Hey Whats for dinner??? Any ideas?

Well, I am out of ideas. This is all new to me and I really don't know yet what is really low cal. I don't want another salad for dinner and last night was Go Lean Kashi cereal correction the last 2 nights. Tonight would be nice to eat something that didn't need milk or salad dressing!!!! What the heck are you guys eating???

How many calories do you aim for a day and what do you usually have in terms of calories at your dinner meal? What sort of food do you like? Any favourite proteins, carbs, vegetables?


EDIT: After doing a bit of research into your post history, your age, gender, height and weight - 51, female, 5'7, 200lbs - mean you burn 1900 calories a day sedentary. So, if you want a rate of loss at 1lb a week, which is a healthy and sustainable rate, you'd want to be aiming for 1400 calories a day. Correct?

Though if you work out you'd want to be eating more; say if you burnt 200 calories in the gym, you'd be able to plausibly eat 1600 calories and still have a good defecit. Too high a defecit and too few calories (for an adult female, any less than 1200 is unhealthy) can result in starvation mode, where your body clings to everything it can as though preparing for a famine. And you don't want that!

Breaking down 1400 for you gives me this:

Breakfast 400
Snack 150
Lunch 400
Snack 150
Dinner 400

That's just an example plan, but snacks between meals help ward off sugar lows and keep your metabolism fired. Ideally, though, that'd mean you'd have 400 calories at least at your dinner meal. And you can do a lot with 400 calories! That said, I'll wait til you reply to my initial question before I post anything else.

Try a slow cooked boneless skinless chicken breast and steamed veggies.

Put a little bit of water in a skillet and the put in a boneless skinless chicken breast. (( you can put it in thawed or frozen doesn't matter.)))  Put it on low/medium heat, season lightly with your favorite seasonings, and put on a lid.  Turn it once in a while but other wise just let it cook.

I like the california style veggie mix.  Broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.  Put in a sauce pan with a little water and cover, stir occasionally.  I used frozen veggies, as they are cheaper and require less prep time but you can do the same thing with fresh, they just may take a little longer to cook.  You can sprinkle some onio or garlic power over your veggies, eat them plain, or add a tiny bit of butter or butter substitute for flavor. 

You can use any veggies you like really though. 

It's easy and very tasty.   healthy food doesn't have to be boring.  Specially with all the herbs and seasoning options available.

I do not have any usual yet.  I have always done Atkins - not anymore!!!  My daily calories are at 1200 to 1400.  I am exercising daily now.  I have roughly 620 left for the day on the low end.  I like all the bad stuff of course. I also like Chicken - baked is good.  I like turkey, only fresh caught fish, ham, asparagus, corn, carrots, cauliflower, all fruits.  I used to eat tofu years ago and would fry it up in butter with cayenne pepper, that was good.  I'd like to find some tofu recipes.  I can't think of anything else right now.  My total lack of imagination kinda helped get me here, because I always ate what was easy - like Pasta.  Oh I love Pasta and I do like rice.

Yeah salad can get old especially when it's so cold. I cook a lot of veggie curry. You can basically eat masses of it, and it tastes amazing and is very good for you.

Tonight I had chickpea curry (fry some onions and garlic in minimal oil, I put in some chilli and cumin also, throw in a tin of chickpeas, a bit of water, squeeze a lemon in, cook for 20 mins) and butternut squash and spinach curry (again, fry up some onion and garlic and ginger and cumin in a little oil, then stir in a diced butternut squash and a little coconut milk and some stock (or water) and lemon juice, cook for 20 mins, then stir in a few handfuls of spinach at the end. I put fresh coriander and sliced fresh chilli on top of both to serve.

So I had that with chapatis and a bit of mango chutney. About 500 calories. Stuffed. As is my much larger boyfriend.

Thanks that sounds good.  I am leaning towards chicken. I used to sautee it in butter with  sweet onions - might not be such a good idea now!!!  I am thinkig of maybe backing it with a light coat of olive oil and seasoning.  Okay now I am gettign hungry!!! Thanks! Lauri

I like tofu too. My boy laughs at me, he says it tastes of water. I adore the texture.

I like my crazy foods... a few days ago I cooked a "Mongolian Hotpot". I basically put some chicken stock and a little soy sauce in a fondue pot threw in a lot of chinese cabbage and sliced mushrooms, let that cook a bit. And then had all these bits to "cook" in the hotpot - about 100g of nice steak (between 2 of us), one small sliced grilled chicken breast, sliced firm tofu, asparagus, pak choy.

And we just cooked the bits in our hotpot and dipped them in sweet chilli and hoisin sauce in little pots at the side. It is so cold in our house we had it in the lounge in front of the fire wrapped up in blankets.

And that was the most gorgeous romantic thing ever, and it lasted about an hour and was about 300 calories :)

Now that is awesome!!!  That puts a new twist to dinner!!!  Having fun with food.  I wish I had that creativity!!!! Perhaps this is the place to get it.

thanks for sharing that idea.

Lauri

That sounds really good and different.  I love butternut squash and this is the season for it.  Thanks for a great idea.  I want to keep it different. Eating the same thing over and over is boring!!!! It leads to the path of destruction LOL!

I am going to jot down your idea and maybe give it a try tonight or tomorrow night.

Thanks. BTW my man is trying to lose 35 pounds and he is also a big man - 6'5", I think he is counting on me to make enough of what ever for him!!! I wonder if he would like Tofu??? Not!

Lauri

You are right on the money.  All counts.  I am working out at the gym.  Today was the 3rd day and tonight I will be working on the boxing bag. I noticed yesterday that if I consumed a total of 1300 for the day, I wasn't hungry when I went to bed and this morning I wasn't hungry.  Although I did make sure I ate anyway.  I just need to get ideas!!! I am the laziest person I know in the kitchen.  That just won't work now.

I have to shut down and head home.  I will look for your post when I get home. 

Thanks in advance.

Lauri

I suggest you keep to 1400 on your non-workout days and 1600 on your workout days. It can be detrimental to have too great a defecit, and eating the very minimum required calories isn't any fun either! Dieting shouldn't be a, well, "diet", but a lifestyle change, and overly limiting yourself robs fun from that. I personally know this too well. D; And I don't want anyone else to go through that. Thus!

The sauteed chicken and veg sounds good and tasty. Remember to have some carbs, too. A slice of wholegrain toast, or a portion of steamed rice. A good rule of thumb half a plate of veg, a quarter of protein and a quarter of carbs. Also remember the beauty of CC is that you can have whatever you want as long as it fits in your calorie count. That includes a small amount of butter! If all else fails use a small amount of olive oil and grease your pan. You won't need too much and olive oil is full of healthy fats.

First, don't forget CC's Recipe Search!

I also like the BBC Good Food recipe site. It's my favourite - outside of CC, of course. >> Going by the (very helpful!) list of what you like, these are all between 200 and 400 calories:

Stir-fry noodle salad
Pad thai
Linguine with tuna, lemon & dill - you could easily sub wholewheat linguine, here!
Tuna sweetcorn burgers
Tomato, cauliflower & spinach curry
Vegetable balti
Paella fried rice
Spanish spinach omelette

Those're a few ideas. You can also use the BBC Good Food search to find meals between 200-400 calories or whatever range you might desire, with what you may fancy as a main ingredient in the search box.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/search.do


As for your hubby, he's going to need a lot more calories than you (unfair, isn't it?!) as he is male and quite so tall! If you want, I can help you work out BMR info for him if you wish. XD And hey, I've got people to like tofu - all you need are the right additions! :]

Thank you for your post.  I have been so low carb conditioned that I am still amazed that I can eat healthy with a variety of foods and still loose weight!!! I appreciate the calorie quantity suggestions .  I was thinking that I should try for 1400.  I believe that if I am hungry I am not doing something right.  Cravings - that is all together another story and oddly enough I have not had them - YET!!! I am going to check out the suggestions in your post.  That spinach omelet sounds so good!!!

But for tonight I am thinking asparagus and tofu.  Sounds weird!!! If I have some calories left over I will add some popcorn for fun.

Anyway, I need to get on it because I really don't want to eat too late.

I have to admit I am very impressed with this site.  The people here are awesome!!! Thank you so much for your post and I am going to check out all the sites and recipes!!!!

Lauri

I have one more question.  I noticed that bananas mashed are an A loaded with nutrients but whole a B+.  do you know the banana story?

thanks, Lauri

I get LOTS of dinner (and every other meal/snack/etc) from www.cookinglight.com  They have a section called Dinner Tonight that has quick, easy, delicious meals.  The great thing...you can find a recipe that looks great at work, write down any ingredients you need, and pick them up on the way home!

Now that is really awesome!! Thanks for the post.  I will check it out.  Left to my own  this could get really ugly!!!!

Below is a link to some recipes on fitness mag page.  I have tried many of there recipes (but none of these) and haven't found one I didn't like yet.

I almost never make the same thing twice because I bore quickly so I go to there site often for ideas.

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/quick- recipes/dinner/money-saving-meals-healthy-low -cost-dinner-recipes/?sssdmh=dm17.359163& esrc=nwffood28_09&email=1548324932

I have a couple of dinner options I rotate throughout the week...it's nothing special but cooking for just one person is kinda tough if I don't want a million leftovers.

Tonight was tilapia cooked in a skillet with a little olive oil and a bunch of steamed squash. I love cooking the fish with garlic pepper seasoning, it doesn't taste fishy and it's so easy to cook.

Other times I buy frozen stir fry vegetables at the grocery store (Safeway/Vons/Pavilions has a great combo with asparagus) and stir fry that up, adding my own vegetables if I want and then add in some cut up chicken breast that I've cooked in a bit of teriyaki sauce. I season the veggies with a bit of garlic pepper and mix it all up. Pretty good and sooo simple to make.

Occasionally I'll cook up some chicken tenderloins in either some spices or do a baked version that's like fried (dipped in egg beaters and a spice/flour mixture but cooked in the oven, not fried in a skillet) and add some frozen veggies. Frozen veggies are totally my lifesaver! Haha especially when dinner is just for one person.

So that's what I do. Pretty simple and easy. A lot of the other recipes posted sound very good!

Hey Karen, your cooking is the way I like to cook - EASY!!! It is just my husband and myself but a million things going on.  I really like your idea with the teriyaki chicken and veggies!!! I might try that one tonight.  Thank you for the input.  I guess i will just need to do a little research and start looking for ideas.  This life change doesn't happen over night!!!

thanks again!!!

Lauri

Good Morning Pam,

Thanks for the link I am headed that way now.   Sometimes it is just a matter of stepping out of the comfort zone and trying new things!!! Hope you have a great day!!!

Lauri

Ooooooh, funny you should ask!  I was just planning a Friday night feast for one!

I'm making brown rice pilaf (from scratch) with a tsp of olive oil and roasted pumpkin seeds with fresh garlic and chopped cilantro.  Maybe even a dash of lime juice.  Also, steamed broccoli and sauteed kale.

Oh, and hot tea :)

Is it dinner time yet?  LOL

I'm a very minimal cooker - that is, I'm a teenager and I don't really know how to cook, just throw some food together that can make a meal. I made a really good easy meal last night of chicken breast diced up, diced asparagus, and some canned pineapple thrown into a frying pan and cooked up. It took me literally 10 minutes and it was really healthy, yummy, and balanced. I like to have a variety of low fat or low calorie salad dressings to put on top of a piece of grilled chicken or fish. I have different ones so sometimes it's terryaki and sometimes it's balsamic vinaigrette and sometimes it's honey mustard - even though I'm cooking basically the same thing it tastes so different every night that I don't get tired of it. You could also use lemon juice or lime juice. The suggestion for a balanced meal (1/4 of your plate with protein, 1/4 your plate with complex carb, and 1/2 your plate with veggies) is a really really good measure. If I eat a meal like that it keeps me really full and I feel good after eating it. Get some nonstick spray and a frying pan, some fresh veggies (I like mushroom, asparagus, spinach, and brocolli), some seafood or poultry, some sweet potatoes, and you're set. I like to saute up veggies with some slivered almonds because they give it a really nice taste and are a wonderfully healthy food - you only need a little. The food I eat on a "diet" is so much more delicious than the food I ate when I was gaining weight. I truly believe that - I enjoy food so much more now. I use recipes.sparkpeople.com for recipe suggestions if I'm really stuck or want to try something new. Good luck with everything!