Meal Planning: Quick Tips to Help You Plan Healthy Meals That Suit Your Busy Lifestyle by Susan Bowerman, M.S., R.D., CSSD, CSOWM, FAND

It’s Sunday, and the last thing you want to do is spend time meal prepping for the week. Instead, you find yourself dining out or pulling into the drive-thru for your next meal. It’s easy to be tempted by these readily available, high-calorie foods, which is why it's important to take time to plan ahead for quick, healthy meals. Here are some easy meal-planning tips to get you started:

• Keep a stash of quick, healthy recipes you can turn to. Simple and nutritious recipes are easy to find in cookbooks, magazines and on the web.

• Prep once, cook twice. As long as you’re browning ground turkey for spaghetti sauce, why not brown extra to use in tacos or stuffed peppers for tomorrow? Make extra brown rice or quinoa and freeze for another meal. The grains stay moist and reheat well in the microwave.

• One-dish meals generally combine your protein, your vegetable and your starch all in one dish. They’re healthy, they’re balanced and you’ll have a lot fewer pots and pans to wash.

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