Help! spicy cravings wrecking havoc!

Amanda_Tate28
Amanda_Tate28 Posts: 168 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello there!
So for the past week I have been craving crunchy and spicy food like Crazy!!!!! And its been bad, I have been eating not so great things :/ which came to a head when I got nachos and a taco from Del Taco....yeah big mistake. My tummy cried :/. (Oh how the processed cheese and me dont get along)

So! I am in need of some low cal recipes for crunchy and/or spicy food and snacks. I know Buffalo Cauliflower Wings are amazing for this but take a long long time to make and I can't make that everyday xD.

So how do you kill the spicy/crunchy cravings?

Replies

  • queenbekks
    queenbekks Posts: 58 Member
    I make air popped popcorn, spray it with a little cooking spray and sprinkle with whatever herb/spice blend I'm craving. This weekend was Old Bay. :)
  • The_Weaze
    The_Weaze Posts: 511 Member
    I toast a corn tortilla in the oven then add chicken, black beans, hot sauce or salsa, green onion and cheese...put it back in to melt the cheese. Delicious!
  • Marcel182
    Marcel182 Posts: 143 Member
    Hi! I'm a spicy food addict as well. My favorite spicy go-to recipes are : spicy soup (pumpkin soup, lots of veggies, grilled chicken breast and a few droplets of very hot sauce); thai curry (veggies with coconut milk and curry paste, grilled grilled chicken breast) or homemade chilli con carne (tomato sauce, spices, sliced onions, zucchini, garlic, peppers and beans with minced beef).
    You can adjust the level of spiciness for those. The good thing is they make huge portions with a reasonable amount of calories, plus they're all rather healthy.
  • svirds
    svirds Posts: 57 Member
    I have two go to's lately for crunchy and spicy - I use Sharwood's plain puppodums - take one, spray with olive oil or coconut oil, and add whatever spices you want on the top. Pop in the microwave for 1 minute. It pops up and tastes like yummy spicy chips! 20 calories each! I also roast chickpeas in the oven with salt, pepper, and cayenne ... crunchy and spicy!
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    If I'm craving crunch and spice, I make a big cabbage salad with picante sauce. Sometimes I'll even put extra hot sauce on it.
  • Expatmommy79
    Expatmommy79 Posts: 940 Member
    Green mango salad with peanuts. Dressing made from fish sauce, lime juice, chopped red chillies and a small spoon of sugar.

    Crunchy sweet salty and spicy.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited November 2015
    add hot sauce to stuff.

    I live in New Mexico and we put Hatch NM red or green chiles on just about everything.

    I also cook a lot of curries and Caribbean inspired foods which use things like Thai Chiles, Habaneros, etc. You can make a lot of delicious, nutritious, spicy food.

    your problem isn't the spicy...it's that you associate spicy food with things like fake nacho cheese and the like.
  • Expatmommy79
    Expatmommy79 Posts: 940 Member
    svirds wrote: »
    I have two go to's lately for crunchy and spicy - I use Sharwood's plain puppodums - take one, spray with olive oil or coconut oil, and add whatever spices you want on the top. Pop in the microwave for 1 minute. It pops up and tastes like yummy spicy chips! 20 calories each! I also roast chickpeas in the oven with salt, pepper, and cayenne ... crunchy and spicy!

    Poppadams are great. Make an onion, tomatoes and cilantro salsa dressed with lime juice and salt. Yummy!
  • Expatmommy79
    Expatmommy79 Posts: 940 Member
    I make a green chili chutney I add to everything - a favourite on an egg white omelette.

    Blend in a chopper a mix of green, Thai red, and any other fresh chilli you find. And a small piece of fresh ginger. Add either vinegar or lemon juice and push the button. Don't make it a paste - it should be finely chopped so you can bite the chillies and get some crunch. Oil free too so awesome!
  • Expatmommy79
    Expatmommy79 Posts: 940 Member
    I make a green chili chutney I add to everything - a favourite on an egg white omelette.

    Blend in a chopper a mix of green, Thai red, and any other fresh chilli you find. And a small piece of fresh ginger. Add either vinegar or lemon juice and push the button. Don't make it a paste - it should be finely chopped so you can bite the chillies and get some crunch. Oil free too so awesome!

  • Expatmommy79
    Expatmommy79 Posts: 940 Member
    I also love fried green peas with salt, citric acid and dry cayenne pepper powder
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    You are so lucky. You can add spicy to low calorie, high volume foods. You could add spicy to a Greek yogurt dip and crunch down on some vegetables.

    Crunchy takes a little more creativity. Can you handle crunchy vegetables? If you need dry-crunchy, you've got popcorn and crackers. You can bake your pita crisp. Or slice root vegetables very thin and roast them crunchy.

    Try prepping your vegetables in the morning to snack in the evening, dip ready to go.
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
    edited November 2015
    Spicy cravings are some of the easiest to deal with because hot sauce is generally very, very low calorie.

    Throw some of whatever is your favourite on some steamed vegetables or on your meat/protein at a meal and you're good. Stuff like Franks, Tapatio, Sriracha, etc., are vinegar-based and you can use tablespoons of it for under 50 calories.

    I eat hot sauce on cooked broccoli all the time, as well as as a dip for raw vegetables (mixed with 5%/light sour cream, usually.) I also put it all over dinner salads with chicken or beans or whatever. I like hot sauce a lot so it's one of my go-to condiments.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    Spiced cashew nuts or Bombay Mix (in moderation of course...)
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Wasabi peas!
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    Sriracha or sambal oelek on just about anything. It's good on raw veg if you want low-cal spicy crunch. I tend to like it best in soups and with stir fry.

    Look up Thai dishes if spicy is your thing. Lots of flavor, lots of spice, lots of lower cal dishes if you are judicious with the coconut milk/cream.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 33,943 Member
    +1 to Sharwood's puppodums, but I like the spicy flavor. If you're not familiar with puppodums, they're an Indian food that comes as a flat disk about the size of a small tortilla, then you microwave it briefly & it gets all crunchy and wrinkly and slightly puffed up. They tend to be made with chickpea flour, so have relatively low calories (as long as they're not fried) plus a couple grams of protein. They are typically very salty, if that's a concern, though. The Sharwood's spicy are 80 calories for 4 of them, 6g of protein.

    I like the spicy soups, too, or lightened versions of Mexican or Indian food in general. You can put salsa on anything (practically), and it's easy & low cal. Consider using jicama or other veg as a salsa dipper.

    As far as packaged snacks, I like Saffron Road Bombay Spice crunchy chickpeas (there are other flavors & brands), and it's pretty easy to find recipes for home-made crunchy chickpeas. Easy to make, too - core idea is stir some spices with well-drained canned chickpeas and put them in the oven for a while.

    Another option is crunchy dried snap peas. I've been eating the Peeled Snacks Peas Please garden herb flavor (but there are other flavors & brands).

    These latter two are moderate in calories (not super low, around 125 calories/oz), but they have some protein grams (5-6) and are veggies, so it can be part of your eating plan rather than a calorie-bomb add-on.

    Home-made popcorn is also quick & low-calorie. I just put some kernels in a covered dish (maybe a spray of olive oil in the bottom), then microwave until the popping slows down. I've found that a quick spray of the olive oil helps any spices/salt to stick better, and only adds a few calories.
  • JenMc14
    JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member
    edited November 2015
    Roast some chick peas or kale with your favorite spicy seasonings.
    Make a spicy dip to have with crunchy veggies like carrots and celery.
    Air pop some popcorn and add some cayenne or red pepper flakes.
    Make a spicy hummus to spread on crackers.
    I know I've seen wasabi almonds in the store, there may be other spicy flavors and/or different types of nuts, too.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    queenbekks wrote: »
    I make air popped popcorn, spray it with a little cooking spray and sprinkle with whatever herb/spice blend I'm craving. This weekend was Old Bay. :)

    I do this too. I put taco or fajita seasoning on it with La Morena chipotle sauce.

    I basically use chipotle sauce on everything.

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