Low Calorie Meal Ideas that are family friendly?????
scalva
Posts: 6 Member
Hi Everyone- so the Hubby and I started running and exercising a lot together and have cut out a lot of calories. We are seeing a huge difference but are getting tired of the same 5 or 6 meals that I know are healthy that I can serve to the whole family- we have an 8 and 3 year old.
Any low calorie family friendly meal ideal out there?
Any low calorie family friendly meal ideal out there?
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Replies
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We mostly stick with what I think of as a traditional meal template--meat (grilled, roasted, or baked), starchy side dish (rice, potatoes, or couscous), and veggies (cooked or raw.) But we also have spaghetti (either with meat sauce or meatballs) and pizza each once a week most weeks.1
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The best way to make something low calorie is to have what you like, but keep your portions under control.3
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We all eat the same thing, as low calorie would not work for my hubby and kids. I just eat less.3
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I'm the meanest mommy ever.
I cook stuff like fish and serve it with steamed veggies and salad.
-shrug-
When the Kidlets buy groceries they can choose what's for supper.
In the meantime, you'd be surprised what they'll eat when they're hungry6 -
juliebowman4 wrote: »I'm the meanest mommy ever.
I cook stuff like fish and serve it with steamed veggies and salad.
-shrug-
When the Kidlets buy groceries they can choose what's for supper.
In the meantime, you'd be surprised what they'll eat when they're hungry
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I also just make "regular" food. I have a growing teen boy and an underweight husband and they definitely need the calories from fats and carbs, so a protein + a starch + a vegetable for most dinners. I just eat less of the starch and more of the veg.1
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geneticsteacher wrote: »I also just make "regular" food. I have a growing teen boy and an underweight husband and they definitely need the calories from fats and carbs, so a protein + a starch + a vegetable for most dinners. I just eat less of the starch and more of the veg.
This^
I just modify my favorites. I still make pizza - turkey pepperoni & veggies on my portion. Homemade chicken nuggets.....panko crumbs are amazing, I have a side salad. Stuffed pepper soup - not sure if your kids eat peppers (I use red & green): http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/stuffed-green-pepper-soup
Skinnytaste is also great for recipes.0 -
My sons eat what I eat. I am also the meanest mommy ever, but they actually are enjoying it. We eat out less and I am cooking more. Since I am watching calories and carbs, I sometimes will add a heavy carb side for them.1
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Recommended dietary intake of nutrients for children:
130 g. carbohydrates/day
13-19 g. protein (ages 1-3)
34-52 g. protein (older children)
minimum of 5 g./day of essential fatty acids
20-35% fat intake of total intake by age 19.
Children, teens, and adults have different nutritional requirements. Children and teens are actively growing.0 -
Once in a while I do pizza pitas... put sauce, lowfat cheese, turkey pepperoni in a half of a pita and shove them in the oven until they are crispy and the cheese melts. My teens love these....2
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I also do taco salad... ground turkey or chicken, taco seasoning, low fat mozz or mexican cheese, put that on top of tortilla chips and then pile on lettuce & tomato and salsa and whatever other toppings you want (black olives, onion, etc... I don't do the chips for myself or sour cream... my teens love it and it's very filling.0
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I also do taco salad... ground turkey or chicken, taco seasoning, low fat mozz or mexican cheese, put that on top of tortilla chips and then pile on lettuce & tomato and salsa and whatever other toppings you want (black olives, onion, etc... I don't do the chips for myself or sour cream... my teens love it and it's very filling.
I sometimes bake my own chips (or buy baked Doritos). Greek yogurt can be subbed for sour cream, I pretty much mix it with salsa anyway.0 -
I make a lot of the same foods that I made before, but I simply eliminate a lot of the fat, so no more butter, OO spray for sauteing not OO, very little cheese, etc. It's easy to modify most recipes, unless they're cheese based, or fried. My kids and husband can always add butter and cheese, or whatever they want to what I cook, once it's on their plates.
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Substitute your ground meats with lean turkey (at least 90% lean. That puts 4 oz of the meat at 160 calories). I'm making Turkey Meatloaf tonight with simple ingredients. Ground Turkey, Egg, and Crushed saltines. Topped with ketchup. At 4 oz servings, it gets me approximately 210 calories. I add a side of mashed potatoes and green beans.0
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RhapsodyWinters wrote: »Substitute your ground meats with lean turkey (at least 90% lean. That puts 4 oz of the meat at 160 calories). I'm making Turkey Meatloaf tonight with simple ingredients. Ground Turkey, Egg, and Crushed saltines. Topped with ketchup. At 4 oz servings, it gets me approximately 210 calories. I add a side of mashed potatoes and green beans.
A bit more expensive but ground sirloin is often 90% too (ground round is the next leanest).0 -
Soups! We're big on soups around here and I always throw in extra veggies and protein and serve it with salad and homemade bread/bread bowls (for individual servings). Stuffed green pepper soup is delicious, as is chicken soup, chicken and dumplings, hamburger/veg soup, butternut squash with turkey sausage... tonight we had creamy tortillini with spinach soup. One bowl filled me right up alongside a salad.
We also do 'you get what you get and you don't throw a fit'
We've always eaten healthy meals and if it's not a soup/casserole with tons of veggies to bulk it up, then it's 1 meat/2 veg/1 starch plus a salad on the side. Tomorrow will have 2 starches because that's how the cookie crumbled but it'll be stuffed chicken breasts (stuffed with carmelized onions and mushrooms, not cheese), mashed potatoes, steamed carrots, and either homemade bread or rolls plus a salad. I don't care for mashed potatoes that much so it's easy for me to have a small serving.
Make your usual recipes but use healthier ingredients and buy a large bag of mixed frozen veggies- I add those to almost everything! I plan meals 2 weeks at a time and I try to throw in 2-3 new recipes every time. We usually get winners haha.0 -
No, I'm the meanest mommy ever.
Actually, one of my three is picky. After he's eaten the minimum requirement of dinner I let him have a bowl of (healthy-ish) cereal or similar. This was the compromise I came up with when I decided that for my emotional well-being, mealtimes need to be pleasant. 0 -
OP what are the 5-6 meals you are rotating through today? What's your definition of "healthy"? What kind of meals did your family enjoy before you made this shift?
One other thing that jumped out a me from your original post was the comment about running/exercising a lot and cutting "a lot" of calories. How big of a calorie deficit do you have? Are you eating back some of those cals? To lose 1 lb/week you need a deficit of 500 cals which isn't that hard to create through small changes to all your meals, it may not require a complete overhaul to your dinner meal plans.,, I tend to eat smaller breakfast and lunch and with exercise added in my dinners are often 700 or more cals which doesn't require much in the way of modification that would be noticeable to my family.0 -
RhapsodyWinters wrote: »Substitute your ground meats with lean turkey (at least 90% lean. That puts 4 oz of the meat at 160 calories). I'm making Turkey Meatloaf tonight with simple ingredients. Ground Turkey, Egg, and Crushed saltines. Topped with ketchup. At 4 oz servings, it gets me approximately 210 calories. I add a side of mashed potatoes and green beans.
I buy 93% ground beef...there's no reason to substitute if you don't want to...there's no difference between 90% ground beef and 90% ground turkey. I refuse to eat ground turkey or turkey bacon or turkey dogs, etc...when I was a kid my dad was good friends with a turkey farmer and that's all we ate it seems like...stuff makes me want to puke.2 -
Try replacing pasta with spiralized vegetables to make ordinary meals healthier. (You can use a julienne peeler or get a cheap spiralized for ~$20.) My picky husband barely notices the zucchini noodles in his spaghetti.
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Well, lots of things come down to portion size. Your calorie needs are not your children's or your husband's calorie needs.
If you want to reduce calories in recipes use leaner meats, beans, lentils. Put more vegetables on your plate. Steam, bake or grill instead of frying or use less oil/butter. Use lower fat dairy in recipes or reduce the amount used. Try cooking vegetables in different ways with different combinations.
I eat the same foods I always did just in appropriate portion sizes for my goal. My family eats the same food pretty much just in different quantities.
Things I typically eat:
Breakfast- Greek yogurt, granola bars, cereal with milk, sandwich, dinner leftovers, fruit, or cottage cheese
Lunch- sandwich, salad, or dinner leftovers
Dinner- something different every night of the month. I have soup once a week usually. Minestrone, lemon lentil soup are a couple of favorites for my family. I usually eat around 500-600 calorie dinners and most recipes fit pretty well in that range.
Snacks- things like fruit, popcorn, pretzels, chocolate, cookies, granola bar, carrots, celery, broccoli, trail mix, deviled eggs, pickles, cottage cheese
I have posted recipes and my monthly meal plan on my blog. https://lounmoun.wordpress.com/
I find food ideas on Pinterest a lot.
http://www.budgetbytes.com
http://www.skinnytaste.com
http://www.allrecipes.com
http://www.ohsheglows.com
http://www.kalynskitchen.com/0 -
We do a lot of things that can be altered to each taste. IE I eat a lower amount of calories than my SO, So I will make tacos, SO will have his on tortillas, I will have mine on a salad, and my toddler will eat the meat crumbles, cheese and veggies (not touching ever,)
If we have pasta, I will sub half of mine for squash or zukes.
Or I make a traditional meal, and load up on veg first, then meat, then grains.
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