How do you put a meal together?

Not sure what you count as Healthy, Food is just food a variety of food with lots of fresh fruit and veg is always a good start add. Your best bet is to think of ingredients you like and search via google or Pinterest and you'll come up with 1000's of recipes. Good luck

I had a number of appointments with a dietician to understand this. I build 450 calorie meals: 150 protein, 150 starch/carbs, 100 veggies, 50 for "dressing." Nothing works out quite that perfectly, but definitely this is my guideline. Lost @35 pounds (my goal) and have kept it off for a year. Best wishes!

It doesn't take much for a meal to be healthy,so lean mean, some vegetables. boom - healthy. Haha.

My "cooking skills" are almost non-existant. but I do eat chicken breasts almost 5-6+ days / week.
I buy tins of mushy peas, jars of baby or sliced carrots (peas usually cost €0.80 and carrots nearly same price), cook a chicken breast for 20 mins in the oven (sometimes through some garlic or paprika powder on it for flavour), and then just toss those peas or carrots, or sometimes sweet corn into the microwave, and that's my dinner

Wholeweat Pasta, a chicken breast, and a stir in pasta sauce is simple and quick too. I really love pasta

But if your cooking skills are a bit beyond the level of a dummy (like myself), then you can cook lots of healthy things.
Aim for lean meats, less fatty/greasy stuff the better
2-3 vegetables per dinner - doesn't really matter what they are
Not too much salt used
wholewheat is healthier than normal for things like bread or pasta

The Healthy Life is challenging on a budget especially when organic ingredients are priced so expensive!

One meal I really think packs a nutrientional punch is pasta and veggies

Pick your fave pasta
Pick up some extra lean ground beef or turkey (for a pasta sauce)
Pick up a nice tasty jar of tomatoe sauce "El Classico" or Ragu (budget friendly)
Pick up some frozen mixed veggies

If you like flavor - I like to do a club house seasonig (roasted red pepper and some crushed garlic and ginger added to the ground beef once I've drained the fats) to do that you simply cook the ground beef on a medium heat and cooked through - add one cup of water and using a straining device drain out the water - then add the flavorings and mix in your favorite tomatoe sauces or get creative!!

A healthy caloric intake is ratio is
45-65% of calories from carbs
25-35% of calories from fats
10-35% of clories from proteins

That is just a rought estimate and I hope I am not stepping on any toes with this information!

Hope that helps for an idea!
Ciao! ::)

Pinterest is good for meal ideas. Search for 400-calorie meals (or whatever) and you'll see tons of ideas and recipes. I also really like the Eating Well website. The recipes are easy and the pics are great.

I despise cooking. My meals are fairly simple, some kind of meat, some kind of veggie and that's it.
I buy what's on sale, last week it was beets and beef rump roast. So, we had roasted beets almost everyday and beef. Blueberries were also an awesome bargain, so I have those all frozen in individual bags in the freezer for easy snacking.
Now, I have a 4 year old in the house who is on the low end of her healthy weight, so I'll also make a small mac n cheese for her. She has the meat, veg and her mac n cheese, or some other pasta dish.

For lunch, we eat leftovers from dinner the previous day, or oatmeal, canned tuna and so on.

So, it can be very 'no frills' and easy if you want it to be. Just pick a meat, pick a vegetable, add some other carb like pasta if you prefer and serve the meat and veg on top..

It depends on the meal, but for dinner I think in terms of protein, veggies, and extras.

I usually have my protein picked out (so it can defrost in the refrigerator during the day if necessary, sometimes it's leftover from a prior day) and I usually have lots of veggies on hand. So based on the protein I plan to have (say, roasted bone-in, skin on chicken breast, which I love), I decide which of the veggies I have to eat with it (I always make sure I eat what I have on hand, so I use it up) and what other foods (usually starchy carbs, like potatoes or sweet potatoes or rice or root vegetables, but sometimes I decide to do pasta and turn everything into a one dish meal) I will have on the side. Depending on my calories I might replace the starch with fruit or another vegetable or have fruit/dairy on the side in addition to the vegetable and starch.

But to me a balanced meal is made up of at least one source of protein, a good amount of vegetables, and something else to balance out the meal (usually starch, fruit, or dairy or some combination).

IMO, most good one pot meals (like stew) consist of a combination of these three things, as does a good pasta with a homemade sauce, or something like an omelet.

I also have a few super fast meals in my mind in case something happens and I need to whip up something quick. Omelet for dinner is my usual fallback there or maybe salad with leftover meat on it (I usually have olives and cheese in my refrigerator and always greens).