Boring meals make my taste buds sad :( How can I spice up my nutrition?

egoodman630
egoodman630 Posts: 9 Member
edited November 29 in Food and Nutrition
Does anyone ever get bored with humdrum healthy meals? I'm tired of grilled chicken and plain veggies, Cosi and other healthier fast "fresh" food places with low calorie meals are too pricey and buying ingredients for specific recipes can get kin d of pricey. Any advice on how to spice up my taste buds but keep it healthy?

Replies

  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    It's cold outside. Make some vegetarian chili? To save money on spices, you can buy a spice envelope for chili. Choose the hot kind.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    edited February 2016
    Why in the world are you eating only chicken and plain veggies??? Spices don't add any significant calories to meals. Are you meeting your fat goal?

    Healthy and "plain" are not synonyms.

    Some healthy meal suggestions:
    chili - vegetarian or with lean meat, add beans for a taste/fiber boost
    stew or soup
    stir fry - add some hot chili paste and/or chopped hot peppers
    Toss those plan vegetables in garlic, pepper and oil and roast them until they are deliciously browned
    Lasagna - some ways to cut calories - lean meat, low/no fat cottage cheese, low carb noodles or use thinly sliced zucchini or eggplant for all/part of the noodles
    Marinara sauce is delicious on steamed vegetables and is extremely low calorie
    Make low calorie chicken marsala by using spaghetti squash instead of rice or noodles and cutting the butter by half
    omelet or frittata with vegetables and reduced fat cheese
    pork tenderloin has about the same fat/calories as boneless skinless chicken breast

    Google "low calorie meal ideas"
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Marinades, spices, flavor packets, pepper, cooking wine, etc.
  • AmberSpamber
    AmberSpamber Posts: 391 Member
    I bought the flavor god seasonings and it helped soooo much. They are amazing!!!! If you have an instagram, look it up. You will start drooling right away. MMMM!
  • niamibunni
    niamibunni Posts: 110 Member
    Bragg's Sprinkle Seasoning has helped. Chicken and veggie skewers with some olive oil and the seasoning are pretty yummy and we're not tired of eating them 3 or more times a week. The cauliflower 'rice' recipe where you cook it with onion and garlic goes well with this. I put the seasoning in that too!
  • egoodman630
    egoodman630 Posts: 9 Member
    maybe I was a bit too vague lol i do add different seasonings to my veggies but a lot of the time I'm eating the same boring things. Especially the grilled chicken or baked chicken. I always run to toast with mashed avocados and kale. I guess i dont know what exactly to eat to get the proper nutrition needed for weightloss
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    edited February 2016
    boring food makes me sad too. My favorite way to make things more exciting is fresh herbs and citrus. Seriously, you have bland piece of chicken, some cilantro and a squirt of lime add almost no calories and make it yummier. I always have limes and lemons at home. You can seriously use them for everything.

    To save money on spices, buy dried spices where you can. But for parsley and cilantro I always buy fresh. It's like $0.99 for a big bunch and you can keep them fresh up to a week in the fridge or a vase.

    Try some food blogs like www.skinnytaste.com or www.ohsheglows.com. Just a warning, the 2nd is vegetarian. I cook from it all the time and just add meat.
  • fittyinthemaking
    fittyinthemaking Posts: 126 Member
    i always add ground coriander to my carrots and mash them, makes them worth eating :P
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    egoodman630 wrote: »
    maybe I was a bit too vague lol i do add different seasonings to my veggies but a lot of the time I'm eating the same boring things. Especially the grilled chicken or baked chicken. I always run to toast with mashed avocados and kale. I guess i dont know what exactly to eat to get the proper nutrition needed for weightloss

    You can eat different foods. Just log the calories. If you're sick of chicken, grab another protein. If you're sick of avocados and kale, grab different vegetables.
  • rachsoderberg
    rachsoderberg Posts: 55 Member
    Honestly, eating healthy is kind of "boring" - that's just a matter of fact. No person who eats clean loves their diet all the time, we all get tired of eating eggs, chicken, and vegetables :wink: We add spices and other flavors to compliment, but 95% of the time it's the same staples everyday. It becomes worth having mostly "boring" meals when you see the results you want and feel good. Yea, I don't love my chicken and vegetable dinner (a couple times a month I mix it up and buy fish, or carne asada for tacos), but I am passionate about my goals and love that I'm seeing my path moving in the right direction.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    egoodman630 wrote: »
    maybe I was a bit too vague lol i do add different seasonings to my veggies but a lot of the time I'm eating the same boring things. Especially the grilled chicken or baked chicken. I always run to toast with mashed avocados and kale. I guess i dont know what exactly to eat to get the proper nutrition needed for weightloss

    You don't need anything specific to lose weight. Eat the food you enjoy and fit it into your calorie goal. Try to hit your Protein and Fats, but otherwise just concentrate on the calories. The ONLY thing you need to lose weight is a calorie deficit. How you achieve that is up to you. I personally practice moderation of all foods. I may have Burgers, Fries, Pizza and Ice Cream, but in moderation and along with grilled chicken, salads, tuna, vegetables, etc. It's about balance.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    egoodman630 wrote: »
    maybe I was a bit too vague lol i do add different seasonings to my veggies but a lot of the time I'm eating the same boring things. Especially the grilled chicken or baked chicken. I always run to toast with mashed avocados and kale. I guess i dont know what exactly to eat to get the proper nutrition needed for weightloss

    What makes chicken more nutritious than say turkey or fish or other lean meats? The fact that you are bored while trying to lose weight is a really good indication that you will not be able to eat like this forever, so what is the plan once you've met our weight loss goal?

    Look for low calorie recipes and try new and different things. Things you enjoy enough to incorporate into your diet to prevent regaining the weight once you've lost it.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
    Salsa
  • DoNotSpamMe73
    DoNotSpamMe73 Posts: 286 Member
    Eat what makes you feel full, log the calories and you'll soon see a balance. Obviously the food in question would be something you like portioned. If you're having trouble with fullness have tea and/or water. Though I personally exercise and that affects appetite. However the biggest thing for appetite is habits.
    http://myfridgefood.com/ <-- if you're in a food slump you can use this to see what you can do with food you have in the house.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    edited February 2016
    OP, what I do is ask myself what I feel like eating (for example - what I would order at the restaurant right now if I went out) and I make that (with less calories than the restaurant stuff, obviously). Yeah, it means buying more than I need sometimes, but things get used for other recipes so it's not a huge deal. But it makes my meals much more satisfying and I'm less likely to go for cookies for satisfaction... and that way I don't even feel the need to 'cheat' because I just eat what I want when I want it...

    However it's true also that I end up eating a lot of grilled chicken and plain veggies, because it's easy, it meets my macros, and sometimes (like lately) I just really don't crave anything specific. And yeah, it gets boring. That's when I typically browse Skinnytaste.com or the web trying to find inspiration for meals (I'm a lazy cook though and if something has more than 8 ingredients, I don't even bother). Or you can look up other ways of eating veggies (my issue right now is that I like roasted veggies and whatnot, but fresh veggies cost an arm and a leg, so I buy frozen to save money, although I did find cheap cauliflower and had a lot of cauliflower rice lately).

    And yeah, definitely switch up proteins... Ground turkey is cheap and you can make a lot of things with it (burgers, tacos, meatloaf, meatballs, chili, stuffed peppers, to name a few). Chicken quarters are often cheap here and are a nice change (a bit more calories than breast, but whatever). We buy a lot of pork chops too and chicken sausages, and fish sometimes (but I do need to find more ways of cooking that).
  • DoNotSpamMe73
    DoNotSpamMe73 Posts: 286 Member
    http://www.cookinglight.com/food/quick-healthy/easy-chicken-recipes Just check the internet and you'll find what you want in spades.
  • egoodman630
    egoodman630 Posts: 9 Member
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    egoodman630 wrote: »
    maybe I was a bit too vague lol i do add different seasonings to my veggies but a lot of the time I'm eating the same boring things. Especially the grilled chicken or baked chicken. I always run to toast with mashed avocados and kale. I guess i dont know what exactly to eat to get the proper nutrition needed for weightloss

    What makes chicken more nutritious than say turkey or fish or other lean meats? The fact that you are bored while trying to lose weight is a really good indication that you will not be able to eat like this forever, so what is the plan once you've met our weight loss goal?

    Look for low calorie recipes and try new and different things. Things you enjoy enough to incorporate into your diet to prevent regaining the weight once you've lost it.

    thats definitely true and thats why i going to try new recipes to try and change my diet. some of your suggestions definitely helped. i dont want to get stuck eating just to lose weight, i want to be learn to maintain as well.

    i always fall off after about a month and go back to snacking on things i know i shouldnt be eating.
  • egoodman630
    egoodman630 Posts: 9 Member
    DoNotSpamMe73 wrote: »
    Eat what makes you feel full, log the calories and you'll soon see a balance. Obviously the food in question would be something you like portioned. If you're having trouble with fullness have tea and/or water. Though I personally exercise and that affects appetite. However the biggest thing for appetite is habits.
    http://myfridgefood.com/ <-- if you're in a food slump you can use this to see what you can do with food you have in the house.

    I'll definitely check out that site. Thank you :)
  • JustinAnimal
    JustinAnimal Posts: 1,335 Member
    When I bake chicken or fish, I always spray with a bit of olive oil and absolutely douse them in any combination of: salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, powdered ginger, chipotle powder, lemon juice, etc.

    When I bake sweet potatoes or yams, I use the same spices but also will use cajun powder mix.

    When I bake salmon, it's almost always in my favorite marinade: soy sauce, lime juice and/or rice vinegar, crushed chili pepper, fresh or powdered garlic and ginger, and brown sugar.

    When I eat eggs, sometimes I scramble them (whole eggs and whites), sometimes with or without cheese; sometimes I fry them and leave the yolk runny, sometimes I eat those particular eggs over bitter greens like spinach, kale or mustard greens; sometimes I bake them into a frittata with caramelized onions, bitter greens, mushrooms, scallions, or any other amount of veggies.

    You definitely need to start thinking outside of the box. Once you've got some practice, you'll start being more creative with flavoring your dishes and will start to really enjoy healthy eating. Other posts on here have awesome advice, too.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    egoodman630 wrote: »
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    egoodman630 wrote: »
    maybe I was a bit too vague lol i do add different seasonings to my veggies but a lot of the time I'm eating the same boring things. Especially the grilled chicken or baked chicken. I always run to toast with mashed avocados and kale. I guess i dont know what exactly to eat to get the proper nutrition needed for weightloss

    What makes chicken more nutritious than say turkey or fish or other lean meats? The fact that you are bored while trying to lose weight is a really good indication that you will not be able to eat like this forever, so what is the plan once you've met our weight loss goal?

    Look for low calorie recipes and try new and different things. Things you enjoy enough to incorporate into your diet to prevent regaining the weight once you've lost it.

    thats definitely true and thats why i going to try new recipes to try and change my diet. some of your suggestions definitely helped. i dont want to get stuck eating just to lose weight, i want to be learn to maintain as well.

    i always fall off after about a month and go back to snacking on things i know i shouldnt be eating.

    Stop thinking that way. You can fit whatever you want in your days, as long as it fits your calories. You said it yourself, you want it to be sustainable... Not eating something you obviously like because you think that 'you shouldn't be eating it' is not sustainable.

    I had a bear claw yesterday. I'm typically too hungry to manage to fit a 400 calorie treat in my days, but yesterday I had a lot of spare calories, and I had been wanting one, so I went for it, and I enjoyed every bite. Why not? It means that next time I have a day when I'm really hungry, it will be easier not to go for the bear claw, and to stick to better choices, as I satisfied that craving already. I just had cauliflower rice with my meatballs for dinner instead of pasta (and it was delicious too).

    I lost all my weight by eating my calories. If I have 100 calories left after dinner, you bet I'm going to have a cookie if I want one, and I'll still be under my calories. That's a win for me. If I wait too long and restrict myself, I'll end up eating 10 cookies, not 1. I also never went for the 1200 calories crap, so I guess it helped, but at least I stuck to it this way.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    edited February 2016
    Change your mind about healthy protein from "chicken" to "all proteins", measured out. An appropriate portion is about the size of a deck of cards.

    Change your mind about vegetables from "kale" and "avocado" to all bright green and bright orange vegetables. That is, pretty well all of them.

    Spicing things up include:

    Pumpkin - cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves
    Country Savoury - parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
    Mexican/Spanish - include a little cumin. May also include red pepper flakes, chili powder, and cayenne pepper. Or salsa. Or sriracha.
    Indian - the curries! Sneak a little cinnamon in there too.
    Chinese - soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, and Chinese five spice.

    Garlic and onion spice up nearly every savoury dish. I've been experimenting lately with slow cooking onions to change their chemistry to sweet goodness.

    Hubby and I had a little dispute over dinner this week. He wanted Hamburger Helper but we were out. He started to sulk because my dishes "aren't the same." Darn rights they aren't the same. They're better! I made him Rice-A-Roni from the box because, well, he likes it, and I cooked up the hamburger the best I knew how and as Hungarian as I could. That included roasting the flour, slow-cooking the onions to sweet goodness, and adding Smoked Paprika and red pepper paste. It was darned good, even if he wouldn't admit it. Even as he went for seconds and thirds. Silly man.

    Not boring at all.
  • egoodman630
    egoodman630 Posts: 9 Member
    so guys... i really thought that only chicken and eggs were protein. THANK YOU! lol I've been limiting myself alot to what i think is the 'right' thing to eat and I see that's why I haven't been successful in my weight loss.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Liberating, isn't it? When we get bored it is likely for a very good reason. Boredom is dumb!
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited February 2016
    Yes! I was sooo bored with what I believed was healthy food. A few simple adjustments, and I eat healthily without sacrificing taste (no, they are not mutually exclusive, in fact, real, nutritious food prepared correctly tastes wonderful). Home cooked will also be cheap, if you skip name brands, "organic", "health food" and "high end", look at price per pound, and go for minimally processed, traditional foods in season.

    I have had success with 1) not being afraid of fat and salt, and 2) thinking of meals as made up of components, and then rotate those components.

    Plan your meals, so that you get variety and use up ingredients. Most ingredients can be replaced, too, if they're too expensive or difficult to find or will spoil before you can finish it. Use your pantry and freezer. Learn to cook, don't just follow recipes.

    A basic dinner is protein, starch, and vegetable. Anything can be eaten, but maybe all combinations won't work (for you). My favorite proteins are: Pork chops, chicken wings/thighs, T-bone steak, lamb chops, salmon, herring. Starch: Mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, rice, pasta, barley. Veg: Peas, green beans, artichoke, oven baked brussel sprouts or parsnips. Inbetween this, every week I'll have a big pot of soup/stew for two days, one day pancakes/toast, and one day open for improvisation (sometimes readymade; lately I've had a lot of shellfish; also wraps/tortillas filled with different kinds of meat and vegetables).

    For lunch, you could try porridge, for instance oatmeal, semolina, polenta, millet. 40 gram grains, 100 grams water, 100 grams whole milk, 1/2 ts salt, cook for 4-15 minutes, depending on grain. A pat of butter on top makes it truly delicious.

    Yogurt is great for the last meal of the day, I use full fat Greek yogurt mixed with nuts/nut butters - peanuts, cashew butter, hazelnut butter, almond butter, walnuts, pecans - and a sweetener - honey or maple syrup.

    I get in quite a lot of fruit and vegetables every day just by having a portion of vegetables at every meal, and fruit for every meal except dinner (unless it's dessert) (a random "rule", but it provides structure). I alternate between types every time i go shopping, so I don't get bored. For instance, today I bought apples, orange, grapes, broccoli and cauliflower; a few days ago pomegranate, pomelo, melon, rutabaga, beet, carrots, cucumber.
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