Self care is something we all hear to do more of these days. The seriousness of current issues have increased stress levels beyond what one would consider to be normal or everyday stress. So, wherever tension can be decreased, it helps. Dinner, regardless of the number of people sitting at the table, is a stress button for many. There’s the decision of what to eat, prepping, cooking, and cleaning. As the saying goes, “You can’t pour from an empty vessel.” Taking the edge off of this one daily aspect of life, can keep your vessel from being emptied. Below are a couple different ideas for dinner that can be added to a regular routine.

Fish Tacos
They are easy, can be made for one person or ten, and they are an incredibly affordable gourmet style dinner. Most of the ingredients can be found at Dollar Tree or any discount store. Tortillas, cheese, and the sauce ingredients are all at most dollar stores. The fish and fresh produce are very affordable at most grocery stores. Affordable and easy to find ingredients fade the first layer of dinner stress.
Ingredients:
Tortillas
Talapia
Shredded cabbage (Optional. Use lettuce for a substitute.)
Diced tomatoes
Shredded cheese (of your choice)
Sauce: sour cream, mayo, chili powder, lime juice, garlic
Mix the sauce ingredients, 1 part sour cream, 1 part mayo,
1 TB of chili powder, 1 tspn of lime, and garlic to taste.
Pan fry the talapia and drop it in a tortilla. Top with sauce, cabbage, tomatoes and shredded cheese.
The great thing with fish tacos is that you can mix things up and it won’t add to the cost of your ingredients. Fish tastes great with citrus so instead of tomatoes, use mandarin slices. These can be found at dollar stores, too. Add finely sliced avocado, cilantro, or switch up the fish for shrimp. Frozen shrimp can be purchased for about $6 or $7 a pound at some stores. Switching up the ingredients also taps into your creative side, which will help fill your vessel. The clean up for this type of dinner is super “easy peezy!”

Sausage Bowls
Sausage bowls are a quick secret of LaFASA’s Outreach Coordinator, Kelli Knight. According to Kelli, “This is a filling dinner, that doesn’t require cooking and makes a ton! It’s normally a side dish that I make without meat, but when sausage is added, it makes it into a hearty meal.”
Ingredients:
Sausage
Canned black or ranch beans (drained)
Canned corn (drained)
Diced tomatoes
Diced avocados
Shredded cheese (cheese of your choice)
Sauce of choice (Italian dressing or mayo or sour cream)
Chop the sausage and heat it in the microwave. Usually one package is more than enough for a family of four to five. In a large bowl, mix the sausage with one or two cans of beans, one or two cans of corn, (gauge the number of cans according to how much you like these ingredients) diced tomatoes, a diced avocado, add your sauce of choice and shredded cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Voila’, there is a great dinner that is very tasty. This dish can also be changed up. If you don’t like black or ranch style beans, use black-eyed peas. Add cilantro or chopped spinach. Try pan-cooked chicken breast, shredded. It’s even a great meal for those who are vegetarians or have celiac and it’s easy on the pocket book.

These dinners can be prepared for one or more, they are recipes that tap into the preparer’s creative side, are easy to make and clean up afterwards, and won’t break the bank. Hopefully, stress levels are already going down, and vessels are being refilled, just by reading this article. Have fun and STRESS LESS this summer!