Wellness Weekly

We are in the THICK OF IT!! The Fall semester is upon us and who here on campus isn't feeling it?! Check out this article from Weightwatchers.com on making quick and tastey meals in little time, by shopping right and getting a little creative in the kitchen!



Shortcut Cooking
Article By: Leslie Fink, MS, RD


Don't have time to baste, broil and bake? Don't worry! We've got tricks that'll help you turn convenience foods into memorable meals — in minutes.
If you're sick of takeout and too tired to spend an hour in the kitchen, we have simple and tasty solutions for you. Many convenience foods can be easily doctored up so that your meals taste like home cooking — but involve far less effort.

Shortcut strategies
-Purchase dried bean, rice and pasta mixes with flavor packets so that you don't have to measure out lots of spices and seasonings. (Buy reduced-sodium varieties if you're following a low-salt diet.)

-Eliminate slicing and dicing with packages of fresh or frozen vegetables that are already cleaned and chopped or shredded.

-Take home a whole roasted chicken to make a quick chicken salad, burrito or wrap.

-Use canned and dehydrated soups as bases for heartier soups and stews.

Short on time, long on flavor Jodie Shield, MEd, RD, recipe developer and nutrition consultant to The Chicago Tribune, shares some of her super-fast meal ideas below. A few more tips come from Bev Bennett, cookbook author and weight-loss columnist for The Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
For quick jambalaya, stir-fry salad-size shrimp, diced low-fat Italian sausage and chopped bell pepper. Combine with a cooked Cajun-style rice mix until well blended.
One-dish pasta entrées make simple family meals. Try adding chopped broccoli and diced lean ham to a cooked reduced-fat macaroni-and-cheese mix. Or make a vegetarian version with chopped fresh tomatoes and lightly steamed asparagus tips.
Feed a crowd with a wild rice-turkey casserole: Stir-fry leftover turkey breast, chopped broccoli and dried cranberries; combine with a cooked wild-rice mix.
Go vegetarian with black bean burritos. Stir-fry diced onions and combine them with canned black beans (rinsed and drained) and a cooked rice mix. Layer down the center of tortillas, top with salsa and low-fat shredded cheddar cheese, roll up, and bake until heated through and the tortillas are slightly browned.
Add a dash of lime juice, hot sauce and a cup of chopped cooked chicken breast to canned chicken soup. Sprinkle with cilantro and you've got hot-and-sour soup in a jiffy.
Slice and arrange store-bought, precooked polenta in a 9-inch square pan; top with soy-based chorizo and a little tomato sauce. Bake until just heated through, and you'll be dining Italian-style with almost no effort.
For even speedier meals and snacks from your own kitchen, check out 13 great no-cook ideas in The No-Time-to-Cook Guide.