It’s hard being healthy in a hurry.
You know what else is hard?
Saying the first sentence three times fast.
What were you thinking, you dirty birdie?
I’m going to let you in on a little secret. There are times, lots of them in fact, where I don’t prep my meals for the week. An unfortunate consequence of my inaction is I run out of ready meals for breakfast and lunch. Oh the horror. I feel so ashamed now…. not really. Not even a little bit.
I also seem to be dashing out the door more often than not lately. Perhaps because I’m making a concentrated effort to get to work on time. A novel idea I know, which I imagine pleases my boss to no end, but one that leaves me strapped for sustainable food options in the middle of the day.
Look, I get it. I do. I really, really do. Even though I have deemed myself Betty Fucking Crocker, I know it can be hard to wash lettuce and chop salad toppings when you have 6.2 seconds to make it out of the house in the morning, and the same can be said for a morning smoothie. Ain’t nobody got time to toss fruit into a blender, turn on the rocket launcher, cover your ears, and wait for the end result because when it comes to decibels, my blender could give any Willy Wonka contraption a run for its money.
At the end of the day, I know if I’m going to eat healthy, I have to make the time for it, which might mean waking up ten minutes earlier or cutting my morning social media time short (gasp). There’s really no getting around it, but for those days when you find yourself in a rush and still want to be healthy, I’m here to show you some options, and skipping meals isn’t one of them. As if. Pfft.
Happy What I Ate Wednesday. No surprise here, I’m sharing a day of my eats when I had no time for prepping. Some might call them nontraditional. I call it out of the box eating.
Breakfast was half a container of strawberries and a boatload of sweetened banana chips. It turns out I have a legitimate addiction to these banana chips. I haven’t sought medical treatment yet because I’m not ready to throw in the towel. I may have to work on practicing self-restraint though, and I’m talking more than just the bedroom kind.
Some other Grab and Go Breakfast Ideas would be:
- yogurt,
- trail mix,
- a banana,
- a spoonful or three of peanut butter, or even
- toast. Some days I bring bread and a tab of butter into work and toast it there, when time allows.
Lunch was fairly inventive. It was an entire cucumber from my own garden, a half a container of hummus and some jalapeno cheese. Since I keep a small cutting board and a semi-sharp knife at the office, I bring the cucumber and cheese in whole, saving me all that prep time.
Other Quick and Easy Lunch Ideas would be:
- hard-boiled eggs,
- last night’s leftovers,
- fistfuls of nuts and more fruit,
- cheese,
- pretzels and salsa,
- a can of low sodium soup,
- a bag of carrots or baby bell peppers and a container of hummus.
Toss a few of these things together, and you’ve got yourself a full-blown meal.
For dinner, I went with a classic easy meal option: penne pasta with some tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese. While the tomato sauce was my own creation from the weekend prior, I am not above using jarred sauce. In fact, I usually keep one on hand for nights I don’t feel much like cooking. I added a side of green beans since we have an overwhelming amount of them in the fridge and topped them with some cilantro lemon butter I dug out of my deep freezer. Oh yes, I am still enjoying the spoils of last summer.
Other Simple & Short On Time Dinner Options would be:
- snack platters filled with nuts, fruits, cheese, olives, and veggies.
- a baked potato,
- a rice and bean bowl,
- eggs of any type (scrambled, fried, in an omelet or veggiefied), or
- a stacked sandwich.
I have literally eaten all of the above for dinner in the past couple of weeks, so it can be done, which leads me to the moral of today’s story, ignoring the glaring fact there was no actual story shared.
You still have healthy options even when there’s no time. It just takes a little ingenuity and outside the box eating.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a smoothie to make.
What are your healthy in a hurry meals, when there’s no time for prepping? If you’ve done posts on this same topic, please share your links in the comments below.
I am deeply impressed. A lot of yummyness in a short time frame. I am usually not very creative when I have no time to prep my food in the evening or morning. That means I turn to fruit and nuts. Always!
I love those banana chips. I never buy them. I end up eating the whole bag and then I have an upset tummy for hours. I have no self-control at all!
Juli @1000lovelythings recently posted…What I ate Wednesday #53 – Lazy Days
I think fruit and nuts are good solutions and an easy grab and go option. I kind of planning on bringing that into work for my lunch today. I’ll probably toss in some olives and a side of cheese though because well, cheese.
Welcome Back. I hope you had a fabulous trip!!
Meghan recently posted…WIAW: How To Eat Healthy In A Hurry
Hi! I’m new and found your blog through WIAW! I love the look of your eats; they look healthy, easy, and delicious which meets all my criteria! Or criterion? I never know which to use. Anyway, thanks for the great ideas!
Chelsea @ Chelsea Eats Treats recently posted…Another Track Run with Anne & WIAW #86
I’m glad you found me. Thanks for stopping by and saying hello. I love hearing my newcomers.
Healthy, easy and delicious is my specialty. At least I like to think so. 😉
Meghan recently posted…WIAW: How To Eat Healthy In A Hurry
Seriously…all those people that say they made a salad in 5 minutes or a smoothie in 2 minutes..is just crap! Of course their lettuce was already washed and their fruit cut…Sneaky people! Ha!
Loved these ideas! I usually go with fruit and yoghurt, snack bars or nuts.
Elsie @ Sharing Healthiness recently posted…There is life beyond QUEST bars!
In order for me to bring and eat my usual salads, it all has to be prewashed, veggies chopped and ready to go and that shit takes time!! For me, if I don’t get it done on the weekend, chances are it won’t happen at all.
I ate peanut butter with a spoon today as part of my lunch. Grab jar, grab spoon. Now that does take 5.2 seconds.
Snack bars and nuts are a perfect substitute too. Love it.
Meghan recently posted…Coconut Lime Pineapple Granola
I’m all about that snack life sometimes! These allll loook sooooo gooood. That is all.
Brittany recently posted…10 Tips to Get Back Into Running “Longer” Distances
I ate peanut butter straight out of the jar today with a spoon. I thought of you.
Meghan recently posted…Coconut Lime Pineapple Granola
Almost everything I make is in a hurry these days. Hence the plethora of protein salads on my blog today. With the help of Whole Paycheck, they come together in seconds.
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table recently posted…Channeling Wonder Woman + WIAW
Sometimes, I like things that come in seconds….
Meghan recently posted…Coconut Lime Pineapple Granola
Oh God, my meals are so crabby cause they are made in a hurry ALLL the time. Prewashed salad, cherry tomatoes, storebought dressing and precooked chemical chicken. Really good.
But yeah, hardboiled eggs and peppers (eaten like an apple cause there is no time to cut them), spoonfuls of avocado, and no baked tortillas made their way into my mouth these weeks. I think it’s ok, but I am looking forward to some peace to actually cook.
Lucie@FitSwissChick recently posted…I don’t talk about this on my blog & WIAW
I need to actually find some time this weekend to get some cooking done too. I’ve got a crisper for of bell peppers and three heads of cabbage to contend with. Yes, the same cabbage from weeks ago. Eep. We should have a kitchen party.
Meghan recently posted…Coconut Lime Pineapple Granola
You do so much better than I do when I’m in a hurry… At least you managed to eat more than cereal, bananas with almond butter, and yogurt messes 😆 And your dinner is -almost- perfect… but I’d leave off the tomato sauce. Did I ever tell you that that used to be the only way I’d eat pasta when I was a kid? As buttered noodles buried under a mound of parmesan? No sauce for this girl. And to this day, I’d still take that over most fancy pasta dishes. What can I say?? I’m a simple girl at heart.
Amanda @ .running with spoons. recently posted…. WIAW… sitting down to eat .
There was cereal for dinner one night. 😉
I love egg noodles with butter. It’s one of my favorite ways to eat pasta to this day. Simple pleasures for simple girls. It’s a good thing.
Meghan recently posted…Coconut Lime Pineapple Granola
Banana Chips! Cilantro lemon butter! YUM. (Sorry i cant form sentences right now- ill try harder) My meal planning always goes out the window by thursday. I am on the ball though wednesday, then theres a steep drop off- thursday im eating weird snacks and calling them lunch, friday im just eating whatever the office is ordering in.
Charlotte @ Commitness to Fitness recently posted…If Socrates Had Been a Food Blogger (TOL)
Ain’t nothing wrong with some weird snacks called lunch. I’ve been off the rails all week and it’s been interesting to say the least. Peanut butter meet spoon; spoon meet face. 🙂
Meghan recently posted…Coconut Lime Pineapple Granola
Hats off to you, girl..you did really well despite the lack of time! My go-tos when time is short tend to be nut butter sandwiches, fruit, raw veggie sticks with hummus, boiled eggs and nuts…gets the job done :-)!
Khushboo recently posted…Cashew & Coconut Oatmeal Bars
Nuts always get the job done. 😉
Meghan recently posted…Coconut Lime Pineapple Granola
Haha we were on the (kinda) same train with WIAW this week. I love that you ate banana chips and strawberries for breakfast because it was focused on completely one macronutrient only and you gave two hoots. Three actually.
Cheese and granola bars happened more times that I’d like to admit. Half those times were done because of time constraints. the other half was done on purpose.
Arman @ thebigmansworld recently posted…4 Ingredient Paleo Nutella Cookies
The funny part is I didn’t even realize my breakfast of banana chips and strawberries was only one macro until you said that. Ha! I did know about lunch though because I tried to convince Spoons it was a balanced meal because it contained all the macros. I had cucumber, hummus and cheese. She said I was pushing it. Pffft. 😉
I like it so much better when it’s done on purpose.
Meghan recently posted…Coconut Lime Pineapple Granola