Help, quick! Chicken is taking over my life!
HappyPhantom4
Posts: 19 Member
Hi, everyone!
I have really been struggling lately to come up with meal ideas that doesn't consist of boring chicken breasts. I mean, I like chicken, but I only know of one way to cook it that's healthy. I always bake it in the oven with some sort of seasoning on it and then I roast veggies for a side dish. I don't know how else to cook chicken or what is considered to be a healthy meal if I cook it in another way or with other ingredients. It stresses me out and I know that sounds stupid but it really does because if I do try to change it up I worry that I won't know how to count the calories for it (like if I add a spicy tomato sauce over top which I did once and it was really good, but how do you figure out how much sauce is baked onto the chicken?) or that it's going to really add up in calories and not be my usual healthy chicken anymore. Also, I would love it if you guys could give me other healthy meal ideas. I have looked all over the internet and found only a few meals that seem healthy. It's difficult too because I don't eat beef, rarely eat pork and I don't eat and the only processed foods I eat are bread and an occasional multigrain cracker. I don't eat pasta either because I know it isn't good for you. So I'm kind of feeling stuck at the moment in that I can't figure out what's healthy to eat. But any meal suggestion would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks you guys!!
I have really been struggling lately to come up with meal ideas that doesn't consist of boring chicken breasts. I mean, I like chicken, but I only know of one way to cook it that's healthy. I always bake it in the oven with some sort of seasoning on it and then I roast veggies for a side dish. I don't know how else to cook chicken or what is considered to be a healthy meal if I cook it in another way or with other ingredients. It stresses me out and I know that sounds stupid but it really does because if I do try to change it up I worry that I won't know how to count the calories for it (like if I add a spicy tomato sauce over top which I did once and it was really good, but how do you figure out how much sauce is baked onto the chicken?) or that it's going to really add up in calories and not be my usual healthy chicken anymore. Also, I would love it if you guys could give me other healthy meal ideas. I have looked all over the internet and found only a few meals that seem healthy. It's difficult too because I don't eat beef, rarely eat pork and I don't eat and the only processed foods I eat are bread and an occasional multigrain cracker. I don't eat pasta either because I know it isn't good for you. So I'm kind of feeling stuck at the moment in that I can't figure out what's healthy to eat. But any meal suggestion would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks you guys!!
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Replies
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Do you like shrimp or other seafood? Tons of protein and not a lot of calories.0
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something we do a lot is cook with lean ground turkey. similar to ground beef but less fat.0
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my chicken meal is like this
Thomas' thin bagel
slice of provolone
1 slice of bacon
chipolte spicy mustard
3 oz of baked chicken breast
toast the bagel
microwave the chicken with bacon on top of it for 2 minutes
remove chicken and back in the container it came in
place provolone on it and close the lid. (allows the heat to melt the cheese)
remove bagel and spread mustard on half evenly.
remove chicken/bacon/cheese and place on bottom half of bagel
complete sandwich
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Soups and turkey chili are great this time of year.0
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Is there a reason why you don't eat pork (religious?)? Because if there is nothing prohibiting you from eating it, pork tenderloin is a great protein.0
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I have the same problem with tuna salad. I stopped eating it about six months ago. If I never see another tunafish sandwich it will be too soon. ;-)0
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Chicken Fajitas are awesome - healthy and very tasty.0
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^Yep. This. She has a whole chicken section you can peruse and she counts the calories for you, so if you follow the recipe, you're golden.0 -
just roast that chicken. delicious.0
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you can throw 2 or 3 chicken breasts in the crock pot with a jar of salsa, and let it go all day, then just shred it up in the pot. This is a versatile thing to have around - works for tacos, burritos etc. It's nice in a hamburger bun .. or plain .. or .. well you get the point.
2 lbs of chicken plus one jar of salsa devided into 6 servings comes out to about 150 cals a serving.
Use the recipe builder - it's a great tool.0 -
Certain fish are great and supply Omega 3's. Great choices are sockeye Salmon and halibut (wild) as well. Shrimp and scallops are also a great choice. I make a sockeye sandwich that is very satisfying
Dinner #5 Cal Carb Fat Pro Salt Chol
Skotidakis - Taziki, 1 tbsp 25 1 2 2 55 5
Nanuck - Wild Sockeye Salmon, 160 g +salt 224 0 10 34 316 80
Stonemill - Chia Bread, 2 slices 150 24 3 7 160 0
Garden Fresh Gourmet - Guacamole, .5 Tbsp 23 2 2 1 53 0
422 27 17 44 584 85
Only downside is some of these are expensive0 -
I eat a lot of stuff that you probably wouldn't think was healthy... and I am still losing weight.
A few things I do with chicken- baked with garlic, seasoned salt, pepper and rosemary, grilled chicken, tandoori style chicken, chicken stir fry with vegetables and rice, chicken with pasta on the side, shredded chicken mixed with bbq sauce for a sandwich.
Try making soups.
Try turkey occasionally.
Check out bean and lentil recipes.
Eat eggs or oatmeal sometimes.
Eat a giant salad- add some chicken to it if you like.
I enter in a recipe and then log the portion I ate.
Some good recipes. budgetbytes.com0 -
OP - I guess it would help if you told us what you perceived to be healthy... are you trying to keep your meals under a certain number of calories? Are you doing low carb, low sodium, using any other parameters? Do you want only chicken entree ideas or are you looking for complete meals using chicken? What's the aversion to other proteins?
There are so many ways to cook chicken, and other proteins. Baking it and serving it with vegetables would get old very quickly. You also asked about how to calculate calories if you add tomato sauce....
1. Determine calories in tomato sauce per unit of measure
2. Measure/weigh tomato sauce
3. Pour that amount on chicken
4. Cook according to directions.
5. Eat and enjoy
Pinterest and AllRecipes have lots of suggestions. I third the SkinnyTaste suggestion.
Also second the comment that people lose weight eating all sorts of foods, even those you may not think are "healthy". There are plenty of people on here (myself included) who lose weight eating pizza, burgers, ice cream, drinking wine, etc.
Good luck!
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Yes, I eat all kinds of meat. You really don't have to limit yourself to boneless, skinless chicken breast (although it's fine in moderation, of course). ;-)
I really like just roasting chicken breast with bones and skin, or a whole chicken or dark meat pieces. Boneless skinless breasts or (ideally) thighs can also be chopped up and used in a stir fry or soup or pasta dish.
I'm big on pork, which can be as lean, or lean cuts of beef or venison. I also eat lots of lamb and lots of fish and other seafood (shrimp, smoked salmon, calamari). I've also recently discovered that you can slow cook a skinless boneless turkey breast really easily and have lots of meat available for lunch for the rest of the week (or make an easy dinner).0 -
HappyPhantom4 wrote: »I have looked all over the internet and found only a few meals that seem healthy. It's difficult too because I don't eat beef, rarely eat pork and I don't eat and the only processed foods I eat are bread and an occasional multigrain cracker. I don't eat pasta either because I know it isn't good for you. So I'm kind of feeling stuck at the moment in that I can't figure out what's healthy to eat. But any meal suggestion would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks you guys!!
I missed the comments before about processed food and pasta isn't good for you. Why isn't pasta good for you?
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Sounds like you have the tail wagging the dog. Calorie tracking is supposed to liberate you to eat well, not to fear eating anything that you don't know the exact calories or doesn't fit some definition of "good for you.". Learn to cook and stop obsessing over precise calorie counts. In the meantime, marinate your chicken in yoghurt and (lots of) garlic, then bake. And don't worry about exactly how much yoghurt stuck to the chicken.0
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Is there a reason why you don't eat pork (religious?)? Because if there is nothing prohibiting you from eating it, pork tenderloin is a great protein.
No, it's not because of religious reasons. I just had someone tell me pork is fatty that I should stay away from it. And because I'm still learning how to make healthier food choices, I listened to them. But I love pork so maybe I'll try a pork tenderloin sometime. Is there any special way you cook it? Oh, thanks so much for your help!!0 -
that sounds yummy and pretty easy to make.Jerrypeoples wrote: »my chicken meal is like this
Thomas' thin bagel
slice of provolone
1 slice of bacon
chipolte spicy mustard
3 oz of baked chicken breast
toast the bagel
microwave the chicken with bacon on top of it for 2 minutes
remove chicken and back in the container it came in
place provolone on it and close the lid. (allows the heat to melt the cheese)
remove bagel and spread mustard on half evenly.
remove chicken/bacon/cheese and place on bottom half of bagel
complete sandwich
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Pork, Beef, fish, Duck, Kangaroo
Each have about 10+ Cuts you can use for dishes all in many ways
Learn too cook.
I eat chicken once a week....... To many other tasty meats and dishes
All just as healthy0 -
Dang, I could eat a different flavor rotisserie chicken every day lol !0
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I marinate my skinless/boneless chicken thighs (5-6) and bake with the marinade for 60 minutes at 325'.
Marinade:
Small chopped onion
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
2 tablespoons country Dijon
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon Sriacha sauce
Juice of one lime or lemon
1/4 cup water
Salt/pepper
Mix it all in a large Baggie, add thighs, squish together and marinate all day or at least 2-3 hours.
Spread it all in a baking pan and bake in 325' oven for 60 minutes!
Yummo!!!!!
I promise.0 -
sheldonklein wrote: »Sounds like you have the tail wagging the dog. Calorie tracking is supposed to liberate you to eat well, not to fear eating anything that you don't know the exact calories or doesn't fit some definition of "good for you.". Learn to cook and stop obsessing over precise calorie counts. In the meantime, marinate your chicken in yoghurt and (lots of) garlic, then bake. And don't worry about exactly how much yoghurt stuck to the chicken.
I guess it's just that I'm worried I'm going to fail again to loose weight which makes me determined to learn as much as I can about having a healthy lifestyle and maybe even obsessing over it. So yeah it's going to worry me when I can't figure out the calories because knowing the calories allows me to keep control over my weight loss and health. I'm brand new to this. I'm probably messing something up, but I'm doing the best I know how since I don't have anyone to help me through it. (except of course all the nice people here on MFP, who have been so helpful. You also, Sheldon) But I do get what you're saying, and I appreciate it. I will do better about not getting so wrapped up in calories and being stressed. Thank you!!!0 -
I bake chicken breasts with salsa covering them for an added kick. We also do "chinese chicken" which is a raw chicken breast cut into small pieces. I sautee it in chicken stock and once nearly cooked through I add a bag of frozen broccoli. Once completed we serve over a little bit of rice with chinese sauce sold by our local grocery chain (wegmans). One chicken breast makes enough for two people...and its a whole meal in one for about 400cals0
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Unfortunately, I feel like chicken is taking over my life, too. I regularly eat a pound of chicken breast a day.
Best ideas I have are to eat it with various grains and sauces. I like couscous, wild rice, brown rice, and "cream of" soups, skillet sauces (target has some great ones, including a green Thai curry, a spicy sesame, and a really good tikka masala).0 -
Dip it in an egg wash, roll in corn starch, and fry in veggie oil. Then I toss them with spices and wing sauce Mine generally comes out to less than 300 calories for a 3oz serving to put on salads.
Marinate overnight in Italian dressing, and grill/broil in the oven.
Marinate in fresh lemon, soy sauce, a little spicy oyster sauce, and sliced garlic. Cook in a pan.
Cook in the oven, toss with a few tablespoons of light mayo, and add in salad supreme seasoning, onion, and celery. Top with salads or use in sandwiches.
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The pork I buy from the 4h kids is very lean.HappyPhantom4 wrote: »Is there a reason why you don't eat pork (religious?)? Because if there is nothing prohibiting you from eating it, pork tenderloin is a great protein.
No, it's not because of religious reasons. I just had someone tell me pork is fatty that I should stay away from it. And because I'm still learning how to make healthier food choices, I listened to them. But I love pork so maybe I'll try a pork tenderloin sometime. Is there any special way you cook it? Oh, thanks so much for your help!!0 -
The pork I buy from the 4h kids is very lean.HappyPhantom4 wrote: »Is there a reason why you don't eat pork (religious?)? Because if there is nothing prohibiting you from eating it, pork tenderloin is a great protein.
No, it's not because of religious reasons. I just had someone tell me pork is fatty that I should stay away from it. And because I'm still learning how to make healthier food choices, I listened to them. But I love pork so maybe I'll try a pork tenderloin sometime. Is there any special way you cook it? Oh, thanks so much for your help!!
I read this out of order/quickly, and for a moment I thought it read that you buy 4H kids.
On another note...they sell stuff like that?! I had no clue.
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I bake chicken breasts with salsa covering them for an added kick. We also do "chinese chicken" which is a raw chicken breast cut into small pieces. I sautee it in chicken stock and once nearly cooked through I add a bag of frozen broccoli. Once completed we serve over a little bit of rice with chinese sauce sold by our local grocery chain (wegmans). One chicken breast makes enough for two people...and its a whole meal in one for about 400cals
That sounds really good! Recently I did try adding salsa, black beans and corn to chicken breasts first I seasoned chicken with like a taco seasoning, salt and pepper I covered it with foil and baked it for half of the cooking time then poured over salsa and the corn and beans and added a little garlic and put it back into the oven uncovered until it cooked the rest of the way. I made 2 chicken breasts, one I ate as is with a small potato, the salsa bean mix was good on top and then I ate the other slices on warmed corn tortillas.0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL_-1d9OSdk
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