7 Quick and Easy Meal Ideas to Try Entering the Busy Fall Months, Part 1

Vacations are winding down (boo!) and fall is right around the corner!  I woke up this morning with windows open and the crisp air flowing inside.  How pleasant, right? Or is it just a reminder that a new school year is starting so soon, soccer and football practices are in action and it’s time to get back into work mode.  

With all that being said, the window of time to prepare, cook and eat your meal has become much smaller!  So how do we do it all and enjoy a balanced meal?  We got you covered with two blogs on quick and easy meal ideas with some additional tips to help you out.  Here is part 1! 

Dinner #1: Barbecue 

Just because summer is over does not mean that we have to stop grilling outside. If anything this is the best time to fire up the grill and enjoy some fresh crisp air!  Grilling is a fast cooking method to cook your whole meal and makes cleaning up super quick and easy.  

Try marinating chicken in Italian salad dressing or BBQ sauce. If you forgot to marinate the morning of or night before, simply just season with spices of your choice.  In my house, we like pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning.  Chicken breast typically takes about 25 minutes to cook on the grill (or till 165 degrees) so this dinner at most will take you is 30 minutes.  

While the chicken is cooking on the grill, this is your chance to chop up some vegetables – peppers, onions, tomatoes, or anything that you like!  Simply spray your foil with cooking spray, place the vegetables in the foil, season, and close them up to make a little foil pouch.  That pouch can cook for about 10 minutes.  

While that is all doing its thing, throw some minute rice in the microwave and boom done!  

Dinner under 30 minutes with a protein, starch and vegetable.  

P.S: if you missed our previous blog on ways to make grilling easier, check it out by clicking here.  

Dinner #2: Slow Cooker 

The slow cooker or Crockpot does the work for you while you’re running around all day to work, school and/or the store.  This is the perfect spot to make chili, where you throw everything in one pot and let the slow cooker do the work and you just eat it!  You also can use it to cook chicken or pork to shred and use in another recipe.  

Here is one of my favorites to make and that I’m actually making tonight! My chicken is currently cooking while I’m writing and then right before I assemble the meal, I’ll shred up the chicken.  

Feel free to give it a shot or search for other slow cooker or Crockpot recipes out there.  There are a ton!  I even have a whole cookbook just on recipes to make in the slow cooker! 

Dinner #3: Sheet Pan Meal 

Sheet pan recipes are another quick and easy option that pretty much means your protein, starch and veggie are all cooked on 1 sheet (or 2 if you need more room) and are all cooked in the oven at the same time.  Sheet pan meals are awesome because you can do other things while it cooks like empty the dishwasher or pack your lunch for tomorrow.  

My favorite sheet pan meal is salmon, potatoes and broccoli.  Potatoes are diced up (the smaller you cut them the less time they will take to cook!), seasoned with salt and pepper, drizzled with olive oil, and cooked for about 30 minutes.  At about the 20 minute mark, I’ll add the salmon (with some lemon slices on top for flavor) and the broccoli (also with salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil).  If you need this meal cooked even quicker, instead of potatoes as your starch try rice or pasta.  

Here are some great recipes to check out and try: 

• Chicken veggie fajitas 
• Chipotle Lime Shrimp 
• Pork Chops and Potatoes 

Dinner #4: Sandwiches 

Sandwiches are awesome because they can be taken on-the-go if needed.  They also get an extra bonus for being a hot or cold meal. For hot, think of sausage, pepper and onions on a roll or meatball or roast beef sandwiches.  For cold, think of chicken, tuna and egg salad or a lunch meat sandwich.  

Now not every sandwich is created equal, but here are a few ways to make sandwiches a full meal for you!  

• Choose whole wheat or whole grain bread, rolls or wraps 
• If you are picking out lunch meat, check in at the deli counter for low sodium options 
• Load your sandwich with veggies like lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots and more!  
• Pair with a side salad 

Here is another recipe that I recently tried that my friend sent me.  It’s a curry chicken salad wrap.  Check it out by clicking here.  This also was another chance for me to use my Crockpot to cook the chicken and shred it so when I made the salad I was just mixing things together vs. cooking anything. AKA time saver!    

I know you’re wondering, where are the rest of the meal ideas, right?  Well this is just part 1!  So if you still need more ideas, stay tune for our next blog.  But for now, what are you going to give a try?  Use the grill, slow cooker, sheet pan or sandwich approach?  Let us know!  I think I’m dreaming of a good crockpot meal.  Stay tuned!  

Cheers to busy nights with filling meals, 

This blog was written by Amanda J. Stahl RD, LDN, co-founder of Simple Start Nutrition.  For more blog posts and nutrition information follow @simplestartnutrition on Instagram and Facebook.  Also feel free to contact us, by visiting our website (simplestartnutrition.com) to schedule an appointment to discuss your nutrition related needs.  We’re here to help.