HELP! I'm stuck in a food rut!

leanmama3

All my healthy meals have become drabby DULL. :yawn: I don't mind my breakfast being boring (to be honest, it's usually just coffee anyway) but please please please give me ideas for healthy but yummy lunches, dinners and snacks! This is my usual:

Lunch - 6 inch subway sandwich or rotisserie chicken w/ salad or canned soup
Dinner - lean protein (tilapia, chicken breast) w/ steamed broccoli, carrots and squash or stirfry
Snacks - fruit or yogurt

After 3 or 4 days of the above, I'm ready to pig out and generally do so on Friday. Help me break the cycle! What do you eat that's quick, healthy and yummy??

DebLee

Break out a crock pot. You can slow cook chicken with salsa, so then you can have tacos or taco salad for lunch or dinner.

Snack - unsalted popcorn. I like to drizzle just a little melted chocolate chips on an entire bag of popcorn. Chocolate only adds about 100 calories for the entire bag- but the bag of popcorn is about 2-3 servings. If I'm feeling the need, I add about a half teaspoon of chili powder to the melted chocolate. It's got some zip.

Peanut butter and apples can make a nice light lunch - or a snack.

majope

Go to EatingWell.com--great recipes there. Some of my favorites are:

Beef and bean chile verde, 307 calories per serving: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/beef_bean_chile_verde.html

Creamy Cajun chicken pasta, 329 calories/serving: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/creamy_cajun_chicken_pasta.html

Turkish pasta with bison sauce: 380 calories/serving: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/turkish_pasta_with_bison_sauce.html

But if those don't appeal, do a search for your favorite ingredients and I'm sure you'll find something. When I get in a rut, I go there for new recipes to try.

italysharon

I really like the web site skinny taste. com. Here is a good one from there.

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/02/cajun-chicken-pasta-on-lighter-side.html

Most of the recipes are very doable, even if you aren't much of a cook. I highly recommend getting and using your slow cooker if you work full time also. There is nothing like coming home after a busy day to your home smelling awesome and dinner waiting for you.

Also, have you tried soups? There are some great soups that you can buy and enjoy a large bowl for 100 calories or so. I'm not a huge fan of the canned ones. Check out the freezer section or the bagged ones in the aisle.

I'm going to check out eating well also.

revpeg

I'll be following this with interest since I'm in my own rut, but it's different from yours. I eat a lot of homemade ratatoille (ground tomato as the base with whatever veggies I have, simmered up with basil, bay leaf, oregano, parsley and served with a sprinkle of feta cheese on top) and even though it is winter I make big, interesting salads with a number of kinds of lettuce, spinach, a little fruit (fresh or dried), some interesting raw vegies, maybe some low fat cottage cheese, oil and vinegar dressing, roasted sunflower seeds.... sometimes I top it with sauteed shrimp or chicken.

hope516

Why would you limit yourself to those boring vegatables?? There are so many great yummy veggies and fruits you can easily incorporate. Eating them raw vs steaming them or lightly toasting them in an oven will add another option to the vast array of veggies out there.

Tuna is great too. I love stuffing tuna into different veggies (bell peppers, jalepenos ((if you like spicy)), avacado shells (obviously mixing the avacados in it too) tuna is good on cucumbers too. It gives you the crunch. And cilantro helps to mix up the flavor a bit.

Use your imagination with food and DO NOT stick to just a few veggies there is so much variety.

also if you are not very creative I LOVE skinnytaste.com

deladypilot

I too love the website Skinnytaste.com. I have tried many of her recipes and have loved them all. Some of my favorites are Chicken Taco Chili (done in a crockpot), Chicken Enchiladas, Turkey Sloppy Joes (done in a crock pot) and this weekend my daughter and I are going to try a banana bread muffin that she has posted on her site.

palmerar

Try buying different proteins, fish, pork or lean beef. Go to skinny taste or cooking light, there are databases full of healthy meals. I subscribe to cooking light and they usually have a wide variety of vegetables and meals to make. They also "make over" comfort food recipes like chicken pot pie or meatloaf so you feel like you're eating non diet food which may curb your desire to splurge on the weekends. Also, maybe try varying the spices that you use. I just discovered that unsweetened cocoa powder, cumin, brown sugar and red pepper make a really great rub on chicken or pork. Stay away from your usual take out spots try making something different for dinner each night and taking the leftovers to work for lunch.

awebs89

When you make dinner make enough to take along for lunch the next day. Look up new recipies to try, my favorite site is www.thegraciouspantry.com

alijaxfp

My favorite lunch is this:

12oz can of chicken breast, mixed with a small container of hummus (8oz?)...eat with a bagel thin, or whole wheat crackers. I have 1/3 cup for a serving, and it's 150 calories or so. It sounds gross, but I love it!

Evachiquita

Use spices!! Lots of different kinds and combinations. I pretty much eat the same thing day in and day out but I vary the spices. I start with sauteed garlic and onions in pretty much any meal. Then I add veggies and beans or tofu/tempeh. You can then add spices to make it Italian (basil, oregano, etc.), Mexican (chili powder, cumin, coriander, etc.), Indian (cinnamon, curry, fennel, cumin, etc.), Thai (coconut milk, cayenne pepper), Asian (sesame oil, soy sauce, pineapple, bell peppers, etc.). Sometimes I add nuts to the dish.

Go to the library and get a few ethnic cookbooks (I just really like browsing books over websites). Don't be intimidated by recipes that seem complex, usually they have a basic foundation (protein and veggies) with combinations of spices, as I have described above. Once you learn some basic combinations the possibilities are endless and the food is rarely boring!!

lioness803

Try making your own soup...you can really mix up the variety of veggies and grains that you use in soup.

cbrooks1232

For lunch this week I took 6-8 1/4" slices of toasted whole wheat baguette and slathered on some part-skim ricotta cheese. That and a cup of fresh sliced strawberries. That totaled about 380 calories.

It was fantastic!