By now, we all know that I’m a fan of eating clean and that I also love to cook and bake. In fact, if someone would pay me to just be a domestic goddess, I’d totally jump at it.
I have three years worth of Cooking Light and another two years worth of Clean Eating magazines stashed in my kitchen and find meal time planning and prep fun. But, for the most part, all of these recipes take an hour or so to put together. And frankly, with a toddler and a twelve-teen, I don’t have that kind of time to spend in the kitchen. Sure, I allocate Sundays to getting as much advanced food prep done as possible as well as a week’s worth of baking, but I’m only one woman.
So I had to hunt down a few places that I could get easy, quick, and nutritious recipes to cook for the family on a regular basis. Naturally, I turned to the Internet; it amazes me as to what is available out there. Here are my three favorite go-to food-related places online.
100 Days of Real Food: Run by the Leake family, this website is devoted to cutting out the processed food and returning to wholesome, good-for-you food that doesn’t taste like cardboard. Lisa, her husband Jason, and their two children began with a 100-day pledge to eat only non-processed food. Along the way, they created a 10-day pledge for families that would like to try the lifestyle, but without a 3+ month commitment. After finishing up the first 100 days, they went back and did 100 days on a budget, because, let’s face it, eating healthy is not always cheap! My favorite recipes on her site include:
- Easy Cheese Crackers
- PB&J Smoothie (Best. Smoothie. Ever.)
- Whole Wheat Tortillas (you’ll never go back to store bought again)
- Vegetable Pancakes
- Whole Wheat Macaroni and Cheese
There are actually plenty more, but I need to devote some time to other websites too! The only downside to 100 Days of Real Food is the lack of a search function, so you need to spend a little bit of time browsing through her recipes and then bookmarking what you like. My opinion is that it’s worth the time spent.
All Recipes: This website has been around for what seems like forever. At least a decade. There is a wide variety of available recipes on this site — some super-easy and quick, others take time and a little cooking love. What I love is that all are rated by other “everyday cooks” and many post tips they used to make it come out a little differently.
Easily navigated, All Recipes is broken down by collection (such as beef or pasta) and favorites (such as banana bread and pesto). You can also search by general name (orzo soup) or specific ingredients you want and don’t want. The recipe box feature allows you to save recipes you love (after you register for free) and the shopping lists feature helps you create shopping lists right from the recipes you’re browsing.
There’s tons of other fun features too, like the ability to customize the recipe just for your family (particularly helpful if you’re dealing with food allergies), add recipes to a specific folder within your recipe box, or just print it out to keep it. They even have an app, which I think is fabulous and I use frequently because it’s way easier than having my computer on the kitchen counter.
The site itself is free, but you can upgrade for additional features (though I’ve never done that).
Eat Better America: Another site devoted to eating healthy and staying on a budget, this one really can’t be beat. Register on the site (for free) and receive emails with recipes and tips. On the site itself, you can browse through “healthified” recipes or a more traditional version.
What I love about the “healthified” version is that the recipes are adapted from the site with less fat, sodium, saturated fat, etc. And when you are browsing, it tells you right in the synopsis what has changed. Browse Eat Better America via meal, time spent in the kitchen (under 30 minutes is my friend!!), most popular, or recently added. You can also see reviews by other everyday cooks, share your thoughts and if you love the recipe, save it to your “my spot” for easy reference down the road.
I hope you enjoy cooking as much as I do. It’s definitely therapeutic. In fact, later this week I’ll be spending four days out of town (alone!) and can’t believe I’ll be away from my kitchen for that long!!
Photo Courtesy of Eat Better America
