Earlier this year I was inspired by the post Five Life Lessons I Learned in 2012 from Kristi at Addicted 2 Decorating. In her posts she occasionally shares a glimpse of her personal life including her husband’s health issues and their effort for a healthier lifestyle.

My family has made major changes over the past year toward a healthier lifestyle, but I was determined to do better in 2013! But I realized if I was going to make this a reality I had to keep my food simple. I just was not going to make a gourmet meal every night! Anyone else feel the same way?

So here’s a couple of VERY simple meals I’ve had this week and a couple of tips.

Sauteed Mushrooms & Onions on a Veggie Burger with Steamed Spinach

The veggie burger is store bought. Simple. Read your labels. They are not all made the same. This vegetable burger ingredient label reads like the description of a salad!! The spinach is fresh and steamed in the microwave for about 1 minute. That’s it.

I sauteed fresh mushrooms and onions in vegetable broth, no oil, no butter. I added garlic and to keep things simple, I use the pre-minced garlic. Did you know mushrooms and onions have great cancer-fighting nutrients?

The bun is a multigrain sandwich round lightly toasted in the oven. I did put a little vegan mayonaise on it for added flavor and moisture. And I definitely should have added some yummy sliced tomatoes to this. I also added mustard for a little kick. I could have left of the veg mayo for sure.

It took about 20 minutes to get this meal on the table for my family.

And the good old standby Peanut Butter & Jelly with an Apple.

Again not all breads, peanut butters and jellys are made the same, so read your labels! This is a great meal at home and especially when you are going to be out. I had one day this week were I was out running errands all day from 9:30 to 5:30 and I packed this lunch to take on the road with me.

I have a what I think is an unusual way of slicing my apples. I had a friend from Washington State, home of the apple, that makes fun of me for cutting them this way. She says I’m wasting too much apple, but it takes me seconds.

I slice off the sides. Yes, to me an apple has four sides. 🙂 And then slice each side as thin or thick as I want. I don’t like biting into apples so this is my quick solution.

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I hope your are having wonderful success with your January goals!

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Enjoy, Julie