Thank you Healthy Choice for sponsoring this post. Visit your local retailer to pick up your own Healthy Choice Simply Cafe Steamer or Original Cafe Steamer meal today!
Eating right all the time is hard stuff for me. There isn’t a huge variety of foods I like and I have diet restrictions like being gluten free (mainly) and other food intolerances. For the most part I can eat pretty well, but I do find the occasional fried food a little too enticing and packing a lunch for work takes time that I am just okay at managing.
Being around kids doesn’t help things either, especially when they are grazers instead of full meal eaters. It’s hard to let food go to waste when you’re out and you know you won’t be near a refrigerator for a while. Either my husband or I end up eating the extra and then we feel it! 🙂
I have a handful of go-to lunches that I plan to eat when I know my days will be busy. I like keeping my meals simple so I don’t have to think too much and risk grabbing unhealthy at the last minute.
6 Healthy Choices for Lunch (Under 500 Calories Each)
After years of logging food into MyFitnessPal, I find myself returning to the same meals over and over again. These all come in under 500 calories if you stick to reasonable portion sizes and don’t do something wild like top your soup with oil or smother your chicken in cheese. 🙂
- Steamed Rice with Baked Chicken: This one is good to pair with some fresh or cooked vegetables. In my experience it heats up easily and doesn’t turn to tasteless crap in the microwave like some foods can.
- Healthy Choice Simply Café Steamers – With nearly a dozen to choose from there is something to fit my mood. All have less than 310 calories with more than 18 grams of 100% natural protein and no artificial ingredients. These are the ones with the tray-in-tray steam cooking method that keeps the ingredients separate during heating. I like it because I don’t always like to use all the sauce, and I can adjust it to my taste. My favorite at the moment is the Chicken & Vegetable Stir Fry.
It’s really good and even the kids will eat it. It isn’t gluten free because of the soy sauce, but I eat it anyway because it’s so delicious (I told you I was MOSTLY gluten-free!) 🙂 I keep a few of the Healthy Choice Simply Café Steamers in my freezer at all times so I can fit them in on my busiest days. Here are some other varieties as well: 
- Chicken Noodle Soup – Soup is so incredibly easy to make. Throw some chicken and some veggies into a pot with whatever spices you like and add water. After the meat is cooked toss in some pasta and cook until ready. Simple. It really is that easy to make soup that tastes good. It never tastes the same as the previous time since I don’t usually have the same stuff hanging around the fridge but I always enjoy it.
- Pot Roast in the Crock Pot: Another easy, easy, easy meal. I throw any vegetable I have in the fridge and pantry in a crock pot with a nice hunk of lean beef and let it cook overnight. A squeeze of lemon, a few cloves of garlic and salt and pepper finish this off with very little clean-up afterward. Some times I don’t even peel the veggies, just wash and cut the ends off then toss them in. There are fancier ways to make this but in a pinch it still tastes good and I have leftover broth for another meal ready. I replace the potatoes with radishes and turnips to keep the heavy starches down and my kids and husband don’t know the difference since they are so similar when cooked.
- Eggs: There are so many ways to make eggs I can’t even go into all of them. My go to is an omelet since you can toss extra stuff into it so it doesn’t get boring. A little rice and steamed spinach make a good base for an egg bowl that will be delicious and healthy.
- Smoothies: I love these but they aren’t easy to make at the office unless you have it prepped before hand and have a blender with you. At home though this is super simple and fast and can be portable (the best reason). Frozen fruit, fresh fruit, chocolate, peanut butter, spinach, instant coffee, any other food you choose… toss it with some ice, milk or yogurt and off you go!
Free Printable Daily Water Tracker
A big part of staying healthy as a mom is making sure I’m always hydrated. If I don’t drink enough water, I feel myself fading fast by the end of a busy day!
I created this cute water tracker printable that I can keep on my fridge to help me stay on track during the week. It’s such a simple idea, but you wouldn’t believe how often I simply drink coffee after coffee and forget to fit some plain old water in between! LOL
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Thank you again to Healthy Choice for sponsoring this post which gave me the inspiration for this printable water tracker. I’ve already used it for a week and love it!
I saw so many varieties of the Healthy Choice Simply Café Steamers when I was looking for them in the frozen food aisle that I will have to make a couple more trips to try them all! 🙂 I can’t believe I never noticed them before…they really are making sticking to a healthy diet easier for me on busy days. At just $3.29 each, they are a great value.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
Come check me out over at my blog www.lazygeniusmom.com
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Elizabeth says
Love the water tracker!!! Thanks!
Lena Gott says
Glad you like it, Elizabeth!!