At about 5 p.m. every day, I start thinking about what I’m going to make for dinner. But, that’s not where the process gets stunted; I actually come up with some pretty terrific ideas.
So, what’s the problem? I never seem to have the right ingredients on hand. Without fail, I’m missing at least one major ingredient, and I don’t have any good substitutions on hand. So, at about 5:04 p.m. I head to my local grocer and get what I need, turning my 10-minute dinner plan into an extravaganza that takes up the better part of an hour. This has been happening almost every day for about as long as I can remember.

Finally, after realizing how badly I need to break this cycle, I created “What’s in My Fridge” . It’s a system that helps me ensure that I always have the right ingredients on hand, and I won’t have to make a last-minute trip to the grocery store before I can make dinner.

The good news is that this system will work for just about anyone who wants to whip up healthy meals in a hurry, so you can take advantage of it too. All you have to do is click here to get started with two of my favorite go-to recipes.

Better Than “Take-Out” Asian Chicken & Broccoli Stir-fry

Ingredients

1 package (roll) of Isernio’s chicken sausage

1-2 heads of broccoli, washed and chopped

4 cups cooked brown rice (I cook up a big pot over the weekend & store it in the fridge for easy use during the busy work week)

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 cup Easy Asian-Style Sauce (see recipe below)

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a 12-inch pan.
2. Add the sausage to the pan and cook for about 6-8 minutes.
3. Add in the broccoli and cook until slightly soft; about 2 minutes.
4. Cover the cooked rice with the chicken and veggie mixture. Drizzle with the sauce and dig in!

Easy Asian-Style Sauce

1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp. honey

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp. ginger root, minced or grated

2 tsp. sesame oil (you can use olive oil if you don’t have sesame)

½ tsp. red pepper flakes (optional, but I like how it makes the sauce “pop”)

Directions

1. Whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, honey, garlic, ginger and sesame oil in a bowl.
2. Drizzle or pour over rice, chicken and veggies.
3. Since you made dinner so quickly, now you get to kick back and ENJOY!

Costco Kale & Rotisserie Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

1 bag Costco Kale

5 cloves of garlic, chopped (I use the Christopher Ranch, already peeled)

Juice of 2 lemons

¼ cup of olive oil

1-2 cups of leftover Costco Rotisserie Chicken, cubed

Directions:

1. Wash and dry ¼ bag of the Costco Kale (You can certainly use more, makes great leftovers for lunch)
2. Place kale in large bowl and add the garlic, lemon & olive oil
3. Mix the dressing with the kale and add salt & pepper to taste
4. Add chopped chicken to boost the protein content, which makes this a complete meal.

*Vegetarian option: add a can of drained garbanzo beans instead of the Costco chicken