Anyone have ideas for low cal recipes?

[caseysmom]

I am getting serious about losing weight. I joined a gym and gave gone 3 times in the last week.

My problem is I love to eat...what isn't fun about eating :D

Only problem is I cook like Paula Dean...I need help.

I get in a rut when dieting, I nuke a pototoe and eat it plain. My family is willing to do this also so I need dinner ideas.

I have 3 packages of ground turkey, I usually just pan fry a burger in pam but that gets old... I have discovered quinoa and we eat that often.

Any Ideas? I also need ideas for munchies at work, I bought a bunch of those baby carrots and I think I will make a salad with beans and maybe some cut up boiled pototoes so it will be filling.

I want to lose at least 70 lbs:eek:

Anyone want to be a team and help keep each other on track?

[Scooter's Mom]

I sure need to do this as well.
I buy the baby carrots, eat them a day and then get tired of them.

Right now I have some chicken pieces in the oven, baking. I sprinkled them with seasoning (randomly chose one from the pantry, it's mesquite flavor) and stuck them in one of the Reynold's Oven Bags. I will have steamed cauliflower and corn with it. Not too bad, I think.

I was even good and peeled the skin off!

[caseysmom]

We had a sort of low cal mexican salad for a late lunch now me and my daughter are going to work out. I hope to get at least 20 minutes on the elliptical this time.

I browned ground turkey and seasoned it up over a bed of lettuce and I put those baby carrots in the food processor and added them to the lettuce. Put some beans and indulged myself with about 1/5 of an avocodo and no dressing but a tablespoon of mexican grated cheese mix.

[caseysmom]

Made a smoothie with blueberries, plain yogurt, a bit of honey, a splash of oj and pure pomegranate juice and a pack of sweet and low and some ice...it was so yummy.

[Scooter's Mom]

I ended up having some corn and 1 chicken leg for dinner.

Hubby and I are fighting, so my appetite went away. *sigh*

[cassiesmom]

Salsa chicken (2 servings)

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 teaspoons taco seasoning mix
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon sour cream (optional) - but I do use it

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)
Place chicken breasts in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle taco seasoning on both sides of chicken breasts, and pour salsa over all.
Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 25 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is tender and juicy and its juices run clear.
Sprinkle chicken evenly with cheese, and continue baking for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Top with sour cream if desired, and serve.

Amount Per Serving Calories: 287 | Total Fat: 12.4g | Cholesterol: 101mg
Sodium: 863mg
Carbohydrate: 6.8g
Dietary Fiber: 1g

[caseysmom]

I ended up having some corn and 1 chicken leg for dinner.

Hubby and I are fighting, so my appetite went away. *sigh*

I'm sorry:(

[caseysmom]

Salsa chicken (2 servings)

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 teaspoons taco seasoning mix
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon sour cream (optional) - but I do use it

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)
Place chicken breasts in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle taco seasoning on both sides of chicken breasts, and pour salsa over all.
Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 25 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is tender and juicy and its juices run clear.
Sprinkle chicken evenly with cheese, and continue baking for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Top with sour cream if desired, and serve.

Amount Per Serving Calories: 287 | Total Fat: 12.4g | Cholesterol: 101mg
Sodium: 863mg
Carbohydrate: 6.8g
Dietary Fiber: 1g

Sounds yummy...thanks...

[Karen]

A lower-calorie substitute for sour cream is cottage cheese, run it through the blender and you're good to go!

I have so many allergies, so my recipes are not very exciting for others, but I have one that's yummy and pretty low-cal, now that I think of it!

Heat the oven, and throw a couple potatoes in, at least at 325, just bake potatoes. When they are about half an hour from done, take chicken breasts, and grease a pan. Sprinkle each breast with a shake each of salt, thyme, and sage, and them crumple some rosemary over it. Flip the breast over and repeat. Bake for about 20 minutes, then sprinkle some low-fat mozzarella over each, and return to the oven for ten minutes, and check for doneness. Thicker ones may take a bit more time.

Add your veggie of choice, and just add a little butter/margarine, salt and pepper to your potatoes, and you've got dinner!

[kitten645]

Get Food Rules. It's not a diet but it's sensible rules about food. No protein bigger than your fist...not red meat. Twice as many veggies. Water. Nothing processed. Anything delivered thru your car window isn't food. :D That one is my favorite! LOL!
Claudia

[caseysmom]

A lower-calorie substitute for sour cream is cottage cheese, run it through the blender and you're good to go!

I have so many allergies, so my recipes are not very exciting for others, but I have one that's yummy and pretty low-cal, now that I think of it!

Heat the oven, and throw a couple potatoes in, at least at 325, just bake potatoes. When they are about half an hour from done, take chicken breasts, and grease a pan. Sprinkle each breast with a shake each of salt, thyme, and sage, and them crumple some rosemary over it. Flip the breast over and repeat. Bake for about 20 minutes, then sprinkle some low-fat mozzarella over each, and return to the oven for ten minutes, and check for doneness. Thicker ones may take a bit more time.

Add your veggie of choice, and just add a little butter/margarine, salt and pepper to your potatoes, and you've got dinner!

Thats funny I have some potatoes in the oven right now...I need to get some of the "diet" butter...I may have some molly mcbutter somewhere...the chicken sounds good too I will have to try that one sometime.

[caseysmom]

Get Food Rules. It's not a diet but it's sensible rules about food. No protein bigger than your fist...not red meat. Twice as many veggies. Water. Nothing processed. Anything delivered thru your car window isn't food. :D That one is my favorite! LOL!
Claudia

I don't usually get fast food so thats not too much of a problem but my problem is things like cookies, ice cream, etc.

Yeah I like to fill up on veggies and luckily the farmers markets will be having more veggies soon.

[Cataholic]

I was thinking of your plain potato dinner, blech. ;)
Green giant makes those singles with broccoli and cheese, either 40 or 60 cals. Put that on top of a potato, with karen's cottage cheese idea and you will have a more complete meal by far. Steaming veggies in microwave is easy and cheaper than the singles.

I have egg whites and salsa most mornings. Low fat, high protein, keeps me going til lunch.

The magazine oxygen has some of the best "clean" recipes I have ever seen, plus great for ALL levels exercises. It has lots of high end body building stuff, too, but always some stuff to do at home, or easy gym stuff.
Low calorie is ONE part of weight loss plan. What and when you eat is important, as well as moving as much as you can.

3500 calories is one pound. Eliminate 3500 extra calories, and you lose a pound. So everything you put in your mouth matters. Make it count with high fiber for fullness, higher protein for muscles, lower carbs so that what you are burning off is old carb extras now stored as lovely fat, and not the last handful or 3 of pretzels!

Go walk! Good luck.

[caseysmom]

I was thinking of your plain potato dinner, blech. ;)
Green giant makes those singles with broccoli and cheese, either 40 or 60 cals. Put that on top of a potato, with karen's cottage cheese idea and you will have a more complete meal by far. Steaming veggies in microwave is easy and cheaper than the singles.

I have egg whites and salsa most mornings. Low fat, high protein, keeps me going til lunch.

The magazine oxygen has some of the best "clean" recipes I have ever seen, plus great for ALL levels exercises. It has lots of high end body building stuff, too, but always some stuff to do at home, or easy gym stuff.
Low calorie is ONE part of weight loss plan. What and when you eat is important, as well as moving as much as you can.

3500 calories is one pound. Eliminate 3500 extra calories, and you lose a pound. So everything you put in your mouth matters. Make it count with high fiber for fullness, higher protein for muscles, lower carbs so that what you are burning off is old carb extras now stored as lovely fat, and not the last handful or 3 of pretzels!

Go walk! Good luck.

I can't really do walking yet because of my foot injury, my doctor wants me to do all low or no impact like swimming or illiptical, so I joined the gym.

I have done this all so many times I know the drill I just want to make it more interesting. There are a lot of more interesting products in the market now also that really helps.

[Queen of Poop]

What about using fat free sour cream?
Stevia instead of sugar or sweet n low? It is much sweeter and a wee tiny bit goes a long way.
The carbs in your fruits/veggies don't count against you, only what you put on them does.
Try using olive oil, it is much better for you and I believe has less calories.
Use lots of seasonings to jazz up your food, they don't add calories (ie garlic, thyme, dill, ginger, etc.)
Cook your boneless and skinless chicken in the oven with loads of seasonings and a little bit of water, comes out tasty with no added fat.

Just a few suggestions. I've been seeing a nutritionist for the last 2 plus years. All stuff I did before the IBS took over. Now I eat rice, tofu and a few other things.

[caseysmom]

We have always only used olive oil, and I am wierd I can't stand sour cream.

What is stevia? I have never heard of that.

[slick]

Well, I'm down "some weight" since last march and it feels great. Good for you CM for recognizing the need for healthier living and eating.

Somethings to definitely watch out for are processed foods (these include all deli meats, packaged stuff such as Krap Dinner and Shake N Bake to name a few - basically anything that comes in a package is bad as it's loaded with sodium and sugar), sauces such as bottled BBQ sauce and soya sauce (loaded with sugar and sodium), canned soup (loaded with sodium), you get my drift. Read the labels.

Try a baked potato with cottage cheese, then top off with sliced green onions and pepper. Yummy.

Another misconception is to eat lots of fruit - which I do. I have not been losing weight lately and I discovered it's because of all the fruit I'm eating - loaded with sugar, mind you it's a much better form of sugar than what you get using white sugar. I eat lots of veggies too and cut way back on meat consumption. I still eat beef but only about once a month. I cook chicken on the bone and with the skin on, and remove the skin after cooking. I don't know, I just find the chicken tastier. I also love, love, roasted veggies. Take some big chunks of red, green, yellow peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, and another veggies you want, put them in a big bowl. Olive oil, garlic and fresh or dried herbs are spinkled over the veggies, spread in one layer on a baking sheet and bake 350 for about 20 min. Makes a great easy low cal side dish.

Stevia??? It's a natural sugar substitute that was recommended to me by both my cancer nutritionist and diabetes nutritionist. I tried it and didn't like the taste of it at all - threw out the whole bottle. I pretty much don't use sugar on anything, including hot and cold cereal.

Sorry to ramble - I'll come back and post if I think of anything else. Gotta get back to work.

[caseysmom]

Definetely going to try the roasted veggies that sounds really good, I am still at work and I am hungry!

[Queen of Poop]

Stevia did have a peculiar taste at first, but after a couple of cups of tea with just this tiny bit of stevia in it I got to like it. It is super sweet and so much better for you than sugar. I buy it in our local health food store, but a few grocery stores carry it too. I get the powdered version rather than the liquid.

Sorry it wasn't to your liking Slick.

[caseysmom]

I haven't noticed stevia here anywhere, I will keep my eyes out. One big no no I do is those flavored creamers in my coffee.

[caseysmom]

I think Stevia may not be approved by the FDA for sale in the US. That would explain why I haven't seen it.

[Cataholic]

^^ Stevia has been in the US for a while now....

[happylabs]

I think Stevia may not be approved by the FDA for sale in the US. That would explain why I haven't seen it.

I have seen this at our health food store in Pennsylvania.

[caseysmom]

That would explain why I haven't seen it, I don't go into health food stores:D

I had quinoa and talapia and steamed brocolli last night it was really good, I am loving the quinoa, I use molly mcbutter on things and it is really good.

[cassiesmom]

I was looking on allrecipes.com for a fish recipe for Friday night (my family doesn't eat meat on Fridays during Lent). I found this one. I've never made it before but I like the idea of the raspberry flavor.

Ingredients
4 (4 ounce) fillets tilapia
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup raspberry vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 11x7 inch baking dish.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the olive oil, raspberry vinegar, honey, mustard and dill weed.
Arrange the tilapia filets in a single layer in the prepared baking dish. Pour mixture over the fish filets, coating the filets evenly.
Bake in a preheated oven, uncovered for 20 minutes or until fish is flaky with a fork.

306 kcal, 15gm fat.

[boomersooner]

Good for everyone trying to cut back....!!! Proud of everyone....

I bought my husband some Stevia at Walmart....

I simple low fat recipe that we like.....

mix cooked diced chicken with salsa, roll it up in a flour tortilla(or I suppose you could use corn, too) then place in a baking pan like a 9 X 13 one...put in the oven at 350 until it is hot.....It doesn't take long...add some fat free refried beans, and you have a yummy dinner!

Adding salsa to something seems to really perk it up, and it is pretty much fat free. I'll try and think of some more! I'm gonna try some of the ones I've seen on the thread! Good luck everyone!!

[kitten645]

stevia...yuck toowie! Has a really weird taste and I can't use it. I use Organic Light Agave to sub for sugar. You can bake with it too!