[Mermade]

Here are some easy peasy things I'd recommend that take almost no cook time and are delicious.

Spaghetti Carbonara--1lb pasta, bacon, eggs, green onions, garlic, a bit of cream. Cook the pasta. Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry, remove most of the fat from the pan, add garlic cook until tender, add chopped green onion, drain the cooked pasta and add to the pan (remove from heat!), crack raw eggs onto the hot pasta and add a touch of cream, move the pasta in the pan until thoroughly mixed, salt pepper, generous grated parmesean cheese. Done. Bonus points for serving with garlic bread. Cooking time is almost equal to the time it takes to cook the pasta.

[Now some would debate whether this recipe is healthy, because of the starch and the fat. I am a firm avoider of culinary fads and fevers (no fat, no sugar, no this, no that) and strong believer that a wide variety of good ingredients used in moderation in combination with a very active lifestyle is the way to go.]

Stir Fry--Select what looks good at the grocery store produce section (mushrooms, squash, pea pods, broccoli, beans, whatever), select a protein (chicken, shrimp, beef, pork or you can even skip this if you want), saute the protein add veggies until done in a little butter or olive oil add fresh herbs, salt, pepper to season, you can even add a bit of cheese if you like. Serve a top rice or pasta. This has a million variations and takes very little time.

Protein w/ veg--Cut up a chicken (or buy it cut up), buy some chops or steaks, pick a favorite veg. Bake the chicken, broil or better grill the chops/steaks, serve with a steamed veg of your choice (butter salt and pepper makes veggies extra yummy but aren't necessary).

I realize I'm not providing many recipes. But honestly I think the key to being able to eat well on a day to day basis rather than going for junk, isn't about cooking so much as it is about properly shopping. I rarely shop with recipes in mind. I just shop for what looks good and is cheap on any given day. When you fill your fridge with protein choices, veggies, and fruit for both cooking and healthy snacks, then it's just a matter of appetite and cooking method to make it into a meal. Say I've bought a chicken, I can grill it with BBQ sauce, Rub it and bake it with a crispy skin served with mashed potatoes/a veggie/a salad, cut it up and stir fry with veggies on rice, add it with some fun ingredients (sundried tomatoes, garlic, artichoke hearts, parmesean cheese) and make a pasta... Other proteins have similar options.

Another way to eat well is to plan ahead. Do something that does take some extra time, like a lasagna (which actually isn't that time consuming), a soup, or a stew. Then you can enjoy leftovers all week.