Meal Ideas When Busy

As we get closer to Christmas, life can get more hectic and busy.
Unfortunately as we get busier, it's easier for our eating to slip

Do you find this happens to you?

If so, I wanted to give you a few ideas for easy meals. The idea is even if you don't like the sounds of these it could get you thinking about simple meals you do like.

I know this is a bit of a longer post so I would say to save / bookmark it and refer back to.

The main point is getting you to think about what you like, what works for you and then plan ahead for it rather than fall back to takeaways or buying a load of rubbish food.

Once you think up a few meals you like, write them down on a list and keep it handy.
That way, you can easily refer to it for shopping lists or as a reminder.

Here are a few ideas:
1. Scrambled Eggs (on toast if preferred). You could use this as a base and easily add different combinations to it for example - salmon / ham / any combination of peppers, olives, mushrooms

2. Omelettes. As with above, these can easily be made with any combination of peppers, olives, onion, mushrooms / some meat and SOME cheese added in / can have a sauce or condiment added to liven it up such as some salsa

3. Any combination of meat, starchy carb and veg. There are so many possibilities here:
- Meats: Chicken, Turkey, Beef, Salmon, Lamb, Pork, Fish & Seafood.
1 serving size is around the size of your palm. Try around 1 - 2 palms.

- Starchy carbs: Potato (boiled, oven roasted, jacket potato etc), rice (doesn't matter if it's brown, white, jasmine, wild etc), parsnips, pasta, lentils, butternut squash, beans such as kidney beans
1 serving size is around the size of your cupped hand. Try around 1 - 3 cupped hands

- Veg: As many as you can think of, particularly green veg
1 serving size is around the size of your fist. Try around 1 - 3 servings.

Side note: you can wash, chop and prepare a whole bunch of veg and then freeze for a later time

Side side note: Don't want to prep veg as you're too busy then cheat! Buy frozen veg or those packs you can stick in a microwave. The difference between them all is negligible and comes down to taste and preference.

Side side side note: If that sounds bland then a) it's quick fix ideas, not necessarily a long term thing and b) think of spices and rubs you can add to the meats to make them a lot more tasty and brighten up the meals.

4. Stews and Casseroles: These are brilliant for chucking in a lot of veg and some meat then cooking in bulk. Most can then be frozen for later use - so if you know in advance when you'll be busy, you can make these ahead of time and just defrost as needed.

5. Yoghurt with a few extra's thrown in. This is particularly useful for 5 minute breakfasts. Some yoghurt you like and add in fruit, especially berries like blueberries, raspberries and strawberry and 1 or 2 pieces of dark chocolate (one or two PIECES, not 1 or 2 bars!)

6. Big ass salads! Lots of green leafy veg, salady type veg like cucumber, tomatoes, beetroot, cress, onion, peppers, avocado, egg, grated carrot. Can have salads on their own or cook up some meat and have with the salad

I would say to be careful of adding too many things like croutons as they will sky rocket the calories

Vinaigrettes can be a nice addition
Putting the salad and some meat in a tortilla also makes for a nice wrap

There are 6 different idea to help give you  some inspiration for easy, straight forward meals.
Some of them can literally be prepped, cooked and done in minutes and some will take longer and can be made in bulk for a few meals.

These are some ideas to play around with. You may not like all the ideas and that's cool.
The point is to get you thinking and planning ahead so you are prepared for when life gets busy.

So:
1) List out foods and simple meals you like
2) Keep that list handy and visible
3) Use it as a reference for making shopping lists
4) Use it for when you know you are going to be busy 
5) The list isn't set in stone. You can add to it and remove from it based on time of year and your mood.