What do you eat for dinner when you don't have much allowance left?

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. It's only 1:30pm and I've already eaten 1155 cals (I was up really early and had trouble sleeping last night).

I normally eat about 1485 a day, but I'll probably eat another 250 or so cals in snacks before dinner. Any suggestions would be appreciated, especially vegetarian ones (I eat dairy products and very, very occaisionally, eggs).

Thanks!

how about salad, peanut butter sandwich or maybe some vegetable soup?

I would go for a fruit smoothie, filling, not too many calories, and very tasty!

make a nice delicious soup for yourself!  ive learned that soup is a great low cal meal idea, and packed with goodness, no empty calS! right up your alley right?

yeah, I'm leaning toward soup-it's really filling, too, I find.

I hate when I do this to myself, ugh!

I have truble sleeping alot...and if I eat when I first get up, I try for something light.

I sometimes fill up on oatmeal - withour milk- it is very filling and i like it.

I drink a lot of water too to keep feeling full.

But when it comes down to it- i gotta have bread at least once during the day or I feel deprived!

I also love a nice "grilled" cheese sandwich. 2 peices of whole wheat bread, toasted, with a piece of fat free american cheese. it's so good and less than 200 calories. If you get the light wheat bread (40 cals per slice) the whole sandwich is only 110 cals. Add a big salad with lots of lettuce or spinnach, celery, carrots(shredded), cucumbers, tomatoes, and a bit of dressing(if you like)  the salad has very few calories by itself, so you can have a bunch and get full pretty quickly. (I personally would start off by eating the salad first)

Another really low calorie dinner is a small peice of veggi chicken or a veggi burger grilled or baked, (add a salad again, or grill some veggies, like peppers and onions).

 I hear that spaggetti squash is awesome maybe plate up some spaghetti squash, and add a bit of marinara sause or salsa on top, and make your own "chicken" parmasan, only without the cheese or sprinkle some low fat or fat free cheese on top. Either way the calories should be under 200 calories even if you use a lot of squash. I belive that the stores carry a tofu turkey or chicken.    

 I personally haven't tried the spaghetti squash yet, but I hear it tasts almost the same as regular spaghetti, and has like 50 cals per serving or something like that. The texture is supposed to be the same too. My local store doesn't carry it right now, but as soon as it does, I will try it out. it sounds really good.

I have a lot of ideas for low cal supers as you can tell. if you need any other ideas, let me know and I'll see what I can think up.

edit: just realized you asked for vegitarian meals, so I adjusted it.

Homemade soup would be a great choice, or you can make a sandwich with WW bread, veggies & hummus. Or leave out the hummus & marinate the veggies.  Or have both the soup & sandwich. :)

Soup!  I make a big bowl of soup with lots of vegetables cooked in low sodium chicken broth.  Sometimes I float some cubes of tofu, or do egg drops to add protein.

Egg beater and veggie omlet w/ a little LF mozerella

yup, home made soup is my favorite in those cases

Definitely I suggest an egg-white scramble.  Egg whites have only like 16 calories each and there is just as much protein in the white as there is in the yolk.  If you use 5 whites it's only around 80 calories and it is a lot of food. 

I use just Pam cooking spray in the pan (no additional calories!).  If I am seriously out of calorie allowances and really want to be good, I won't add anything to the eggs other than a bit of salt and pepper- maybe a tsp of ketchup if I really want.  But if I have a bit more calories to use, I'll add a bit of chopped up bell peppers, green onion, or even diced ham.  If I splurge and use cheese I don't do too much.  To me the added flavor isn't worth all the extra calories.  I'd rather have a bigger plate of food.  Depends on how hungry I am I guess.  But egg whites are my favorite discovery since being on my diet!  I usually only need 3 whites for a decent sized meal. 

Oh, and I prefer real egg-whites over egg beaters or anything like that.  Just my opinion, but I believe there are fewer calories.  But either way, it's a great choice.  I love soup too- but sometimes I want to have something to actually CHEW for dinner. LOL

Hope you like it!  =)

Hard boiled egg(s) chopped up on top of a salad. Could make a fairly large salad with maybe two eggs.

Definitely vegetable soup.  Keep vegetable broth on hand, add some frozen veggies, spices,  and ta da!  A low cal dinner.  Or, a salad.  Or, a slice of toast with some cooked egg whites and fruit spread.

normally i skip dinner..

my breaky and lunch are pretty big meals tho..

A big salad with grape tomatoes + romaine lettuce + celery + anything else on hand.  Then instead of salad dressing add 1-2 tablespoon(s) of Big Dan's Original Sweet Chilli Bento Sauce, only 35 calories for 2 tablespoons, and its exetremely potent and delicious! (Sweet and spicey at the same time)!

Thanks guys. I tried some of you suggestions and ended up not being too far over. I love how everyone is able to come up with ideas to cut out unecessary cals!

i do the grilled cheese thing too but i put my bread in the toaster then put cheese on it and pop it in the micro for 20 sec.  No butter or grilling.

Also 1/2 cup of oatmeal fills me up and keeps me full

Homemade soup for me or oatmeal. It depends on whether I'm craving sugar or protein.

I make a lot of soup with beans and legumes. They're very filling and very low in calories. If you are beside yourself for food that's filling and low cal, here's my version of "instant" soup:

http://www.calorie-count.com/recipe/18230.htm l

1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese & a handful of grape tomatoes...yummm

spaghetti squash is great. just slice it in half from the top to the bottom. clean out all the inside stuff. i put a little butter or olive oil on it so it browns a little, but im sure that part can be skipped. i also season it with salt and pepper. stick it in a 400 degree oven on a cookie sheet or baking pan, face up for 25-30 mins i believe. ive done it so much that im not sure exactly how long it takes, i just check on it. i say its done when its a little bit brown and a little bit shriveled. its really really hot so be careful. i use hot mits. then scrape out the 'meat' of it with a fork. it shreds naturally and easy (if it doesnt, it probably needs to be cooked longer). i heat up some spaghetti sauce ( i like the chuncky vegetable kind by prego i think) then i mix it together in a bowl! if i have parmesan i sprinkle it on top. voile!     also i love to make my own garlic toast. i use whole wheat bread, toast it, spread it with a little butter and garlic (from the jar) and sprinkle with a little more parmesan!  a little fills you up quick but i find that i am hungry later...  oh well, its delish!