Recipe featured above: pasta with Italian chicken sausage and red sauce.
Hi friends,
Some of you have asked me how I manage to cook with a super busy schedule. Is it possible to be a full-time student, have an internship, babysit, practice two sports, have a social life, keep your apartment clean and also cook?
The answer is yes! Other than the obvious skill of time-management and organization, there are some tricks to keeping your life in order.
In this blog, I'll only share three of my lazy, healthy, and tasty recipes that allow me to still eat homemade food on my busiest days. Please keep in mind three things:
1. When I make these recipes, I make a fair quantity that will last me three days (esp. if I know I don't have time to cook on those days.) If you're a person who gets bored eating the same thing in a row; you can make two of those easy recipes in a day and alternate between the two for six days.
2. You can make small tweaks to the recipes based on what is available to you. Sometimes cooking needs a little imagination and creativity.
3. If you fail the first time, try again. Nobody is perfect and you learn from your mistakes.
So here you go! All three of them require 10-15 min. total.
Lemon Chicken with veggies:
What you need:
Chicken breasts.
Bag of frozen veggies (your choice), salt.
Lemons and spices.
What to do:
Fry the chicken breasts in extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle salt, pepper, oregano and onion powder while the chicken is cooking. Boil the frozen veggies in salty water. When the chicken is cooked, top it off with lemon juice and enjoy it with a side of your boiled veggies.
Pasta with Italian chicken sausage and red sauce:
What you need:
Angel hair pasta (boils faster.)
Red pasta sauce (literally available at your grocery store just pick a good one.)
Spicy Italian chicken sausages (available at Whole Foods if you're in the US. You should be able to find them anywhere. You want it spicy so you don't have to bother with spices. Though if you do have spices available adding them will enhance the flavor.)
Optional: Want to spend an extra five minutes on this recipe? Cut one fresh white onion.
What to do:
First, boil the pasta. Cut the sausages in pieces and in a pan with extra virgin olive oil fry the sausages in low heat. Option to add favorite spices while it's frying and also to add the fresh onion to sautee. When the pasta has boiled and the sausages (and onions) have cooked, stir the pasta and combine everything in the pot. Empty the bottle of red sauce, let it cook for another minute while stirring and your Italian dish is ready!
P.S. This is a delicious recipe if done well and it also has a more complicated version where you basically get a delicious all'amatriciana, but it takes more time and more ingredients so I won't include it here.
Veggie turkey bolognese (no pasta):
What you need:
Ground turkey, spices.
Bag of frozen veggies specifically a mix of corn and peas and tiny pieces of carrot (very common mix - easy to find).
Pasta sauce either red or white. I recommend red, white can be tricky if you haven't cooked much with creamy flavors.
What to do:
Fry the ground turkey in a pan with extra virgin olive oil. Add your favorite spices while it's frying. Boil the frozen veggies in salty water. Stir veggies, and combine the meat and veggies in the pot. Add the sauce and stir for a minute in low heat.
Bon Appétit
Questions? Feedback? Send me a message!
P.S. I may do another blog sharing my favorite recipes and desserts that take longer to make. And yes, I'll answer your questions about staying fit while still enjoying your favorite desserts. Stay tuned also for a blog on how to keep your apartment clean with minimal time spent on cleaning.