Favorite low calorie, nutritious foods?

ColoradoCountryGal

Any suggestions will be helpful!!! Mostly need cheaper, options but I need some new meals/snacks in my routine! Looking for ideas

calicutie05

golden delicious apples and light string cheese
yum

bcattoes

Spaghetti squash. All squash are nutritious and low calorie, but this stuff is extremely low calorie and so filling. It's not too expensive, especially when in season.

Frozen greens - spinach, collard or turnip greens, kale - these are SO much cheaper when purchased frozen. And, they are already cooked. Just thaw, drain, season and eat. I also love to mix these in pasta sauces, soups or into qinoa or brown rice.

Frozen vegetables in general are cheaper and just as nutritious (sometimes more so) than raw.

Dried beans are also hard to beat for nutrition or price, and are pretty low calorie considering all the nutrition packed into them. And they are very filling!

Leisalynn84

I started making yakisoba. The noodles are pretty inexpensive. I add a ton of mung bean sprouts, shreaded carrots, broccoli and spinach. I stir fry all the veggies with a little sesame oil then add the noodles. You can google recipes for teriyaki sauce, I found one that is soy sauce, water, apple juice, minced garlic and corn starch. I had a huge bowl and it was under 300 calories.

For snacks I usually stick to fresh fruits and veggies. If I need protein (and I have room for extra sugar) I really like the simple truth bars, especially the chocolate fudge brownie (I don't know what stores you have in CO but Simple Truth is sold at Fred Meyer and Kroger stores)

BarbieAS

Depending on what I have a taste for and what my calories/macros look like, my snacks include light string cheese, raw veggies or lentil chips or quinoa chips sometimes with homemade tzatziki (usually with feta added), whatever fruit is in season (apples always with peanut butter ), almonds (I particularly like some of the Trader Joe's flavored options - sesame honey or wasabi), TJ's roasted coconut strips, flavored Greek yogurt (I really like that Dannon Light and Fit kind), or Kind bars. Overall I don't eat low-fat or fat-free stuff usually, but I often do with dairy products so I can spend more fat grams on almonds or other nuts and then olive oil with lunch and dinner plus whatever proteins I'm having with meals.

Meals....I'm all over the place, lol. I eat a lot of salads, especially at lunch, with tons and tons and tons of different greens, veggies, proteins, and dressings/toppings. Dinners are all over the board. I also really like spaghetti squash - that way I can have more meatballs and cheese with my pasta dinners .

Urban_Princess

I have a new relationship with roasted peppers, carrots and zucchini. I also like broccoli and cauliflower a lot more now. Mung beans are good too. If you can, find mung bean fettucini (100%mung bean, no pasta). It is high in protein and generally low calorie. I mean, one serving will fill you right up!

avskk

Spinach, tomatoes, carrots, apples, sweet peppers, artichokes... basically, fresh vegetables. I also get a lot of bang for my buck out of frozen veggies, bulk frozen chicken (like 10lb. bags of leg quarters or whatever's on sale), pork tenderloin (big one costs a chunk of change but you can divide it into whatever cuts you want and have different pork dinners for weeks), and bagged dry beans.