HELP! Healthy affordable recipes please ?

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xxonly_hopexx
xxonly_hopexx Posts: 6
in Introduce Yourself
Hey everyone !
I just recently started the gym and my biggest challenge is eating healthy especially since I'm a picky eater, and also I'm low income. I need some help, does anyone have any tips / recipes that are affordable and good for me to eat ? I had a salad today and when i logged it in it was 590 calories . Which is insane .. So I can't eat a salad that tastes good because in order for me to eat a salad that's low in calories it has to have no sauce .. It's making me depressed , I want to lose weight but I'd like to eat food that actually have some flavour and is good for you .

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  • tpulliam381
    tpulliam381 Posts: 5
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    What dressing are you using on your salad? That can have alot to do with your salad being heavy in calories. The best dressing to use is balasmic vinegar in my opnion mix with a tbsp of olive oil. Also, you don't want to pour a huge amount of dressing on your salad; just enough to give you taste.

    What else do you normal put on your salad? You can also use spinanch leaves in of lettuce.
  • xxonly_hopexx
    xxonly_hopexx Posts: 6
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    I usually use balsamic , I got the salad from Wendy's which was probably a bad idea anyways lol . It was a bbq chicken salad . Wasn't much chicken though and corn, lettuce, tomato and a few slices of bacon . And that was 590 calories, probably because of the sauce and the few slices of bacon maybe ?
  • My_Butt
    My_Butt Posts: 2,300 Member
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    I love using different flavored salsas as dressing on my salads. Only 10 calories for 2 tbsp of the kind I use.
    And it's hard to figure out recipes for you since you say you're a picky eater.
  • xxonly_hopexx
    xxonly_hopexx Posts: 6
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    Cool! And I'm not super picky .. I don't like sour cream, mushrooms, berrys, yogurt, Avacodo, kidney beans, lentils, definitely a few more things but I don't wanna list them all lol I do like a lot of veggies though
  • diegops1
    diegops1 Posts: 154 Member
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    Pre-packaged lettuce mixes such as "Spring Mix", "Spinach & Lettuce", etc. contain about 6 cups of greens packed down to about 4 cups in a container and cost about $3.50 at my local grocery. That is about 3 lunches for me. I buy half a head of red cabbage (lasts 2 weeks), an onion (lasts 1 week), some tomatoes (1 per lunch), a bag of mini-carrots (half dozen per salad, the smallest head of broccoli (you can eat the stalk also/ about 1/2 Cup per salad), a cucumber (1/3 per salad), a foil package of tuna or salmon ($1.59 for 2.5 oz) and a tub of gorgonzola cheese for extra flavor (1/4 cup per salad. I make my own dressing with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. My lunch salads usually are about 6 cups in a salad bowl and contain 300 to 350 calories and cost $4.00. I am 6'2", 225 lb (hurray!) male who is on a 1350 calorie a day regimen and walks 3 to 4 miles per day to lose 2 lbs per week. That salad lasts me all afternoon without snacks. Red beans, pinto beans, black beans, lima beans, lentils, navy beans, northern beans, split peas all make great meals, low calorie with lots of protein and fiber. Barley and brown rice are great cheap grains. I prefer barley because I think it has more nutritional value than rice, but "de gustibus non disputandum est."
  • My_Butt
    My_Butt Posts: 2,300 Member
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    This is the chicken, broccoli, orzo with homemade cheese sauce I like to make. All the spices I get for $.99 from Aldis.

    -1lb chicken tenderloins
    -1 cup orzo
    -2 bags frozen broccoli
    -seasonings (Italian seasoning, ground red pepper, red pepper flakes, onion powder, garlic powder)
    -2 cups 2% milk
    -8 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
    •dice chicken, cook fully in sprayed pan (I use olive oil spray)
    •add broccoli with 1 cup water to chicken
    •cook orzo in separate pot (I like to add a chicken broth cube so the orzo soaks up some flavor) (I leave it a little al dente since it will continue to soften when it simmers in broccoli pan)
    •once broccoli is tender, add milk, cheese and seasoning (If you don't want it spicy, take out the red pepper flakes, and ground red pepper) stir until well mixed.
    •add orzo to broccoli and chicken mixture, cover and simmer about 5 minutes
    •1/4 of the pan is 475 calories
  • keithb0522
    keithb0522 Posts: 29 Member
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    I eat 5x's a day for about $200 per month. The most expense comes from fresh fruit and veg.
    Salads can be super low if you make them. I use 4oz chicken (normally just a tenderloin) pound in flat and cook with no fat spray. Season with any sodium free seasoning you want. Green leaf lettuce, carrot, tomato, cucumber, and fat free feta, chop up chicken. Pepper salad and "sauce" with either Basalmic or red wine vinegar only. Great!!!!
  • xxonly_hopexx
    xxonly_hopexx Posts: 6
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    Thank you so much guys :) keep the comments coming !! This helps a LOT ! :)

    -Kayla
  • xxonly_hopexx
    xxonly_hopexx Posts: 6
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    kojiro4470 that recipe sounds delish!!!
  • My_Butt
    My_Butt Posts: 2,300 Member
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    I'm laid off, so the meals I make are very cheap.
  • xxonly_hopexx
    xxonly_hopexx Posts: 6
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    Yea I'm on maternity leave .. Which don't give me much to work with.

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