I do calorie counting, so I can eat just about anything, but Ijust feel BLAH about eating. DOn't get me wrong, I am so hungry, but when I go to eat, I just stare and stare and stare at the cupboards, fridge and freezer. NOTHING sounds good.
All my faves have run their course. Any good lunch ideas?
I have been SO into this for lunch: 2 tbs peanut butter, 1 banana, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, 3 ice cubes, 1/2 c milk.
450 calories (I think, can't remember, it's around there), lots of protein. And absolutely decadent!
Also, made a Thai pumpkin soup recently with very different flavors than your typical fall soups. Coconut milk + pumpkin + fish sauce + onions + cilantro. Let me know if you want the recipe.
Have you thought about exploring ethnic dishes? Baba ghanoush, tabbouleh, channa masala, dal, thai stir fries are some of my go-to dishes when I'm feeling blah about everything else. I think having different spices and flavors are what's key.
I get this way, too. I'm always experimenting with new foods and recipes to keep myself interested. I like it usually, but sometimes it gets kind of old after a while. So, I try to do simple, filling, tasty stuff. It's a challenge some days.
I'd try looking at Hungry Girl's website if you haven't already. They have some good and simple ideas. I take and alter a lot of their recipes.
I'm not sure about lunch in general, but I'll tell you what I had today that was delicious!
It's a kind of 'breakfast' skillet. It's only 400 calories for the whole thing, and it's huge!
1 Morning Star garden burger (these are so tasty!)
1-2 oz onion, sliced thin
Mushrooms (however many you'd like)
4 oz russet potato
3 egg whites
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 wedge light laughing cow cheese
1 slice fat free American cheese (or about 30 calories worth of some cheese - you could do Velveeta, Parmesan, whatever you like)
2 tbsp fat free sour cream
Heat the veggie burger and chop it up. Then cook the onions and the mushrooms. Dump the burger and the veggies into the same pan, add garlic, and then put in the egg whites and cook until the egg is just done.
Tear up the cheese wedge and the slice cheese and combine with sour cream in a bowl or cup. Heat for ~20-30 second, stir, and then heat for about 15-20 seconds or until the cheese is pretty much melted.
Put the veggie burger and egg mix into a bowl or on a plate, and then top with the cheese.
I'm into making food in bulk and freezing portions. Here is what is generally in my freezer:
1. Stuffed peppers. Corn and kidney beans is my current favourite filling, rice never froze too well. There's onion, tomato, mushrooms, cumin and paprika in there too. Make a big batch, stuff all the peppers, then wrap them in non-PVC food wrap (cling film, aka saran wrap for Americans, is difficult to peel off when you take them out of the freezer), freeze, then take them out as you need them and nuke for 8 minues. About 200 calories each, believe it or not, so you can add a salad or what have you. I really must try to work out a slight variation on the recipe, it's still lovely but a change would be nice if I can work one out.
2. Soups of varying kinds. It's butternut and lentil in there right now, and I went through a big minestrone phase before that. Depending on the soup and its calories, you can boil some soup pasta (go for the smallest pasta shapes you can find, I'm using a nice small wholewheat macaroni) or make toast to go with, and again there's the optional salad.
3. Something more evening-mealish, often a species of curry. At the moment there's some portions of mango curry in there, there was a Thai green curry before, and I plan to make a big chick pea, tomato and general vegetable curry this week. The slow version is to make rice to go with, and the quick version is to use an Indian bread, checking of course that it's not madly high in calories first.
Chicken fajitas are my current faves. I buy the carb balance white tortillas, can't eat whole wheat because it makes me sick. Anyways.
1 carb balance tortilla
canned chicken sauteed in a skillet
1 thin slice of sharp cheddar
2 tablespoons homemade pico de gallo
You can add sour cream but, it will add extra calories. I like this as a meal because it's very filling without a ton of carbs and you've got veggies and protein in there.
The whole thing came in under 400 calories, and it was absolutely delicious and healthy. I had it with some coleslaw with light dressing, and sliced apples to finish.
Another concept to play with is that the terms breakfast, lunch, and dinner do not have "rules" attached to the typed of foods you can/should eat. An egg white omlette at lunch with loads of veggies served with corn tortillas and salsa can be a lovely filling lunch or dinner as opposed to a breakfast. Soups and stews are also good at any meal - plus you can pack more vegetables in - I like them at EVERY meal
The dreaded Menu Rut
