A Lazy Girl's Take on Dinner

Ok, I fully admit that when it comes to making dinner I am the laziest person out there. By the time I get off of work and finish working out all I want to do is make the fastest, easiest thing I can for dinner. My typical dinners include cereal, a veggie burger that I can heat in the microwave in less than two minutes, scrambled eggs with toast or in a wrap or a sandwich, or once in a while I’ll heat up some microwavable brown rice and frozen veggies. Are you getting the picture? Anything I make for dinner usually takes less than 10 minutes to make. Yes, I am THAT impatient and THAT lazy!

But, even I must admit, my own blog is inspiring me to branch out a little more. When I went to the grocery store after work today, I made a conscious effort to think up yummy, easy, and fresh dinner ideas to break up the monotony of my usual routine. Do you ever notice that everything processed in a grocery store is located in the interior aisles and everything fresh and whole is located, for the most part, around the perimeter of the store? Tonight, I mainly shopped the perimeter and only hit up the interior aisles for a few things. So, what made my list tonight?

Interior Aisles
One organic lowfat frozen bean burrito
One can of reduced sodium black beans
Kashi GoLean cereal
Emerald 100-calorie packs of almonds
Pineapple chunks in individual cups

Perimeter
Fruit: Strawberries, Bananas, Grapes, Apples, Tomatoes, and Avocado
Vegetables: Potatoes, Butternut squash, Chives, Onions, Green peppers, and Lettuce
Lean Meat: Chicken fillets marinated in lemon pepper seasoning and Extra lean ground turkey breast
Whole Grains: Wheat bread, English muffins, and pita pockets

With everything I bought, coupled with some other stuff I have at home, I have so many meal ideas. Tonight, I am going to cook the extra lean ground turkey with Lawry’s taco seasoning. With this alone, I can make three different and yummy meals – first up, a fajita with ground turkey, onions, green peppers, black beans, a little bit of cheese, salsa, avocado, and light sour cream. Tomorrow night, I can use the ground turkey for a salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, onion, green peppers, and a little bit of cheese. On Saturday night, I am going to bake a potato and load it with the lean ground turkey, a little bit of cheese, chives, and some light sour cream. I can make three fairly easy, yummy, and HEALTHY dinners out of one package of extra lean ground turkey.

I’ve learned that if you shop purposefully you can get a lot more out of your meals. Too often, I think about what’s easy and quick and this can really be short-sighted. Now, I have three delicious dinners to look forward to just by thinking ahead and buying ingredients that can serve a lot of purposes. So next time you go to the grocery store, I challenge you to fight your urge to load up on items and in the interior aisles. Focus your attention on the perimeter and I guarantee your meals will taste better and be better for you. It's worth the extra effort, even for a lazy girl like me!