We’re talking easy, healthy and quick meals today! 

Hello, my friends! It’s a food post!

Long-time blog readers will remember that every single Wednesday, I used to post a recap of everything I ate in a day. Wow. That was a lot of work. I don’t take pictures of my food as frequently as I did back then, so you don’t get as much food content on the blog. But I know you want to see more, so I’m giving you a little bit today. 

Before we begin …

Someone asked me a great question in the comments of the blog the other day that I wanted to share with you here. They said, “Now that you’ve gone through the Precision Nutrition course, have your personal eating habits changed?” A good question indeed …

To be totally honest, my habits haven’t changed significantly, because I’ve been a healthy eater for quite some time. However, ever since I completed my nutrition course, I am much more aware of my loose protein calculations each day, and I try to eat more slowly without distractions. I do not track my calories or my macronutrients, but I do mentally and casually hope to achieve about 100 grams of protein a day, which is more than I ate before. I could probably be doing more protein than that for my activity level, but because I’m not a big meat eater, it’s not the easiest thing in the world for me to do. Most of my meals have around 20 grams of protein, and sometimes more. I eat three meals a day and two snacks, so in an ideal world, with all of those having 20 grams of protein, I’d end the day with 100 grams of protein. I don’t think I achieve that consistently though.

I know that I like my food. And I have good energy, sleep and digestion. So whatever I’m doing is working for me, even if it isn’t specific enough for any major body composition improvements.

Back to the meals. These meals are a combination of dinners and lunches. But there are times that I eat a lunch meal for dinner, so they are all interchangeable in my eyes. My meals are very easy to assemble, I don’t follow any recipes, and I’m not the best in the kitchen, but I like my food, and it’s working for me. And that’s another big lesson I took away from my nutrition course, is that you have to find out what works for you in your lifestyle with trial and error.

Now let’s get to the healthy and quick meals …

10 easy, healthy and quick meals I’ve eaten recently for lunch and dinner

We have to start with this one, because it’s a personal favorite, and I had it for dinner twice last week. Once fresh and once as a leftover …

Chickpea pasta medley

This bowl is a staple meal for me, and I love it. It’s Eat Banza chickpea pasta, some sautéed arugula, two Vital Farms eggs and some Rao’s Homemade marinara sauce on top. I know what you’re thinking. Who puts eggs in their pasta? I do. I always have. I’ll put an egg on anything. I’ve also always been a big pasta eater. Dave and I will both eat pasta on these nights, but he prefers regular white pasta. I actually prefer my lentil or chickpea pasta, so we each do our own, sharing sauce, etc.

Chicken apple sausages and sweet potato

This is not what you were expecting right? I’ve told you so many times I’m not a huge fan of chicken, which is an aversion that started back when I was pregnant. Before that, I was totally fine with chicken. But I am a fan of chicken apple sausage. We don’t eat these often, but we’ve actually had them twice recently, and they were great. Dave cooks them on the grill. I also had half of a large avocado and half of a large baked sweet potato. This combo was excellent, and this is definitely my highest protein meal.

Veggie burgers and more

Now this is a very typical Ashley dinner. This is a meal that we probably eat twice a week in some form or fashion. There are two Hilary’s Eat Well black bean veggie burgers, a Vital Farms egg, half of an avocado and some cauliflower rice, covered in black pepper, sea salt, turmeric and some green salsa. This meal doesn’t get old, and it’s so easy to prepare. Also, we bake our veggie burgers. I know you can make them in the pan, but I prefer the baked variety. I’ve mentioned this before, but my all-time favorite veggie burgers, Qrunch Burgers made from quinoa, were discontinued, and I haven’t found a replacement I love as much, but these Hilary’s ones are pretty good.

Brussels sprouts and cottage cheese

I love Brussels sprouts, but I don’t eat them as often as I used to. I used to make them at least once a week in the oven sprinkled with some olive oil, salt and pepper. This lunch features a heap of baked Brussels, some Good Culture cottage cheese, some Mary’s Gone Crackers and a Vital Farms egg. This is another medley meal that may sound strange, but it was excellent. Are you a Brussels fan? I feel like people either love them or hate them, and I’m in the love camp — especially if they have a little char.

Chicken apple sausages and salad

You know how they say it’s so much better and healthier to make your own salad than buy the pre-made version in the bag? Yes, it is. But it’s so much easier to buy the bagged version. And my diet has never been about being perfect, it’s often about choosing the best option that’s also fast. We eat a bagged salad at least once a week or more, and it makes a great side to two chicken apple sausages and half of an avocado. Another good meal, particularly when mixed all together.

Mashed sweet potato and eggs

This is a pretty common lunch for me, especially if I’ve recently been to Trader Joe’s. I like to buy the bags of frozen mashed sweet potato. That’s what you see on my plate, with two Vital Farms eggs, some beet crackers and half of an avocado. Brady likes the mashed sweet potato too, so that’s something we can share. We don’t always eat the same things, but I try to have some overlap, where I can.

Hummus toast and hard-boiled eggs

What would I eat if I didn’t eat eggs? That’s a good question. I eat eggs once or twice a day, every single day, and I never tire of them. I always buy my Vital Farms pasture-raised eggs, and I can’t switch off from them. This plate features three Vital Farms hard-boiled eggs, some sautéed arugula and a piece of Ezekiel bread toast with hummus on top. I’ve been doing a lot of toast with lunch lately, and I’m into Food for Life Baking Ezekiel bread right now, which you can keep in the fridge or freezer. These small dense pieces of bread have about five grams of protein, so they add a little to my meal, and I like that.

Avocado toast and eggs

Do you like the color on this plate? You’re seeing some purplish-red beet sauerkraut, which is so tasty and very good for gut health with valuable fermented probiotics. I also have some toasted Ezekiel bread with guacamole on it (yes, I called this avocado toast, but it’s really guacamole toast), and two Vital Farms eggs. As I said, I’m on a toast kick during lunch with various accompaniments. And I always prefer a real avocado to guacamole, but sadly, we’ve had a lot of times lately where we can’t get good avocados, so guac it is.

Avocado toast and cottage cheese

Another toast meal! I told you I’ve been eating it a lot. I was on a Mary’s Gone Crackers kick for a while, and now it’s toast. I like my carbs, and I need them too. This plate has guacamole/avocado toast, two Vital Farms eggs and some Good Culture cottage cheese. You’ll see I didn’t have any veggies on this plate. It’s not ideal, but sometimes it happens, and it’s not the end of the world. It sure tasted good though.

Beyond Meat burgers and salad

What’s on the plate? A grilled Beyond Meat burger in a wrap. Dave and I first tried these Beyond Meat plant-based burgers maybe two years ago during our COVID lockdown, and we loved the taste and how clean they are to eat. They are not messy and drippy like a regular beef burger. However, they are pretty processed. These are not necessarily a healthier option than beef, but they are simple, so we eat them regularly. But every once in a while we have a real burger instead, and I had one at a restaurant this past weekend. Dave makes these burgers in a pan on the stove and wraps them with a big flour tortilla. Then, we put avocado and salsa in the little wrap and eat it as one. It’s very good. Yes, Dave makes these too, because he is our resident dinner chef, and I’m grateful for that. We also had another bagged salad on the side with this one. This is a weekend meal, by the way, and we do it usually weekly, but sometimes skip it. I highly recommend the burger-wrapping method, if you’ve never tried it.

And those are my easy, healthy and quick meals. You’ll see I repeat a lot of the same foods, I keep it very simple, and I aim for a full plate of goodness every time I sit down to eat. You probably wouldn’t want to repeat my exact same meals, because they may not be right for you. But I hope this post gives you a little inspiration to keep it simple and colorful, and never be afraid to do some meal repeating, if it keeps things easier on you. 

Also, I’m so glad we switched to white plates. We swapped out our dish-ware when we moved into our new house last year, and white dishes make me so much happier than dark dishes, which we used to have. Ours are sold out, but I got them from Mikasa.

Thanks for coming by A Lady Goes West to check out my healthy and quick meals. I hope you have a wonderful day! 🙂

Other posts you may like …

• Five healthy eating habits to improve your nutrition
• Six new food finds I’ve been loving lately
• What I’ve been eating for lunch during quarantine

Questions of the day for YOU …

What’s your go-to weeknight meal?

How are your skills in the kitchen?

Do you count macronutrients or do you eat intuitively?

What are your favorite healthy and quick meals to make at home?