One of the biggest factors in long-term diet success and meeting your macros is cooking your own food. Most of us are too busy between work and family to spend a lot of time cooking and it’s so easy to just grab some take-out. Don’t fall into that trap! You can make macro-friendly meals without spending too much of your precious time in the kitchen. Here are a couple fast and satisfying meals that are easy to fit into a healthy diet.
CHICKEN CAESAR WRAPS
[Fat: 11g, Carbs: 39g, Protein: 40g]
What you need:
Mission Carb Balance Tortillas
OPA Caesar Greek Yogurt Dressing
Tyson Grilled & Ready Cooked Frozen Grilled Chicken Breast Strips
Onion
Lettuce
These are ridiculously easy. With the pre-cooked frozen chicken, all you have to do is microwave however much chicken you need and then assemble you wrap. The great thing about the Carb Balance tortillas is that they are packed with fiber – 13 grams per tortilla!
The macros listed above are for 4oz of chicken and 1 tablespoon of dressing split between two tortillas. If you want to keep your carbs down, just pack it all into one tortilla.
If a buffalo chicken wrap is more your speed, swap out the Caesar dressing for the greek yogurt ranch and add some buffalo flavored Tabasco.
TACOS
[Fat: 18g, Carbs: 40g, Protein: 42g]
What you need:
96{885586236f5820200058e61f9e2fcec1023d525f8b1a6e4e5a4fd7f3c0d65acb} Lean Ground Beef
McCormick 30{885586236f5820200058e61f9e2fcec1023d525f8b1a6e4e5a4fd7f3c0d65acb} Less Sodium Taco Seasoning Mix (or your favorite taco seasoning)
Mission Carb Balance Tortillas
2{885586236f5820200058e61f9e2fcec1023d525f8b1a6e4e5a4fd7f3c0d65acb} Mexican Shredded Cheese
Light Daisy Sour Cream
Toppings – onion, lettuce, Jalapeno Tabasco Sauce, etc.
This requires a little more cooking that the wraps, but you can make a big batch of the taco meat and eat it for a couple meals. I typically add some extra cumin and onion or garlic to the mix while browning the meat.
The macros listed above are for 4 oz of taco meat, 2 tortillas, 28 grams of cheese, and 1 tbsp of sour cream. To keep the fat down a little, I typically skip the sour cream. If you need a low carb option, ditch the tortillas and make a taco salad.
ITALIAN MEAT SAUCE & BROCCOLI
[Fat: 9.6g, Carbs: 8g, Protein: 36g]
What you need:
96{885586236f5820200058e61f9e2fcec1023d525f8b1a6e4e5a4fd7f3c0d65acb} Lean Ground Beef
Garlic (chopped)
Onion (chopped)
Olive Oil
Oregano
Ground Fennel Seed
Parsley
Basil
Salt & Pepper
Classico Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce
Broccoli (steamed)
Costco Kirkland Signature Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
Just as with the tacos, the only real cooking for this meal is browning the ground beef. Start by cooking the chopped garlic and onion in a little bit of olive oil, then mix in the ground beef. Next, add the spices, salt, pepper to taste. The secret to this recipe is the fennel; as this is one of the key ingredients to italian sausage, it really gives the meat a sausage-y flavor even though it’s definitely not sausage. Dried spices and pre-chopped garlic will work fine, but fresh will give you a better flavor and this is a good opportunity to use up any leftover herbs that you have hanging around for your holiday cooking.
Served over steamed broccoli with tomato sauce, this is a tasty, easy low carb meal. Of course you could also mix in a serving of pasta, if you need to fill in some macros.
The macros listed above are for 5 oz meat, ½ cup of pasta sauce and 2 tbsps of cheese.
Photo by chelle_1278. Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic.
