meals under 400 cal.

Thursday this week I made mai fun with pork added. The chicken version of this is posted to the 'show me your recipes' thread.

3/4 cup mixed vegetables
3/4 tsp seasoned salt
1 oz (dry) rice noodles
1 large egg
2 little sizzlers
1 cup (raw) napa cabbage/hakusai
1 green onion

First, fry the pork and set it aside along with the grease that came from it. Then put water in the pot and slowly add the following: rice noodles, eggs, mixed vegetables, and finally napa cabbage/hakusai. Vegetables should be somewhat limp but not done. Drain and mix in the pork/grease along with green onion and seasoned salt. Enjoy!

150g of steak and a salad. Minimize the use of olive oil by spraying the steak and grilling on a cast iron griddle pan.

There's some really good recipes on the BBC food website! Including a lasagne that's only 350kcal per portion and chicken korma thats 290kcal per portion without rice

bump

Not quite under 400 cals - but it's worth splashing out!

Mango Chicken Pitta

INGREDIENTS
1 mango
1 ripe avocado
1 small red onion
10 cherry tomatoes
3/4 cucumber
1 chicken breast
60g Philadelphia light (or another low fat cream cheese)
1 heaped tsp curry powder
2 pitta breads
2 handfuls of spinach leaves or shredded iceberg lettuce

Cut the chicken breast into small strips and dry fry in a pan then leave to one side.

Chop the mango, avocado, red onion, cherry tomatoes and cucumber and place in a big mixing bowl. Add the chicken and curry powder.

Add the Philadelphia light and mix well.

Put the pitta breads into the toaster. Whilst you are waiting on them toasting add half of the spinach/lettuce to each plate. When lightly toasted add 1 pitta to each plate then open them ready to be filled.

Add a few leaves into the bottom of each pitta and then stuff each one with the mango chicken mixture.

Divide the remaining mixture between the two plates, placing it on top of the spinach/lettuce and serve.

SERVES 2 – 481 calories per serving

Do you watch the cooking shows like food network? The easiest way to eat low cal meals is to learn how to cook...simple cooking that is. I steam a lot of vegies. Even when i stir fry it's low fat. A little cheese on top of vegies doesn't add many calories, and siracha adds even less. Start with the majority of your plate as vegies and add on from there. For example 1.5 oz of wheat pasta mixed with 2 cups of vegies is still a lot of pasta and will fill you up. Soup (in general) is low cal and filling. Even better if you make your own. Soba noodles (2oz or less) are great with asian vegies, hot sauce and sesame oil. Try it with bok choy, celery, pea pods and onions, etc. even a small piece of protein (4oz or less) will be filling if you have a ton of vegies on your plate. I really think that's key.

Almost all meals I serve at home are around 400-500 calories. They always have at least two courses. I start with either salad or vegetable based soup. Salad always has home mixed dressing (olive oil, balsamic, and garlic or shallots as base then add in what I feel like...dijon mustard, honey, yogurt, whatever). The first course slows you down and always fills you up with vegies. Second course always has more vegies and usually a little protein of either fish or dairy. Sometimes bread or noodles. Again, key is always filling up with mostly vegies and however they taste good for you. For me it's either cheese on top (a little goes a long way) or hot sauce.

If I add a third course of desert, it's more calories of course. But sometimes you need to. :-). Even then, you can limit desert to fresh fruit maybe with a little balsamic.

I use cookling light magazine that have a lot of great recipes that are under 400 calories they actually taste good and are easy to make

Bump to check out later!

bump

bump! need that mango chicken recipe!

i am like you and not a fab cook, and very impatient. i find the easiest way for me to cook and stay in my diet is to do chicken marinades! i let them sit in my fridge either in the morning or over night if i get them defrosted in time. then bake them in time for dinner! the hardest part is figuring out which marinade to use. i love baking chicken breasts, because i can just throw them in a glass baking dish with aluminum foil, and it makes cleaning up so easy (which i also hate!).

if you google chicken marinades you can find or mix up anything! it's so easy. even when i am running low of stuff in my pantry, i can usually figure out something to use that will work for dinner.

one of my go to's is (3/4 c) balsamic vinegar & (1/2 c) water with lots of herbs (parsley, oregano) paprika, chili powder, garlic, onion flakes. and bake in the oven at 400 for about 35 minutes.

another great one is a dijon mustard + honey marinade (here is the link: http://rachelschultz.com/2012/07/11/worlds-best-chicken/ - i swapped the maple syrup for honey and sherry wine for red wine vinegar and parsley for rosemary ). sooo yummy!! and again you just bake at 400 35 minutes. then when i have about 15 minutes left i start to prep whatever veggies i want and usually steam them if i have fresh veggies, or will stovetop cook them if i have frozen veggies.

today i used a prepackaged marinade sauce and everything came out to 384 calories for dinner and i was stuffed!! had some strawberries for dessert and called it a day
hope that helps! i know how tedious cooking can be!

Is there some way to make my Recipe Box viewable to others? I have about 40 recipes that I've created in there that are 400 calories or less per serving.

Spinach artichoke dip pasta – serves 6
3 cups rotini pasta, cooked and drained
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup milk – almond, coconut, regular etc
1 tbsp flour
3 oz cream cheese
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese (can use the kind from the canister)
¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
4 cups frozen spinach, thawed and drained
2 tbsp mayo or 2 tbsp plain greek yogurt

Cook pasta according to package and drain. While pasta is cooking, in a large pan melt butter and stir in flour until it becomes lumpy. In the same pan stir in milk, continue to stir 4-5 mins or until it becomes thicker. Add in cream cheese, grated parmesan cheese, spinach, artichoke hearts and garlic, toss in pasta until coated. Transfer into a baking pan, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella and bake 15-20 mins until cheese is melted.

Per 6 servings – 293 calories. 4 servings – 440 calories

Stuffed zucchini – serves 1
1 whole zucchini, cut in half long ways, with insides gutted out (save these)
½ cup meatless grounds, or ground turkey, beef etc
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp chopped onion
1/8 cup marinara sauce
¼ cup shredded mozzarella

After zucchini has been halved and gutted, in a skillet sautee the insides of the zucchini with garlic, onion, and meatless grounds. Stuff the zucchini with the mixture, top with sauce and cheese and bake 15-20 minutes

209 calories

Eggplant curry – serves 4
1 eggplant, diced
2 tbsp tomato paste
½ cup coconut milk
1 tsp minced garlic
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp cayenne powder
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground mustard
2/3 cup pearl onions, thawed
1 bell pepper, diced

In a large pan, cook the eggplant until soft. Add tomato paste, spices, onion, and pepper, cook a few more minutes stirring to avoid anything sticking. Stir in coconut milk and bring to a light boil, the milk should coat the eggplant. Serve over rice, couscous, quinoa, etc.

74 calories (not including rice, couscous, quinoa, etc)

Quinoa spinach patties (from skinnytaste.com) – serves 7 (makes 14 patties)
Per 2 patties, 236 calories

Shirataki noodle stir fry – serves 2
1 package shirataki noodles, drained and rinsed
2 cups frozen stir fry veggies (broccoli, carrots, water chestnuts, mushrooms, etc)
2 cups frozen spinach, thawed
3 ounces mushrooms, sliced
Soy sauce, sweet n sour sauce, teriyaki sauce, etc
If desired, add in protein such as chicken or tofu

Dry cook noodles in a skillet, add in vegetables and cook. Add in sauce of choice, if desired add in a protein as well

135 cals with 1tbsp teriyaki sauce

Taco salad – serves 3
1 cup meatless grounds, or ground beef or turkey
4 tbsp taco seasoning, or season to taste
4 tbsp salsa
2 oz shredded cheddar cheese
2 oz plain greek yogurt or sour cream
12 romaine heart leaves
85 grams frozen pepper onion mix

In large skillet, cook meatless grounds or meat. Add a little water and add taco seasoning, stir in peppers and onion, and any other veggies you may want to add. Serve over lettuce and top with salsa and greek yogurt or sour cream

192 calories

Sushi bowls – serves 2
1 ½ cups rice cooked
10 slices cucumber, halved
½ cup steamed asparagus
½ cup edamame
3 oz baby carrots, steamed
½ sushi nori sheet
1 tbsp soy sauce

Cook rice, add in ingredients, crumble nori sheets.

266 calories

Vegan slow cooker soup – serves 8-10
½ head cabbage, chopped
Anywhere between 3-9 oz baby carrots
3 red potatos, cut up into bite sized pieces
½ block tofu, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
5 cups vegetable stock or broth
1 container diced tomatoes in juice
3-5 oz sliced mushrooms

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker, cook on low for 8 hours

Per 10 servings – 99 calories

Is there some way to make my Recipe Box viewable to others? I have about 40 recipes that I've created in there that are 400 calories or less per serving.

best thing would prolly be to take a screen shot of the recipes and load them on this thread, time consuming. there is also an option in the recipe box to share them where you type in the cooking directions with it