Volumetrics Followers
 

I started this thread to find others who are following the Volumetrics life plan and those who are interested in learning about it. We can share our experience, strength and hope with each other.

I have been a life long yo yo dieter and I have tried most of the diet plans. I had settled on calorie counting but remembered vaguely something about a book that my DIL had on a plan called Volumetrics. All I thought I remembered was it had something to do with Calorie Density (Energy Density) of foods and that you could eat more of the low Calorie dense foods and still lose weight.

With that tiny bit of information I started changing my Dinner with an eye to calorie density but my lunch remained traditional meat, starch, veggy but calorie controlled.

I started experimenting with no real knowledge of Volumetrics by taking a can of Progresso Light soup and adding two cans of no salt added green beans along with some hot sauce. Now this was a huge quantity of food but low in calories. After eating I felt full and for the first time I can remember I did not continually snack all evening. Wow!! Volumetrics might work for me.

I ordered two books and I am halfway through the first one. This eating plan makes sense to me as a lifestyle that I could do. And each evening I am amazed that I am full instead of hungry and I just lost another 3 pounds.

Any others out there in 3FC land?

Hi Larry H. I have a book on Volumetrics and it always made sense to me. I'm currently doing Intuitive Eating with WW pts +, but reading your message helped me to realize why I was losing weight easier when I first started WW. I was doing a form of Volumetrics and didn't even think about it, because I was making loads of soups that I drank at suppertime. Taking Progresso and adding the low cal veggies is a supper way of doing that. On WW the low cal (non starchy) veggies are freebies and since they stress eating your veggies and fruits, the soup was an easy way to get those veggies into my diet with 0 pts.

It was much easier to do that with the cold weather than when it is warmer. Thanks for the reminder. I will have to get my book out and look at it again and put the soups back into my way of eating.

I have been eating this way for maybe 5-6 years. I like to eat, so I want my meal to be as large as possible without too many calories.

I like to shred vegetables into meatballs, meatloaf, nuggets, burgers so that they are 50% non starchy vegetable and 50% meat.

Other things I tend to eat are thick soups like carrot soup, tomato soup, broccoli cheese, bean soups, split pea, lentil, etc.

When I make chili or stew, I throw in a lot of additional vegetables so that it's mostly vegetable and smaller amounts of starch or meat.

I use either zucchini noodles (noodles made of zucchini) or fine green beans as a pasta, top with sauce and cheese or I make a small serving of pasta and mix it with sauteed vegetables before topping it with sauce.

I love to eat stir fry or "noodle" bowls with either no starch or a tiny amount of rice sticks or rice and the rest vegetables and protein.

If I ever eat some kind of sandwich or wrap, it is often stuffed with broccoli slaw or regular slaw, sprouts, cucumbers, tomatoes, or a lot of kale or spinach.

Sauteed cabbage is great to top with a fried egg, or some kind of sauced fish or chicken. If just the cabbage is weird, it can be delicious mixed with rice and served as a side.

pattygirl63 It is great to see someone else doing similar. The Volumetrics book says chunky soups give us better satiety. In addition to green beans I often add corn or peas but have to be mindful of calories in those. I also love to add no salt added canned mushrooms. I have not tried carrots yet but that is on my to do list.

Munchy You have given me many great ideas. It is so encouraging to see that you have been eating this way for 5-6 years and see your weight loss. That has reaffirmed my opinion that this can be a life style for me. How do you make zucchini noodles? Are they better than spaghetti squash? I love to cook and experiment.

The Volumetrics book is jam packed with suggestions for lowering the energy density of meals while maintaining satiety or the feeling of being full. While reading yesterday in the book I came across a suggestion to add 10 oz of water to casseroles to make a chunky soup and lower the energy density. That was kind of an AHA moment for me. Then I started thinking. I love eating comfort foods made with Hamburger Helper but the ingredients are loaded with sodium and calories. Lately I have been making several homemade healthier hamburger helpers. Such as the one in this link.

http://www.food.com/recipe/healthier...-helper-443822

I thought, why not turn this into a chunky soup by adding 10 oz of water as suggested by the Volumetrics Book. Then I can eat more while staying in my calorie allowance. I have not tried this yet but I intend to sometime this week.

Larry, I've actually done that and made a soup out of a casserole serving! I would suggest taking that hamburger helper and adding in a small diced zucchini and/or chopped mushrooms, peppers, or maybe a bunch of spinach. They are very mild and lend well to tomato/Italian flavors.

I have a noodler that I bought off of amazon, but if you don't, you can use a peeler to make zucchini noodles. I love spaghetti squash, but not as a replacement for pasta - it's too sweet. If I'm making a light alfredo (adobo, skim milk, and neufchatel cheese), or topping with marinara, I prefer zucchini. If I'm making spaghetti squash, I use it as I use other squash. I'm actually making it tomorrow with mushrooms and chopped tomato and a bit of white wine!

Last night for dinner I sauteed 1/3 of a green pepper, two scallions, and 4oz of sliced mushrooms with a sliced spicy Italian chicken sausage. I added about 1/2 cup of homemade marinara, 1T light sour cream, and 1T romano cheese and topped the bowl with capers and fresh basil. It was a huge and delicious bowl for 277 calories.

Tonight I'm making spaghetti squash with mushrooms and tomatoes.

Munchy Your dinner sounded delicious as does the picture of the spaghetti squash. Do you have any idea what the calorie count of that spaghetti squash recipe is? I really enjoy reading about what you are eating on this plan. I get so many ideas.

I have made some change in the direction of Volumetrics to breakfast. First, after reading the Volumetrics book I started eating breakfast. I have always been one of those obese breakfast skippers. Second, instead of eggs, toast, home fries and sausage. I had 1 cup of original Fiber One cereal (which is a double serving). To this I added one Sweet N Low packet and I sliced up three large strawberries into it. The third change was to change from 2% milk to skim milk. I ended up with a large bowl of cereal that tasted really good and was only 198 calories. As a bonus I got 29 grams of fiber from breakfast. I also had coffee (a must have food). I learned to enjoy my coffee Black with NO creamer or sweetener while serving in the US Navy.

Your breakfast sounds nice and filling! I actually miss my black coffee. After over 18 years of daily super strong "sludge" I cut it out around June to see if it helped with indigestion. It immediately did! I cut gluten at the same time, so the two of those really improved any bothersome symptoms and I no longer needed my two daily antacids.

The spaghetti squash recipe as linked is 255 per serving (2 servings) including the optional cheese. :)

Tomorrow's dinner will likely be turkey pumpkin chili that I have frozen in containers. I love any chili and usually make my own recipes as I go, but I have been stuck on the whole foods recipe. The pumpkin makes it so creamy and thick!

I am too low on calories only 770 :dizzy: but I can't eat any more because I am very full. I am finding that I have to be very careful with Volumetrics to eat enough calories. It is way too easy to fill up on the low energy dense foods and end up low on calories.

This was my food today

Breakfast
Nothing, I got up too late this morning

Lunch
Ham Steak 4 oz 120 Cal
Mashed Potatoes, Skim Milk,I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, 1/2 cup 120 Cal
Frozen Broccoli, boiled, 1/2 cup 26 Cal

Dinner
Progressive - Light Chicken Noodle, 2 cup 140 Cal
Libby's - Naturals - Cut Green Beans No Salt - No Sugar Added, 3 1/2 Cup 140 Cal
(1 can of green beans was drained and 1 was not)
Giorgio - Canned Mushrooms - No Salt Added, 1 cup 40 Cal
Fresh Jalapeno, Raw, 4 jalapeno peppers 8 Cal

Snacks
Granny Smith Apple, Raw - 2 medium apples 176 Cal

I just finished reading the Volumetrics book last night and am starting today or tomorrow (depends if I get to the store today). I've been hearing about calorie density for a while now and I have been doing a plan that has been low fat for a while, but still eating quite a bit of bread, crackers, etc. So I revamped my menu last night so that it includes more foods with lower calorie density. I'm a vegan, so that helps to find foods that are more CD.

One thing I didn't quite get that wasn't really explained well in the book (I bought the first one because it's cheaper and I don't have much money now) is, why is the caloric density of cereal much lower when milk is added? For example, 1 cup of Honey Nut Cheerios, according to the chart, is something like 3.0 CD without milk but with 1/2 cup milk it goes down to 1.1. Since it's the exact same amount of cereal, I don't get why it's supposed to be so much lower if milk is added.

Tam

Calorie density is calculated by dividing the calories in the food by the weight in grams of the food. For example I have a box of Fiber Active from Walmart. The nutrition label says a serving is 30g and contains 60 calories. Divide 60 by 30 and the calorie density is 2.

Now if I add 1 cup of skim milk (or any other milk) 1 cup of skim milk weighs 240g. I just weighed it on my kitchen scale. 1 Cup of skim has 90 calories.

When I add it to the cereal I now have a combination food (Cereal and milk)
which when combined weighs 270g and has 150 calories. I divide 150 calories by 270g weight and now my calorie density for the combined food is .56 this is way lower from the original Calorie density of the cereal by it self which was 2

Yep, I can easily eat 500 calories in a day.
Today I had an egg and a bowl of chicken noodle soup.

I still haven't made the spaghetti squash! Thursdays are long days and we tend to not get home until 7:45 or so. I'm definitely eating something quick tonight.

Looks like today will be:
B: Hot tea w/lemon and agave (30), 1 cup curry lentil soup (175) = 205
S: None = 0
L: 1 cup spicy blue cheese tomato soup (118) = 118
S: Baby carrots/grape tomatoes (50) w/ light ranch (80) = 130
D: 1.5 cup chicken (rice) noodle soup (225) = 225
S: None = 0
TOTAL: 648

I need to ramp that number up - maybe I'll eat some nuts or something to round out my day.

Munchy WOW!! Soup for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner:dizzy:

In the Volumetrics book it says "To drop weight, pick up your soup spoon"

You certainly have embraced that concept:D However 648 Calories is way too low. I understand why as I have had that problem also but most experts say we need at least 1200 calories to get proper nutrition.

Another entry in the book says "Don't even think of living on just soup"
Barbara Rolls suggests soup as the first course so that we eat less. Not consistently the only item in a meal.

I am not picking on you Munchy, I have the same problem. We just have to learn how to increase our calories.

Never thought I would say that :D

Oh, I know - I'm positive that it's why I can't seem to lose these 10lbs. I am in love with soup, though - it's inexpensive, easy to freeze and prep on weekends, and it's healthy. Soup has been my favorite food since I was a toddler!

I actually worked with an RD/Nutritionist/BSN who had me work on adding calories to a more normal amount of 1400. Because I'm so used to the low calories, I gained about 15lbs and quickly! After I was told that I was obese by another doctor (my BMI was 26), I quit working with the RD.

It sucks, really. I'm in between a rock and a hard place!

Munchy - I see your predicament, Have you seen a doctor? Not losing while you are eating that low amount of calories is just not right. Are you exercising? I retired from the US Navy and for a while was enrolled in the VA weight loss program. They called it the MOVE program. Basic idea was to eat less and move more. You can't eat less and before you start any exercise program that you are not already doing I would see a doctor.

I am continually experimenting with Volumetrics. This evening I took 6 oz of Dreamfields Elbow pasta and added a can of Del Monte no salt added Stewed Tomatoes, a can of Giorgio no salt added mushrooms, 4 fresh jalapeno peppers chopped, Alsosalt salt substitute and pepper - a 2 cup serving was 247 calories. It tasted good but can be improved, next time I will add garlic powder, oregano and Italian seasonings. It was quite spicy as I do not remove the seeds from the jalapeno peppers and I do not cook them as I like the crunch. (I use Dreamfields pasta because it only has 5g digestible carbs per serving)

That's my kind of dinner! I actually had something similar. Zucchini/turkey meatballs with marinara mixed with plenty of mushrooms, kale, and picamas (Guatemalan hot sauce).

I have seen a doctor and had my thyroid tested and complete bloodwork. Nothing seems out of the ordinary. I've always been a "stockier" person as is my daughter, mom, and even grandmother. We are petite, but not teeny like some others. I keep pressing on, though. My exercise is not as consistent as it could be, but I'm constantly running around - I'm a single mom. I'm leaving work at a "normal" time today and heading to the gym, and I have a 4 mile hike/walk scheduled in the morning while she's at a playdate.

I think the two problems are that I love to drink champagne - about 250 calories many days/week and that I don't exercise enough. I'm upping the exercise and replacing my champagne with more food and hopefully that will get me back in the game. I am in the upper "normal" BMI, but I want to be closer to the middle of a healthy range. Typically the more gym time I get in, the less I drink because all of my stress and anxiety is melted away.

I'm on a roll, and I'm super hopeful that I'll see some changes within the next two months.

This morning I made an Omelet in a Mug an Idea from Hungry Girl's web site.

I sprayed the inside of a large mug with Pam and chopped a bell pepper and 1/2 of a yellow onion into the mug. I put this in the Micro Wave on high for 2 minutes and then added 3 large eggs and a slice of Borden's Fat Free American Cheese broken into small pieces, a diced slice of low sodium ham, Alsosalt, black pepper and a squirt of Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. I stirred this well and cooked it in the MW on high 1 minute, stirred again and cooked another minute on high. Tasted great and only 310 calories. :D:carrot::D

I ordered another Volumetrics book yesterday "The Ultimate Volumetrics Diet"

Everything sounds so good! I, too, am a volumetric eater when I remember and have time. I don't have much to share like you two. Just wanted you to know you're not alone!!!

Welcome amandie!! It's good to know there are others. Volumetrics is a great life style that works for weight loss so I am surprised I am not seeing more posts.

I suspect people are having a hard time with the concept of eating more and losing weight. I tell them to try it, if you don't like it we will gladly return you to a life of tiny portions, forbidden foods, boring food choices and hunger. :D

I also do volumetrics in theory because I LOVE to bulk up whatever i'm eating with vegetables etc....I haven't looked much into the actual diet though but I definitely need volume when i'm eating

alaskanlaughter I started exactly that way, I vaguely knew that Volumetrics involved eating lower calorie density food. So I started bulking up Light Progresso Soups with a lot of vegetables for dinner. I was feeling so good that I purchased the first two books on Volumetrics and now I am learning how to incorporate Volumetrics into all of my meals. I just ordered the third book "The Ultimate Volumetrics Diet"

When I was only counting calories I was usually hungry and my weight loss was on an extended plateau. Now I am eating a ton more food, my hunger is gone and last week I lost 3 lbs and this week even though I mistakenly weighed one day early I lost 2 lbs.

Thanks to Volumetrics I am eating more and losing more.:D:carrot::D

Had a great Volumetric Breakfast and Dinner, Lunch not so good.

I did an egg scramble in a mug for breakfast. Bell Pepper, Jalapeno Pepper and Onion chopped and put in a mug lightly sprayed with Pam. Microwaved on high 4 minutes and added 3 large eggs and a broken up slice of Borden's Fat Free Cheese. Microwaved an additional 1 1/2 minutes.

Lunch was Spaghetti, nothing Volumetric about it.

Dinner was simple 2 cans no salt added stewed tomatoes and I added a can of not salt added green beans. Sirarchi Hot sauce, salt substitute and black pepper. It was delicious and very low energy density.

I ended the day well under my calorie goal.

Glad to find this thread! This is what I've been doing though not intentionally Volumetrics. So far, so good.

Larry, if I only buy one book, do you recommend one over the others?

:welcome3: to the thread,
I think the most important book in my opinion is the original. "The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan" by Barbara Rolls, PH. D. and Robert A Barnett This book gives an excellent explanation of the Volumetrics plan that is easy to understand. The second book is two thirds recipes. I am an avid cook and I assure you that with an understanding of the basics contained in book one you will be able to modify recipes and make them Volumetrics friendly yourself.

I bought my book second hand on eBay and saved some money. You may want to look into that option if cash is tight.

Not all volumetric, but here ya go.

Breakfast- two flourless banana muffins (I actually made the recipe with half of the PB asked for since I'm not a huge fan, an extra banana, 1/4 cup old fashioned oats- I like my fiber, lol, and 1/8 cup brown sugar.) So good and filling!

Snacks/lunch- 1/2 cup yogurt with pb2, 2 rice cakes, 1/2 serving cheezits, and 1/2 cup cottage cheese

Dinner- Cabbage rolls (lasagna style since I was feeling a bit lazy) with ground beef, some brown rice and added some bulk with lots of onions, mushrooms and homemade "nomato" sauce mixed in. My homemade "nomato" sauce is a can of beets, about 2-3 sliced carrots, Italian seasoning, broth of your choice, one bay lea, sautéed onions and garlic then purée after removing bay leaf. You can add some vinegar or lemon juice for acidity. Huge serving, I almost couldn't finish it.

Ok, thank you Larry. I'm just to the point that I hate to spend another dime on anything diet related... until I prove to myself that I'm going to stick to something. Sister Yo-yo here. I stuck through the weekend, so that's encouraging. ;) You're doing great, btw! Have you lost all of that with Volumetrics?

Amandie, thank you for the banana muffin recipe! Brilliant! And the idea for the cabbage casserole 'lasagna style'. I was thinking of doing a zucchini lasagna but the cabbage would be even better. You are soooo close to goal.... wow! Great job.

I love the idea of using beets! I'm going to try that - I need to increase my potassium, and that would be a great way!

I made the spaghetti squash with white wine, tomato and mushroom on Saturday night, then ate another portion of it last night and added in some neufchatel cheese and sriracha.

Tonight I'll probably make something quick - likely fish tacos with spinach instead of slaw and homemade spicy tartar sauce.

amandie - You gave me some great ideas. I went to the muffin post and read the recipe. They sound great. How is the texture? I love the idea they suggested of adding fresh rasberries to taste like a PB & Jam muffin. I wonder if you can substitute part of the peanut butter for PB2? I imagine the recipe needs some of the PB oil for consistancy but possibly could be reduced. You added an extra banana in place of part of the PB. How did that work for you? Cabbage rolls lasagna style sound like a food I would like to make. I like your "NOMATO" it would be a change from the common tomato sauce.

deb165 I lost most of my weight with traditional calorie counting but I was always hungry and snacking. As a result I would end up on super long plataues with no weight loss. Then I would get discouraged, quit start gaining again. If you look at my profile I described myself as a life long yo-yo dieter. Since following Volumetrics I am no longer hungry all the time. Usually I am the opposite, too full to eat more so I do not have to snack all the time. The best part is even though I am eating more, I am losing weight. This is a plan that I can make a lifestyle from.

Munchy Do you restrict sodium? The only reason I ask is I see you wan't to increase your potassium. I am using a salt substitute for cooking called "AlsoSalt" It is sodium free and the only substitute I have ever found that tastes like salt and has no metallic after taste. It is Potassium and L-lysine so would help with your potassium levels. Fish tacos with spinach sounds great. I love fish and spinach.
What kind of fish are you using?

I need to go grocery shopping today. I am out of fruit to add in my Fiber One cereal. :(

I found a this great idea while searching the internet yesterday. It fits well for Volumetrics.

Double the Veggies
In soups, salads, pastas, sandwiches, pizzas, and casseroles, most recipes call for a certain amount of vegetables. Our advice? Double the amount called for in the original recipe. You are already doing the prep work; so a little extra chopping can go a long way for your vegetable intake.

• Stir extra veggies into soups. Don’t be afraid to steer off the beaten recipe path just a bit. When it comes to something like soups, an overdose of chopped vegetables will not ruin the recipe. It will enhance the flavor, nutritional value, and your daily vegetable tally. A half cup of chopped vegetables and a whole cup of dark leafy greens is another serving. In White Bean Soup with Kale and Chorizo, you can double the amount of kale or add chopped carrots, celery, red bell peppers, zucchini…the possibilities are endless.

I have yet to try fruit. The first time I made it was in a loaf pan and the texture was great, I was shocked that there was no flour. Since you went to the page, I'm sure you saw my ginormous picture of the banana bread. Frankly, when I had already started the muffin/bread recipe, I found that I only had half cup of peanut butter on hand so I made that up with an extra banana and oats on top, not mixed in like I did the second time. Oh I forgot, I did add a tbsp or two of oil because I was worried about the bread sticking to the pan due to using only half cup of PB. I was happy since the PB flavor was a bit strong (for me and I love peanut butter!) The second time baking as muffins was okay, the texture was not the same as the first time and it was a bit wet, not sure where I went wrong. Although, from now on, only loaf pans with this recipe.

I thought about using PB2 but scared to try. Perhaps next time, I will.

As for the nomato, I got it off the internet somewhere since I have bad reflux and am trying to avoid too much tomato products which is a shame since I love it so much. The nomato sauce is a bit sweet so a bit of salty broth or some salt and/or acidity should help with that if you're not a fan.

Thanks for sharing all those tips and ideas, Larry. Much appreciated!!!

I don't restrict sodium, but I probably should. I love salt entirely too much! I take l-lysine to offset arginine, but I would absolutely use alsosalt. I'll look for it next time I go grocery shopping.

To make the tartar sauce, mix two tablespoons of light mayo, a squeeze of lemon juice, some cracked black pepper, and either relish or chopped pickles. I've been using spicy pickles from a Philadelphia co-op for this.

Then, pan sear 3-4 oz of any white fish (I always have frozen tilapia filets on hand). You can use cajun seasoning, adobo, salt and pepper or whatever you'd like on the fish. One at a time in a dry pan, heat each side of two corn tortillas until pliable.

Top each warm tortilla with 1/2 of your tartar sauce, then top with shredded cabbage, any lettuce, or spinach. Optional toppings include cilantro and pickled jalapeno, which make the tacos for me. Then top with fish, roll and devour.

PIC HERE and it's only 270 calories for both tacos!

Munchy The picture of your fish tacos look really delicious. I also use frozen Tilapia a lot but lately I have developed a taste for Swai. I usually place the still frozen fillets of Swai in a pan with a light spray of PAM and cook them slowly at about 300 degrees . I use Old Bay seasoning on them very liberally. I love the flavor of Old Bay. I will have to try them with corn tortillas tarter, shredded cabbage and spinach.

Deb- thank you! Cabbage sounds great and much easier than cutting the zucchini lengthwise for lasagna!

Munchy- Thanks so much for sharing your tartar sauce recipe. Sounds easy enough to make! The fish tacos sound really good. I usually make those during the summer as I love/prefer grilled fish but now seeing the picturs, I may just make them for dinner tomorrow night! Thanks again.

Tonight's dinner was a large chicken salad with spinach, romaine lettuce, little less than 1 oz shredded cheese, 1 oz crushed lime tortilla chips, dollop of Greek yogurt, a little bit of chunky salsa and some lime juice. Yum!

Larry Swai would work just as well! I hope you try it - it tastes so rich, but it's super healthy.

Amandie Your dinner sounds awesome! I have some baby kale and baby spinach that I need to use up, so maybe I'll make a chicken salad tonight.

Going to the gym after work then getting dinner ready, the little one bathed, homework, and packing lunches for the next day can make for a pretty busy evening. My boyfriend cooked me dinner last night so I got home to Indian spiced mixed vegetables sauteed with black pepper eel and topped with tilapia and a dollop of yogurt. It was huge and delicious!

If I don't make a salad, I may have a quesadilla or the tacos. I'm waiting for an avocado to ripen :)

Munchy- I'm not sure if you know this tip already but brown paper bags are great for ripening fruits like banana and avocados when you don't wanna wait that long or some stores give you totally fresh avocados. Just thought I'd share in case you didn't know. :)

Thank you! My mom always told me that when I was growing up - love those little mom tips :)

I'm in no rush. What usually happens is I wait "forever" for them to ripen then I run into the busiest nights ever all in a row and never use the avocado before it goes bad. Story of my life...

Weird day for eating today. I spent all day preparing and cooking an Italian Dinner fundraiser for the Shriners. Home made lasagna, homemade spaghetti marinara and meat sauce for 40 people. As a result I was too busy to eat Breakfast or Lunch. For some reason I was not hungry at Dinner but common sense told me I should eat. So I joined my DW for spaghetti while she ate lasagna. I got rave reviews on the food by the way. I never tasted the lasagna but my customers said it was outstanding.

When I got home my days calories were 563 so I fixed a volumetrics meal. Progresso light chicken dumpling soup to which I added two cans of no salt added green beans. Then I ate a medium Granny Smith Apple.

Total calories or the day 943

Bit of a crazy day for me. I got up a bit late for school so I did not have any time to prep my lunch. I did manage to bring a piece of the PB banana bread for breakfast and an apple with vanilla yogurt/pb2 for snacking.

For lunch, I was able to get a big salad with 2 hard boiled eggs and a bit of ranch from the school cafe. I left my insulated lunch bag in the last class though, hoping it will still be there by Thursday (no school tomorrow.) I'm not gonna sweat it too much since I only paid 4 bucks for the bag.

For dinner, I decided on a "pizzadilla." Turkey pepperoni, cheese, a little bit of homemade marinara sauce (tomato paste, water, oil, garlic and onions) and a ton of fresh spinach in a spinach-flavored tortilla, folded in half then pan-fried in a dry skillet until golden brown on both sides. You would save more calories if you used flat out wraps or something similar.

Larry- chicken and dumplings, mmm! I adore lasagna! Have you tried zucchini lasagna where you use zucchini as the noodles? Pretty good but it can get wet/watery if you don't salt the zucchini and let the water out a bit first. I also use cottage cheese in the filling instead of ricotta since it's what I always have on hand.

Munchy- Ha! That sounds like me too on the waiting forever part and unable to use whatever since it went bad. I've been trying to reduce "waste" and making use of everything I have on hand. I've finally got in the habit of blanching veggies and drying them as soon as I get home then freeze them because if I don't, they'll just stay in the fridge until they get brown.

That's a great idea! I tend to use everything in soups, nuggets, meatballs, burritos, chilis, etc as soon as I get my groceries every few weeks. That way I can freeze them without wasting and I always have a meal that is full of veggies at my disposal. I started freezer cooking when my six year old started solids. Baby food 2/$1 is not a deal when your kid can eat 6 jars a day! A bag of frozen peas for $1 made into 24 cubes of food is a much better deal :)

Larry the zucchini lasagna is awesome. You should try it! I made two 8x8 versions of this recipe before, but used my own ricotta recipe and homemade marinara. I ended up giving one to my parents (who are gluten free) and got great reviews. You can also make a lasagna with just plenty of mixed veggies, sauce, cheese, meat (optional) and no "noodle" layer at all.

I have no idea what my dinner will be. Tomorrow is my birthday, but we're expecting a **** of a snowstorm, so it may be a surprise early birthday dinner. We shall see. If not, I'm probably going to make a vegetarian taco salad with my baby kale and spinach, and maybe use that avocado. It finally seems soft!

OK you both convinced me, I need to try zucchini lasagna. It looks delicious in the pictures on the recipe link that Munchy posted. While looking at the picture of zucchini slices a crazy idea came to me. I wonder if you could use a cheese slicer, you know the type with a wire and a roller, to slice the zucchini?
I will never know unless I try.

amandie Being a member of the soggy brown veggy club, I like your idea of blanching and freezing fresh veggies when you get home from the store. I grew a bumper crop of wax beans, green beans, peppers and tomatoes this past Summer and they are in my freezer where I use them almost daily.
The beans were blanched, the peppers were simply seeded, sliced and frozen . The Tomatoes were cooked and pureed before freezing.