Salads, snack & lunch ideas?

I can't see your food diary so I don't know what you're eating, but I always try to add a carb, protein and veggies to my salad, like cous cous, rice, chicken, fish, cheese, avocado, egg.

Snacks can be nuts, fruit, veggies with hummus, low fat yogurts with fruit, rice cakes with soft cheese, smoothies.

My last night salad (more like salads at supper than at lunch). It was a big hit with my family:

This has been added to my families list of make every week meals they thought it was so good. This is a vegetarian option, but my family doesn't care for avocados, so I swapped that for cooked chicked breast (both would be good if you need the extra cals/protein).

1/2 Cup Black Beans, Drained and Rinsed (used primo)
1/2 whole kernal corn, drained
28 grams avocado, chopped
1/4 cup salsa (used La Restaurante Original Chunky Salsa
1 wedge lime
*In a small bowl mix these ingredients, set aside

Torn Romaine Lettuce (I used 6 med-large leaves)
Chopped raw veggies of your choice (I used tomatos, peppers and cucumbers)
1.5 tbsp - Kraft Calorie Wise Rancher's Choice Dressing
10 grams (1/2 serving) Pepperidge Farms Baked Cracker Chips - Zesy Chillies & Lime, broken (these are the salad topping - these are AMAZING and totally make the salad!)

In a dinner salad bowl, place torn Romaine Lettuce. Top with Bean/Corn/Avocado mixture, then veggies. Drizzle with dressing and sprinkle chips on top. If you tossed the salad in your bowl, the salsa and ranch combine to make a creamy salsa dressing. And, it actually tastes like one of those sinful tex mex restaurant salads loaded with tons of dressing.

This came in just under 400 cals as prepared above.

I get tired of salads as well. I've been making Quinoa salads the past couple of weeks. Quinoa, chicken, apples, craisins/raisins, walnuts/almonds, grapes, celery, red onions, cheese (some combination of those items) and serving it over 2 cups of lettuce with a little dressing.

Other ideas would be to buy some pre-marinated meat from the grocery (or you can marinate your own) and grill it up and serve with veggies. We mix in fajita beef/chicken, green peppers, onions, and sweet potatoes on some weeks.

I've also done grilled chicken, a little sauce, roasted veggies, and fruit.

As far as snacks go I stick with fruits and veggies. Sometimes I'll add in cheese, nuts, fiber bars, or beef/chicken jerky.

I sent you a friend request so you can see my recent diary entries.

Hi New to MFP this week even though I signed up a year ago :frown: .

I have been bored with salads for awhile now (before I started MFP). I eat a salad pretty everyday for lunch and pretty much the same snacks.

Can anyone give me some ideas to liven up my salads? make them a meal? interesting/filling snacks too?

Thanks :happy:

My current favorite salad is a vegetarian taco salad-lettuce, black olives, tomatoes, ground flax seed, onion and then a serving of warmed up refried beans. Topped with a couple splashes of hot sauce (sometimes I'll crumble up a couple tortilla chips on top for some crunch).

Maybe try switching it up from salads to soups or something else. I love salads but usually only as a side because I feel like I get hungry pretty quickly aftere eating it. I now take 3-4 ounces of grilled chicken, 1/2 cup brown rice and some sort of veggies like broccoli or zucchini.
My favorite thing for luch though is a huge bowl of soup. I make a modified version of the P90x Vegetable soup and am able to eat 3 1/2 cups of it for under 200 calories so I very much take that to work almost every day.