NEW TO MFP: Seeking ideas for foods

One meal I love is spaghetti squash!
I bake the squash, scoop out the yummies and make my own sauce out of diced tomatoes, onion and basil. I sometimes add sausage to add some protein! It's low in calories and bloody delicious.

I like to fill up on salads that go heavy on raw veggies of every color and dark greens, along with a good lean source of protein, and a simple olive oil/balsamic vinegar dressing.

As protein, I use:

Skinless chicken
Salmon
Sardines (drained)
Cod
Baked Tofu
Mackerel

Just make sure you're eating enough to keep your metabolism going, especially if you're exercising hard!

I do an amazing enchilada stew too. Just chicken, diced tomatoes, onion and spices in a crock pot for 6 hours, take it out, top with half (or a full) avocado for some tasty healthy fats, and a side of steamed zucchini and yellow squash with a little salsa.

If you decide to do Paleo (or not lol) there are a lot of amazing websites. You could even alter them a bit to make them non Paleo.

PaleOMG is great!

Keep on keepin' on..............

try allrecipes.com you an advanced your search to low carb low fat low sodium and much more and they give you great ideas...where i get my ideas from

I did NOT know this. Thanks for the info!

Plenty of fruits and veggies. I do a stir fry but I use frozen veggies b/c I am single plus I travel frequently so my produce spoils. I will get shrimp, frozen or previously frozen and use them in a stir fry. I tried quiona recently and LOVED IT! There are several recipes for it. Greek yogurt w/ some 365 fruit spread is my go to "sweet" treat. BAKED SWEET POTATOES are my fav but I grew up eating them. Also try SMOOTHIES w/ fruit and spinach, kale or broccoli in it. It will look funny but you usually can't taste them greens in the smoothie. You can also add protein powder to it if you are lifting heavy weights. Also another popular meal is steel cut oats. I add honey for a bit of sweetness.

Skinless chicken
Salmon
Sardines (drained)
Cod
Baked Tofu
Mackerel

If you are doing spaghetti, they have a whole wheat and a vegetable version of the pasta. If you get a chunky sauce, then you can pretty much cook any squash, carrot, or potato into it. My problem is trying to eat small meals throughout the day so your metabolism continues to work instead of jumpstarting here and there. Also, if you have a glass of milk or piece of cheese before bed, those contain casein protein which releases more slowly so your body has the correct building blocks over night when your body is repairing itself. Just some things I came across that kicked me off a recent plateau.

Turkey Joes - Crockpot
Ingredients:
• 1 teaspoon taco seasoning
• 1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 oz. tomato sauce
• 2 pounds ground turkey breast
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/2 cup chili sauce
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/4 cup cold water
Directions:
• In a skillet, heat oil in pan. Add ground turkey breast and onion; cooking until turkey is no longer pink.
• In Crockpot, add taco seasoning, tomato sauce, ground pepper, chili sauce, and cold water.
• Stir in drained turkey mixture.
• Cover and cook on low heat for 4-5 hours.
• Serve on whole grain bread or bun if have for lunch. No bread or carbs at dinner time so serve over lettuce

Buffalo Wing Turkey Burgers
Ingredients:
• 1 pound ground turkey breast
• 1/2 cup shredded zucchini
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• pinch of salt
• pinch of ground pepper
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 1/4 cup red hot wing sauce
Directions:
• Mix ground turkey breast, zucchini, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt and ground pepper.
• Put some olive oil in a frying pan and get the pan warm. Make 4 thin burgers and add to the pan. Toss in red peppers and onions. Add wing sauce and cook; flipping patties when browned.
• Serve over lettuce leafs.

I love Emilybites.com! I made a bubble-up enchilada casserole that my husband LOVES! Laaloosh is also wonderful. Do not make the crockpot chicken cacciatore. YUCK! The crockpot beef stew was good. I just cooked 2 pounds of lean stew meat (in order to have lots of leftovers), 1 regular can of 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup, 1 pkg Lipton Onion Soup mix, lots of sliced mushrooms (any kind will do), 1 14-oz. can of beef broth or 1 can of diet 7up, black pepper and garlic to taste and left it on low while I was at work. Serve it with brown rice or egg noodles and a green salad. Voila! Dinner is served.

sparkrecipes.com also has great healthy recipes... also an app for iphone and smart phones my favorite is the honey garlic pork chops with almond green beans. yumm

Shirataki noodles. A packet is filling, bulks up a meal, and has 0 calories. Brilliant.

0 calories? How is that possible? What is this miracle food?

Try experiencing meals from different cultures... a great (free) website would be www.recipesource.com - pick a country, any country, you will find it!

Lots of great ideas there..

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