Low cal meals with bigger portion sizes?

A small chicken breast and a TON of veggies. You can eat plates of veggies and stay under!

6 oz of salmon 280c 15 oz asparagus100 1 tbl butter 100

Yes!!! I have a very large appetite.... and I know most serving sizes are typically 1-2 cups in size, honestly, I prefer eating twice that amount... 2-4 cup servings... So I have been giving myself this little "Challenge" to see just how little calories I can cram into a 1 cup serving, so if I want seconds, I can have at it.... and I am a picky eater and a meat n' potatoes person as well!!! =p I guess I have a man's appetite lol...

Here is what is on the menu for the next few days, it tastes great to me...

Creamed Chicken, broccoli, and mashed potatoes... It's 185 calories per 1 cup serving.... You can totally load up your plate and pile it pretty well for 550 calories... but it's quite filling, and really 2 cups can fill one up very well for 370 cals.... if you add more broccoli you can stretch it even farther...

I poured 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, over one package of boneless skinless chicken thighs.... (about 6 pieces) Now ^_^;; I can't cook very well.... and take shortcuts lol.... I took two bags of "Steam n' mash" mashed potatoes, and a bag of steamed broccoli florets and mixed those together..... when the chicken was done, I chopped it up tiny, and poured that with the remaining cream of chicken soup on top...... It made 15 1 cup servings, each one having enough protein, fiber and veggies to be a regular meal should I have one, however at only 185 calories, I can have seconds if I wish...

I've made something else recently, using steam n' mash potatoes, broccoli, and a small amount of velveeta cheese, and that came in at 147 per cup....

The trick is, if you like big portions, learn to fill it with as much healthy stuff as possible (like broccoli or bell peppers) and if possible find ways to flavor the dishes without the use of butter or cheeses.... And if you use some form of measurement to compare, you can challenge yourself to see just how far you can "Stretch" those calories.... see if anything can be replaced....

I really like storing my foods in 1 cup containers, because if I just want a quick low calorie snack, I can grab something with a bit more nutrition than a bag of chips.... (that 180 meat, potato and broccoli dish will go further than a 200 calorie bag of chips!) and for meals, if the calories are low enough, 100-200 calories, then you can totally help yourself to large portions and have seconds or thirds pretty easily .......

Swimsoccertax, do you have a recipe for the chili?

Here's a really good turkey chili recipe http://aguiltlessglutton.wordpress.com/2012/11/04/turkey-chili/

Bell peppers stuffed with meat or beans and rice. I usually eat 1 stuffed half and my boyfriend will have two. Each half is 2-300 depending on whether you use meat or beans.
I loosely follow this recipe...http://allrecipes.com/recipe/stuffed-green-peppers-i/detail.aspx

I also make a lot of stir-fries with tofu (or chicken/steak when we were eating it). That may be tricky if your husband doesn't like a lot of vegetables, but a tasty sauce could persuade him.

I agree with other posters that chilli is a good filling meal. Its also easy to sneak in a lot of pepper, corn and even carrots and celery.

I'm a big guy and I like quantity too for my dinner. What I had tonight might work if he likes spicy food and seafood. It was a crowd pleaser with the family, including kids too.

Take a giant container of salsa from some place like Costco. Throw in 2 pounds of shrimp. Throw in lots of cut up onions and green and yellow peppers, a touch of olive oil, and maybe some canned tomatoes. Heat it up until shrimp are cooked after it boils...

A giant, tasty bowl full to the brim with seafood is well under 500 calories... Tastes and feels like about 1200 calories. Take a look at my diary today if you want ingredients/calorie count... it's open.

You could substitute fish if you don't like shrimp.

This is soooooo good, it tastes like a really good spaghetti sauce with lasagna noodles. I get so full from 2 cups and the soup comes in at 210 calories for two cups. Also, it's not soup at all, there's barely any liquid to it.

Skinny Italian Lasagna Soup

1 lb Lean ground turkey (or lean ground beef or chicken)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 Small onion, finely chopped
1 Medium zucchini, cut into thin disks, and cut disks in half
1 (10 oz) pkg Frozen chopped spinach, (not thawed)
1 tsp Garlic powder & 1 clove fresh garlic, minced
2 tbsp. Italian seasoning
2 (14.5 oz) cans Italian diced tomatoes, not drained
1 (15 oz) can Tomato sauce
½ cup dry pasta of choice or 3 lasagna noodles, broken into small piece

Crockpot: Place meat and onions in a large non-stick sauté pan, and cook until meat is browned. Add onions and meat into the crockpot with the rest of the ingredients. Cook for 4 hours on high, or 8 hours on low.
If using pasta: When the crockpot has about 1 hour left, add the pasta and stir to combine. Place the lid back on the crockpot and continue to cook about 30-60 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked through. Enjoy with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top if desired!

Stovetop: Spray a large pot with cooking spray, and bring heat to medium-high heat. Add the turkey, onion, and garlic. Cook, breaking up the meat with spoon, until turkey is browned and onions are softened. Add zucchini, spinach, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and the rest of the seasonings. Bring tomato sauce to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and allow sauce to simmer for about 15 minutes.
If using pasta, add pasta to the pot during the last 10-15 minutes of cook time. Continue to allow sauce to simmer over medium heat until the pasta is cooked through, about 10-15 additional minutes. Enjoy with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese on top if desired!

104 calories per cup

Also thought I'd mention, if he is a meat eater, I just recently learned Jennie-O has these 1/3 lb turkey burger patties, that are only 160 calories each! They are huge! I'll sometimes have one of those with a plate of corn and potatoes and I can become quite full, if you can hold off the butter on the potatoes, and stick to salt and pepper, or if you can use some of that 0 cal. "Butter spray" that helps quite a bit too!

Try butternut squash! Its really a lot more filling than you would think. Plus you can't feel guilty for having more than 1 serving. I can't eat a lot of dairy so I don't add any cream to it. I added corn starch to make it thicker since I left the cream out. Adding a little mozzarella is very good and can be added individually.