Just to show you how easy it can be to eat healthily, even when you have the fulltime task of looking after your baby, I have listed below a few recipes (ten to be exact), which you can easily make.
In the least amount of time you will find that you can create a tasty meal, which is also healthy for you. Alright, so it won’t be cordon bleu, but then again, who can stretch to looking after a baby full-time as well as cooking cordon bleu!
1 Stir Fried Chicken
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
What you will need: 1 large boneless, skinless Chicken Breast
1 bunch Asparagus
1 medium Onion, sliced
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh Ginger, minced
1 tbsp Rice Vinegar
1 tbsp Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Preparation: Wash and cube the chicken breast into bite sized pieces. Cut the Asparagus into 1 inch long pieces, discarding the very end of the stalk.
Take a large skillet and heat the oil. Add the onions and stir fry them. Add the asparagus soon after adding the onions, and stir fry both over a medium heat for about 3-4 minutes.
Add the chicken, ginger and the garlic and stir fry for a further 3-4 minutes.
Next add the vinegar, soy sauce and salt and pepper to taste, and stir fry for another 2-3 minutes, or until the asparagus is cooked.
You can serve this with a bowl of wild rice or couscous.
2 Baked Chicken
Preparation Time: 10 minutes preparation time + 90 minutes cooking time
What you will need: 6 Chicken Legs, cut in two
1 cup stoned Black Olives
1 cup Cherry Tomatoes, halved
20-24 cloves Garlic, keep the skin
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Fresh Basil, chopped (the dried stuff works just fine)
Preparation: Preheat the oven to 350oF. Marinate the chicken with salt and pepper to taste, and place in a roasting tin.
Make sure to keep the chicken pieces all on a single layer. Pack in tightly but don’t overlap if you can help it.
Spread out over the top of the tightly packed chicken, the olives, cherry tomatoes, garlic cloves and a handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped.
Drizzle some of the olive oil over the top and place in the oven to bake. You can safely leave this dish to slow cook for about 90 minutes.
Serve hot, with a rice dish, pasta, or even with boiled new potatoes and greens.
3 Parmesan Chicken
Preparation Time: 15 minutes preparation time + 60 minutes cooking time
What you will need: 6 boneless Chicken Breasts
1 cup Breadcrumbs
1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
½ cup melted Butter
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 clove Garlic, minced
2 tbsp freshly chopped Parsley, (dried will also do)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Preparation: First preheat your oven to 350oF. Wash the chicken breasts and leave them to dry while you are preparing the other ingredients.
Next combine the melted butter, Worcestershire sauce and the garlic in one bowl.
Take another bowl and combine the breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, chopped parsley, and salt and pepper.
Then, dip each chicken breast first into the butter-Worcestershire mix, then into the breadcrumb- Parmesan mix.
Place each piece of chicken in a baking pan, single-layered. Place in the oven and bake for about 60 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked.
4 Baked Fish
Preparation Time: 10 minutes preparation time + 20 minutes cooking time
What you will need: 1 lb Fish Filets of your choice
cup Breadcrumbs
cup Cheddar Cheese, grated
1 tbsp Butter
tsp fresh Basil, chopped (dried works fine)
tsp freshly grated Nutmeg, (dried as well)
A squeeze of fresh Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper to taste
Preparation: Preheat your oven to 450oF. Next, combine in a bowl the cheddar cheese, breadcrumbs, chopped basil, grated nutmeg, and salt and pepper.
Take a baking dish and use the butter to grease the bottom and sides of the dish. Line half of the cheese-breadcrumb mixture along the bottom of the dish.
Next, place the fish fillets over the cheese-breadcrumb mixture. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice over the fish fillets, and then cover with the remainder of the cheese-breadcrumb mixture.
Place in the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes until the fish is cooked through.
The time taken for this will vary depending on the thickness of the fish. When the fish is fully cooked, it should flake very easily.
This tastes good on its own, or with a bed of baby spinach leaf salad. It also goes well with rice, or alternately with a few steamed greens and potatoes.
5 Quick Salmon Bake
Tuna steaks also work very well with this recipe.
Preparation time: 10 minutes preparation time + 20 minutes cooking time
What you will need: 4 steaks of Salmon
2 Onions, sliced
4 cloves of Garlic, crushed
1 Lime
Salt and Pepper to taste
Aluminum foil
Preparation: Preheat the oven to 250oF. Wash the salmon steaks and set aside to dry while you are getting theother ingredients ready.
Take a piece of foil for each salmon steak, about three times the width of the steak. Lay one steak per each foil sheet about roughly in the middle.
Divide the onions and the garlic between the four steaks, and season with salt and pepper.
Fold the foil over the salmon, bringing the edges together in the middle to create a small rolled up handle. The salmon should now lie comfortably in a foil pocket.
Place these foil pockets in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the salmon.
Remove from the oven when the salmon is fully cooked, being careful to avoid the steam trapped within the foil pocket.
You can serve this garnished with either lemon or lime, over a bed of wild rice, couscous, or ideally with risotto.
6 Creamy Spinach Fettuccine
Preparation Time: 15-20 minutes
What you will Need: 1 lb Fettuccine
1 lb fresh Spinach, (frozen can also be used)
4 cloves of Garlic, sautéed
½ cup of half-and-half
¼ cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
¼ cup fresh Basil
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
Preparation: Prepare the fettuccine according to the instructions on the package. While the fettuccine is cooking you can prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Place the remaining ingredients in a food processor, and chop coarsely to create a creamy sauce.
When the fettuccine is cooked, you can toss the creamy spinach sauce with the fettuccine to obtain a delicious dish.
Season with salt and pepper, pine nuts and some chopped basil if you like before serving. This is a meal on its own, or served with some crusty French bread, or even Bruschetta.
7 Quick Stir-Fry Couscous
Preparation Time: 10 minutes preparation time + 10 minutes cooking time.
What you will need: 1 lb Couscous
½ cup Mushrooms, quartered
¼ cup Bell Peppers, diced
¼ cup Broad beans, chopped
¼ cup Ham, diced
¼ cup Bacon, coarsely chopped
1 large Onion finely chopped
Salt to taste
1 tbsp Oil
Preparation: Cook the Couscous according to the packet instructions while you are preparing the rest of your ingredients.
Take a large skillet and heat the oil, add the onions and lightly sauté until a light brown color.
Add the ham and the bacon and stir fry for about 3-4 minutes. Next add the bell peppers, mushrooms, and beans. Stir fry for a further 3-4 minutes.
When this is done, add the cooked couscous to the mixture, a little at a time so that it will mix in well with the couscous.
Serve with a side of grilled prawns, or any other grilled meat for a tasty treat.
8 Black Bean Chili
This is one of those dishes that you can leave on the stove and forget about until the time is right for you to serve the meal. It takes about 3 hours to slow cook, and about 10 minutes to prepare.
Preparation Time: 10 minutes preparation time + 3 hours cooking time
What you will need: 2 cans Black Beans, not drained
1 large Onion, diced
6 Cloves Garlic, minced (or 2 tbsp of bottled garlic)
4 Roma Tomatoes, diced (these taste better)
1 small can Tomato paste
1 tbsp Cumin
Salt to taste
Preparation: Prepare your ingredients and place everything into a crock pot over a medium-low fire. When theingredients begin to boil, you can then reduce the heat to low.
Leave the chili to simmer on low heat for about 3 hours. Serve hot over a bed of steamed rice, or with a side of mash potatoes, or even a loaf of crusty bread. It’s as easy as that!
9 Cheesy Bean dish
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
What you will need: 1 tbsp Oil
1 large Onion, chopped
2 Celery stalks
2 cups/ 1 can Lentils
2 cups/ 1 can Kidney beans
2 large Tomatoes, diced
2 tsp dried Rosemary
Salt and Pepper to taste
Preparation: Take a large skillet and heat the oil, add the onions and cook until they are soft. This should takeabout 3-4 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients except the cheese. Cook until the beans become soft, about 15-20 minutes.
Sprinkle the cheese over the top, and heat only until the cheese melts.
10 Easy Pizza
When all is said and done, sometimes you still don’t have the time or the inclination to do anything other than
order a pizza. A great healthy alternative however, is to create your own pizza (more or less).
All you need is a pre-made pizza base, and fresh, healthy toppings of your choice. Below is the recipe just in case you change your mind and leave off dialing the takeaway number you know by heart!
Preparation time: 10 minutes preparation time + 15 minutes cooking time (about the same time it takes to get your pizza delivered!)
What you will need: 1 store-bought Pizza base
1 can of finely chopped Tomatoes
¼ cup Mozzarella cheese
¼ cup combined of two additional cheeses
Toppings of your choice such, as pepperoni, ham, vegetables etc.
Preparation: Preheat your 350oF. Place the pizza base to cook in the oven for about 10 minutes, or according to package instructions.
Prepare the rest of your ingredients while the base is initially cooking. When the base is a light golden brown, take it of the oven.
You will first need to evenly spread the tomato sauce over the base. Then spread the grated mozzarella, as well as the cheeses, over the sauce.
Next you can add the toppings of your choice and place the pizza in the oven for a further 10-15 minutes or until the cheese has begun to melt.