Swagatalakshmi Roychowdhury
What are girl dinners?
There are days we would love to skip dinner and just eat whatever's in the fridge. Enter 'girl dinners': a slice of cheese, a bit of raisins, some leftover cake and a piece of fried chicken. But there are ways to liven your meal up...
One pot creamy Cajun sausage pasta
If you have some readily available ingredients like Cajun spice, sausage and pasta, try this recipe that will take you 30 minutes max (leave the cleanup for the following morning!). This pasta has smoky sausage, spicy Cajun seasoning, and a creamy, cheesy sauce that you cannot have enough of.
Ready-to-bake 10 minute pizzas
Keep some ready to bake pizzas which take less than 15 minutes to get fluff up in the oven. Refined carbs, sure, but this is the delicacy you need on days you'd love some chill and Netflix without the fuss and expense of takeout.
Add a side of protein
Protein miss is a hard 'no-no'. No matter how little you consume, try to incorporate something with protein in it, such as yoghurt bowl with fruits, boiled eggs, or just a protein bar.
Add healthy fats to the mix
If you're okay to have chips or nachos with a dip, keep some guacamole on the side. That way, you get some healthy fats too. Else, you can swap it with nuts.
Finish off with something sweet
Sweet NOT sugary! You don't want to spike your blood sugar right before bed. Try snacky combos like dark chocolate, peanut butter, almonds and a navel orange.