Some nights it seems like I have no time between when I get home from work and when I need to leave again for an exercise class or an evening walking date with my mom and aunt. The reasons for this vary, but it seems like at least once a month or so, I get home less than 45 minutes before I need to leave again. Which wouldn't be a big deal, except I pretty much have to eat dinner before I workout. Or else I'm a grumpy, irritable nightmare. It's not pretty. In my defense, I eat lunch at 11AM, so by 5:00 or so I. am. starving. And I'm definitely a grumpy-when- hungry girl!!
So for these occasions, I have a fabulous go-to dinner plan that needs no prep, is super quick, and requires almost no clean up. Plus, it's SOOO yummy!
Obviously, any dinner that goes from having nothing prepped to a meal on the table in 16 minutes is going to get some help from packaged products. BUT, I find this to be a cheap and healthy meal, which is really all that I ask for from a weeknight dinner. Prepped from scratch is nice, but on such a short amount of time, most anything I prep from scratch will be barely past the conceptualizing stage in just 16 minutes.
So.....my go-to Meal on crazy nights is some sort of frozen tilapia or salmon fillet, parmesan couscous and the steam-able veggie of my choice (aka whatever happens to be in the freezer). All of these items can go from the pantry or freezer to done in just a few minutes.
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| You can see that I started dinner at 4:54PM. Tonight's selection was chipotle-lime tortilla crusted Tilapia and green beans. I also love tortilla crusted salmon!
Part of the beauty in this meal is that it creates almost no dishes. I simply bake the fish on a cookie sheet covered in foil (so it doesn't have to be washed) for about 14 minutes. While that bakes, I heat water and a few teaspoons of olive oil in a small saucepan (the measuring cup doesn't even need washed, because all it measures is the water!), along with the couscous seasoning. Once the water boils, I stir in the couscous, cover the pot, and remove from the heat for 5 minutes. I also microwave the steam-able veggies while the fish bakes (right in the bag, so no dishes there!). I time it so all three items are done cooking at the same time, so all I have to do when the bell ring is give the coucous a stir and plate it all up!
I generally eat 1 1/2 fish fillets, 3/4 cup couscous and as many veggies as I want. The calorie total is right around 500. But the best part is that it's so good and ready so fast!
Dinner plated and ready to go at 5:10!! YUM.
And like I said, the dishes are totally minimal. I mean, I'm going to throw it all in the dishwasher anyway, but it's STILL exciting that there's not even much to rinse and put in there.
That's it. Awesome.
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Excluding takeout, can you get dinner on the table in less than 20 minutes? I'm sort of proud of the fact that I have it down to such a science. What's YOUR go-to dinner on nights where you don't have much time and have nothing prepped?
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