Larry, black rice is a good source of anthocyanins, which give blueberries their blue color and health bennies. I had been intending to eat more blueberries, but had trouble getting round to it, so I ended up substituting black rice for my brown rice. It's a lot more expensive, but I find it cheaper at an Asian market (still more than brown, though).

Today I ate a large serving of marinated bean sprouts then some chicken sauteed with baby bok choy. I would have mixed in some black rice, but I ran out of my last batch and didn't have time to make a new batch before dinner.
But I doubled down on my healthy fats and ate both a half (small) avocado and my 10 almonds.

He made jalapeno chicken sausage, zucchini, garlic, parsley, and mushroom stuffed chicken rollatinis with a side of zucchini moons cooked with the rest of the sausage and mushroom and white wine. It was delicious!

Very volumetric friendly!

I ruined it by eating some girl scout cookies and ended up around 1500 calories for the day.

Today I may make a pizza. I have a recipe for a yeast-free rice flour crust that I'm dying to try.

I ended up making that vegetable polenta bake on Saturday. It's a good start, but I would tweak it slightly because I wasn't crazy about the vegetable broth that I used. It gave an odd flavor to the dish.

I made mini chicken pot pies yesterday adding in corn, mushroom and a gluten free baking mix. They came out EXCELLENT. They're definitely being added to our rotation. The boyfriend, and even the child liked them.

Because all the fixin's are on sale, we made the traditional corned beef boiled dinner with lots of cabbage and carrots. I leave the potatoes and trim the fat off my meat. It's a bit salty, but very Volumetric friendly. We will probably make it again next week!

Wow!! Great tasting dinner tonight. Garlic Powder, Cajun Seasoning and Cayenne pepper make a great tasting Volumetrics vegetable stew. Hot and spicy just as I like it.

Progresso - Light Zesty Southwestern-style Vegetable Soup, 2 Cup
Bush's - Pinto Beans (Reduced Sodium), 1 3/4 cup
Great Value - Cut Green Beans (No Salt Added), 1 3/4 Cup
Garlic Powder, 1 tsp
Fresh-Finds Cajun Seasoning, 1 tsp
Ground Cayenne Pepper, 1 tsp
Also Salt 1/2 tsp
Black Pepper 1/2 tsp

Grilled salmon in butter, lemon and dill with homemade tartar sauce, cauli-rice and green beans. So delicious!

Everyone's dinners sound good!!!

Munchy- I've never had polenta before. I'm not sure how I missed your link from before but that polenta casserole looks really good!!! I have to make those mini pot-pies too, so cute and easy!

Polenta and grits are basically the same, but can vary in coarseness. I used grits because I had them on hand Just make sure you like the broth. Next time I'm using chicken broth because I like the flavor better. I'd also eliminate the cheese on top and maybe stir it into the spinach/polenta mixture instead.

Next time I make the pot pies, I'm going to make half that way and the other half thai flavored (it's also on the website). I think I'll take out the cheese as well - it seems unnecessary.

Today my plan puts me at about 800. I'll try not to fill up on junk at the end of the day like I did yesterday I ended up at 1191.

Every year I get upset when it gets warm because I'm uncomfortable with summer clothing. I'm hoping that this year I'll be a little more comfortable than in the past.

Aw, Munchy. I hope you do get more comfortable this year! It definitely has been getting more and more comfortable (or at least bearable) every summer. I noticed that comment on budgetbytes re: the broth and cornmeal as well as the ratio to get more of a harder/solid bottom layer. Did you follow the recipe as instructed or adjust as needed?

Thai-flavored pot-pies, that is too cool. Do you know if the Thai red curry paste is spicy?

I really need to start getting more creative in the kitchen! On the plus side, I finally made up some frozen "taquitos" using my leftover black beans, pan-roasted corn, and cauli-rice as well as some cheese. Yay for not wasting food and a meal for whenever. Baby steps...

Did you make the taquitos with corn tortillas? Sounds awesome! I'm totally going to do that. I imagine you just fill and roll, then flash freeze on a cookie sheet, seam side down?

Thai red curry paste is usually spicy, but the yellow is mild and green can go either way. I'd assume you can use any of them instead. Here is a link to the recipe. I would probably not add cheese...something about cheese and curry kind of makes me queasy.

For the vegetable polenta bake, I followed the directions as is. 3 cups of broth and 1 cup of water with 1 cup of polenta (grits). I ended up with a solid layer you could cut through after baking. It didn't spread at all!

Today I plan to eat a little more of it for dinner. It's only 216 calories for 1/6 of the recipe (using 1T oil and full fat cheese), but it's really filling. My boyfriend didn't like it because he said the top layer of vegetables wasn't chopped small enough and was too firm. He likes mushy vegetables

Yes on all counts, Munchy.

Lol, my BF is the same, he prefers mushy veggies too.

I have been studying the book "The Ultimate Volumetrics Diet" and I read a suggestion to try new and unusual vegetables. That appealed to me so I made up my own "Bucket List" of vegetables that I either do not, or seldom use when cooking at home. My plan is to look for these in the market and search new recipes to try them in. Doing this will really increase the variety in my menus.

Bok Choy
Leek
Parsnips
Rutabagas
Artichokes
Belgian Endive
Chives
Fava Beans
Mustard Greens
Radicchio
Ramps
Sorrel
Swiss Chard
Watercress
Black Salsify
Chayote Squash
Delicata Squash
Diakon Radish
Jerusalem Artichoke
Kohlrabi
Turnips
Yucca Root
Galangal Root
Celeriac (Celery Root)
Broccolini
Amaranth
Cactus

I ended out my day yesterday at 971 - I had steamed broccoli slaw with homemade marinara for lunch, but had a snack of TJ corn puffs. I used to eat that all the time and completely forgot about it. 1 1/4 cup of slaw is only 25 calories, but makes a big bowl of "noodles."

I may just have that for dinner, but then I'd end up at 643 if I doubled the slaw and added in two turkey/zucchini meatballs. That's with romano cheese.

Larry, I have a similar list for my six year old daughter, but it's child-friendly! I took any vegetable I could think of (many of yours are on her list) and made a five page chart with a checkmark column, vegetable name, a picture of it, and a mouthless "smiley face." It allows her to pick what vegetable she wants to try, and allows her to rate them. It's very effective! So far she's picked spaghetti squash, bok choy, acorn squash, edamame, okra, tofu (not a vegetable, but it worked), scallions, butternut squash, turnip, parsnip, avocado, and celeriac. Some were a smiley, some were not, but she has the control and loves it. Now I'm able to add those to the many other vegetables she was already eating. Acorn squash and okra got extra smileys on her chart

Hey everyone! I don't want this thread to die, lol!

Yesterday was kind of a bust. I ate things that are completely out of my "normal" day, but my calorie count was still pretty low. My daughter was home sick, so I worked from home.

March 17, 2014
B: Hot tea w/lemon and agave (30), 2 GF mini chicken pot pie (230) = 260
S: TJ puffs (140) = 140
L: corn tortilla (50), 2% cheese (40), 3 slices turkey (60), picamayo (35) = 185
S: Hot chocolate (110), baby carrots/cucumber (50) w/ light ranch (80) = 240
D: Broccoli slaw (25), vegetable white sauce (75), 1 zucchini/turkey meatball (48) = 148
S: smarties (25) = 25
TOTAL: 998

Today's plan is really low, but I'm sure I'll find a way to get more into it:

March 18, 2014
B: Hot tea w/lemon and agave (30), 1 cup spicy tomato soup (118) = 148
S: None = 0
L: 1 cup corn chowder (171) = 171
S: Baby carrots/cherry tomato (50) w/ light ranch (80) = 130
D: 2 turkey stuffed zucchini (214) = 214
S: None = 0
TOTAL: 663

What's everyone eating today?

So VERY glad I found this thread. I've been doing Jenny Craig for a few weeks and have lost about 10 lbs., but there's some financial stuff going on right now and the next 3 or 4 months are going to be very tight for me financially and I just can't afford to buy their food any more. They do talk about "volumizing" their food by adding big salads, soups and more veggies so that's what originally caught my eye in your thread title. I've read all 7 pages, jotted down some of your recipes, and I'm excited!

Since you're talking about vegetables you don't try very often, have any of you tried rutabega fries? I made my first batch last week and my husband cautioned me to save the recipe because he definitely wants to have them again. Score!

I used one rutabega per person. Peel the rutabega, slice into "cottage fries," place in a single layer on a baking sheet (I put them on that no-stick aluminium foil) and lightly spray with olive oil. Sprinkle with seasoning of your choice (I used Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime) and bake at 400 for about 25 minutes, turning halfway through. Serve with ketchup and they are REALLY good!

Ladynredd welcome!

I actually have tried rutabaga fries - they're delicious! Also, turnip fries, carrot fries, celeriac fries, and kohlrabi fries. Mmm

Yesterday I ended out my day at 849. It's not that out of the ordinary for me, but I feel really dizzy and faint. I may add in a fruit serving everyday instead of every few months. I stopped drinking champagne 17 days ago - I bet my body is adjusting to the lack of sugar, because I've been having sugar cravings (very abnormal for me and you'll see it in my plan below). I wanted to try to track my WW points from when I lost my baby weight 6 years ago, so you'll see those numbers too. I'm pretty sure I'm a little off on my point values, so I'm going to look at those again. I am on a mission to get 13lbs off for good. I'm hoping most of it will drop by late June.

Today:
March 20, 2014
B: Hot tea w/lemon and agave (30), 1 cup spicy tomato soup (118) = 148 (3)
S: None = 0
L: 1 cup corn chowder (171) = 171 (4)
S: Baby carrots/cherry tomato (50) w/ light ranch (80) = 130 (3)
D: 2 fish taco (270) = 270 (4)
S: TJ puffs (140), 3 sugar free werther (24) = 164 (2.5)
TOTAL: 883 (16.5)