It happens to me more often than I should admit. It’s 5:00 pm and here’s the dialogue in my brain… “It’s not really 5:00 already is it? No way! Crap, Kent will be home in a half hour and I forgot to get something out for dinner! Now what?”
In these instances, I used to say to myself (sometimes two or three times a WEEK), “Oh, we’ll just go grab something quick, we’ll find some healthy fast food.” Yeah, right, as if there is such a thing. (There may be better options, but I wouldn’t call them healthy.) Don’t worry, I’m not always good about not eating out (read more about My Dark Secrets), BUT, if I have a list of ideas to pick from on those evenings when we’re running kids around or I just plain forgot to plan dinner, this helps a lot.
So here’s what I do, I pull out my list of healthy fast food ideas…
BUT I NEED MORE!
- IF YOU DON’T HAVE A BLOG, I hope you’ll comment below with your ideas.
- IF YOU DO HAVE A BLOG, use “Mr. Linky” below to add a link to the post with your idea to share, keeping these rules in mind:
- PLEASE be sure to link back to this post, so your readers can benefit from all the ideas, too.
- And do not link to your home page, only link to the specific post with your healthy fast food idea. (Otherwise later when new readers stumble upon this post and they go to your link, they won’t be able to find what they’re looking for.)
Lastly, in case you missed the previous topics:
- Last week at Cheeseslave’s blog: Real Food on a Budget
- 2 weeks ago: Low-Carb Ideas
Cheeseslave & I alternate hosting Real Food Wednesdays, check out her healthy fast food idea:
LAST MINUTE MEXICAN RICE & BEANS
Now it’s time for you to comment or link-away with all your great ideas!!!
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{ 8 trackbacks }
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
CHEESESLAVE 01.21.09 at 12:17 am
Hi, Kelly, this is a great topic.
I hope I get some more ideas from others — I need some more tricks up my sleeve!
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Carrie @ The Thrifty Oreganic 01.21.09 at 4:08 am
Yes, indeed, it’s a great topic! I find that in order to have fast, nourishing food, one does need to keep a few items on hand that can be easily and quickly defrosted. Since so much of how we cook relies on “prep time” it’s important to have a stash in the freezer (like soaked, cooked beans, for example) that can be added to soup in a pinch.
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CHEESESLAVE 01.21.09 at 9:28 am
Good point, Carrie, I need to do more pre-soaked beans and freeze them. You know what else is great? Coconut flour. You don’t have to soak it so it’s easy to make pancakes or muffins or what-have-you at the last minute. Same with sprouted flour. I can’t wait to get my sprouted flour I just ordered this Friday!
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Kelly 01.21.09 at 9:36 am
Ann Marie, have you thought about making sprouted flour? It’s so easy, and much less expensive! I’m making sloppy joes for dinner tonight and I forgot to start a batch of bread last night, so I’m just using some of my sprouted flour to make buns today.
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CHEESESLAVE 01.21.09 at 9:47 am
Yes, I plan to start doing that but I don’t have a grain grinder yet. I think I will get one for Valentine’s Day…
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McKenzie 01.21.09 at 9:59 am
Kelly – Thanks for hosting this – such a helpful topic! I posted a link for Meat & Mashed Potato Wraps (but I didn’t include the title on Mr. Linky).
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Shauna 01.21.09 at 11:52 am
Hi Kelly! I actually had time to sit down and do my blog post! I can’t wait to dig through all the others that are posted too…..
I keep a notebook for recipes, and I think I’m going to make a new section called “last minute ideas”, this way I can print off many of these and just add them in there. I’ll have my idea list AND the recipes handy that way!
Shauna
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Imara 01.21.09 at 12:07 pm
Where do you order your sprouted flour from?? Do they keep it frozen?
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CHEESESLAVE 01.21.09 at 12:12 pm
http://www.sproutedgrainbread.com/
I am not sure if they keep it frozen or if it’s freshly ground.
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Carrie at NaturalMomsTalkRadio 01.21.09 at 2:22 pm
Hey, sorry for the double Linky but the first one was incorrect.
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Judy 01.21.09 at 4:06 pm
Hey, I got on line at 6:30AM and my suggestion was already submitted, but I’ll add a bit more. I like to properly soak, and cook large batches of beans and then dip them out of the water with a slotted spoon to freeze. If they don’t have the water with them, they can be added to soups much faster than as a chunk. You can also make bean salad fast if needed by adding condiments and dressing to frozen beans that you thaw with warm water first. I also freeze raw hamburger patties with various meats and have a press that I line with plastic wrap and squash the meat and freeze flat on a cookie sheet. I gather them up and store in refrigerator freezer to fry for a quick meal. I can easily steam vegetables while the burgers are frying. This is a fantastic way for me to get liver. My best patties yet are beef heart/goat liver combined for an excellent flavor and I don’t like liver at allllllllll.
-Judy
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Kimberly Hartke 01.21.09 at 5:46 pm
sorry I keep messing up with Mr. Linky, see my second post for this weeks entry.
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auction girl vintage 01.21.09 at 6:17 pm
Great topic, I’m glad I found you
) I posted a bunch of 30-minutes-or-less pasta recipes to my page, and am eager to try some of the other recipes posted this week.
Victoria
)
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vehementflame 01.21.09 at 8:08 pm
this is such a fun topic. I enjoyed reading your posts about how awful fast food is- as if I didn’t already know:)
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Kelly 01.21.09 at 10:29 pm
Finally, I can get back on and see all the fun stuff that has been added here while I’ve been crazy busy all day!
Judy: 2 comments on your comment – first, great idea about dipping the beans in water before freezing!! Stuff like THAT is why I love blogs! Also, beef heart and goat liver?! Seriously? You don’t like liver and you like this??? Please tell us more, girl! Do you add spices with the patties?? What else do you do?
Kimberly, I didn’t see any mess ups with Mr. Linky…?
Victoria, I’m glad you found your way here, too! Looking forward to checking out your post in a few minutes.
Thanks, everyone! Off to read all your great ideas in the links!
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Judy 01.22.09 at 9:46 am
Kelly, I actually like heart but not liver. Somehow the goat liver in the ratio I used did not bother me. I felt virtuous while eating this hamburger. BTW, this is my first link with my infant blog so I’m working on attaching your site address in the post.
-Judy
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Kelly 01.22.09 at 12:13 pm
Judy, I went to check out your site, and I think the link is there, good job!
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Betsy 01.22.09 at 10:16 pm
Kelly,
A wonderful thing to have on hand for last minute meals is meat that I’ve canned. I have canned turkey breast which I use to make a quick casserole or salad. I also have ground venison and venison chunks. The ground venison is great for quickly throwing together some chili (with some kindey beans that I’ve canned) or any other dish that requires browned burger. The chunks I use in soups or I heat some up, thicken the liquid and serve over some quick brown rice.
To can meat, a pressure canner is required. I just pack the raw meat into my clean quart jars, add a teaspoon of salt to each quart and process a load for 90 minutes.
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Kelly 01.23.09 at 1:11 am
Betsy, you did it!!! Thanks for sharing that great info! It was good to meet you the other night.
Kelly
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Janet W 01.29.09 at 2:22 pm
I am very bad at remembering to thaw anything, so I’ve learned how to cook meat straight from the freezer. I use this chili recipe A LOT. I’ve included where I get my stuff from
1lb 75% lean ground beef from US Wellness Meats
1/2 medium organic onion
organic butter (I use Pastureland – not raw, but the yellowest butter I’ve ever seen, and it tastes incredible)
1 can Eden organic black beans (no I haven’t gotten to the soak my own yet)
1 can Eden organic diced tomatoes no salt (I like tomatoes smoother, so I blend these)
Frontier organic chili powder
raw cheese Amish made from US Wellness
Saute the onion and frozen ground beef in as much butter as you want. Pour off some but not all of the fat. Add beans, tomatoes, chili powder. Top with cheese (I usually use jalpeno) simmer covered until the cheese melts.
Eat this with a salad and maybe some lacto-fermented side like Sauerkraut or pickles (not the commercial variety). Fast and wonderful.
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Kelly 01.29.09 at 3:36 pm
Janet, this sounds great! Where do you find the Pastureland butter?
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Janet W 01.31.09 at 1:18 pm
Kelly,
It is the butter that US Wellness sells. And they have a deal if you order 10 lbs at a time!
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