Lunch...my worst meal

JBatt123

Hi everyone. Wondering if I can get some low calorie ideas, besides salads, for lunch? It tends to be the meal that I eat the most at. I'm a vegetarian so I eat veggie patties a lot but those have a ton of sodium in them. Any help would be awesome.

erickirb

homemade soups or stews, use lentil to add protein and fiber which will help keep you full longer.

BerryH

How about a veggie curry, rice or stir-fry.

♥_Ellybean_♥

I eat the Smart Ones Meals with a piece of fruit! YUM! ...

Stparkyut

i use a Slim fast and and special k bar, its about 270 but it helps me get through the afternoons, i hope this helps

JennLifts

I do like sweet potato fries, broccoli and a sandwich!
Or no salt added beans, and a wrap.
Or egg sub in a low carb high fiber wrap with black beans scallions and salsa with some fat free pringles

erickirb

I eat the Smart Ones Meals with a piece of fruit! YUM! ...

I would avoid pre-packaged meal as best you can, they should not be a regular staple in anyone's diet, good in a pinch and a bit better than fast food.

techie30

This is my dad's recipe, and the beans are a-freakin'-mazing! They freeze well, and you can portion it out into single servings and take them with you for lunch. Sorry, don't have specific nutritional info, but it is very low-cal and pretty much awesome for you. Just go easy on the salt You can plug it all into the recipe tool and portion it out if you want specifics. You can also add some TVP to it if you want some extra protein.

P.D.s Vegetarian Black Beans (Serves a Small Army)
Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup+ chopped onion (1 large yellow onion)
• 1 each red, green, and yellow bell peppers (they sell these together
in a package now) diced.
• 2-5 large garlic cloves, finely minced
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 cup of fresh cilantro chopped finely
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
• 1 bag (size is up to you. If you use a big one, you will have to up
many of the ingredients to compensate for more beans) of black
beans cleaned and soaked over night. It takes at east 3 hours to
cook these after soaking. I drain off most of the liquid from the
soaking but leave enough to cover the beans. Most recipes say to
drain off all the soaking liquid and replace it with water. Do
whatever seems best to you. You’ll definitely have to add water
once the beans begins cooking. Don’t forget them or they will dry
out and burn. I usually put 2-3 inches of water on top of the beans.
Cook them soft or almost soft before you add the rest of the
ingredients. You can also use 3-5 cans black beans.
• 2 (10-ounce) cans petite diced tomatoes with green chilies, with
their liquid (or regular tomatoes petite diced and the chopped green
chilies in separate cans).
• 2 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate, or a cup of oj.
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or lime juice (you’re basically
adding something like a mojo taste with the juices)
2 Tbls of soy sauce
2 Tbls. of balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 to a whole teaspoon red pepper flakes- depending how much
heat you want.
• 4 cups al dente rice (Basmati tastes the best, but for brown rice is better for you, can also serve over quinoa)
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro for garnish as well as a dollop of sour
cream if you wish.
Directions
Soak beans overnight (18-24 hours is best), then cook until tender.
Heat oil in medium-size Dutch oven over moderate heat for 1 minute. Add onion, peppers, garlic, cumin, and oregano and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are limp, about 5-8 minutes.
Add the beans, tomatoes with chilies, cilantro, soy, balsamic vinegar, orange juice concentrate, lemon juice, and hot pepper flakes. Bring to boiling, adjust heat so mixture bubbles easily, cover, and simmer 10-30 minutes. If there is not enough juice on the beans, I use chicken broth to soup it up– I find that I almost always need this since I make my beans soupy.
Taste for salt and adjust as needed. Serve with yellow rice sprinkle with cilantro, and serve.
I add:
2 Tbls of soy sauce
2 Tbls. of balsamic vinegar

techie30

This is my dad's recipe, and the beans are a-freakin'-mazing! They freeze well, and you can portion it out into single servings and take them with you for lunch. Sorry, don't have specific nutritional info, but it is very low-cal and pretty much awesome for you. Just go easy on the salt You can plug it all into the recipe tool and portion it out if you want specifics. You can also add some TVP to it if you want some extra protein.

P.D.s Vegetarian Black Beans (Serves a Small Army)

**Side note: it says you can add chicken stock to the beans, I usually use veggie stock or water.

JBatt123

Oh my goodness this sounds great! I'll be making this on Sunday. Thanks!!!

abray84

I am in the same boat you are. I can never think of a good healthy meal to eat for lunch. I am tired of eating salad.

TiffanyW1014

My problem also. I always eat so bad at lunch that on nights I can't work out (like tonight) I only have 350 calories left for my day to keep my net at around 1200. I need to stop my lunch habits everything else has gotten much better!! Good luck!

techie30

Oh my goodness this sounds great! I'll be making this on Sunday. Thanks!!!

No problem-my pleasure! I plugged everything into the recipe tool (I eat it all the time too, so I wanted to know), and I came up with around 190 calories per serving not including the rice and not including the stock (this is assuming there are 12 servings in a pot, so this will vary depending on how big of a serving you do). Enjoy!

JBatt123

Well I'm thinking this cook on the weekends for the week is something I'll be starting. That way it's an easy fix.