Simple Tips and Healthy Recipes for the Beginner

So you’ve made the choice to improve your eating habits, good for you!! Diet is so important for our overall health and wellness! I’ve complied a list of healthy recipes that I believe anyone can make, at any stage of their food journey.

These recipes focus on REAL food choices, limiting the processed ingredients as much as possible. My intention is to make eating better foods an easy transition for you.

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Some helpful tips…

Meal Plan- This post “How to Create a Seasonal Meal Plan“ is helpful if you like the idea of simplifying meal planning. You basically create a rotating menu for each season. It works very well!!

Otherwise, choose a day of the week to plan out meals for the week. Then create your grocery list using your meal plan. ALWAYS “shop” your pantry and fridge first. My list is separated into 3 sections. “What I have, What I can make, What I need.” That way, you are using the food you currently have first, then grabbing what you need form there.

For more help on meal planning, check out “8 Tips on Simplifying Meal Planning.”

Meal prep: Meal prepping is going to save you SO much time in the long run of things. While it’s not always fun to do, its always worth it. Rather than prepping actual “meals” think of it as “food prep.” I like to batch cook a protein or two to use for lunches throughout the week (shredded chicken, ground beef, etc), roast 2 trays of veggies and make some sort of starch (potato, rice, quinoa, etc.). That way I can mix and match this food during the week.

Wash your fruit and veggies right away: As soon as I get groceries home from the store, I soak them in the sink for about 10 minutes with cold water and a splash or two of apple cider vinegar. (Wash your sink first-sprinkle baking soda with lemon essential oil over all of the sink, squirt dish soap, scrub with a scrub brush, then rinse clean.) Rinse the produce, then lay on a towel to dry. Once dry, store if your fridge.

Make one day a week a “clean out the fridge night.” Eat up all the leftovers, making a meal out of it or creating a snack board for dinner. Or do breakfast for diner at the end of a long week. Skip the fast food and whip up some scrambled eggs and toast and/or veggies! Easy and nutritious!

Purchase quality meat- once you start researching meat, where it comes from, how its processed, etc. you will be shocked. I went vegan for a few years because I was so disgusted… I’ve since learned about all the benefits meat has, IF you are purchasing quality meat. Look for pasture-raised poultry, grass-fed beef and pasture raised eggs.

REPEAT REPEAT REPEAT– When you find something you like, repeat the meal as often as you can stand! For example, I eat scrambled eggs, some sort of veggie (sautéed greens, roasted veggies that are in the fridge, etc.) and avocado every single morning. IF I get sick of it, I might add some hot sauce or salsa to the eggs or might eat something else all together, but I repeat meals very often. We do this with dinners as well. Some meals we have every week until we are sick of it!

To keep full and satisfied after a meal, remember this: FAT, FIBER, PROTEIN, VEGGIES. If you follow Kelly LeVeque, she is big on this, “The Fab 4“. It will help elongate your blood sugar sugar and eliminate the need for snacking during the day! I talk more about that in my Toddler Meal Plan.

Recipe Roundup

Staple Recipes:

These are recipes I make almost EVERY week… I stick to a pretty basic routine because its easy and simple and I’m feeding my body nutritious food!

Roasted veggies: spread fresh or frozen vegetables onto 2 sheet pans. Drizzle olive or avocado oil on top, sprinkle sea salt and garlic powder over top, mix them up and bake in the oven at 425 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Stir halfway through. *Be sure not to overlap veggies or they won’t roast- they will steam instead.” This recipe works well with broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, carrots, radishes, potatoes, etc.

Baked Sweet Potatoes– use to pair with a protein and veggies/salad!

Roast a whole chicken- this is NOT as intimidating as it sounds. It’s actually super easy. I either make it for dinner and have leftovers the next night, or make it on a Sunday, then we pick at it for a few days for lunches. This has been one of the most beneficial things as far as meal prep is concerned. Here is Kelly LeVeque’s recipe that I follow. “Lemon-Garlic Roast Chicken.“

Shredded chicken (Instant Pot): add a pound-ish of chicken to the instant pot with 1 cup broth and salt and pepper to taste (water will work too, but broth gives it a better flavor). Close the lid, seal the top and high pressure cook for 14 minutes, or if frozen high pressure cook for 18 minutes. You can quick release when its done, or allow it to naturally release (takes about 10 minutes to naturally release). Here is a recipe to use if you need one- Easy Instant Pot Shredded Chicken.

**Use the shredded chicken to make–

1. stir fry– use rice or cauliflower rice, OR a mix of both!
2. a bowl with chicken + roasted veggies + salad + guacamole or dressing of choice (can add sauce to the chicken as well- BBQ, etc.)
3. shredded chicken tacos- mix chicken with salsa then add lettuce + tomatoes + avocado
4. Chicken salad- add to a bowl of greens with cut up cucumber + celery + fresh cilantro. Add dressing of choice! I generally pour olive oil over top of my salad, add sea salt and avocado. Sometimes I add crushed Siete chips for an extra crunch! =)
5. White Chicken Chili Soup (Unbound Wellness)

Salsa shredded chicken (Instant Pot): Place 1/2 cup salsa on the bottom of an instant pot. Add chicken breast (1-2 lbs). Season to your liking with salt and pepper. High pressure cook for 14 minutes for thawed chicken and 20 minutes for frozen. Once done, quick release and shredd with kitchen forks OR, my favorite, shredd with a hand mixer!

Use this recipe in tacos, chicken salads, quesadillas, etc.

My Current Favorite Recipes:

Here are the healthy recipes I’ve been making on repeat lately! We repeat meals ALL the time, and nights that I don’t want to cook, we eat breakfast for dinner!

1. “Lemon-Garlic Roast Chicken.“, roasted veggies and salad. This lasts us 2 dinners.
2. Instant Pot Chicken and Vegetable Soup- (Against All Grain)- This is like a chicken noodle soup, but paleo and whole 30 compliant. I’ve skipped the gelatin in this recipe and it still turned out great! You can use fresh or frozen chicken in this recipe!
3. Sheet Pan Vegetables and Sausage- This recipe is great because you can dump everything on the baking sheet, bake and walk away. I like to use frozen veggies and skip the chopping of fresh veggies! =)
4. Whole 30 Chili (stove top)– (The Defined Dish)- This recipe is simple (does involve some chopping) and delicious. My families favorite chili right now! This buffalo chili is great too- I use grass fed beef instead of buffalo.
5. Burrito bowl: in a bowl, combine chopped lettuce, tomatoes, sautéed bell peppers, cauliflower rice and this Taco Meat– (The Defined Dish). Top with store bought or homemade guacamole. Buy frozen cauliflower rice to make this meal super easy! This chicken burrito bowl recipe looks god and easy- I haven’t personally tried it but will soon!
6. Sheet Pan salmon and veggies- use any vegetables with this recipe. Use frozen veggies for a quick, “throw and go” option. Instead of chopping the sweet potato, you could just cut in in half lengthwise for a roasted potato half!
7. Stir fry – with shredded chicken and cauliflower rice. This recipe is great because you really can use any veggies you want. This would be a great end of the week meal to use up leftover food and veggies!
8. Spaghetti- to make it healthy, cook up grass fed beef to mix into your sugar free sauce! Rao’s sauce is great, but there are other organic sauces that don’t add sugar. Serve over zucchini noodles or jovial gluten free spaghetti noodles. Serve with a side salad to increase the fiber intake and get some greens in!
9. White Chicken AIP Chili (What Great Grandma Ate)- Cook it on the stovetop or put everything in the slow cooker and cook on 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low!
10. Turkey Taco Skillet (original recipe by Defined Dish)- this is SO good to eat as nachos or on top of lettuce, as a taco salad.

Other healthy recipes you might enjoy:

Hard boiled egg recipe- (Damn Delicious)- use for snacks, sandwiches, salads
Healthy Chicken Pot Pie Soup- (Ambitious Kitchen)- slow cooker option!

I hope this helps and you enjoy these recipes!

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