them helpful for my clients, it’s not for everyone or me.

However, I am a HUGE fan of spontaneous cooking. Keep reading and I’ll let you in on some secrets on how to cook healthy without the work.

What is spontaneous cooking?

This isn’t a term I made up. It’s basically a way of shopping for ingredients and cooking… more spontaneously.

spon·ta·ne·ous adjective Performed or occurring as a result of a sudden inner impulse or inclination and without premeditation or external stimulus.

In contrast to meal planning, you don’t need to pick out lots of recipes, make a shopping list, or hope to die you didn’t forget an ingredient.

Spontaneous cooking involves shopping for your favorite ingredients, picking out what’s in season, and choosing what actually looks fresh at the store. Oftentimes, I basically buy the same ingredients but depending on the season. This also makes shopping easy and fast. Unlike what you might think, I don’t get tired of my meals because it’s how I pull the ingredients together differently each time.

How to make this method work

You can definitely use keep using recipes to inspire you but cooking from them all the time can start to feel tedious. Recipes are a great way to learn and once you have it down, you can start to use them as inspiration or as a guide. I’ll explain further down.

Here are some ways to take the work out of your dinners:

1. Use recipes as inspiration, rather than instructions. Either let them guide you on what to buy, or what to cook

2. Shop on the perimeter of the store where all the fresh food is. Try to buy fewer items in the middle aisles where the packaged and processed foods are

3. Cut, chop, and store ingredients that you will throw into the oven or in a pan later. Or, prep those items that you can grab and go during the day, like carrots and cucumber. This is basically all the prep work you need!

4. Think about dinner at the beginning of the day. What do feel like for dinner? Pull out what needs to be defrosted. Basically, set yourself up for success.

The biggest benefit

Unlike typical meal prepping, you won’t get tired of the chicken, rice, and broccoli that you made for the whole week that is now sitting in the fridge. Yes, it lasts for four days, but every day it gets older and boring-er. Instead, spontaneous cooking ensures that 1) you don’t get tired of your healthy food and 2) that it’s fresh as can be.

An example:

1. You buy ground turkey, butternut squash, chard, mushrooms, among other veggies and protein

2. The morning of, you have options. You could make our Turkey Breakfast Butternut Bowl (not just for breakfast!), or turkey patties with sweet potato buns and sautéed veggies, or a taco salad. You can make at least 3 different healthy dinners from these ingredients—it just depends on what you are feeling!

3. Make 2-3 extra servings than what you’re going to eat that night so that you have leftovers for breakfast, lunch, and snacks

4. Store the leftovers separately, if possible. For example, you’ll roast the butternut for the Turkey Breakfast Butternut Bowl and you can store the extra separately

Another way to use recipes:

1. Recipes are great for inspiration and can be modified based on your ingredients. Unlike baking, you have a lot of flexibility. I love using Pinterest for this.

2. Let’s take this Turkey Bowl for example. You check it out and want to make it, but you have different ingredients. You only have ground beef, kale, sweet potatoes, and onions. Not to worry! Use them the same way you would with the ingredients in the recipe. Getting the hang of spontaneous cooking? It has really changed the way I cook and the way I view eating healthy. I know this will transform your meals!
   

I hope you got a lot of healthy dinner inspiration in this post and are excited to give it a try. You can check out more of our recipes here—for inspiration or instructions ;) If you feel like you’re not sure where to begin and want some help, I’m here to listen and help guide you. Let’s chat during a free consultation!