I need 200-300 calorie meal ideas

2

Replies

  • daisiecpa
    daisiecpa Posts: 103 Member
    thanks for info i need ideas too
  • KandieLantz
    KandieLantz Posts: 423 Member
    http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/02/turkey-chili-taco-soup.html

    This is one of the best chili's I've ever tasted! The only thing I changed was adding a bit of cumin but the serving size is large 1.25 cups for 199 calories... add a few tortilla chips crushed up in it and you've got your 200-300 calorie, very tasty, very filling meal! It also freezes very well so you can freeze single servings to thaw as you want it.
  • dsckrc
    dsckrc Posts: 194 Member
    a typical lunch for me:

    100 calorie english muffin
    2% pepperjack cheese slice - 45 calories
    5-6 slices deli roast beef or turkey - 50 calories
    mustard/pickles
    special k chips (1/2 serving) - 55 calories or 1/2 cup cottage cheese 90 calories

    *under 300 calories and delicious! enjoy with a full glass of water, which i flavor w/sugar free flavor packet
  • ethansmug
    ethansmug Posts: 159 Member
    Great website for recipes and inspiration - http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/

    I am an avid cook and this is my go to website every time. I don't even bother looking at all my cookery books anymore. The great thing about it is that people who have made the recipes gived feedback on them and suggestions as to how they can be improved so you're not taking a chance making something new.

    They have filters for 0-200 calories and 200-400 calories.

    It's a UK site so you might have to do some measurement conversions.


    Gonna have to bookmark this on my kindle, so much easier to have that in the kitchen than having to keep running back to the computer screen to see what comes next =P
  • jojo98mu
    jojo98mu Posts: 20 Member
    I like to make either egg or cold cut sandwichs on the Thomas 100 calorie english muffins, they are so dense and filling.
  • mandorla
    mandorla Posts: 81 Member
    Bump for later.
  • McLifterPants
    McLifterPants Posts: 457 Member
    My current lunch sandwich:

    2 pieces of Eli's Health Bread: 140 calories
    1 Laughing Cow Mini Babybel Light: 50 calories
    5 slices of Oscar Meyer Deli Fresh Roast Beef: 50 calories

    Total: 240 calories. Also yummy.
  • BlueJean4114
    BlueJean4114 Posts: 594 Member
    SUCH a great thread, wish more and more ppl would reply, just great posts, one after the other.....so many very clever ideas!!!!!

    http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/02/turkey-chili-taco-soup.html

    This is one of the best chili's I've ever tasted! The only thing I changed was adding a bit of cumin but the serving size is large 1.25 cups for 199 calories... add a few tortilla chips crushed up in it and you've got your 200-300 calorie, very tasty, very filling meal! It also freezes very well so you can freeze single servings to thaw as you want it.



    holycrapola, that looks SOoooooooooo good, emo60.gifso so very good, and done in 20 minutes?? i am so going to try that one, nice time of year for chili is just around the corner.....
  • jdm1726
    jdm1726 Posts: 53 Member
    Cottage cheese, whipped with franks red hot sauce and celery and red peppers to dip!
  • bump for later
  • lwagnitz
    lwagnitz Posts: 1,321 Member
    I had a dinner tonight that was 225 calories.
    I made tuna salad and put in on low cal bread with blueberries, sugar snap peas and celery
  • I make a pot of "chili" every week then portion it out into single serving sizes and stick half of them in the freezer. I make lots of different flavors of it so there's usually several different varieties in my freezer at any given time. It's an easy and yummy meal to grab on the go! Really no matter how you make it, it averages about 180-220 calories a serving. I eat this for lunch every single day and never get tired of it!

    Recipe

    1 Can of Beans
    1 Can of diced tomatoes or enchilada sauce or broth (depending on what you're in the mood for)
    1 ½ chicken breasts
    1 bag of frozen veggies or fresh veggies if you please
    Onion
    Garlic
    Chili seasoning, taco seasoning, or whatever you want to use!

    Sautee onion & garlic and brown the chicken in the pot with cooking spray. Add beans, tomatoes/broth, and vegetables. Stir in seasoning. Simmer on lowest heat for 25 minutes.
  • Spicy shrimp and peas.
    60 grams of frozen peas
    500 grams of frozen shrimp
    Pan fry the shrimp and add spicy Jamacian jerk powder mix. Serve in a bowl over the peas.

    Delicious! Also it only takes 6 minutes to make. Great when you're hungry.
  • kateva143
    kateva143 Posts: 46 Member
    Chicken Souvlaki ... yum yum --- you can use Pocket Thins (100 cal each) and store made or home made tzatziki, which is usually around 30-50cals per tbsp and 1-2g fat. .. and grilled chicken breast.
  • I have some great snack recipes that definately help with the sweet tooth, but don't kill you in calories.
    The other day I made cupcakes that are 30 calories. The secret? Replace the oil with a container of greek Yogurt. Use 4 egg whites instead of 3 eggs. You can even use applesauce to replace the eggs all together. I also choose to make cupcakes instead of a cake because it helps with portion control. I never have to worry about making a slice too big. I also used homemade buttercream frosting, but I only spread one teaspoon as opposed to the 2 tablespoons usually put on there. You get the flavor and texture but don't cancel all your hard work. Other favorite go-to's for me are lowfat hotdogs on wheat buns with turkey hormel chili. You can have 2 and it equals 1/2 the calories of normal hotdogs. Low Sugar Quaker oatmeal has even less calories than the weight smart brand. Egg noodles boiled in low sodium chicken broth mixed with cooked turkey burger is yummy as well. Add vegetables you like and you have a delicious meal. One of my favorites is stuffed green peppers. If you use turkey burger and poblano peppers you can easily eat 4 halves, (2 whole). My personal favorite dessert is Jello pudding (Any flavor). Mix with lowfat cool whip. Place 2 nilla wafers on the bottom of a cup. Fill with 1/2 cup of pudding. it tastes like you are eating a pie! Hope this helps and good luck!
  • melodyg
    melodyg Posts: 1,423 Member
    I have quite a few 300ish (probably more 300-400) calorie meals on my food diary too, if you want to check it out. Some of those are easy to adapt to fewer calories though (subbing some lower calorie vegetable for corn, for example).

    Some of my favorites:
    oatmeal made with almond milk, with peanut butter and cocoa for breakfast
    bagel thin with cream cheese and fruit for breakfast
    skim milk, egg+egg white (with veggies if you want), toast + peach butter for breakfast
    chicken salad sandwich or chicken salad with fruit (here's the recipe, but I did greek yogurt to up the protein more: https://utextension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/SP719-H.pdf)
    chicken breast with low calorie veggies
    tuna salad sandwich
    leftover meat from the day before (whatever) over a huge salad
  • One of my favorite breakfast food is an omelet. 2 large eggs, I use Land O' Frost Ham which is 60 cal for 4 slices (I will use 2-4 slices) Then I will sometimes add in a veggie like green pepper/onion. My omelet is about 200-300 cal, even if I use all 4 slices of ham, and half a green pepper is only 12cal.

    Another one I use I like Sara Lee's 45 calorie Bread to make sandwiches. 2 Slices is only 90 calories, so add your favorite sandwich toppings and you should be able to keep it between 200-300 cal.

    I also like homemade salads with spinach, add your fav veggies and a meat, usually I use chicken. 4 1/2C of spinach is about 15 calories, just watch the dressing that is where you will get a lot of your calories if you are not using a fat free kind.

    Hope this is helpful. =)
  • dc_smile2002
    dc_smile2002 Posts: 58 Member
    Bump
  • moomaq
    moomaq Posts: 24 Member
    Salads are amazing for low calorie meals, but you eat massive salads that will fill you.

    I use low fat probiotic yougurt and honey as the dressing and it is yummy & low cal

    spinach, rocket, iceburg lettuce - i use a mixture so you get a variety of flavours.

    You can use any root vegetables dice them chunky for a bit of texture/ boil them and lightly panfry in herbs and or spices
    only use the smallest amount of oil,

    avacado, sundried tomato,

    toasted seeds, - pumpkin, seasame,

    onions, peppers, tomato, corn,

    cheese is optional, but it just bumps up your calories. I'm makign a big effort to cut cheese 100% out.. its my favourite but its just eating fat!.

    i hope it helps.
  • salzej01
    salzej01 Posts: 125 Member
    Bump.
  • melodylyn73
    melodylyn73 Posts: 505 Member
    bump
  • One of my favorite "I need to eat a lot but don't have the calories left" meals are

    1 pack of Veggie dogs
    1 can or bag of sour Kraut
    1 large sweet onion
    1 green apple

    Cook the onions til they are nice and brown, add the apple cook til it's soft. Add sliced up veggie dogs, and Kraut. You can eat half the pan for less than 300. It is kind of high in sodium.. but, I like it when I need to eat a bunch.


    I also do a Veggie LoMein with Shirataki noodles. That is a huge bowl of food for less than 150.

    What is your recipe for Veggie LoMein with Shirataki noodles? Thanks!
  • angeltg
    angeltg Posts: 97 Member
    Veggie omelettes are my go to meal. Mushrooms, zucchini,peppers,spinach,tomatoes and parmesan cheese (20cal). Yummy and filling. Roughly 180 -200 cals for the whole meal :)
  • janlee_001
    janlee_001 Posts: 309 Member
    Lately I've been eating 400-600 caloried meals in one sitting, and it's not working any more. I want to start eating smaller portions of healthy foods consistently so I don't get hungry or over-eat.

    If you have any easy to make dishes/sandwiches/other ideas than please let me know!

    If you aren't opposed to frozen dinners - Healthy Choice has quite a few.
  • I like to make sandwiches for work on any of the Sandwich Thins breads (100 calories each) with just a touch of miracle whip, romaine lettuce, slice of tomato, Hillshire Farms lunchmeat (60 cals for 6 slices) and a slice of muenster, gouda, or any other "exotic" cheese. Note - I always buy my cheese in the pre-sliced packages so that I will only use 1 slice (which is usually around 100 cal each) and not go crazy slicing my own. I am crazy about cheese, so really have to watch it! Whole sandwich is right around 300 cals.

    I also loooove soup! But sometimes I don't have time to make my own for lunches at work, so I buy the canned ready-to-serve stuff at the store. You just have to watch calories and sodium in some of them, I try to stick to the ones that have around 100 cal per serving (lots have 80-120 cal per serving) so I can eat the whole can and be filled up. I have found the Progresso Light soups are pretty low calorie, as are a lot of the Campbells Select Harvest soups. A can of soup is easy to grab and take with you to work if you don't have time to make something.
  • AmyJMadison
    AmyJMadison Posts: 143 Member
    I love seeing everyone using lots of eggs for this... I do a great egg salad with one whole boiled egg and 2 boiled egg whites, 1 scant tablespoon of low fat or fat free mayo and a squit of yellow mustard then white pepper or a dash of hot sauce to taste. Scoop with green pepper wedges or brocoli stalk chips. Yummy!

    Also try Swai fish... a 8 oz portion is under 100 cals and side with a mixed veg stir fry or big fresh salad. Very satisfying!
  • Hoosiergal1964
    Hoosiergal1964 Posts: 18 Member
    I LOVE the 35 Calories Wheat bread by Earthgrains. It's very tasty. I crumble 3 pieces of bread, a can of tuna, and lots of pepper or other seasoning. I crumble the bread and add some hot water and stir.... in my mind, sort of a "tuna casserole" - reminds me of dressing. it's a quick fix for my lunch at work. We have a "boiling hot" water faucet that comes in very handy for this - 205 calories :love: :love:
  • ggcat
    ggcat Posts: 313 Member
    Most of my meals are between 200-400 calories. Friend me and check out my diary :)
  • chinatbag
    chinatbag Posts: 249 Member
    I get a pretty awesome meal out of building a salad.

    One romaine lettuce heart, and then add whatever you want to it. Basically, a lot of the calories will come from something like olive oil, I think one tablespoon is about 100 calories or so. Another 10 or so calories from balsamic vinegar. This in itself will be about 150 calories, you can fill the other 150 calories with say, 1 large hard boiled egg, sliced, and still have another 50 calories left over for something like a slice of bacon or 1-2 oz of chicken as a topper.

    If you feel like a bit more meat, cut the olive oil down to half a tablespoon and cut the balsamic down as well.

    Hope this helps, it's one of the meals I pretty much repeat every day.
  • selfmedicated2
    selfmedicated2 Posts: 37 Member
    Veggie omelettes are my go to meal. Mushrooms, zucchini,peppers,spinach,tomatoes and parmesan cheese (20cal). Yummy and filling. Roughly 180 -200 cals for the whole meal :)

    I agree, when I need a low-cal meal, I run to my 100% Liquid Egg Whites. Seriously so low calorie, I typically use a 1/2c (8T) and load up with sauteed onions + red/green peppers, or onions + zucchini, or green chiles + salsa, and I always add in 1-2c of spinach because it wilts down to be so tiny and adds so much nutrition to the meal.

    My other trick is to load up on flavor. I've gotten to be BFF with real garlic cloves (I had never used before, always used jarred minced garlic). If you don't want the hassle, you can buy it pre-peeled from Trader Joe's, Fresh & Easy or Costco. One of my favorite meals is tossing a bunch of broccoli, asparagus, or any veg with a little olive oil salt & pepper and roasting at 425 for 18-25 minutes. YUM!!! The roasted garlic really mellows out and is so flavorful! Then just have some cottage cheese or greek yogurt (I add sirracha or salsa to my greek yogurt) on the side for a protein hit.