Crunch Time Nourishment (or, Recipes for Those Short on Time and Money)

A few weeks ago, as I was heading into what I call "crunch time" with the lockets, I started planning our grocery list according to how much time I knew I would have.  Not much time at all.  Normally, I LOVE to cook.  There's something about creating a beautiful meal from scratch that is so rewarding (much like turning a sheet of metal into something beautiful and wearable).  In addition to loving to cook, I am also highly aware of the nutrition we take into our bodies through food (thanks to having dabbled in being vegetarian, vegan, and raw foodist before). With all that in mind, I thought I would share a few little meals I have "discovered" as being great time-savers:

2 Fried Eggs

or

1 C. Lowfat Organic Yogurt with 1 handful Lowfat Blueberry Meusli

or

1-2 rice cakes with low fat cream cheese and smoked salmon

3 Vegetable Samosas with a heaping salad and Cilantro dressing

or

Steamed Potstickers with steamed Broccoli

or

Roasted Chicken pieces in a heaping salad

or

Two spring rolls with vermicelli noodles and sliced veggies, with Peanut dressing

Grapes

Apples

Bananas

Rice Cakes

Baby Carrots

Hummus

I love these options, and there are many more.  Mostly, I've just chosen a food I like (i.e. Samosas) that are easy to heat up (they're usually frozen, from Trader Joe's), but I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to cooking lovely pastas and roasted vegetables.  Sometimes if I know a week is going to be busy, I'll also cook a huge pot of soup to sustain us for a few days, and that helps break up the monotony of the other meals. 

Bon Appetit!