3 Quick and Easy Recipes to Make When You're Too Busy to Cook

Here at Create & Cultivate, we know how busy life can get. Amidst a hectic schedule, it is far too easy to forget to take care of yourself in the mix. However, therein lies the contradiction: if you do not properly nourish your body, you won’t be able to perform anywhere near your best. So, we sat down with food blogger Kenzie Burke, who gave us a few of her favorite quick, easy recipes, and explained why it’s important to make time for food.

“I am a huge proponent of cook it once, eat it two or three times.”

—Kenzie Burke

Create & Cultivate: How can we food prep when we feel like there’s no time? What is a good hack?

Kenzie Burke: My mindset is that no matter how busy you are, there is always time to do things that matter to you. I understand what it is like to be insanely busy. Some days I cannot even manage to text one person back, but I know that I need fuel to perform at my best. It’s possible that you’ll have to stay awake 20 minutes later than usual to make tomorrow run smoother, or perhaps you swap out prep cooking in place of your evening Instagram scroll. Give yourself this gift. This probably isn't the answer anyone wanted to read but, where there is a will, there is a way. As mentioned before, I am a huge proponent of cook it once, eat it two or three times.

C&C: You are anti-diet—why? What is your food philosophy?

KB: My food philosophy is ‘make it a lifestyle.’ You’ve got to fall in love with your life. You have to wake up every day enjoying what you are doing or you just won't live a satisfying life. I believe this sentiment carries over into the foods we eat. You have to love what you eat and want to eat well. I’ve found that those who diet seem to fall off quite easily and feel limited and trapped. In my practice, I get to the root reasoning behind eating well. Why do you want to eat well? For your health? Body? Family? Taking care of your body is taking care of you.

You cannot show up as your best self for your friends, family, partner, and career if you don’t put your own oxygen mask on first. Find your why. To be more specific about what I love to put in my body, I really focus on whole foods. For lunch and dinner I try to make half my plate a veggie. I love to optimize digestion with food combining and plant-based food. I explore this concept further in my e-book as it has changed how I feel at an almost soul level. I feel like I vibrate on a whole new frequency.

3 Quick and Easy Recipes to Try This Week

Artichoke Heart Salad

Courtesy of Kenzie Burke

Ingredients:

Romaine lettuce
Cucumber
Chickpeas
Olives
Artichoke hearts
Red pepper flakes

Ingredients for the dressing:

3 large lemons
3/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Note: This makes a big batch you can keep in your fridge and use throughout the week.

Directions:

Chop romaine into fine pieces, peel and cut cucumber. Plate lettuce and cucumber with chickpeas, olives, artichoke hearts, and top with red pepper flakes. For the dressing place all ingredients into your blender and blend. This dressing stores well in the fridge. Finish salad with this simple salad dressing.

Tropical Bub Smoothie

Ingredients:

Cup of frozen mango
1 banana
Chunk of cucumber
Spinach or lettuce
Chunk of ginger
1 date
Coconut water
Spirulina powder
Shake of cinnamon

Directions:

Place ingredients in a blender and blend!

Simple Chickpea Pasta

Ingredients:

Chickpea pasta
Handful of cherry tomatoes
1/2 an avocado
1/2 of a lemon
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt and pepper
Nutritional yeast

Directions:

Cook the noodles by following the directions on the package they come in. In a sauté pan; sauté the cherry tomatoes on medium heat in olive oil until they are soft.

Once the pasta has finished cooking plate the pasta with the cherry tomatoes, sliced avocado, and finish the dish with a drizzle of olive oil, squeeze of 1/2 of a lemon, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast.

This dish is ready to eat. It is also good cold.

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This story was originally published on September 5, 2019, and has since been updated.

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How to Pack an Extra Bit of Protein in Your Day

We don’t want to call you out, but your snack choices are questionable.

And when you’re clocking long days at work, you want snacks that fuel your performance. Not choices that slow you down.

Which is why we want to serve up a new option-- one that you can blend, shake, mix and beyond-- even right from your desk.

Leading almond butter producer, Barney Butter is launching the nation’s first-ever powdered almond butter! Barney Powdered Almond Butter is a completely natural defatted product made using only California’s best grade almonds in a 100% peanut-free facility. After going through an all-natural expeller pressed process with absolutely no chemicals, the Powdered Almond Butter has only 45 calories, 1g of fat and a powerful punch of 6g of protein per serving.

Here are a couple of ways you can enjoy it straight from your desk.

With only 1 ingredient (almonds!), our Powdered Almond Butter gives you a clean, nutrient dense option and checks so many boxes: peanut free, Paleo, Keto, Vegan, gluten-free.

For an additional way to enjoy almond butter, Barney Butter’s Powdered Almond Butter will be available starting June 1st (today!) at BarneyButter.com for $9.99, and at retailers nationwide shortly after.

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Forget Your #SadDeskSalad: This Week Do This Instead

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Eating greens makes green. Seriously. Your brain and body are fueled by the vitamins, and antioxidant-rich, superfoods you put in your body. And the more productive/creative/boss you are, the better your career. 

Part of getting your life in order is making sure that you eat lunch. Every. Single. Day. People always talk about the benefits of eating breakfast, but that lunchtime slump is no joke. A healthy lunch will keep your energy up (yup!!) and concentration on point. 

But you don’t have to pack a sad desk salad. 

Get your lunch in order with a Mason Jar Salad. Don’t know how? Well we checked in with our healthy friends at organicgirl to get some tips on how to pack a super smart mason jar salad for lunch to help you eat well, be well and dominate your work week.  

Order is the word of the day. 

You keep your inbox in order. Same goes for your mason jar salad. 

First things first, fill the bottom of your jar with a fresh, delicious salad dressing. This ensures that your salad doesn’t get soggy as you charge through morning meetings and conference calls. organicgirl has so many delicious options. Our favorites include: Kale Parmesan (which gives you the double dose of putting greens on your greens), Lemon Agave (which is the only the only fresh vinaigrette on the market made with an entire lemon and touch of blue agave nectar), or get a little funky with White Cheddar, because everyone loves a hearty treat sometimes (especially when that treat is only 60 calories per 2 tablespoons).

Next, add in a grain or a protein, like farro, which is high in fiber, protein, and is a good source of antioxidants. On this layer, you could also toss in ingredients that taste yummy after marinating. Think: apples, radishes, celery! The crunchy bits. 

Next come your fixings: Nuts, dried fruits, and cheese nibbles. Anything you want to stay dry before you shake up your jar (and shake off your crazy morning).

The following ingredients will help boost that brain. 

Blueberries. Toss blueberries into a Mason Jar Salad (you can add these last to keep them from getting smashed) for a high dose of antioxidants and phytochemicals. 

Beets. They’ll give your salad a little sweet as well as improve blood flow to the brain with their naturally-occurring nitrates. 

Walnuts. Almonds are often credited as the go-to desk snack, but overlooked walnuts (that also kind of look like mini brains) are full of omega-3s. Your brain needs this high-quality fat to function properly. So go nuts. 

Finally, top it all with the leafy greens. organicgirl has so many options when it comes to rad leafy greens and when it comes to salads you know it’s all about that (leafy green) base. 

Leafy greens contain many benefits that you might already know, but were you aware that kale, spinach, and the newest organicgirl salad, butter, plus! are rich in iron? Studies have shown that an iron-deficiency affects your learning, memory, and attention. 

Give it an A+

Butter Plus is rich in iron for your memory and attention! 

Or that leafy greens are good for gut health? Studies have shown that good gut health boosts your energy levels and improves your mood and mental health!

Kelly LeVeque, Health Coach, Holistic Nutritionist and founder of Be Well by Kelly, says “I have a personal goal to eat greens at every meal and recommend my clients do the same. Leafy greens are loaded with significant levels of vitamin A, C, K and B6, folate, magnesium and zinc, they are a superstar for gut health because they contain sulfoquinovose, a sugar that feeds healthy gut bacteria and fiber to promote detoxification and they are my secret weapon for glowing skin. I don't go a day without my Fab Four Smoothie, my formula includes a handful of greens in every morning smoothie – organicgirl’s SUPERGREENS are my favorite.”

Want an extra boost of protein? The sweet pea greens from organicgirl are also a great source of plant based protein - packing 5 grams of protein per package. Protein is great for keeping concentration, focus and energy levels up. Helping you say goodbye to that post lunch slump! 

Personally, we’d opt for: I heart baby kale (to make sure you kale your afternoon pitch) or Super Spinach, which blends baby spinach, with bok choy and baby kale, to create a trifecta of the top nutritional greens to help you knock your day out of the park.   

Here’s a recipe with organicgirl SUPERGREENS to help get you started – your career will thank you.

Image Source: organicgirl and @kirstensansom. 

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