Need meal ideas

Buttsmom

I'm very guilty of grabbing something from the freezer tossing it on the oven and that's supper. Seeing the calories in most of that is scary and then I only end up eating a little so I'm still hungry. It needs to feed a lot too, besides me and the old man it's also 5 teenage boys. It would help if it had beef in it too, because we have half a cow in the freezer.

Naomi91

well being a vegetarian i dont know many beef recipes.. but...!!! try this site

eatingwell.com

it has easy and yummy recipes for all!

msbanana

for recipes I like www.papayahead.com.

If you're looking for "fast and easy" during the week
An idea: a cooking day. One day on the weekend where you make a couple healthy meals and freeze them that way you have your OWN easy meals where you control the nutritional content. I'll cook early in the day on Sunday and make a couple things that I can seperate out into containers for lunch or a fast dinner with little or no prep. Then sunday night I make a bird or a roast that I can eat for a couple days (think roast beef sandwiches, tacos etc...) I've also taken to making my own spaghetti sauce and freezing it so I just have to defrost add meat and go!

When I had a house full I loved doing a taco bar I just made beans (black) and taco meat (ground turkey with my own seasoning blend) and then prep the add ons and set them out in bowls. You can control what goes on yours and the boys will LOVE heaping up huge soft tacos.

Hope that helps!! :flowerforyou:

missevamarie

try beef stir fry, salad loaded with good stuff, pot roast in a slow cooker. Grill-get your guys involved-almost everything we grill is low in fat and has easy clean up, involves little work.

cook with veggies as your main focus, cook clean, limit fats like butter and oils, cheeses. avoid bread, pasta.

those freezer meals in a bag are the worst (although I admit I do like some), loaded with preservatives.

try making your own frozen meals, commit to an afternoon of prep and cooking then you can still have the convenience of pulling from the freezer and heating up, avoid the microwave.

also, if youre still hungry, figure out if youre eating the right portion sizes, your stomach will shrink back down to its "normal" size, the size of your fist (after a couple days or so). I like to eat slowly, chew my food completely, take a break after my dinner and then snack on fruit like grapes or an apple of I still feel hungry a half hour later.

There are a lot of good resources out there for recipes, good luck!

CGade

Taco soup. Saute onion in sm amt of oil. Add beef to brown, then add taco seasoning. Then dump in 2+ cans of chopped tomatoes with green chilies, 1+can tomato sauce, 1+can each of kidney beans, black beans, and corn (don't drain). I also like to add green beans if i'm in the mood. Let simmer for about 45 minutes if you have the time, if not serve up! I make corn bread to serve with it and tortilla chips, sour cream, shredded cheese, etc for the top. I have this in MY Recipes and it caloried out under 300 for a Full bowl good luck!

Buttsmom

Thank you all, there's a lot of great ideas to try. I guess I better get busy shopping and planning ahead.

bethvandenberg

I keep a bunch of tomatoes and beans handy in cans around. I make a bunch of spaghetti sauce and chili. I too have a freezer full of cow. so chile verde, stir frys, have been a big part of our diet. I also check the web sites and come up with some fun stuff. I like curry beef as well. If you throw a pot of brown rice on and start your dinner prep and cook you're eating in less than an hour and it'll be better than processed food.

I like the idea of cooking one day a weekend but that always isn't realistic. So on nights when you have some energy do some extra prep while you're cooking dinner and that'll make a busier night a bit easier. I also find that it's good if I have a plan of what I'm eating for dinner for the week nights. That way I know to get the stuff out and have an idea of what I need to chop for the next night.