Food inspiration, or what's for supper?
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Proud to be a green bean pusher, PAV. I love them with whatever sauce is going.
You always amaze me, Alexandra. You got it all down - hope they all appreciate you for the wonder you are!
Your dinner sounds pretty "touchy" there, Connie! What's goin' on?
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I think they do. It's part of the reason I do so much; I get all sorts of appreciation for it.4
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Supper today (I know because finally I have prelogged my day
) Is the finally found "egg curry" with cauliflower/broccoli/carrots and some 0% greek yogurt! 3 -
So, I was thinking about Laurie and about what happens when I get home and I don't have anything pre-planned (which is my usual state in reaction to needing to have things planned when with other people which annoys me so I end up not planning when not having to deal with others
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What are YOUR go-to's?
Please take into account that I actually lost most of my weight eating 2500+ Cal a day and that these days on average I am maintaining in the 2700-2900 range. So portions and go-to choices may be larger than what many others can afford. Though, given how many times I sneak in a snicker's or clif bar in addition to these, I figure they would work fine for others who don't sneak in the snicker!
--I am driving home and am very hungry and nothing is ready and I don't want to wait and McDonald's is here and I can have lunch and dinner and brunch all RIGHT NOW... BAD MOVE, right?
Well I don't care if it is before dinner. Weather permitting I am just going to grab a vanilla cone! 250-300 Cal and I am now good for 2-3 hours!
Similarly: Wendy's chili. Chili on plain baked potato (not using the butter and sour cream). Tim Horton's soup or chili (but you have to watch it because their buns change everything especially if you grab and eat the full bun with the chili)
--My almost always available as an option at home: Yogurt, yogurt with cereal and fruit or pie filling these days or pudding. Hey, I default to sweet! We knew that!
-- PRE-BOILED (pre-peeled is even better) eggs in the fridge. On toast. On or with crackers. In a quick salad with the tomatoes or slaw in the fridge. Single piece of toast and slice of cheese and egg... adds up to under 250 Cal, right? Still under 275 if I use a laughing cow too.
~100 to 200 Cal of Apple while preparing the food. That's what I used to do when I was committed to pre-logging what I was going to eat before eating anything when I first started logging.
--High volume/low (relative) cal, easy to make "meals". Air dried noodles and / or rice noodle soups of under 400 Cal for the serving. Plus large amounts of coleslaw mix from a prepared dole/store brand "tri-color coleslaw" to put in the soup while it is nuking. Add some garlic or garlic powder (and onions if available) for staying power
--bags of frozen veggies that you can pop in a container and nuke in less than 5 minutes. While the water is boiling in the kettle. Pour water over the mashed potato pouch and combine with veggies. Instant meal. If you had some veggie or meat crumble you could even add that.
--lately something similar: nuked veggies with ready made spaghetti sauce and.
--baby tomatoes and bag of slaw in the fridge. Hot banana peppers and/or jalapeno in jars. Sour Kraut from jar (easy to warm, low cal) and would go fine with ONE normal or veggie sausage. Sriracha, of course and stinky cheese (so that a little goes a longer way), and let's not forget jalapeno laughing cow!
Anyway... these are some of MY "tricks"... what are some "tricks" you guys use?
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I think I am a creature of habit in many ways or else a born and bred Indiana German farmer!….breakfast is easy because I very rarely eat it….coffee and sugar free coffee mate hold me until noonish….I do not like hardly any traditional normal breakfast foods so it seems foolish to waste my calories just to be eating breakfast….lunch is simple, too…I like the Keto white bread and Flatout bread…boars head roast beef,onions,pickles, and light Mayo with some grey poupon….I eat this probably 4 days a week…other days I might have tuna salad,chicken salad or a chef salad…..dinner is meat,starch,and vegetable all placed so nothing touches…unless it is a casserole and then the foods can touch…usually a side salad with light dressing…I like a big mug of coffee and a fiber one cookie for dessert….later in the evening I have a snack while we watch TV….might be old Wisconsin turkey bites, trisquits,almonds and an apple or rice cakes with peanut butter or chocolate hummus…afternoon snack is almost always watermelon or berries….I like to have a few frozen lean cusine dinners if my day goes crazy…I go grocery shopping 3 or 4 times a week…I always have a lot of food on hand….I like fresh veggies but I keep frozen ones to prepare fast….I love to cook!2
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No longer having to go out to lunch or the work commute problem makes life easier. But I do try to have breakfast and lunch with hubby. He’s learned to work around my eating habits. Going out to eat is therefore a deliberate decision. My calorie allotment is in the 1300-1400 range. 1200 if I want to get serious. Even at goal it’ll be 1700 at most. Not much can go unplanned or unaccounted for.
My go to meal is a large salad made with spring mix lettuce, cherry tomatoes, green onions and 3-4 ounces of protein like chopped egg, cheese, ham, tuna. And a salsa for dressing. I’ll toss in stray veggies like leftover broccoli or whatever. It’s not exciting but does the job. Leaves a little room for a 200 calorie snack later.3 -
Dinner tonight is lean ground beef meatloaf,cauliflower rice and fresh green beans with a salad….
I can lose pretty good with 1500 calories a day….when I swim regularly I might eat a little more protein…. 1200 calories leaves me running on empty…I have to take care of so many things right now, I feel like I need the extra fuel to keep me going….( I sure don’t need as much as I ate in December!)3 -
Sadly I am cursed with shortness, old age and a bad hip. Can’t even use exercise to boost the daily calories. I used to be taller, younger and spryer and wasted it on bad eating!! At least I’m wiser now?3
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Sadly I am cursed with shortness, old age and a bad hip. Can’t even use exercise to boost the daily calories. I used to be taller, younger and spryer and wasted it on bad eating!! At least I’m wiser now?
I hear you loud and clear….thank goodness I am tall!….I wasted many years being overweight but hopefully now I will have many more! ( not too many but more lol )… I have had both knees replaced,major back surgery,shoulder cleaned and repaired, the list goes on but I am able to do a lot of activities, especially swimming….it has been too chilly lately to swim and I miss it….if I could only walk further and longer I would be thrilled….I go shopping and if I use a cart I am great….I used to ride in the motorized ones….I don’t know if it is my hip or too many pounds but walking kills me after about 15 minutes….2 -
Good list - PAV. I'm going to set up one for myself. If I don't go for "junk" I reach for some almonds / cheese - and they are just too "small" and high calorie to be good for those moments.
One I can think of that I could use is cottage cheese with blueberries & almonds. It is almost instant - low in calories - high in protein! I sometimes use this as a "trailer" meal - if I finish eating and am still kinda hungry.
Yogurt is always good too - but it just doesn't tickle me so much anymore...lol
I like the idea of keeping a few Lean Cuisine type meals on hand, Connie. They are something different too which would be helpful in those moments.
I might try some of those noodles with a coleslaw mix. I so far think of them as being not worth the calories - since there is no protein there. But, if I think if them as a "fill the belly before I go on a binge" fix, the calories are worth it for sure!
I'm just eating some of that wonderful egg curry now. Wow. It is so good. The eggs are perfect this way - can't even taste them. Served them over cauliflower, broccoli and a chopped up carrot and it is like a delicious veggie curry!3 -
lauriekallis wrote: »I might try some of those noodles with a coleslaw mix. I so far think of them as being not worth the calories - since there is no protein there. But, if I think if them as a "fill the belly before I go on a binge" fix, the calories are worth it for sure!
You're right re: protein and my "ez-fix" for that won't work for you (pre-cooked/peeled frozen shrimp thrown in there; low cal and fast to prepare from frozen)
My "second" ez fix... is that I have the soup, for example either before or after a walk (depending on how I've been feeling and the weather). I then tend to have a good % of a tub of greek yogurt with fixing a few hours later. And that fully takes care of any protein. While I don't complain at all if I end up eating more protein, my happy enough minimum is at just over 100g of the good complete stuff. Which does hit the 0.8g of protein per lb of lean mass for me (or 0.6g per lb of weight in the normal weight range)
Anyway... glad the egg curry seems to be hitting the spot.
The other day I made "perfect" eggs. At sea level (yes, this does make a difference), brought them to rapid boil and... turned them off. 20 or 25 minutes later (because I missed the 15 minute mark, of course) plunged them in a pot of cold freezing with ice cubes water.... WooHOO!
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Did I ever tell you the story of my “ very intelligent” daughters first attempt of boiling eggs?…didn’t know you had to use water!…she was 20….SMH…
I liked the rice cauliflower….John didn’t….
The cottage cheese with blueberries and almonds sounds like I might like it….I like cottage cheese with watermelon, too….0 -
Still trying to start liking cottage cheese. So far the closest I've come is... tolerate it!1
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riced and spiralized veggies (and the bag of oven baked french fried veggies) have been a revelation! Lean Cuisine I admit to only really liking the cannelloni and lasagna mainly because the rest of them just seem like tiny portions of not particularly smartly cooked stuff. Also the cannelloni and lasagna allow me to play with extra sauce if I want to add some. Or to add my tomatoes I could probably just eat sauce at times! 1
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That is too funny, Connie! I'm guessing she didn't see you boil many eggsYou're right re: protein and my "ez-fix" for that won't work for you.../quote]
Doesnt work for creating a perfectly balanced "staple meal" perhaps, but that isn't its purpose! It has no less protein than donuts/??? whatever else I can fill the emptiness with, quick. And it will probably work much better at filling the emptiness than what I would otherwise grab hold of. And chances are good it won't trigger a full on cravings fit/binge? I'm thinking the saltiness will prevent that for me because I'm not a big salt craver??? (yet - maybe that is still to come )
Definitely going to add a few packs to my pantry and see how that goes next time I'm running empty.
I'll have to cruise the "Lean Cuisine" aisles and see if there is anything there that looks like it will fill the bill.
This is a very handy thread! Great idea, PAV2 -
Still trying to start liking cottage cheese. So far the closest I've come is... tolerate it!
I only like it with salt and pepper. Never could understand having it with fruit. Every so often I get a craving for it, have a few servings, and then I am done.
I really need to make a list of "healthy" snacks to keep on hand for when I am hungry... but it is not time for a meal yet. Or for when I am an idiot and lose track of time and am super hungry while making dinner but it will be another 30 minutes before I can eat. Just stuff to hold me over. Thanks for the ideas PAV!3 -
I like cottage cheese with sliced tomatoes, too….my mom loved cottage cheese and we had it a lot with our meals….my dad worked at Krogers back in the day ( 22 years ) and grocery stores were closed on Sunday….on Sat. nights the employees could buy meat and dairy that would be marked down on Monday mornings…I guess that is why we always had meat for dinner!…
Tonight I am fixing myself spicy chicken enchiladas and John is having chilled shrimp, sweet potato and a salad…I never know what the daughters family is having!3 -
Another day, another bowl of canned chicken soup. Hope at least it has the fabled restorative properties and I feel better tomorrow. I’m planning on making shrimp,spinach, mushroom crepes with a Swiss cheese sauce for dinner tomorrow. Bought all the ingredients earlier this week so it has to get done regardless of how I feel.3
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We keep pulled pork and preseasoned mexican beef crumbles in the fridge, which combined with some sugar-free barbecue sauce or some beans and cheese in a large tortilla is a quick and decent meal.
I also periodically make up pizzas and freeze them, and if I have a bad night or Son doesn't like what we're having (he is not a lover of Indian, Thai, or Mexican) he is happy to make himself a pizza.4 -
I enjoyed half of a freezer dinner - white beans with bell peppers, rice, spaghetti squash - with a veggie sausage. A third bag of sweet kale salad rounded out dinner pretty nicely 3
