What happens when your children have a long weekend? How do you handle lunch? Obviously, fast food is quick. But you know how unhealthy it is. How can you prepare a quick lunch that's healthy and enjoyable for your children? The key is to combine fresh items with healthy convenience items. The following recipes are a starting point that should help you come up with even more ideas.

Cheesy Chicken Ranch Filled Pitas
Serves 4

2 loaves of whole wheat pita, cut in half lengthwise
2-6 ounce package of chicken strips
4 ounces of 2-percent, shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup of grape tomatoes, cut in half
2 cups of romaine lettuce, torn into small pieces
2 cups of chili beans, drained and rinsed
½ cup fat-free ranch dressing

1. Carefully open the pita bread to create pockets.
2. Toss the chicken, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and beans until mixed thoroughly.
3. Place chicken mixture inside each pita and top with ranch dressing.
4. Serve with baked potatoes chips or baby carrots.

Crazy Apply Wedges
Serve 4

4 Granny Smith apples, cut into wedges
½ cup natural peanut butter
1 cup of healthy granola
¼ cup mini dark chocolate chips
Honey, to taste

1. Spread the peanut butter on one side of each apple wedge.
2. Toss the granola and chocolate chips together and sprinkle on top of the peanut butter.
3. Drizzle with honey.

Remember that these recipes are a starting point. There are so many different options for a healthy lunch. Something as simple as melon slices and turkey or chicken sandwiches can be made into a nutritious meal. More importantly, don't forget to keep the side dishes healthy. Vegetables, baked potatoes chips or even homemade tortilla chips are great options. Best of all though, is the fact that these meals can be prepared so quickly. This gives you time to grab your purse and take the kids to a movie.

You want a quick meal that's healthy, but you also want quick cleanup. After all, no one wants to spend hours washing dishes. This is yet another reason why many parents turn to fast food. After the meal is done, you just toss some packages in the trash and you're done. But what if you could enjoy a healthy, homemade meal that could be prepared in one pan? Would you be interested? If so, you simply must check out these quick, single-pot meals.

Shortcut Shepherd's Pie
Serves 4

Olive oil
8 ounces of sliced mushrooms
1 pound of 93-percent lean ground beef
2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables
16-ounce jar of beef or mushroom gravy (low-sodium would be preferred)
Fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
2 cups of refrigerated or leftover mashed potatoes
4 ounces of 2-percent cheddar cheese, shredded

1. In an ovenproof pan, sauté the mushroom in olive oil and set aside.
2. Brown the ground beef until cooked through, and then stir in the cooked mushrooms, vegetables, gravy and black pepper.
3. Top with mashed potatoes, cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes, or until heated through.
4. Remove the foil, add the cheese and continue cooking until the cheese has melted.
5. Serve with crusty French bread.

Creamy Chicken with Biscuits
Serves 4

1 pound of chicken tenders, cut into bite sized pieces
16-ounce jar of chicken gravy
2 cups of frozen, mixed vegetables
1 cup of frozen pearl onions
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
4 reduced-fat, refrigerated biscuits (the large size)

1. Cook chicken tenders in an ovenproof pan.
2. Once the chicken tenders have cooked through, stir in the gravy, vegetables, onions and ground pepper.
3. Top with biscuits and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until the biscuits have cooked through.

You don't have to sacrifice flavor or consume large amounts of calories to enjoy a quick meal. Try one of these meals tonight and then kickback in pair of comfortable sweatpants.

Cooler weather makes it hard to stick to a healthy lifestyle. All you can think of is digging into a bowl of chicken and dumplings or maybe even a hot piece of apple pie with ice cream. How are you and your family going to make it through fall without giving into these temptations? More importantly, how can you prepare a quick meal that's *healthy, yet satisfying*? It's easy. Here's a great recipe to get you started:

Chicken Meatball Stew
Serves 8

1 pound of 98% lean ground chicken
½ tablespoon poultry seasoning
1 cup of bread crumbs
½ of a small onion, pureed
½ of a small green pepper, pureed
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 quarts low-sodium chicken broth
Fresh ground pepper to taste
8 ounces small dry pasta, your favorite type
4 cups of frozen, mixed vegetables

1. Combine the ground chicken, poultry seasoning, bread crumbs, onion and green pepper. Form into meatballs. Be careful not to overwork the meat or your meatballs will be tough.
2. Melt the butter in a large pot and combine with flour to create a roux. Stir in the chicken stock and season with pepper.
3. Add meatballs, cover and simmer over medium-low heat for one hour or until the meatballs are cooked through.
4. Add pasta and cook according to the package directions.
5. Stir in frozen vegetables and heat through.
6. Serve with crusty French bread.

What about dessert? Obviously, you want something warm and decadent. Thankfully, there are several healthy desserts to be found at your grocery store. For example, why not prepare a reduced-sugar brownie mix? Or you could even prepare, cook and serve sugar-free pudding. Warm, decadent recipes don't have to be loaded with sugar. Throw caution to the wind and indulge.

It's important to find substitutes for those high-calorie fall dishes. Remember, it's not a free for all from fall through New Year's. You must prepare recipes that are healthy or you can say bye-bye to that little black dress.