Need ideas; bored with tuna!

Grilled or steamed veggies, chicken, lean beef, pork, salads with berries and nuts added, soups................
Really the possibilitiesare almost endless.:bigsmile:
Check out the recipe section here on the community board

some times on the weekend ill roast up a big patch of vegys, pumpkin sweet potato pepper onion etc etc etc with garlic herbs etc. and put it in salads, with brown rice and tuna cans etc etc

Yeah I get a little tired of tuna. Today for lunch I opened up a can of chicken breast added tbs lite miracle whip and tbs of relish. Not fancy but it did give a little change. I just ate it out of the bowl to skip the bread cals.

I have several favorites that I like to make in bulk and freeze in small portions. Chicken tortilla soup: a quart of lowfat chicken broth, a big can of tomatoes, a couple of cups of each of the following chopped: onion, pepper, carrots, zucchini. for flavoring, add a few cloves of garlic, a teaspoon or so of chipotle chili in adobo, a half teaspoon of cumin and a half-cup of cilantro. simmer until everything's soft, puree, then add a couple of cups of frozen corn (or you can add 3-4 corn tortillas at the start and puree them with the soup), reheat, adjust seasons, add salt if wanted.

You can shred some cooked chicken breast into this for your protein, ,and/or add some light shredded cheese to your bowl. Maybe top it with a bit of avocado. Or keep it just as a super-low-calorie veggie soup.

Look up recipes for senegalese peanut stew, or fish soup provencal (you don't need the pernod and you can add some extra veggies if you want)

Try getting your local supermarket or fish market to steam you some fresh shrimp, and have those in the fridge ready to eat, very easy, yummy, low cal and packed with protein. Also the rotisserie chickens in the supermarket, skin removed of course, can be dinner, lunch the next day by shredding or chopping up leftovers, mixing it with plain nonfat greek yogurt, mustard and relish for a quick chicken salad, or mix it in with some salsa and heat it up with a sprinkling of low fat cheese for a tex mex feel over a bed of baby spinach, boiled eggs, low fat string cheese, turkey pepperoni slices microwaved on a paper towel lined plate for 1 minute make yummy chips, and if you grill, grill some zucchini, yellow squash, portabello mushrooms and asparagus to have all week as tasty side dishes. If you aren't opposed to meat free options, tofu sliced and marinated in light soy sauce and baked at 400 for 30 minutes is also a great dish.

Salad with lettuce, tuna, and salsa is amazing!

if you're bored with canned tuna... have you tried buying the tuna in the resealable bags?

I work at a desk, so my lunches are pretty much what I can get fresh from the tiny shop around the corner. I can rarely be bothered to actually make something the night before (I'll boil a couple of eggs for next days breakfast, or put leftover dinner in a box, but that's it).

Fell free to look at my diary, but it's usually one of the following (and I try and go for high protein)...

-A wrap with lots of salad, some low fat cream cheese and either cooked chicken, smoked mackerel or ham. I'll have a 0% yogurt after that too. If you don't want the carbs, ditch the wrap and have more meat in a salad and have a teaspoon of olive oil over the above. Chuck in half an avocado.

-Sushi. Love it. Be careful to get the non-fried fun stuff, but fish fish fish and rice, or the meat options will up your protein too.

-Protein shake. Now this was the first time I made it in the morning so it was still cold and fresh, but I love a scoop of chocolate protein powder, banana and peanut butter blended with ice and cold water - really filling, really yummy and genuinely does give you a boost.

This is a go- to meal or even snack for me and it is very filling. With very little caloric value.

1 can of reduced sodium black beans or red kidney beans
1 can of Ro-Tel tomatoes with green chiles
2 med. size cans of petite diced tomatoes
1 can of low salt chicken broth
2 cups of water
red pepper flakes OR diced jalapeno pepper

diced onions to taste-lightly sauteed with cooking spray
diced garlic - about 3 cloves or use garlic powder to taste-lightly sauteed with cooking spray
dry basil - about 1 heaping tsp..
FRESH cilantro-- about 3 sprigs or less if you've never had it before. (some people don't like it too strong) cut into small pieces discarding stems.

After sauteeing onions, garlic, basil and cilantro just empty all other ingredients in saucepan and bring to boil. Lower heat and cook covered for about 30-40 minutes

you can add any other veggie you like. Sometimes I add carrots. After cooking, measure how many cups you have and divide that by how many calories in your ingredients. . (Usually about 75-100 per cup but you have to figure it out yourself)

Hope this helps. I use it when I feel hungry and I make mine with a lot of red pepper flakes to increase my metabolism.

Chickpeas!!!! Research Indian recipes. Most are low in fat, high in protein, and big on flavor!

I love to mix tuna or those salmon pouches with half a chopped avocado, a Tbsp of lite mayo, and some seasonings. I eat this with a half cup of 4% cottage cheese.

Check out www.hungrygirl.com too, she has some really awesome receipies on there and most are all low calorie. A lot of her stuff is copy catting from restaruants too so its the stuff that we hate to give up sometimes but know that its just NOT good for us. I just went on yesterday and printed off like 50 different ones.....so excited to go shopping this weekend!

My go to freezer/crockpot meal is 3 large chicken breasts, 1/2 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing and 1/2 packet of Taco Seasoning. Put in crockpot, cover with chicken stock and cook on low all day. They shred the chicken with two forks. I usually have it for dinner that night with grilled peppers and onions, sour cream, fat free refried beans and low fat tortilla. Then I portion the rest in 1/2 cups servings and freeze ( I am addicted to snap ware containers - they don't leak, keep everything fresh and your helpings are pre measured). I pull one out in the morning, take a small container with a tbls of sour cream and salsa mixed and two low fat small tortillas to work. - heat the chicken and tortillas in the microwave and I have the best lunch.. This is a truly awesome meal.

HALIBUT BURGERS!!! go to the seafood dept. of whole foods. get a Halibut or Salmon patty. get these thin buns (100 calories per bun.. they're super thin, but super good).

place bun and patty of choice in oven for like 10 or 12 minutes.

add avocado... fried egg... and lettuce.

voila! amazing.

So what I usually do is not really think of inventive ideas for low fat foods, but rather, just kind of kanoodle my macros into behaving good.

My current macros are something like 400 carbs a day, 180 protein, 65 fat. So my main constraint is the 65 fats I have to stay under, and I save almost half of this 65 for some crazy fatty not healthy meal like chipotle or a bowl of chinese noodles.

That way I basically eat 3 meals of pretty "clean" stuff like fruits, brown rice, lean chicken etc, and one meal usually my biggest, I'm having like chinese take out. It's going to be 40g of fat in just one meal, but it'll be ok, since everything else is so low fat, I stay under 65. For reference, you can check out my diary.

As to recipes:

My go to meal would be an Ezekiel muffin with 2 slice of lean breakfast ham 95% lean, and 8 egg whites, 1 slice american cheese, make into sandwich. Presto.

Egg whites taste awful by themselves, so anything a little salty or smoked makes it immensely better. I cannot stand tuna.

Chicken breast is much better if you slice it thin and sautee or stir fry with seasoning and veg, instead of attempting to roast entire filets. Personal favorite is to dice it, add celery, peanuts, onion, bell pepper, garlic, then go to your asian market and pick up a jar of kung pao sauce (1 spoonful is hardly any calories). High heat, until veggies are translucent, chicken is cooked through.

Beef, Carne Asada marinade, and grab a slab of flank steak or strip steak, trim fat, marinade, grill, cut into strips, enjoy. Or grab some 96+% lean ground beef, season with hamburger seasoning, over whole wheat bun.

I've been doing this thing for like a decade...and literally I have more recipes than I know what to do with. So if you need help, you can add me and I'll try to help!