your favorites recipes?

jenniferarnold619

Hi all!

I have completed week two and certainly had the disappointing "week 2 plateau". I am not so discouraged that I want to quit, but I am looking for new ideas. I am starting to grow tired of my limited menu items. I need snack ideas and suggestions for supper. I DO NOT do soy (other than soy sauce), but I'm open to all other suggestions. So, please share recipes, seasoning suggestions, cooking methods, etc. Thanks!

mapnerd2005

I just posted my version of Chicken Parmesan last night. It is great for those days where you want something that tastes sinful but really is not. It's got a total of 355 calories, but tastes so much richer.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/850973-chicken-parmesan-too-easy-and-good-to-not-share

I'm from Texas, though, so I CRAVE Mexican food. Luckily I live in DC and the options here are not worth going to, so I make my own at home.

Make at home favorites include:
homemade chicken fajitas (I use a flat-out wrap cut in half in place of 2 tortillas), and yes, I do use sour cream and guacamole (I recommend wholly guacamole 100 calorie packs. I'll use half of one and share or save the other half by sealing the bag in half with one of those thin fbag clips that look like a barrette, then open the pack and only use half).
Just season and pan-grill the chicken with a little pam (1 sec spray), slice, and assemble with toppings. If you like onions and bell peppers, those are easy to slice and toss around in the pan too.

Tacos - 3 of them! But I like them simple, just meat, cheese, lettuce, and tomato. I do green sides instead of rice and beans.
brown lean ground beef, add taco seasoning (I make my own with chili powder, onion, garlic, etc. instead of using the pre-packaged stuff that for some reason have relatively a bunch of calories). Prepare veggies, assemble and serve.

Since I usually end up cooking just for myself, and food usually comes in packaging that is enough to feed a family of 4, I immediately package everything into individual servings by weighting out three ounces of taco meat into a storage container, or 1.5 ounces of just ground beef and 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce, and then popping them in the freezer for easy meals later.

I also love veggie stir fries, my favorite is just brown rice (minute instant), chopped zucchini, frozen broccoli florets, yellow squash topped with a couple tablespoons of reduced-sodium soy sauce. Sometimes I add chicken or steak if I need more protein for the day.

As you can tell, I like easy to make stuff.

mapnerd2005

As for snacks!!! I almost forgot!

Oikos vanilla 0% fat yogurt tastes like fruit dip. I love to slice up an apple or eat a cup of grapes with it.
Also good: the Justin's peanut butter, almond butter, or hazelnut butter individual serving packs (I like them because they are easy to take to work and I calculated the costs and the individual packs are the same price as a jar). Eat with an apple or, and this may be a weakness of mine, but I love it anyway) a packet of Scooby snacks graham crackers.

Any fruit or veggie you like. I don't like raw veggies.

A bowl of cereal and 1/2 cup skim milk

string cheese and a small handful of peanuts

Basically you can eat anything you want, just make sure the serving size fits in with the amount of calories you want to consume.

relentless_hope

Stir fry vegetables with lean pork or chicken
1 lb chicken or pork - cut into bite size pieces
1 lemon
3 garlic cloves
1 dried hot thai pepper
1 onion
frozen stir fry vegetables 2 pkgs (4 servings ea bag) - I prefer the kind with broccoli and cauliflower and the asian pepper blend
low sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons of olive oil
Yah's Seasoning blend to taste
Tsangs Classic Stir Fry Sauce

Pour olive oil into electric skillet (400 degrees) or wok. Add onions, garlic and hot pepper. Cook 2 minutes to let the flavors get into the oil. Add meat. Add the juice from 1/2 lemon. Stir for approximately 5 minutes. Meanwhile cook veggies in the microwave about half as long as the package calls for just to speed up the cooking process. Add veggies to the meat and cook until veggies are hot all the way through. Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 3 tablespoons of Tsangs Classic Stir Fry Sauce. Cook for 2 minutes. Serve over brown rice. Makes 6-8 servings.

mrslehan2013

Here is something I made the other night--it's a total comfort food for me, but healthy at the same time!

Healthy chicken tenders-- salt/pepper/spice chicken to liking, coat in cornmeal and cook in skillet with 2 tbs of oil until cooked through. (I prefer advacado oil)

Blackberry mustard- 1C blackberrys, 2 tbs honey, 2 tbs whole grain mustard ( I used a dijon mustard)
Mash blackberries and add in honey and mustard until well blended.

Simple and delicious!

I don't have the nutrition values with me but if I remember correctly there was 197 calories in 1 serving. 1 serving is 2 chicken tenders and 2 tbs of the dip.

amykluver

One of my faves for a "junk-food" fix that isn't too junky - is an easy "cookie". Nice to pack 1-2 in my lunch for a sweet fix at work. My husband LOVES LOVES LOVES the mint ones I make - he calls them a healthy girl scout cookie (like the thin mint cookies).

1) FiberOne ORIGINAL cereal. It comes in 2 sleeves (inside the box).
2) Take a bag of chocolate chips (any flavor, I like the PB swirl, or better yet - the Ande's Mint Baking Chips) - and melt the entire bag in a big bowl.
3) Once melted mix one entire sleeve of cereal until completely coated.
4) Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper & let cool. The size is up to you but I get at least 2 dozen out of it and in WW they were 1pt each (I caluclated some I made this weekend on MFP that were PB & Dark Chocolate and they were about 160cal for 2).

Once they are solidified - they are ready to eat. YUM. Just an alternative to the pre-made cookies and brownie and I think they taste way better. ** All things in moderation in my book. ** (Which is easier said than done for many of us.)


I also dicovered a yummy spaghetti squash comfort food casserole I'll try to post here when I get home from work. :-)