Healthy Dinner Recipes – Week One

This week’s healthy dinner recipes include meals that can be eaten with your hands (kids always love that). From burritos to burgers and even kebabs, the variety is deliciously interesting!

Feel free to customize these recipes to your liking. This series is intended to do two things. One, it's designed to give you dinner ideas for when you just aren't feeling creative and you're sick of the same old same old. Second, it's designed to serve as inspiration for you as you craft this week's dinner menu.

Make sure you follow the directions for each recipe precisely! These recipes should be straightforward and easy to make. Have your kids give you a hand if they're old enough. Kids always appreciate their food more when they made it themselves.

With all that said, here are our selections for this week's dinners. Enjoy a full week's worth of healthy dinner recipes, including entrees and side dishes. Make sure to move on to week two once you finish this week's selection!

Healthy Dinner Recipes Week One

Day One Healthy Dinner Recipe

SKILLET BEEF STROGANOFF
NO-YOLK EGG NOODLES

Beef Stroganoff

Makes 6 servings (⅔ cup each)

Each serving Beef Stroganoff recipe without noodles contains:

241 calories
11 grams fat
11 grams carbohydrate
24 grams protein

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, sauté mushrooms in butter until tender. Transfer to a large bowl.

2. Stir in the water, salt, onion powder, and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

3. Place flour in a large Ziploc bag.

4. Add beef, a few pieces at a time. Seal bag; shake to coat.

5. In the same skillet, brown coated beef in batches.

6. When all the beef is browned, return all of it to the pan then cover with the mushroom mixture.

7. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer on low heat for 1½ hours or until beef is tender, stirring occasionally.

8. Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream.

9. Serve over hot cooked noodles.

Day Two Healthy Dinner Recipe

GRILLED CHICKEN SANDWICHES
COLESLAW

Grilled Chicken Sandwiches

Makes 4 servings

Each serving contains:

231 calories
11g protein
30g carbohydrate
10g total fat

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Combine the lemon zest and juice, mayonnaise, and basil in a small bowl and mix well.

2. Grease a ridged grill pan with nonstick cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking.

3. Cook the chicken until marked from the grill, about 4 minutes. Turn over the chicken, sprinkle with the seasoning mix, and cook until no longer pink inside, about 3 minutes longer.

4. Cut the chicken into thin slices. Open the rolls on a work surface and spread the cut sides with the mayonnaise. Top with half of the arugula, then the tomato and chicken, and then the remaining arugula. Cover with the roll tops.

5. Serve with homemade coleslaw (bagged coleslaw mix with light dressing).

Day Three Healthy Dinner Recipe

BAKED ZITI WITH MUSHROOMS
GARDEN SALAD

Baked Ziti

Each serving contains:

477 calories
20g protein
64g carbohydrate
16g total fat

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot.

2. Add the green pepper, onion, mushrooms, and marjoram and sauté until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour until blended and cook 1 minute.

3. Gradually stir the milk into the vegetable mixture. Heat to boiling and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the mustard, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

4. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions, omitting any oil or salt; drain.

5. Add the pasta and cheese and toss to coat.

6. Grease a 3-quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and add the pasta mixture, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with the bread crumbs.

7. Bake until the top is browned and the juices bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes.

8. Serve with a fresh garden salad.

Day Four Healthy Dinner Recipe

BARBECUED PORK TENDERLOIN KEBABS
BAKED BEANS

Barbecued Pork Tenderloin:

Makes 4 servings

Each serving contains:

147 calories
18g protein
12g carbohydrate
3g total fat

Ingredients:

½ cup low sodium ketchup
3 Tablespoons cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon molasses
¼ teaspoon cayenne
1 (12 ounce) pork tenderloin, silver skin removed, cut crosswise into ½ inch thick slices

Directions:

1. Combine the ketchup, vinegar, molasses, and cayenne in a small bowl, mix well.

2. Preheat the boiler. Thread the pork slices lengthwise onto 4 metal skewers, dividing evenly, and place on an aluminum foil-line baking sheet.

3. Place ½ cup of the ketchup mixture in a serving bowl, and brush the remainder over the skewered pork.

4. Broil the pork 4 inches from the heat source until cooked through and no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes, turning the skewers after 3 minutes. Serve with the reserved ketchup mixture for dipping.

5. Serve with baked beans.

Day Five Healthy Dinner Recipe

CHEESY CHICKEN AND VEGETABLE SKILLET

Cheesy Chicken and Veggies

Makes 6 servings

Each serving contains:

290 calories
16 grams fat
6 grams carbohydrates
32 grams protein

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1¼ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ¾ inch strips
2 large carrots, thinly sliced
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
¾ cup frozen broccoli florets, thawed
¼ cup soy sauce
2 cups reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese (8 ounces)

Directions:

1. Heat a 12 inch non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Add oil to coat bottom of skillet.

3. Add chicken, stir-frying for 5 minutes or until no longer pink inside. Remove from skillet, set aside.

4. Add carrots, zucchini, and broccoli to skillet. Stir-fry for 5 – 6 minutes until vegetables are crisp-tender.

5. Add the chicken and soy sauce to the vegetable mixture, stirring well to coat everything with the soy sauce. Turn heat to low.

6. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top of the chicken and vegetables. Cover skillet and continue to cook on low heat until cheese is melted.

Day Six Healthy Dinner Recipe

BEEFY DEEP DISH PIZZA

Deep Dish Pizza:

Makes 6 Servings

Each serving contains:

385 calories
22g protein
22g carbohydrate
20g total fat

Ingredients:

1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
1 pound ground beef
1½ cups jarred low-sodium, sugar free, spicy mushroom pasta sauce
1¼ cups (4 ounces) shredded part skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a 13×9 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Unroll the pizza dough, press it over the bottom and halfway up the sides of the prepared dish, and bake for 7 minutes.

3 .While the crust bakes, sauté the beef in a large skillet until browned, breaking the meat up into small pieces using a wooden spoon.

4. Drain the meat in a colander, rinse with hot water, and shake the colander to drain out as much water as possible.

5. Turn out the meat onto a paper towel-lined baking sheet and roll up the meat in the towel to blot up any moisture.

6. Pour the meat into a bowl, add the sauce, and toss to mix.

7. Spread the meat over the crust and sprinkle cheese on top. Bake until the crust is browned and the cheese melts, about 8 minutes longer.

Day Seven Healthy Dinner Recipe

TURKEY BURGERS
GRILLED TOMATOES
ROASTED POTATOES

Turkey Burgers

Makes 6 servings

Each serving contains:

200 calories
22g protein
6g carbohydrate
10g total fat

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground turkey
½ pound lean turkey sausage, casing removed and crumbled
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
1 medium zucchini, finely grated
1 garlic clove, crushed through a press
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves, crushed
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons soy sauce
3 ripe tomatoes, cut crosswise into ½ inch slices
6 Boston lettuce leaves, washed and drained

Directions:

1. Combine the turkey, sausage, green onions, celery, zucchini, garlic, oregano, ½ teaspoon pepper, and soy sauce in a bowl and mix gently. With wet hands, shape into 6 (½ inch thick) patties.

2. Prepare a grill for barbecuing or preheat the broiler and place the burgers on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Grill or broil the burgers 4 inches from the heat source until cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes, turning after 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 3 minutes.

3. Place the tomatoes on the grill or baking sheet and grill or broil until charred and hot, 5 minutes, turning once and sprinkling with the remaining ½ teaspoon pepper.

4. Place the lettuce leaves on dinner plates and top each with a burger. Top each burger with a tomato slice.

5. Serve with roasted potato wedges.

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The image featured at the top of this post is ©iStock.com/LeeAnnWhite.