I need help with coming up with meals that are easy and inex

Hi! I became an avid recipe hunter because I was having trouble finding things for supper too. The first month I was on MFP I told my husband that I wouldn't be making a lot of meals because I didn't know the calorie count for some of the things that I make regularly. I turned to frozen foods since it had all the nutritional info on the package and was easier to record. ... The problem with that is that it's all processed and most of it is high in sodium. SOOOO - I discovered that www.sparkpeople.com has a recipe analyzer. You can enter all the ingredients for a recipe and then say how many portions it is and it will give you the calorie info per portion. It has been a life saver! I also like to hunt for recipes on www.allrecipes.com. Most of the recipes on there have the calorie info. Here's one we made last week and LOVED it. My parents tried it at their house and loved it too. If you like thai food then you'll find it tasty - it has peanut butter and curry. It's a little on the high side for fat but if you balance it out with a lighter lunch and brekky then you're all good. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-with-Peanut-Curry-Yogurt-Sauce/Detail.aspx

Try hunting around on the Kraft website too. They have lots of easy and quick recipes.

I'm a "whim" cooker, I throw things together on a whim so I couldn't really give you any specific recipes I use. One thing you want to do is bake or broil all your meats. Don't deep-fry, pan fry, etc. Also, for your starch use whole grain brown rice instead of white, switch your regular pasta to whole wheat, use couscous too - its a fun way to switch things up. For veggies don't used canned - use fresh whenever possible or frozen; also don't put butter on them (if your used to doing so) or just use a tiny bit to give you that flavor if you so desire it. Avoid packaged foods (like hamburger helper, velveeta shells and cheese, etc.) they are not good for you at all. Most of the "easy" meals they sell in the store aren't healthy in any way, shape or form so avoid them like the plague.

Easy meals to bring to work: salads with lots of veggies, whole wheat pitas or wraps and you can bring veggies or chicken or hummus, etc. to put in/on them (according to your preferences), and when I make dinner at night I try and make enough so I can have lunch for the next day that I know will be healthy for me. Snacks: veggies, fresh fruit, whole wheat crackers, popcorn, yogurt, special k cereal (I eat it dry like I'm a baby!), and 100 calorie packs of sweets (like chocolate covered pretzels) for those days where I need to satisfy my sweet tooth.

If you have certain meals you enjoy and want to keep eating just be creative with ways in which you can still do so - just use healthier ingredients. Example: I love chicken fajitas so I use whole wheat pitas, keep the chicken/onions/peppers but instead of using the package fajita seasoning I use ground cumin, crushed red pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to season the meat and veggies. Way healthier and tastes almost as good! You can do this with a lot of your favorite meals - I haven't yet figured a way to do this with shrimp scampi but the wheels are turning!

Hope this helps!
~Katie