These Time-Saving Meals Are Made for Back-to-School Season

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Right now, huge changes are happening. For the first time in well over a year, kids are headed back into the classroom – and adults are headed back into the office. After adapting to a completely at-home routine, it's time to return to the busy mornings and packed evenings full of homework, after-school activities and your own hectic work demands.

If these "back to normal" changes are making you a bit nervous, you definitely aren't alone. After all, it's been awhile. The days of packing lunches, prepping weeknight meals and balancing busy school and work schedules sure seem like they happened ages ago. And getting back into the swing of office life and back-to-school season just takes the right time-saving tips.

Whether you're still enjoying the last few days of summer or are preparing to step back into the office soon, we've got the meal plans, lunch recipes and speedy dinner ideas you need to make the transition easier. You can transform your favorite work-from-home lunches into tasty meals for your midday office meals and add a little gourmet flavor to every day. And if you have an Instant Pot, you can create almost effortless weeknight meals no matter how crammed your schedule might be.

To really save time, our meal plans are key. You can cook just once and fill your entire workweek with healthy, delicious and wholesome meals, taking almost all of the challenges of cooking off the table. With recipes like these, you'll have weekdays mastered once again.

If "Busy" Is an Understatement, You Need These Weekday Meal Solutions

It's hard to eat clean consistently when you're short on time. Maybe you skip breakfast or stuff your bag with packaged snacks to survive the day. Or, maybe you rely on your local coffee shop to fuel you on early mornings or energy-slumping afternoons. And we all know temptation is tough to avoid when you're back in the office, surrounded by not-so-healthy treats from breakfast until late afternoon.

But being busy doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your diet. It's possible to stick with healthy habits without giving up a whole lot of time. We've created a list of some of our favorite busy-morning breakfasts, which includes make-ahead meals, quick bites and even clean packaged breakfasts you can grab and go. Even if you only have 5, 10 or 15 minutes to spare, you can whip up a breakfast or a snack that's as filling as it is easy to pull together.

And when snack cravings hit during the day, we've got you covered there too.

Try these clean snacks when you're short on time »

Make Homemade Meals Better Than Ever:

Here's the Secret Formula Chefs Use for Irresistible Salads

Sure, salads can be simple – but they don't have to be! Some of the best cooking tips can be used to take your salads from blah to game-changing. Discover how subtle, easy tweaks can create even more satisfying salads.

No Boring Beans Here – These Veg Dishes Have Serious

Va-Va-Voom

No matter how old you are, eating your vegetables can get pretty dull if you're sticking with the same recipes. Change up your usual dishes and turn veggies into everything from fries to pickles to pizzas with fresh, exciting recipes.

These Totally Healthy Cheats Yield Meals in Minutes

There's no shame in taking shortcuts, especially when you're short on time. We'll help you make the back-to-work and back-to-school transition easier by taking store-bought foods and incorporating them into healthy meals.

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What we've been reading this week:

Spice up your favorite grilled veggies with chef Seamus Mullen's date-based dry BBQ rub from Vegetarian Times.

Can't get off your phone and get to sleep at night? Yoga Journal explains how this revenge bedtime procrastination might be affecting your rest.

Clean up your skincare routine by stocking up on natural products. Oxygen is sharing some of the best finds, all free of unsafe chemicals.

Are your kids anxious about heading back to school? Better Nutrition has aromatherapy tips that'll help you and your little ones prepare.

This Banana-Pecan Pancake recipe from Women's Running is the perfect fuel (or recovery meal) for a tough, sweaty workout.

Have you heard of potato milk? Vegetarian Times has the scoop on this supposedly healthier and more eco-friendly new plant-based milk.

If you're dealing with thinning, brittle hair, find out which nutrients and supplements are best for your hair's health at Better Nutrition.

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