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Weekly Healthy Topic: Making Dinnertime Work for You

During my process of losing weight (PS - I've lost over 100 lbs and have kept it off for over 7 years), I had to learn how to get creative with cooking dinner.

For me, dinnertime was the biggest struggle. After a long day, I was exhausted and didn't want to spend a ton of time cooking. (This is still the case.) So I ended up eating the same things over and over again. This caused me to become VERY bored and sometimes feel frustrated with my weight loss progress.

The solution for me was prepping food in advance so I could quickly and easily assemble dinners with little effort. This meant browning ground beef in advance, chopping peppers and onions as soon as I brought them home from the store & grilling chicken in large batches.

Having these pre-cooked and prepared ingredients at the ready meant I could quickly and easily throw together a dinner in moments AND still keep it healthy.

Here are my favorite dinner ingredients to prep in advance to make dinner easier:

• Grilled Chicken - Depending on what cuts of chicken I have on hand (either breasts or thighs) I will grill my Italian Grilled Chicken or my Honey Garlic Chicken. On Sunday I'll cook a double batch - one for the current night and another batch for a dinner later in the week.
• Browned Ground Beef - I typically buy ground beef at Costco and keep in my freezer. Browned ground beef is great for my 10-minute Ground Beef Tacos, Loaded Slow Cooker Chili and my Italian Goulash.
• Frozen Vegetables - loading up on frozen vegetables is a great way to add some volume, fiber and nutrients to your dinner. I buy bags of frozen broccoli, peas and carrots & green beans as quick add in's for recipes like my Chicken Broccoli Alfredo, Cauliflower Chicken Fried Rice and my Vegetable Beef Stir Fry.

Here are more of my favorite dinner ideas:

• ​Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Beef - I'll make this on a Sunday and we'll have it for at least two meals during the week. Fantastic for tacos & burrito bowls!
• ​Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas - slicing the peppers and onions in advance is a great way to save time on this one. Toss everything on a sheet pan and let the oven do the rest!
• ​Vegetable Beef and Barley Soup - so warm and comforting! Toss in some frozen vegetables as a quick time saver!
• ​Dump and Bake Meatball Casserole - the prep is super quick on this one. Use frozen meatballs and jarred sauce - so super easy!

I hope these tips and ideas have inspired you to eat healthy without feeling deprived. I look forward to bringing you more healthy food inspiration, recipes and tips in the near future!

Enjoy the recipes, live well, love yourself...

Erin

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