Easy yummy dinner ideas pleeeeaseee

Fish is great. Bake it or fry it up. Just splash it with some lemon juice, herbs/spices, etc.

You will get full/satisfied with a huge helping of green veggies. Pasta too, but that is usually higher calorie.

Honestly most of my dinners are a protein portion, a veggie and then a carb (usually whole grain rice or quinoa). But there are so many things to switch in and out there are like endless possibilities. And I usually leave around 600 calories for dinner.

my husband would divorce me if i gave him hamburger helper... EVER LOL

cooking really isnt hard, people, google easy recipes

You can't get any quicker or easier than just baking chicken breasts/thighs, any type of fish/shrimp in the oven, and pairing it with a steamable vegetable side.
Minimal dishes if you cover your baking sheet with aluminum foil. Then all you have to clean are the plates you ate off of!
There are so many good (low sodium) seasoning blends out there that you can easily season your protein differently every night. My favorites are Caribbean-jerk, Lemon-Pepper, Cajun, Garam Masala, Greek, and plain ol' Italian.
You can also get some really awesome steamable quinoa, or steamable wild rice blends to add some complex carbohydrates to your meal.

Crock pot meals and the grill are the best. I keep a list of easy recipes that I pull from since we both work crazy jobs and have 2 small children...Here are some of our favorites:


In slow cooker - Frozen chicken breasts, jar of salsa, frozen corn/other veggies, can of black beans. Shred the chicken and serve over rice or in tortillas, or even in romaine lettuce leaves.

Grilled meat and veggies. Easy

Pork tenderloin in crock pot with jar of bbq sauce. Make sandwiches or wraps. Or pork tenderloin with apple sauce and broth and potatoes.

Frozen chicken in crock pot with Frank's hot sauce. Make wraps, or sandwiches.

Chicken covered with spinach and then covered with a can of diced/seasoned tomatoes and baked.

Turkey/black bean burgers - 1 pound turkey, 1 can of beans, 1 egg. Mix and make patties.

Beans and rice - add in cheese, salsa, lettuce, etc.

Chili - easy, filling, low-cal.

In the slow cooker, chicken and jar of pasta sauce. Serve over spaghetti or zuchinni noodles.

Lettuce wrap turkey tacos.

Homemade pizzas on tortillas with turkey pepperoni...

Veggie Quesadillas - saute some frozen fajita veggies, grill some high protein tortillas, add cheese and salsa, or smashed black beans.

HH is actually pretty delicious (thanks sodium) if you can ignore the fact you are eating garbage how is cheesy pasta and beef not good haha.

Tonight im making turkey stir fry. Cut up lean turkey breast cutlets and saute them with some garlic and pepper (no salt!) then in a separate pan saute with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil some red and green peppers, mushrooms, water chestnuts, brocolli and whatever other veggies you like with some more garlic lol. Once they are both cooked combine them in the larger pan and pour a bottle of reduced sodium stir fry sauce. Add some spicy chile paste if you like. Serve over brown rice or quinoa.

I also use skinnytaste.com as a great resource for healthy family dinners. Tonight I'm making the Santa Fe turkey stuffed peppers. Tomorrow we are having Crockpot honey sesame chicken over jasmine rice.

Some things i love to do are:

Lentil Soup- chop 2 carrots, 1 stalk celery, 1 onion, sautee with olive oil, throw in a can of crushed tomatoes, a cup or two of lentils, and a ton of water, and then just let it cook. It takes like 7-8 minutes of prep time and then i just let it cook on its own for like an hour. It tastes great, is low in calories, is super filling, and makes a LOT for super cheap. You can easily just throw the left overs in tupperware and microwave it later or freeze it.

this also means you have carrots, celery sticks you can snack on the rest of the week too if you dont use them all in cooking. I hate when you buy ingredients for recipes you can only use once!

Beans and rice- I sautee onions and potatos in olive oil and add cumin, paprika, chili powder, s&p. Then throw in a can of corn, a can of black beans, and a can of stewed tomatoes. Add water and let it do it's thing. Again, It takes like 7-8 minutes of prep time and then i just let it cook on its own for like an hour. It tastes great, is low in calories, is super filling, and makes a LOT for super cheap. Add a bag of rice or ready-rice!

With the potatos you have left over you can make baked potatoes later in the week.

I also love making cabbage, mashed potatoes, and sauteed carrots. Cut up the cabbage with an onion, throw it in a pan with some olive oil, and top with salt pepper and paprika. Let it do it's thing. Then boil potatoes, and mash with some butter and garlic. Then boil some carrots for roughly 4-5 minutes and drain and sautee lightly with olive oil or butter.


I'm a vegetarian though, of course you could add meat to any of the above.

The great thing about these recipes is that they are "semi homemade". I use canned stuff which stays good forever and can be used in numerous recipes. I also use things like potatos which stay good for a long time.

I usually just buy fresh produce and replace weekly.

As far as eating HH, you could always eat half the portion size and load up with veggies and a salad. I eat quite a few of the same things each week, so I stick with recipes I know.

The crock pot is a life saver for me! You can do the simplest things!
- Put in chicken breast with cream of mushroom soup then put it over whole grain pasta
- Chicken tortilla soup, mostly with lots of beans and veggies
- Homemade ground chicken meatballs, over whole grain pasta
Non crock pot
- Salad with grilled chicken, fish or shrimp
- Lasagna, veggie or with lean beef and low fat cheese
- Homemade chicken quesadillas or tacos

You don't have to overcomplicate any recipes to make a good dinner. And like I said before, you can always just half whatever serving size the meal is and have more veggies!

Hope someone didn't say this but google Biggest Loser Pork Tenderloin. This is the BEST recipe. Very low cal - all in the spices and amazing.

Also any Tortilla soup would be easy - I used rotisserie chicken, rotel, can of corn, black beans and some chicken stock add some cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic salt and onion powder. Serve with slice of avocado and a little cheese and sour cream if your calories can take it. I leave off the tortilla chips in the bottom if I feel I can't have the extra calories.

Roast is pretty good too because you can cook the potatoes and carrots in the juices. Just layer a shoulder roast on bottom, ranch dressing mix 1/2 packet, italian seasoning 1/2 packet, brown gravy mix 1/2 packet. Then add cut up potatoes and carrots. Put the remaining seasonings on top of this and then add a little water to cover. It will cook in 6 -8 hours on low and is delicious. Weigh your meat when you pull it out to eat so you know exactly what you are eating.

Good luck. I always log my dinner first then after I know what that is I will adjust lunch and breakfast to make sure I am good. I love dinners with family so this works.

I use e-meals low calorie plans for two. Great recipes, easy directions, shopping lists. They also have other options like low carb, paleo, kid friendly, budget friendly, etc. Costs $5/month with 12 month subscription. www.emeals.com

http://pinterest.com/pin/361132463846514260/