I'm hungry!

Does anyone have good ideas for low-calorie meals that don't involve pre-packaged food? I'm at 1,600 calories per day and finding it hard to stay there and not be hungry. I eat organic or natural, so many of the frozen diet meals are out for me. Anyone?????

Ellie

I am also looking for good ideas for low-calorie and easy to make that doesn't involve pre-packaged foods. I just started with CC and although I met my calorie intake I was blown away with how much sodium I'm ingesting. Yesterday it was over 2000!

I am going to try frozen fresh vegetables and brown rice with some kind of flavor thrown in like low sodium teriaki sauce. I work full time and need to be able to take in left-overs for lunch.

Do you eat totally organic or natural?!! I admire that as it must be a lot of work.

I'm with you trying to go more organic and less processed!  I've just started making my own organic yogurt and it is sooo good!  You don't need any special machines.  Just use your oven to regulate the temp.  If a gas, the pilot will provide the right temp.  I keep the light in my electric oven on and it works great.  So many ways to use the yogurt.  Breakfast with fruit and or cinammon.  Snack with whey protein.  Bedtime snack with casen protein...it will keep you full all night long.

Do you like spicy?  Try brown rice with black beans and a can of rotella tomatoes plus cumin, garlic, etc.   Really good and a complete protein.

I eat as much natural or organic as I can. The hardest part is having to travel 1-1/2 hours to Whole Foods in Milwaukee to grocery shop! Luckily we have relatives who live there, so combine a visit with the shopping. We go once or twice a month.

Ellie

That sounds delicious! Thanks for the idea. And I love rice, and don't each much meat at all.

Ellie

Try the recipes right here at CC.  There are some really good ones and the calorie count is already done for you.  You can tag your favorites and create a list that's easy to get to.

Penny

I've been using a couple healthy slow cooker receipe books for some really good meals.  The books I like are "Fix-It-And-Forget-It Lightly" (for soups and chilis) but what you may like more, if you like fresh foods, is "The Best Diabetic Slow Cooker Recipes".  This winter I am really enjoying putting the slow cooker on first thing Sunday morning, having the smell of dinner fill the house through the day, then eating the left-overs for lunch at work.

I make myself alot of wraps with tuna and cottage cheese and spinach.   or turkey and salsa and cottage cheese and black beans.  just a few examples.

Hello hav2qlt

I too have to quilt!! every week or I go through withdrawls. lol!!

and one more little tip I have found very helpful for myself anyway.

I play little mind games with myself. I love almonds (which are very good for you only they are very high calories) so I have raw carrots, brocolli and cauliflower handy and I have one of each vegetable to every one almond.

works for me. lol!!

How about fish?  I just had fresh tuna medallions for dinner -- took me about 30 minutes from start to finish, including 15 min. to marinate. Here's the recipe - Tuna Steaks with Garlic and Ginger.  I also make a quick lentil & spinach soup recipe: Curried Lentil Soup with Tomato and Spinach.  I eat a lot of roasted vegetables (roasted at 400 to 450 degrees) -- cauliflower, asparagas, squashes -- lightly tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, sometimes with added garlic or herbs like thyme or rosemary -- you can add a little feta or parmesan cheese when you're finished or toss them with a little balsamic vinegar.  They're easy to make and you can eat a lot of them.  Beets are great roasted for an hour wrapped in foil, then peeled (the peels slip off easily), then tossed in a little balsamic.  Or sweet potatoes cubed and steamed (only takes about 20 min.) and then mashed (or use your immersion blender) with a little butter or butter substitute (I like Land O Lakes Butter Spread), a little salt and chipotle peppers. Uh oh, too much talk about food -- it's making me hungry!

Elaine

I love almonds and walnuts and I bought the 100 calorie Emerald package for that.  Low to no salt, but again high in calories in comparison to what you get in the package.  But it is better than crackers or cookies in a 100 calorie package.  But I think I will use your trick of vegetable for every nut eaten.  Then maybe I will feel full longer!

Libraries are a great place to check-out cookbooks - I don't waste money on books that turn out to be full of crap ingredients or who are way more complex than my culinary skills or aspirations desire.

Make soup! I make an onion, leek, kale, mixed bean and garlic mixture in either a chicken or vegtable broth base and most times add diced tomatoes. Healthy and filling, easy to make. Variations include adding chorizo to the leek onions and garlic after I saute them than the chicken broth prior to kale and beans, always adding some smoked parpika or italian spices for flavour.

Makes the house smell great too.

countbrian, that is a soup I make all the time! It is the world's best soup and has very few calories. I prefer white beans (great northern) and loads of garlic. I've never put diced tomatoes in it though and will do that next time.

For the ones that like lower sodium they can either get premade low sodium vege broth or can make homemade vege broth and control sodium as much as they want. One thing I like to do in low sodium things is to add a few shakes of tobasco sauce. Just a little of it replaces loads of salt. Actually serously increasing whatever the non-salt seasonings are usually does the trick on anything.

Now I know what I am going to make for dinner!

Cool, I read that I should try cannellini beans but I never see them in stores. Are you familar with them, are they known by another name in Canada and the US? Last time I made soup ( this week...still some left) I used black beans.

I've seen them called white beans, great northern, and cannellini in the US.

I am a worker bee and do not have time to do dried beans so I just buy them canned and rinse the salt off - have you tried looking in the canned bean section of the store? I've tried a bunch of brands and they are all good. Progresso, Bush's Best, and a lot of new organic ones I don't remember the names of.

Maybe you could ask your local store to get some! The stores here will do it if you ask - they even call you when the item is in. Good luck, they are my favorite bean and have a mellow creamy texture.

I was thinking of starting a thread like this myself because I wanted to know what people did when they were hungry...some great ideas here and I'll share a couple with you as well.  When I'm hungry and need something fast and I do keep Boca burgers in the freezer so while that is pre-packaged it is very fast and healthy I think..., 1.5 to 2 minutes in the microwave, then I chop up a roma tomatoe and a couple of mini dill pickles as well as the boca burger, toss with a squirt of mustard and stuff into a toasted whole wheat pita and YUM...you get the crunch of the toasted pita and pickle, just enough mustard for spice and altogether very satisfying, also great with tuna or just veggies is good too.  A soup I love that is very filling is lentils, 1 can of mild rotel and some turkey sausage.  I saute in EVOO some onions, carrots and garlic, add Rachel Rays chicken broth, about 1/2 bag of lentils, the can of rotel (mild for me) and some sliced up turkey sausage, cook for about 30 -45 minutes and you'll have enough dinner for 4 adults.  Its not a pretty soup but it takes great.

Share your emergency food snacks....I have found that drinking more water does cut down on the hunger attacks...

I also have discovered an very easy way to have healthy meals without a lot of prep work... I use my slow cooker! Chicken is the favorite... then it is readily available for wraps, quick stir fry with lots of veggies, salads, etc. The slow cooker solves the time problem of having to stop and cook something and wait ... the meals are ready... of course I always cook too  much... that way I can vacuum seal and freeze the turkey, pork, chicken, etc. I also have discovered that a precooked canned ham is a  lifesaver. I slice the ham, wrap each slice individually in foil and freeze... I can put a slice in the fridge to thaw and voila... instant quick protein for a salad, omelet or a sandwich. The same can be done with any of the meat products. I also invested in a smaller size slow cooker... this is an easy way to fix vegetables or rice dishes ... any of the side dishes, in fact. Did you know you can also use your slow cooker to fix low fat, low sugar cobblers? I use fresh fruit and have a large container always ready with the dry mixture for the topping... no measuring needed... just spoon the dry ingredients on top of the fruit and cook... adding a few little pieces of low fat butter on top is all you need. Voila!

The cobbler idea sounds great! Is this a recipe, or did you create this one yourself?  I also like the canned ham for quick protein - saves having to buy deli meats.  Thanks!  I, too, make a lot of stir-fry and salad meals, usually using left-over meat from a previous meal.  Sometimes, I make it all one salad, topping the salad fixings with lots of stir-fried veggies and a little vinaigrette.  Great with a slice of lite Italian bread (40 calories).