Any tricks to get more food out of your food?

Wait, what? :P This is what I mean.

DRESSING:  I add skim milk to no fat bleu cheese dressing.  I prefer it more fluid as it gets on more of the salad for limited additional calories.

TV DINNERS: When Im extra hungry, I'll pick one with the meat mixed with vegetables and add cooked brocolli or cauliflower also for minimal additional calories.

SALMON: For that essential Omega-3 fat but to deal with the high calories, I'll break it into pieces cold and mix into a salad - its really good and adds great taste.

TOMATO SOUP: Two mini-cans of V8 (spicy kind!) make an excellent 60 calorie soup. (As opposed to the 180 cal. condensed soup in the cupboard).

SANDWICHES: Switching regular bread for tortillas. I used to make my sandwiches with regular bread (70 cal/piece) but since I like to toast my sandwiches I switched to tortillas (50 cal/piece) because they're thinner and fit better in my tiny toaster. That saves me 40 calories a sandwich! :) 

VEG IT OUT!

Here's what I mean.

Annie's noodle bowl, for instance - take 1/2 of one of these, like pad thai noodles.  That'll have around 240 cals.  Heat it up, then add raw spinach and mix it in while it wilts.  They flavor this stuff too strongly anyhow.  Or use raw romaine lettuce to veg it out.  Make a salad with that as dressing.

Use minced raw celery to veg out quinoa and chopped olives.

 Get a bowl of food twice as big for the same amount of calories when you VEG IT OUT!

I s-t-r-e-t-c-h my calories by using shirataki noodles in soups, salads and stir-fry (zero calories!), and also by using Walden Farms zero-calorie balsamic vinaigrette.

I also switched from skim milk to unsweetened vanilla almond breeze ... less than 1/2 the calories and a lot fewer carbs!

And I made the switch from brown rice to bulgur, and saved calories and carbs.

=^..^= MOLLY

This is a great thread. I totally agree with bulking up with veg - I add frozen peas, sweetcorn, carrots, sprouts, broccoli (you name it) to ordinary soups and have done the whole substitution thing - instead of bread I go for mini wholewheat pitas, and since they are so cute and contained I fill them right up and it feels like I'm eating much more than I am.

I do the same thing as the others and use veggies to bulk up my foods.

I also like to eat my meat in forms where it is already cut up.  What I mean is that I eat it in cubes in stir fry or broken up in a tortilla with veggies for a wrap or in a salad.  I don't know why but when I have a big ole bowl of veggies with the meat mixed in it feels like lots of meat but when I have the meat as one portion sitting off to the side it doesn't feel like I get much.  Besides, adding the meat while cooking lets everything share flavors.  Yum!

Another simple thing is that I make sure to drink a couple big chugs of water just before I eat.  It makes me feel full faster and the habit helps me get my daily water in.

I also season with herbs and spices like crazy.  They have an insignificant amount of calories and tasty, spicy food is more satisfying than bland food for me.

adding pumpkin' puree to my oatmeal like DOUBLES the volume and thickness and makes it go SOOoo far and really fills me nicely!

My O.J. lasts FOREVER cause I add about 4 oz. to my water bottle (32 oz). that I carry to work. The juice adds a few  extra CALORIES I need to gain weight (recovering from anorexia)...and it also adds a great flavor!

Oh, and everyone else seems to also VEG THINGS OUT :) I have about 5 bags of varieties of frozen vegetable blends in my freezer right now that I add to just about ANYTHING! For instance,...I often make my own soups by sauteing onions and garlic....then adding chopped fresh mushrooms, seasonings etc........pouring a broth (college in makes a light and fat free for 5 cal. a cup but since I'm trying to GAIN I use different stuff), adding fresh/frozen veggies,....and then finishing at the lats minute by tossing in thawed shrimp that cook in about 1 min. from the HOT BROTH!  I've also added tofu and a whole variety of other stuff---just have fun with it :) it is SOOOoooooooo filling cause of all the liquid and veggies but not a lot of cals.

For pasta dishes...

I used to eat literally three or more cups of pasta as a "serving", back in my unhealthy days.  Anything less seemed paltry.  Now though I just take one cup of pasta (whole wheat) and supplement the rest with steamed veggies.  Broccoli is a favorite of mine because the trees really soak up spaghetti sauce well.  I also love carrots and mushrooms.  You can pretty much add as many veggies as you want for a fraction of the pasta calories, yet the volume in still there.  It still seems to me like I'm getting a ton of food.  Plus the veggies pack extra nutrition.

With fruit, I like to slice things up really finely - apples sliced really thin.  This is great when I need an extra snack and don't want to eat the whole thing.  A half of a huge granny smith cut into fine slices really looks like a big pile of apple on my plate!

Great ideas guys!

Another plus about the pumpkin lilebery is its more fiber plus like 3days worth of vitamin A, not the most commanly found vitamin in foods.  I add it to my treat sugar free pudding with splenda and pie spice to and now it taste better plus has a bunch of fiber too. The OJ in water is also adding some vitamin C plus a great way to contolling the blood sugar affect OJ can have on some folks.

 

Water.

When making pasta or rice, use only a portion or half that you were going to make and then make it into a soup. Also, add veggies to make a thicker, more hearty soup. I love seasoning with chili powder, garlic powder, onion, rosemary, and black pepper.

Instead of eating cottage cheese straight, add a bit of water to it and add seasonings like garlic, onion, chili powder, hot sauce, or dill weed to make a nice veggie dip or salad dressing.

For oatmeal, only take a portion of the dry oatmeal you were going to make and either add more watter with more cinnamon or add some fruit or pumpkin.

Lileberly....Just reading your post....found it interesting b/c I have just had my bout with a form of anorexia/bulimia. Ihave packed on a few too many pounds for my comfort Went from weraing kids clothes to a size 2) and struggle every day. Where are you in your recovery?

when i have hamburgers, or veggie burgers; i use slices of bread instead of hamburger buns. Two slices of whole grain rye bread cut in half is enough for 2 burgers, it saves about 100 calories which you can make up for in some really good dressing, or some cheese.

This may sound weird but putting hamburgers and other sandwich meats in lettuce wraps saves TONS of calories from the bun and is actually really tasty.  You could get creative with the same idea and use cabbage, spinach, etc.

I've even heard of people grilling a large portabello mushroom cap and eating that instead of a burger - but that may be too far for some people... :) If you really want a burger but can't fit it in, you can try meatless hamburgers from Boca or Morningstar Farms. They're usually around 100 calories, give or take a few.

muttlover, I love portabello mushrooms! It's the prime vegetarian meat substitute. They're amazing, especially with different sauces, and very versatile.

When I eat cereal, I use half light soymilk, half water. Because it's cereal, I don't really taste the watery-ness of the soymilk (you can substitute with skim milk, of course), and if you have a more sugary cereal, it flavors the soymilk and it doesn't taste watery at all.

If I do have a sandwich, I try to make the filling more hearty because I don't care for bread too much (unless it's french or sourdough bread!). I freeze it (it keeps much better, too) and then take a slice out and slice it in half. Then you only have to count one slice's calories, but in a sense, you had two slices!

well if im having a fatty meat of something i always cut it up into sections n then it sems lyk im eatin more of it:P

also i dilute my milk w/ milk to make it go further