My MFP is a bore. Help!

scgonza
scgonza Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I've been eating the same thing for the last couple of weeks, but I don't know what meals to make for my wife and I to spice it up and are healthy.

Breakfast: 2-3 hardboil eggs, half an avocado and a banana.
Lunch: 8oz Ground turkey (taco seasoning sometimes) 8oz sweet potatoes.
Dinner: 8oz chicken and 8oz broccoli.

My wife doesn't care for reheated chicken, I add mustard to it to give it life. Any suggestions for inexpensive meal prepped dinners? Thanks!

Replies

  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    How is that even enough food? What are you punishing yourself for?

    Dieting doesn't mean depriving yourself of anything that tastes good. Or restricting yourself to a small handful of foods. Add seasonings, sauces, and variety.

    I wouldn't be eating reheated chicken either - cooking dinner from scratch doesn't need to take hours. What about a stir fry with protein, loads of vegies, some nuts, a sauce? Or grilled meat with salad or roast vegies?
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,089 Member
    edited June 2017
    You need to expand your definition of healthy. You can eat almost anything you like, just adjusting the serving sizes so your overall food for the day will fit in your calorie "budget" and meet your other nutritional needs.

    You can substitute fish, lean meat (if you eat meat and not just poultry), and legumes for turkey and chicken, so you're not eating the same thing every day.

    Avocados, bananas, sweet potatoes, and broccoli are great, but they're not the only fruits and veggies in the word.

    You could make an omelet for breakfast instead of hard-boiled eggs, toss in some spinach, bell peppers etc., and have it with some berries or melon. Overnight oats (made in a slow-cooker or the refrigerator) is an inexpensive, quick breakfast.

    I don't consider myself a meal "prepper," although I'll occasionally make a casserole or other large-scale dish that I can eat as leftovers for several days. Last week it was mac-ham-and-cheese. I used a mix that I had in the pantry from the last time they were on sale, because it wasn't something I was planning to make when I last shopped for groceries, so I hadn't bought any real cheddar cheese to make the sauce. I stirred in cubed Spam (because, again, I hadn't planned it and didn't have any real ham), **ETA: totally forgot I put a couple of small, new, thin-sliced potatoes in, that I tossed in the water with the macaroni for the last few minutes **, some thin and canned asparagus (usually I use peas, but I wanted to do something different), put it all in a casserole dish, topped it with panko bread crumbs tossed with melted butter, and baked for about 20 minutes. I ate it once a day for a week until it was gone, and didn't feel tired of it.

    As a side dish, I had leftover carrot salad I had made to take to a block party. I had almost a full pound of carrots on hand, so I decided as long as I was getting the food processor dirty, I might as well grate them all. I added golden raisins, slivered almonds, and toasted coconut, and dressed it with a mixture of mayo, sour cream, apple cider vinegar, and salt. It took me about five days to finish the leftovers, and it wasn't showing any signs of aging or going bad before it was gone.


    *Edited to fix a typo.
  • Heather4448
    Heather4448 Posts: 908 Member
    Pinterest. Seriously. Literally thousands of great recipes to fit anyone's macros. Also, there is a website that lets you enter what you have on hand and gives you several recipe options. I can't remember the name, but I'm sure google can help you.
  • jggillette
    jggillette Posts: 1 Member
    Try this site. You put in how many calories you want to consume over how many meals and it will auto plan your day for you. You can refresh the whole day, individual meals or individual items on the list. Pretty cool site. https://eatthismuch.com/
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    Heather4448 wrote: »
    Pinterest. Seriously. Literally thousands of great recipes to fit anyone's macros. Also, there is a website that lets you enter what you have on hand and gives you several recipe options. I can't remember the name, but I'm sure google can help you.

    myfridgefood.com
  • spiffychick85
    spiffychick85 Posts: 311 Member
    Ok...so my go to family dinner recipe sites
    Skinnytaste.com
    Slenderkitchen.com
    Emilybites.com
    Cookinglight.com
    Allrecipes.com
    Slenderms.com
    Dashingdish.com
    Hungrygirl.com
    Pinterest.com

    I'm the only "chef" in the house... and these sites have been Godsends to me

    Any recipe my family likes goes into a binder for further use...we rarely eat the same thing twice (unless we want too) because I'm always trying something new :)
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    My advice is to eat more of the foods you ate before and adjust portion sizes.

    I find food ideas on Pinterest a lot.
    http://www.budgetbytes.com
    http://www.skinnytaste.com
    http://www.allrecipes.com
    http://www.kalynskitchen.com/

    Typically I eat things like this:
    Breakfast- low prep foods like Greek yogurt, granola bars, cereal with milk, sandwich, dinner leftovers, fruit, cottage cheese
    Lunch- things like sandwich, salad, or dinner leftovers
    Dinner- something different every night of the month. Soup once a week usually.
    Snacks- things like fruit, chips, popcorn, pretzels, dark chocolate, cookies, granola bar, carrots, celery, broccoli, trail mix, deviled eggs, pickles, cottage cheese

    Things I have planned and had for dinner in recent months include:
    chili, tomato soup, fassolatha soup, cheese soup, potato soup, black bean soup, lentil soup, beans & rice, broccoli cheese casserole, tator tot casserole, chicken noodle casserole, breakfast casserole, French toast, breakfast sandwiches, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, pancakes, chicken gyro, batsaria, Greek potatoes & chicken, falafel, fish & mac & cheese, spaghetti with meatballs, chicken yakisoba, hot dogs, veggie burgers, grilled cheese, chicken, quesadilla, tacos, burritos, salsa chicken rice casserole, fried rice, black bean potato nachos, Mexican manicotti, tandoori chicken, chicken legs, burgers, stuffed bread, French dip sandwiches, pizza, and ravioli

    I prelog my food and adjust portion sizes to fit my goals. I look at calories first then meeting my protein goal. I try to eat several servings of vegetables or fruits a day. I generally have 100-300 calories for snacks.
  • BronTonyRollyBeau
    BronTonyRollyBeau Posts: 37 Member
    I think if you looked at it differently you will feel better about MFP. You have to remember that this is a Lifestyle choice....you shouldn't think of it as a diet.No one wants to be on a life long diet.
    Making better choices that are viable NOT depressing
  • MaggiMoonwytch
    MaggiMoonwytch Posts: 12 Member
    That's nowhere near a healthy balanced diet. You need variety, especially with the veg. Why no fish? It's low in calories even when it's pan friend with some olive oil. Make a large pan of soup. So many different types and so much flavour with so few calories.
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  • AngryViking1970
    AngryViking1970 Posts: 2,847 Member
    jggillette wrote: »
    Try this site. You put in how many calories you want to consume over how many meals and it will auto plan your day for you. You can refresh the whole day, individual meals or individual items on the list. Pretty cool site. https://eatthismuch.com/

    I had forgotten about this site! It *is* pretty cool.
  • DannyYMi54321
    DannyYMi54321 Posts: 77 Member
    To be honest, sometimes I do a lot better when I stick to a simple, "same thing" diet. It takes away the burden and choice.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    edited June 2017
    Why not just... open a cookbook and use the recipe builder? It's about portion size, not exactly what you eat. As long as you're hitting your food groups (for health) and staying under your calorie goal, you'll lose weight.

    If you need ideas, I like this recipe site:
    http://www.skinnytaste.com/
    And this recipe is delicious: http://www.jocooks.com/main-courses/poultry-main-courses/one-pot-cheesy-chicken-broccoli-and-rice-casserole/
    I usually use cream of celery and only half the cheese (I'm too lazy to bake it with cheese before eating it lol)
  • Duchy82
    Duchy82 Posts: 560 Member
    Skinny taste is great for low cal recipes a few from there have become real staples and are really not expensive or hard to make. Her chicken fajitas and the skinny italian meatballs are devine, some great salads there too.

    You can also always go back to some of your old favourites from before you started using mfp and having also ways smaller portion with a large salad for example.

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