Some days I really wish there were two of me.  The first one, would do all my errands, laundry, grocery shopping, cook beautiful three course meals, etc… and the second one would get to do all the other stuff.  But alas, since cloning isn’t really a possibility yet, I’m stuck with just one of me…and lot’s to do!  And since there’s only one, sometimes what’s for dinner really is the last thing on my agenda until it’s 6:30 pm, I’m hungry, and searching in my fridge for a little inspiration.

However, even if you only have 15 minutes and very little ingredients, you can still come up with an awesome, healthful, gourmet meal.  Here are some foods that are great to have in your cabinet to pull together quick and delish meals!

Rotisserie Chicken:

It’s truly amazing how many meals you can make out of rotisserie chicken.  Just make sure you get plain rotisserie chicken (preferably just chicken, salt and pepper) and forgo eating the skin which is pretty fattening.  Some of my go-tos are:

• Curry chicken salad with lowfat mayo/greek yogurt, grapes, celery, curry powder, enjoy on whole wheat bread, pita or crackers — great for lunchs and quick dinners
• Chicken “pizzas” — take a whole wheat tortilla, top with marinara, veggies of your choosing, a little shredded chicken and some lowfat mozzarella or parmesan (a little bbq sauce is also super yummy)
• Chicken tortillas — sauteé some  shredded chicken, ‘shrooms, peppers, onions, tomatoes with a little cumin and chili powder, heat the tortillas in a skillet, put in the chicken mix and top with salsa, slices of avocado and a little lowfat mexican blend cheese.

Eggs

One of D and my favorite go-to meals is Breakfast for dinner (also known as the “college kid’s meal”).  We chop up a bunch of veggies in our fridge (mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, spinach, you name it!), throw it in a pan with some olive oil and add egg whites or beaters and a little feta/goat cheese/parmesan/cheddar (or no cheese at all sometimes) and make a veggie scramble or omelette.  Round it out with a piece of whole grain toast and you’ve got yourself a great meal!

Polenta

Polenta is one of those products that really doesn’t get the attention it deserves for being insanely delish, comforting and super easy!  Not too mention that everyone gives you this crazy look when you mentioned you made something with polenta — like “WOAH you’re so gourmet!  Look at you top chef!”  I like to get tubes of polenta, throw a little veggie broth, salt, pepper and parmesan into it and zap it in the microwave until it is fully cooked and has a mashed potato-consisitency.  It can replace pasta in any dish — throw in a protein (chicken, fish, shrimp, whatever!), veggies, and some tomato sauce, and you’ve got yourself a low-cal, comforting winter dish!

What are some of your fave go-to quick meals??

Hope everyone is bundling and surviving the snow!!