by Alex Kelley

Created on: September 13, 2009   Last Updated: August 15, 2010

You're a busy modern woman who likes to have healthy food for herself, her husband and children, but who doesn't have the time to cook elaborate meals. Welcome to the 21st century! Keep your head up, you still have options.

Following are some quick meal suggestions for when you are fresh out of ideas, then a list with ingredients that you might want to keep around for cooking.

Option 1:

Start with a vegetable salad, then continue with pasta with sauce and meatballs for the main course. End the meal with a delicious fruit pie.

Option 2:

Try a quick chicken noodle soup, then thinly slice and roast some beef, to be served with a side of rice or potatoes. Go for a bread pudding to end the evening.

Option 3:

If you're really pressed for time, throw some chicken in the oven, put potatoes in the microwave to bake, and boil a side of vegetables. You can add a little olive oil and a few shreds of provolone on them for taste enhancement. A quick yogurt and blueberries shake in your blender should take care of the dessert.

Use imagination to adapt recipes to your availability of ingredients. No mushrooms for a sauce? Oh well, chop another bell pepper and it'll turn out alright. You just realized you're low on ground meat, but you wanted meatballs? Add rice instead, they'll turn out just as tasty.

As far as ingredients are concerned, it depends on how much you want to cook. If it's a every-once-in-a-while-couple-times-a-month thing, then go for the basics.

Your basic list

Make sure you always have some basic groceries in your kitchen. Chicken will give you quick, low fat, good protein - and you can boil, fry, roast or bake it. For starch, rice can be a wonderful side dish to go with many meals, while pasta can be cooked with a quick homemade tomato paste and some meatballs. Frozen veggies can be tossed in boiling water for two minutes and they'll make a healthy side - or they can be mixed with chicken pieces to make stir fries. Finally, cooking oil, salt, pepper and maybe some chicken broth will help you cook the meal.

A step up

Now, if you really want to dedicate yourself to cooking quick, healthy meals on a regular basis, stock up on a few more items that keep a relatively long time and won't require a stop by the grocery store every other day. Potatoes can be boiled for a salad, baked and served with yogurt, fried on the side, or thrown in a soup. Get some carrots, onions and green peppers, they will ensure the right flavoring in many easily made soups. Diced or crushed

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