How have you been in 2020?! It’s been a crazy, wild ride! One thing that has been constant and “typical” for us has been our eating habits at home. I love using fresh food to create delicious and simple meals. I also got to thinking about all of the people who are experiencing cooking at home more than they ever have before. I was thinking of those that say they hate cooking or the ones that have no idea how flavors can mesh together in a simple way to satisfy an entire family or themselves. Then there are the people I encounter often that say they have no idea how my meals look the way they do and they wish they knew how to cook. WELL, I have to let you in on a few secrets before I share what I came to talk about.
- When I post on social media, the picture I choose is intentional. I make my plate look pretty for Instagram/Facebook on purpose! Y’all don’t wanna look at a nasty plate in mediocre lighting. It’s there to be aesthetically pleasing but it’s also fun for me to do. It’s somewhat of a hobby.
- I show the rest of the family’s plates often to share how all of our meals can be versatile and the simple things I do DAILY to ensure everyone eats a good meal, but I really need to do it more often. This is one of the major ways I try to encourage the families who can’t seem to please their people at dinnertime unless it’s something ultra processed and nutrient poor. I’ve got you!
- I feel like I am a constant disillusionment to others. We live in a society where each of us has our opinion of a person’s life based upon their highlight reel. I’ve seen faces of major confusion when they realize we have treats and don’t eat stalks of lettuce all day long. (Haha!) It doesn’t have to be either/or. Quality exists in indulgence too! You can live a lifestyle where you’re always choosing QUALITY over hyper palatability, via the clever marketing of manufacturers. I know this for a fact. I wouldn’t have chosen Health Coaching and teaching people about food if it wasn’t so.
You CAN learn what is best for your body and enjoy beautiful, simple and delicious food. One of the things we need right now is to up our game in taking care of our own health. That’s not going to come from buying expensive supplements and trusting an AD to tell you what you should do or buy. It comes from learning to take care of yourself in a myriad of ways, most importantly by what you put in your mouth. Boost your immune system with your food, friends!!
Okay! What I want to share today is SO simple. I started sharing on my Instagram “From This – To That” so show how I use simple ingredients to create our meals. I got so many messages about how helpful it was to see that they DON’T need eleventy-million ingredients to make a quality meal AND how I use the same ingredients often to make a completely different meal. **Use what you have on hand! Here are a few:
Some meals have recipes, many don’t. Which do you prefer?! I love both ways depending on what’s going on in our life.
Oftentimes the best meal you’ll make is throwing a bunch of whatever you have fresh in the fridge onto a sheet pan or in a skillet to whip up your meal. These are what I call “Ingredient Meals” and I truly believe it is a game changer in the kitchen!!
Here is one:
•Choose your protein (sausage/sliced chicken breast/shrimp) cut into about 1/2-1 inch pieces.
•Choose veggies and chop
•Add a drizzle of Olive Oil or Avocado Oil to toss all together with quality Salt & about 1-2t of your favorite seasoning. (optional: drizzle of Coconut Aminos is always a crowd-pleaser)
•Add to a baking sheet
•Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, stirring halfway.
Voila! You can tailor this easily to your families preferences as well! The options are ENDLESS! I even recently added Pineapple to our sheet pan lunch because it was going to go bad soon. The flavor was amazing!
My point is to (hopefully) encourage those of you that are intimidated by complex recipes when we have enough complexity going on in the world.
You can follow me on Instagram, @healthymess_ where I post many of the step by steps for my Ingredient Meal creations!
– Maca is a resident of Waxahachie and the owner and founder of Healthy Mess. She is passionate about all things related to HEALTHY – Living – Eating – Bodies – Mentality – Spiritually – Marriages – and all that falls in between. She just so happens to also embrace the MESS that is amongst all of the things of life. She loves to write and share what she’s found along the way.
