the "30 minute" meal farse

Undoubtedly, you've seen a ton of quick meal shows. If you've ever tried to make any of these dishes, you'll quickly find out that a majority of them don't count the prep time. When you come home from work, you probably don't want to spend 20 min chopping and dicing, followed by 30 min of cooking. Actually, you probably don't want to spend 30 min cooking either. So, what do you do? Most of the time, you probably grab some calorie bomb from the freezer that doesn't taste that good or you eat out.

Here are a couple of suggestions for actual 30 min meals that are under 500 calories and are loaded with flavor:

1. Broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken breasts with a side of Rice a Roni Broccoli au gratin. That's right, I suggested eating Rice a Roni on a "foodie" blog. This post is all about practicality and reality and this meal is a staple of ours that tastes great and leaves a lot of time to do other things. Plus this dish is something that is totally sustainable for people who are involved in a lot of activities. Add some Trader Joe's Jalapeno sauce to both of these items to heat them up and add great flavor.
2. California Pizza Kitchen Signature Pepperoni. A frozen pizza. Wow, how lame. Again, this is something sustainable, practical, and tasty. Plus 1/3 of the pie is 340 calories. Hell, half of it is only about 500 calories. Not a bad option. Plus you can cut up some veggies on the weekend and put them on the pizza to make the pizza more filling. Pickled jalapenos make it more filling too.

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