<200 calorie, filling, satisfying, delicious lunch (or dinne

Aratama

Hi all

I'm still quite new to the site, but I'm having a good time poking around, recording my progress, and of course checking out the sorts of recipes everybody is coming up with.

I thought I'd share my typical lunch recipe with everyone (Well, really, this recipe would apply mainly to Australians, as the availability of the meat is probably fairly limited once you leave our little island! But you could easily substitute with another lean meat)

When I say typical, I mean "This is my mass-produced lunch or dinner food which I can have for a number of meals each week" :P

It's just Kangaroo and stir-fried veggies, but it's great, especially if you're "time poor". I really hate that expression; every time I use it, it sounds like a cop-out. But it's basically true - I'm fairly time-poor these days. Between work, sport, the gym, seeing friends, seeing the girl, and trying to keep up with all the other domestic stuff in between, I don't always have much time to devote to cooking elaborate meals. That, and I have to travel a fair bit for work sometimes. Anyway, enough of me trying to justify myself

Ingredients
* Macro Meats kangaroo steak (marinaded or not, your choice)
* Frozen stir-fry vegetables (or you could go fresh, I just like convenience right now)
* Lime juice
* Salt, pepper

Step one is to buy a lot of meat. Kangaroo meat is easily one of the best you can buy. Extremely lean/low in fat, good amount of protein, and quite cheaply bought as well. I mainly get Macro, because that's what is sold at the big 2 supermarkets (go to a good butcher or market though, like Queen Vic, if you want more choice). Make sure you get the MARINADED meat, or else be prepared to make your own marinade! Not a great bother, but again, I'm just striving for convenience here If you marinade it yourself, make sure you leave it to marinade for at LEAST 24 hours!

Step two is to cook the meat. If you've never cooked Kangaroo before, it might be a bit tricky at first. Because there is so little fat in the meat, it can easily dry out if you don't do it right. You might have a bit of trial and error! But if it helps, I'll tell you how I do it. Firstly, always use a griddle pan. Next, line the griddle pan with baking paper. Why? Because you're cooking marinaded meat - the marinade will seep out and burn if it is directly on the pan - at the very least, it's a pain to clean it up! Your pan should be a medium heat, maybe a touch less, but just make sure you allow the pan to heat up before starting (particularly if it is a cast iron pan - use little splashes water to test how hot it is. It's hot enough when the water evaporates in <5seconds). Plonk your fillets in and let them be. Depending on how thick they are, they might need ~4 minutes per side. Actually, you'd really be better off trying to avoid huge fillets of roo, otherwise you would be better off cutting them up before cooking to make it easier.
There is a very small window where roo is cooked properly. Too soon, and it will easily still be raw inside. Too long, and it will dry out really quickly, even when marinaded. Generally, you should have those satisfying griddle pan strips on the meat. I will then get a knife and cut the fillet half way, simply to check if it's cooked in the middle. Why? Because it doesn't matter we're going to cut it up afterwards anyway! Kangaroo is cooked when the cutaway meat is pink – NOT ‘raw’ pink (or red), but cooked pink – and still retains visible moisture/juices.
Cook all the meat you bought. Allow it to sit for a few minutes on a plate or similar before slicing. You will notice the delicious juicy juices and marinade seeping out! Then you want to cut it into strips. This is really useful because you can measure the weight of your portions with greater accuracy.
Allow the meat to totally cool off, and then store in the fridge in an airtight container.

Now get a big pan/wok out and cook your vegetables as you usually would. About one minute before they're done, squeeze some lime juice in there, and salt/pepper to taste. Why? Find out later.

Again, allow the veggies to cool off before storing them in the fridge also.

You're ready to face the week. This is my utilitarian meal source for the week, usually lunches at work. Kangaroo, I have found, keeps REALLY well in the fridge, even after 5 or 6 days. It is still juicy and doesn't dry out because of the marinade. The veggies are great because they have a hint of something else in them too, but not some crappy off the shelf, preservative-filled sauce or similar. I usually eat it cold, but if you aren't a freak like me you'll probably want to heat it up.

The stats when I record this lunch in MFP is as follows:

Kangaroo | 130g | 129 cal | 1g carb | 2g fat | 28g protein | 65mg sodium
Stir-fried veggies | 125g | 62cal | 9g carb | 0g fat | 4g protein | 24mg sodium

You could probably add on a calorie or 3 for the marinade I guess. Overall it's an awesome lunch, and this quantity is really satisfying for me, and I'm not a small guy; 189cm, 107kg (and losing), relatively large frame. Yes, I'm not massive either, but if this keeps me going till dinner, I hope it does for you too

Just a note, kangaroo appears to be similar to lamb in that many people don't like the taste/smell, so if you've never tried it, it's possible you might find out the hard way, but it's an excellent diet meat - one of the best.

Finally, I'd just like to point out that I am not obsessively strict with this meal. Meaning, this is the meal I will have when I don't have time to make something more elaborate. I still go out and enjoy sensible meals, or cook different stuff at home. Which is why I'm enjoying this whole experience so much :P

If anyone has any questions, please fire away; otherwise, all the best with reaching your own goals

foxygirlact

thanks, i might have to try this