Healthy meal ideas?

dezwark

I plan a monthly menu for the family and myself and could use some tips or ideas on healthy meals that dont break the bank. I am new to eating healthy so advice is greatly appriciated

breakingthepath

When I started dieting, I learned quickly that planning more than a week in advance doesn't pay if you intend to visit the produce section much. Go ahead and shop off the sale sheet - it's easier on the budget and encourages you to eat new veggies. If you haven't worked much with some things before or the sale sheet has you stumped, type a few ingredients into the search bar of a recipe site and it will tell you how to combine them in tasty ways.

katjanssens

I love to make tacos using ground turkey and taco seasoning, and light sour cream with some avocados, also there are some great brown rice recipies too.

Whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce is great and adding some low fat cream cheese into the sauce makes it creamier and enhances the flavor some. I usually cook broccoli or green beans in a pan with a little olive oil.

I love making homemade granola from scratch and adding ground flax is so easy and there is not taste difference, but will be very healthy.

I sometimes grill skinless boneless chicken breasts on the grill (enough to last me all week) and I have grilled chicken sandwiches with Frank's Red hot sauce (no calories on the sauce ) and sometimes add avocados instead of using mayo.
I try to add a veggie to every meal of course but there are some great sweet potato french fries at the grocery store(they are super healthy too)
Okay thats all I can think of for now. Good luck. I was hoping to find suggestions too !!

dezwark

thanks for the tips. i could def use more if anyone cares to share

where_next

One easy thing I've learned to do is just take the meal you make now and sub healthier ingredients. Use whole wheat noodles in spaghetti instead of white, sub apple sauce for oil when you're baking, use one or two whole eggs and the rest just egg whites for scrambled eggs, low fat cheeses, turkey bacon for regular bacon- there are all sorts of substitutions that make the meal healthier and sometimes even taste better. I would just pick your recipe, and then Google "healthy version of ________." It's hard to think of brand new recipes, but super easy to tweek your current recipes to make them healthier. Hope this helps! Miss you guys

Dnsnyder

It also helps to buy things that can be used many different ways...like chicken breast. I sometimes buy an excess of chicken breast and cook them all at once. You can season/marinade them all the same or a couple of difference flavors. Then, this chicken is already cooked and can be used throughout the week in just about anything: salad, sandwiches, pasta, stir fries, casseroles, etc. The list is endless. Also, instead of fresh chicken breast you could buy a large bag of frozen chicken breast if you are afraid you won't get through the fresh fast enough. I just like fresh because I forget to pull breasts out to thaw and I like to season them.