By Lindsay Buchanan – Like most of you I tend to stay pretty busy, so when my mom and I decided to change our eating habits (coincidentally right before Biggest Loser started), I knew that whatever we did would have to be easy.

I love to try new foods, and I would really love to try all of the cool recipes I’ve seen over the last weeks on The Daily Cricket, but the truth is I just don’t have time. I’ve also been inspired by Kitty to incorporate new foods into my diet, but again, who has time?

Well, we do.

One thing I’ve learned through this is it takes just as much time to eat unhealthy as it does to find or make something better for you.

That’s why one of my favorite things that my mom and I have “invented” and perfected since we started eating more real, healthy foods is what I think of as “The Versatile Chicken Bowl.”

At the beginning of the week I cook up a bunch of chicken breasts, either on the grill or baked in the oven, usually with some type of light marinade. I also make a big pot of brown rice or quinoa (something new for me – I love it!).

Throughout the week we make meals out of these two staples by throwing a half cup of brown rice or quinoa and a serving of cut up chicken into a bowl with a variety of vegetables and some type of green (my new favorite is kale!). We add in veggie broth, vinegar, spices – whatever we’re in the mood for that day as far as flavoring goes.

It’s a truly yummy, filling lunch or dinner that takes about 5 minutes to throw together since everything is basically already ready to go.

So, if you’re interested, here is a basic recipe and several variations you can do to spice things up. And please let me know if you come up with some new ones, because I would love to try them!

The Versatile Chicken Bowl

Ingredients:

• ½ cup brown rice or quinoa
• 6 oz cut-up meat (chicken breast, ground turkey, any lean meat)
• 2 handfuls greens (lettuce, kale, spinach, etc…)
• Veggies to taste
• Seasoning to taste

My favorite mixes:

“The Basic” – rice, chicken breast, kale, something crunchy (bell peppers, water chestnuts, celery), splash of vegetable broth, splash of balsamic vinegar, pepper

“Healthy tacos” – rice, ground turkey with taco seasoning, lettuce, tomatoes, plain Greek yogurt (in place of sour cream), taco sauce, sprinkle of low fat cheese