When in doubt...

My friend Sarah is doing a giveaway (it's chocolate so who am I to say no!?!?) and is asking for healthy, easy, quick meals. She's a nurse, her husband is a police officer - life is CRAZY busy! So, this is one of my easy meals. I'm not one to stand around in the kitchen for long. It irritates me. If I can't start it and leave it, it's gotta be quick!

Here a few that we make pretty often.

Basic Stirfry

Chop up onion, garlic, celery and a meat (chicken, pork, and beef all work great). Saute in oil, or if you're trying to cut out the fats we sometimes just put a bit of water in the bottom of a pan and essentially steam the meat and veges. Then we add whatever veges are on hand - thinly sliced cabbage, green beans from the freezer, carrots, zucchini, (peas only work if you mix it with rice), broccoli, cauliflower, etc. Don't cook veges long - just till tender. Boil rice and you're done. If you want some flavor - add ginger, soy sauce and an egg. Just mix up the egg for scrambled and add it in with the meat and veges. At this point you can just dump it all in one bowl. Awesome for quick food, and it's a "whatever's on hand" meal. I hate meals that have to have the exact ingredients, because I'm on a strict budget and rarely can get specific "special" ingredients.

Mexican Food

In NZ it's not nearly as interesting because our hot food flavor here is Indian, not Mexican. But we still manage to find either a taco flavor mix or just make our own with hot sauce, chili powder, and various other hot things. Brown beef, hamburg, or chicken, add seasonings and let simmer with a bit of water. You can put celery, onion, and/or garlic in with this. Set aside. Shred cheese, mix up avocado and tomato (if on hand), shred lettuce, dice tomatoes or put out a jar of salsa, and whatever other ingredients you like - like jalapenos if you're my husband! You can go two directions with this. Either make it a salad - big huge green salad and then add the ingredients overtop (you can add tortilla chips if you want) or make burritos with soft tortillas. We just set out the 15 different bowls (since you only have to cook one it's really quick) and have everyone make their own.