I sure feel like I didn’t. I thought about taking a recoup day on Monday- but failed to remember that with all the hustle and bustle of the weekend. I remembered this thought while getting ready this morning, during the fight with the mirror, my hair brush, and claw clip, and followed with a third time of jabbing my eye with the mascara wand (my puffy eyes failed to open wide enough to get a proper coating- where is a crisp cucumber when you need one? Pickles? Nope.. I tried.)
I must have known this was going to be a crazy weekend and slow start to my week during my meal planning last week- because I planned this and a few other super simple recipes- perfect for getting me through the sluggish feeling that has been this week.
Dinner in 15 minutes: Bagged frozen protein. Bagged frozen veggies. Bagged quick-cooking rice.
Can I get an AMEN? But wait, all this quick convenience without the inevitable swelling of the fingers? Typically we can associate convenience with high sodium.. but what I have done here is take packaged fresh (frozen) ingredients, and made them better- working for me in the best ways possible.
You can use any protein you want, and actually any fresh or frozen veggies you please, too.
I typically have a bag of frozen medium shrimp, as well as a bag of stir-fry vegetables in my freezer.. and well, I always have microwave brown rice, too. It is so easy to use for a quick lunch/dinner- and perfectly portable.. so I like to keep it stocked.
This meal cost me about $4/person for a meal for 4. Wow- cheap, healthy, low sodium, and all in under 20 minutes.
What do you use to take advantage of easy timesavers in your kitchen?
Cajun Shrimp & Rice
Yield: 4 servings
Serving Size: about 1 1/2 cups each
Ingredients
- 1 (8.8-ounce) pouch microwavable rice (whole-grain brown rice)
- Cooking spray
- 1 pounds peeled and deveined large shrimp
- 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning, salt-free
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic
- 1/2 of a large yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cups frozen stir-fry vegetables, thawed
- 1/4 cup chopped green onions
- 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paparika
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can no salt added stewed tomatoes, undrained
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
Cook rice according to package directions.
While the rice cooks, coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and warm over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the shrimp with Cajun seasoning; toss to coat. Add shrimp to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until done. Remove from pan; keep warm.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Add the veggies, green onions, paparike, and Italian seasoning; sauté 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in cooked rice, shrimp, tomatoes, salt, and pepper, and cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated.
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 284; Fat: 7 g; Carbohydrate: 34 g; Fiber: 5 g; Proteinl: 23 g; Sodium: 422 mg
