Family Meals Month: Want easy, fast, nutritious entrees for dinner? Try your commissary
FORT LEE, Va. – It’s no secret that preparing meals at home benefits your health and your wallet.
Between all our weekday obligations – work, school, commutes, sports and children – we shy away from home cooking. However, preparing delicious, nutritious meals at home does not have to hijack your schedule. Fast and easy no-fuss entrées are as close as your commissary and commissaries.com.
First, make a commitment during September, National Family Meals Month, to share one more family meal at home each week.
“Small, consistent steps to share a home-cooked meal around the dinner table can have overwhelmingly positive benefits,” said Deborah Harris, the Defense Commissary Agency’s health and wellness program manager, MPH, RD, CDE (Masters of Public Health, registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator). “Not only will healthier eating habits emerge resulting in healthier weights, research confirms that regular family meals lead to higher grades, self-esteem and less risky behavior in children.”
Now, to help jumpstart that commitment DeCA has prepared a list of no-fuss entrées chosen from the many dietitian-approved “Thinking Outside the Box” recipes featured on commissaries.com. The list is designed to minimize preparation time with quick and easy meal solutions featuring ingredients that will save you money at your commissary. It features links to quick-prep recipes using a slow cooker, microwave or pressure cooker; make-ahead freezer meals; one skillet meals and entrees using prepared protein like rotisserie chicken and canned tuna.
Additional nutrition education, resources and suggestions to improve the nutritive quality of the family diet can be found under Healthy Living on commissaries.com. Make sure to take a peek at the sales flyer which features an extra 20% off on the current Thinking Outside the Box recipe ingredients.
“Designed with busy families in mind, there is a large assortment of easy-to-prepare, dietitian-approved recipes, many of which are customizable for picky eaters, always one click away on commissaries.com,” Harris said. “Visit the recipes link and filter by clicking “dietitian approved”. We are continually adding new healthy recipes to ensure our military families stay healthy. Use all the resources available to plan a no-fuss menu and a weekly shopping list to meet the goal of cooking one more weekly meal at home – all while saving big at the register. ”
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About DeCA: The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Commissaries provide a military benefit, saving authorized patrons thousands of dollars annually on their purchases compared to similar products at commercial retailers. The discounted prices include a 5-percent surcharge, which covers the costs of building new commissaries and modernizing existing ones. A core military family support element, and a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America’s military and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.