Insanely Easy and Healthy Meals You Can Make At Home

Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope everyone is doing whatever they can to make their time stuck at home a little more enjoyable. This morning I went on my morning run to worship music and then came home to watch the live-stream church service from my bed, so I’d say today is off to a great start. Over the past 13 days of self-isolation I’ve established a pretty good training plan for running (although I have no idea what I’m training for because I’m pretty sure my May race will be cancelled), managed to get dressed in real clothes every day, and come up with a few really easy recipes that anyone (no matter their cooking skill level) could make at home.

People keep saying this is the time where millennials and Gen Zs will learn how to cook, so if that’s the case, check out a few of my favorite dinner/lunch recipes that are ridiculously simple and require very few ingredients (which we all know is key right now).

1. Chicken Stir Fry

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This Chicken Stir Fry has been one of my favorite go-to meals over the past two weeks. If you’re like me and stocked up on a ton of frozen vegetables, then this recipe is the perfect way to make use of them… especially if you don’t like vegetables. You can change up the ingredients to whatever vegetables or meat you have on hand, but this is my favorite combination:

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 tbsp Coconut Oil
2. Chicken Breast
3. Frozen Broccoli
4. Frozen Riced Cauliflower (you can also just put regular cauliflower in the blender to make it “riced”)
5. White Onion
6. Garlic Powder
7. Pink Himalayan Sea Salt (or regular salt)
8. Coconut Aminos (or whatever Asian sauce you have on hand)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Melt 1 tbsp of coconut oil in a frying pan and add your frozen broccoli and chicken breast to the pan. Season the broccoli and chicken with garlic and pink salt. (flip chicken after 5 minutes)
2. Once broccoli starts to soften, add in the onions.
3. When the chicken is almost completely cooked (should have an internal temperature of of 165 degrees when it’s done), add riced cauliflower and season it with garlic and salt.
4. Cut up chicken into bite sized pieces and mix it around with the vegetables.
5. Transfer everything from the pan into a serving bowl and top with your favorite sauce. I like Thrive Market’s Organic Coconut Aminos because it’s soy-free, sugar-free, and gluten-free.

As you can probably tell, I’m not a very detailed cook, so I basically just eyeball everything. I don’t set any timers for this recipe or anything like that. The portion sizes of the chicken and vegetables is really up to you. As a rule of thumb, I like to make sure I eat 1 palm-sized serving of protein (chicken) and 2 palm-sized servings of vegetables in every meal.

The most important thing about this dish is to make sure the chicken is fully cooked, so it needs to be at an internal temperature of 165 degrees, but you can also tell if it’s cooked enough by cutting it open and seeing if it’s still pink.

*I also love making this dish with spaghetti squash instead of cauliflower when I want to shake it up. Keeping scrolling for more info on spaghetti squash.

2. “Gourmet” Frozen Turkey Burgers

This next recipe is so simple, I’m not sure why I’m even including it. However, if you’re like me and couldn’t find any chicken at all at the grocery store, this one is for you. I ended up buying 3 boxes of Bubba Turkey Burgers (27 turkey burgers in total) because that’s the only thing I could find at Publix. I don’t eat beef, pork, or deli meat though, so my options were limited. Anyways, I found myself wondering how on earth I can make eating turkey burgers every day for the next few weeks interesting. Here’s my first turkey burger creation:

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 tsp Coconut Oil
2. 1 Frozen Turkey Burger
3. 3 Cups of Spinach
4. White Onion
5. Garlic Powder
6. Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
7. 1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Melt the coconut oil on the frying pan and add the frozen turkey burger. Season the turkey burger with pink salt and flip after a 5-7 minutes.
2. Chop up some white onion and caramelize it in the frying pan (however much you want to add).
3. Once the onions are soft, add the spinach to the pan. You might need to add it in 1 cup at a time and wait for it to shrink in order for it all to fit in your pan.
4. Season the onions and spinach with garlic powder and pink salt.
5. After the turkey burger is done cooking (it should have an internal temperature of 165 degrees and the center should not be pink), put the turkey burger and spinach mix on a serving plate and top it all off with 1 tbps of extra virgin olive oil and more pink salt.

So, as you can see, there’s literally nothing gourmet about this turkey burger at all. However, pairing it with a side of vegetables and adding olive oil goes a very long way. My biggest cooking revolution lately has been that everything tastes good with pink salt and olive oil.

3. Pan-Fried Salmon and Broccoli

Allow me to introduce you to another insanely easy healthy meal anyone can make. This has been a staple meal for me for ages because it’s so simple and so delicious. Like I mentioned earlier, the grocery store was out of chicken, so I decided to get a little bit of Wild-Caught Frozen Sockeye Alaskan Salmon to add some variety to my turkey burgers. However, it’s kind of expensive, so I did not buy more than one bag, which I’m now kind of regretting because this meal is so good.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1/2 tbsp Coconut Oil
2. Frozen Salmon Fillet (I like Wild-Caught Sockeye Alaskan)
3. Frozen Broccoli
4. Garlic Powder
5. Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
6. *Optional* Fresh Lemon
7. 1/2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Follow the salmon’s thawing instructions and thaw your salmon.
2. Melt 1/2 tbsp coconut oil on the frying pan and add your frozen broccoli.
3. After 2 minutes, add salmon to frying pan and flip after 2 or 3 minutes. (Cook on medium-high to sear salmon)
4. Season the salmon with lemon juice and pink salt.
5. After the salmon is cooked, transfer it to a serving plate. The frozen broccoli will still need another minute or so.
6. Season the broccoli with garlic powder and pink salt.
7. Transfer the broccoli to the serving plate and drizzle 1/2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil over the salmon and broccoli.

4. Rosemary Chicken and Spaghetti Squash

It might not look like the most appetizing meal on the planet, but OH MY GOODNESS IT’S SO GOOD. I probably have this meal 3-4 times on an average week, although I’m rationing my chicken at the moment, so I’ve had to cut back in the past week. This meal is probably my favorite meal to make and it’s so easy. Plus, raw spaghetti squash lasts up to 2 months in your pantry, so it’s the perfect vegetable to buy right now if you’re trying to limit your grocery store runs and save room in your freezer. I love it because it’s super filling, tastes way better than real spaghetti noodles, and one spaghetti squash will make about four servings, so you can just microwave your leftover squash or heat it up on the stove later in the week.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 Spaghetti Squash
2. 1.5 Tbsp Coconut Oil
3. Chicken Breast
4. Rosemary
5. Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
6. 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SPAGHETTI SQUASH:

1. Preheat Oven to 450 Degrees
2. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and drizzle 1 tbsp of melted coconut oil over the inside.
3. Salt the spaghetti squash.
4. Put parchment paper on baking sheet and place both halves on the baking sheet FACE DOWN.
5. Cook for 40 Minutes
6. Scoop the inside “noodles” out of the squash and serve.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ROSEMARY CHICKEN:

1. Melt 1/2 tbsp of coconut oil on a medium-heat frying pan.
2. Place chicken breast on frying pan and season with pink salt and rosemary. Flip after five minutes and season the other side as well.
3. When the chicken is thoroughly cooked (reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees) transfer the chicken onto a serving plate and cut it up into bite sized pieces. Try to time this with the spaghetti squash, so they’re both done at the same time.
4. When the spaghetti squash is done, scoop this inside out put it on the serving plate. Mix the chicken and spaghetti squash together and then top with 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and pink salt.

This meal is so good and leftover spaghetti squash is so versatile you can use it for so many other meals later in the week. You could eat it with meatballs and marinara sauce, Alfredo sauce, or even pair with turkey burgers or salmon. The key to spaghetti squash is just topping it with olive oil and pink salt. I never thought I’d say this, but spaghetti squash is probably one of my all-time favorite foods, so I encourage you to get creative with it over this quarantine period.

These are my favorite EASY healthy meal ideas any 20-something can make on their own. Also, all of these meals are ridiculously healthy and full of nutrients… way better than eating pop-tarts for the next month if you ask me. Since I have a ton of food allergies, I’m still on the Comprehensive Elimination Diet. Every meal in this blog is Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) friendly and low glycemic. If you make any of these recipes, be sure to let me know on Instagramming by tagging @madisonlinnihan. Happy cooking!

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