Cooking during the week can be a total pain. Just the thought of coming home after a long day at work and preparing a full meal is draining, and contributes to why many of us end up either at our local hot spot, or order from the take out menu (ahem, drive-through window).

Unfortunately, eating out every night is both tough on the wallet and not really that great for your body. You don’t know what is going in to what you’re eating, and a lot of the times restaurants are heavy on things like salt, butter, sugar. Even simple salads are packed with calories and sugar-rich dressings.

That’s why eating at home is important. Here are are some of our favorite quick and healthy recipes that can be made during the week.

1) Vegan sweet potato chili – Don’t let the name fool you, this recipe is amazing. Not will the recipe make a TON of food (so you can store or freeze), but it’s filling, delicious, great for you, and is made all in one pot. Personal note: We added a cinnamon stick to the recipe which helped to bring out those warm winter flavors as well.

2) Crock Pot Beef Stew – If you don’t own a crock pot yet, it’s time to go out and purchase one. We were anti-crock for awhile, but it’s truly a life changer and the meals we’ve made it in, like this beef stew, are so incredibly delicious and simple, it’s insane.

3) Mustard Brussels Sprouts – When you first read that you may have said “A side dish for dinner? yeah right!” but a big bowl of these, with a fried egg on top sprinkled with some Parmesan cheese equals one happy and full tummy.

4) Cheesey Quinoa Mac & Cheese – Yes, we’ve made this. Yes, it’s as delicious as it sounds. And no, we didn’t feel bloated afterward. You can thank us later for this one.

5) Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon – This recipe is SO easy and incredibly delicious. We made it the other night, paired it with quickly steamed broccoli and went to bed full and happy.

What recipes do you make during the week?

-Sasha Huff