good healthy low calorie alternative Brown rice?

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jenniator
jenniator Posts: 475 Member
edited December 2014 in Food and Nutrition
Hey everyone :) My family are huge carbs fan and they always cook dinner with pasta, rice, or potatoes. So I've been looking to healthy alternatives that are less in calories. I recently just learned you can make a healthy spaghetti dish using spaghetti squash and I thought it looked delicious. I was wondering if anyone knew any healthy alternative's to Brown rice that are not too high in calorie. I know that Quinoa is healthy, but it still has too many calories, especially since my family like to make big plates of rice, pasta, ect. I heard of cauliflower rice and it looks yummy, but we only have a blender and not a food processor. I'm not sure if you can make it in a blender. Also my husband is against the idea since he hates cauliflower. So I was wondering if anyone else has any other suggestions. :)

I would also love to hear anymore tricks or tips to make meals healthy since I just recently heard of the spaghetti squash and cauliflower rice. Thank you.
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Replies

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    If your family loves mashed potatoes, boil half-and-half cauliflower with your potatoes. Mash them together and your family will never be the wiser. It fooled my hubby.

    By the way, picking these new staples like spaghetti squash, brown rice and cauliflower, you aren't reducing the calories so much as adding fiber. But fiber is plenty good. Spaghetti squash though, is significantly lower in calories from pasta.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Personally, I'm not a fan of spaghetti squash. It's the only winter squash I don't like. Butternut is my favorite food, but spaghetti squash and I just never got along.

    I love brown rice and can't think of a good reason to substitute it, though, so I would be more likely to add this cauliflower rice to the real rice.

    Unless you're experiencing some sort of medical issue which requires it, there's really no need to cut those foods out.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Acquired taste but maybe your family is up for a challenge. Roasted yam or butternut squash.
    http://www.skinnytaste.com/2014/10/maple-roasted-butternut-squash.html
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    How about adding wild rice to the brown rice, and simmering in stock?
  • jkwolly
    jkwolly Posts: 3,049 Member
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    White rice? Rice noodles?

    IMO, I use what I like and just less of it if I have to. Otherwise I make whatever I want fit.

    If that still doesn't help, try other vegetable carbs to replace it such as you said spaghetti squash, yams/sweet potatoes, zuchinni, mushrooms, etc.
  • gamesandgains
    gamesandgains Posts: 640 Member
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    jkwolly wrote: »

    IMO, I use what I like and just less of it if I have to. Otherwise I make whatever I want fit.

    Winner!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,679 Member
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    How about just eating "less" of any rice or pasta dish? The reality is that most people trying to lose weight substitute a lot of foods with foods and programs they normally wouldn't continue consuming once they reach goal. And that's when regain happens.
    It just makes much more sense to learn how to portion what you like to eat and what you're going to continue to eat without going overboard.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Actually, using winter squash or cauliflower in place of rice or pasta does generally lower the calories a lot (and may or may not add significant fiber). I don't especially like rice and am usually so-so on grains (I like pasta, but am not insane for it), so often save calories this way (I LOVE roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes, though, so just watch portion size for them). What works for me, although everyone is different, is not to try to pretend like the substitute is something it's not. Spaghetti squash is naturally pasta-like, but more often I just roast some winter squash or root veggies or cauliflower or pan-fry my zucchini, and if I'm having a pasta sauce kind of meal, add it to the top. You could do that for you and have the pasta for everyone else.

    Similarly, I'll just do a stir fry like meal without the rice.

    I can't tell if you are trying to cut calories for everyone or just for you, though. The calories in these foods aren't that high if you enjoy them (like I said, I have pasta from time to time, potatoes, and also quinoa, among other starchy carbs), so long as you control portion size. It seems like you could control your own portion easily enough, so that's why I'm wondering if it's about getting everyone to cut down.
  • jkwolly
    jkwolly Posts: 3,049 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    How about just eating "less" of any rice or pasta dish?
    Too easy, must find a more round-about difficult answer.


  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Hey, I like trying new things. For me, that's my normal.
  • jenniator
    jenniator Posts: 475 Member
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    Thank you guys for the suggestions. I see a lot of people say just to have less of the rice or pasta. That is a good idea, but I have a problem controlling myself around rice and pasta since I love them so much. I always try to eat less, but I always take more. That's why I thought it would be better to find a alternative that is lower in calorie.
  • robsonv
    robsonv Posts: 23 Member
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    Quinoa is a good alternative, lower in carbs and higher in protein...Spelt or Bulgar is also good....still gives you the satisfaction of eating carbs. and you don't need near as much as it's more filling :)
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
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    Why not try cooking less so there's only enough for one serving for each person? Or just skip it altogether. Legumes are a good substitute in some dishes. You can make an excellent stir fry with lentils or black or red beans as the base.
  • jenniator
    jenniator Posts: 475 Member
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    I was thinking of trying Quinoa, but I was a little off put by it since I seen it was the same calories as brown rice. I've actually never heard of Spelt or Bulgar.

    I don't always do the cooking, so I don't have control of how many portions or what type of food is made. There are 6 people living here in total and we rotate who cooks dinner for the night. We all have one cooking night a week. That's why I wanted to make a meal that was healthier since all the other days usually include something with rice, pasta, or potatoes :) My family also has been wanting to eat healthier even though not everyone has a lot of weight to loss, but they haven't made the change yet. So I think it would be nice to have a lower calorie dinner at lest once a week.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    jenniator wrote: »
    I always try to eat less, but I always take more. That's why I thought it would be better to find a alternative that is lower in calorie.

    As you can see from my answer above, I think finding some alternatives is a perfectly fine idea, and you might discover new foods you love.

    But if portion control is the issue, there are some tricks to that too, like not relying on your eye alone, until you are used to what a portion should be. I generally measure out my portion and that's it. I tend to make a sauce that's lower calorie and where the serving size is more generous--lots of veggies and so on--and add that, and the combination is satisfying. (This is the opposite of what I was told to do as a kid, when I was told that Americans ate too much sauce, but it's what I always wanted to do anyway.) It's just a mental thing--a specific serving size vs. "how much do I want," which can definitely lead to taking too much. Once I eat and wait a bit I never find that I wish I had more food.

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    The higher fiber (complex carbohydrate) choices are all good because you fill up faster with less.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Corn! How could I have forgotten corn?
    Here's a recipe with spelt groats. I would trade out the "capon" with a roasting chicken.
    http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/savory-roasted-capon-with-spelt-and-corn-salad-recipe.html
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    There are no similar foods to all of those. There are just other options, like veggies (including cauliflower everything) and squash. And you can just skip the rice if you don't want the calories (and it might be easier to eat less if you don't eat any at all for a while).
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Doesn't corn have basically the same calories as other starchy carbs? Nothing better than fresh corn, but I tend not to eat it at other times of the year.

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