I love to cook. However, now that I'm counting calories, I obviously have to eat lower-calorie meals. But on top of that, I have to cook for two kids (who are on the skinny side) and a husband on Atkins (which I only make meat and veggies for).
I was wondering if anyone would like to share their dinners (along with calories and fat/protein if you have it) to give me some new ideas to play with?
Calories and fat/protein will be a little difficult, but my dinners usually end up at or under 400 calories, with 10 or fewer fat grams and usually just about 35-40 grams of protein. Of course, these ratios vary depending on the meal, but they all come out to about 400 cals total. These aren't too specific, so to lay it out for you, I eat 4 oz of whatever protein involved. Exception is tofu, where I eat 1/4 of the block. I aim for about 150 calories of a whole grain, and at least 2 cups of veggies to fill out the meal, then try to reduce the grain and add more veggie as possible (as in my stuffed zucchini recipe). Portion sizes are important - 150 calories of baked potato is about a cup. 150calories of brown and wild rice is a cup, cooked. So adjust portion sizes to fit with your calorie needs.
This weeks menus:
Sunday:
Roast chicken
Baked Potatoes
Steamed Broccoli
Monday:
Tofu Stirfry with broccoli, bell pepper, carrot, and wilted spinach in spicy ginger sauce (bottled spicy ginger marinade, chicken stock, and fresh grated ginger with cornstarch to thicken) served over brown and wild rice.
Tuesday:
Fajita salads with grilled zucchini, chicken, and bell pepper, 1/3 c black beans, olives, and spicy fat free sour cream dressing (take 1/2 cup of ff sour cream, add a few pinches of cumin, a tbsp of fat free half and half, a bit of cayenne or tabasco, and chili powder to taste. Mix well and allow to chill before using)
Wednesday:
Pork Tenderloin with Stuffed zucchini (stuffed with 1/4 serving of whole wheat couscous, cooked, a diced roma tomato, the chopped zucchini innards, a clove of finely minced garlic, and some herbs, topped with a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese and baked at 400 degrees until cheese was browned and zucchini was tender) , roasted brussel sprouts
Thursday:
Pita sandwiches with peppers and onions, grilled turkey cutlets, and tzatziki, with side salads
Friday:
Chicken breast stuffed with spinach and laughing cow, steamed broccoli, whole grain rice pilaf
Saturday:
Frittata with chicken sausage, leek, broccoli, zucchini, and tomato.
Side Salad
Two other standby meals not on the rotation this week but eaten by us very frequently...
Spaghetti:
Whole Wheat spaghetti with Aidell's chicken sausage, bell pepper, and onion
Side Salad
Pizza:
Pita Pizzas with Broccoli, Olives, Red Onion, and grilled chicken, with bbq or tomato sauce.
Side Salad
These are the summer meals, which are by nature lighter and less-prep-intensive than what I might do in the wintertime, where our house is soup central.
www.cookinglight.com is a great source for low calorie recipes. My SO has commented to me that one advantage to me counting calories is that I've found all these great new recipes that he really likes. Most of them are from Cooking Light (I also subscribe to the magazine).
Like mandalinn, I try to keep my dinners under 400 calories. When I am losing weight (as opposed to maintaining), I try to keep them closer to 300 calories. I usually have 4 to 6 oz of lean meat (chicken, turkey, fish, pork, or lean ground beef) and a ginormous green salad. Depending on how many calories are in the meat portion, we may have a veggie or a starch (brown rice, wild rice, or sweet potatoes) instead of the salad.
Here are a few of my easy go-to meals:
Fish. Broiled and topped with salsa, guacamole, or chutney. Or sometimes I coat the fish with a spice mixture. My favorite is 2 tbsp cornmeal, 1.5 tsp salt, 1.5 tsp oregano, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, .5 tsp ground red pepper, .5 tsp chili powder, .5 tsp ground cumin, .25 tsp ground black pepper. This will coat up to 24 oz of fish. If divided into four servings, it has 20 calories per serving, 0g fat, 5g carbs, and 0g protein (not including the fish, of course). I also sometimes make a marinade out of 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 tbsp white wine or cider vinegar, 1 tsp brown sugar, 1 tsp ground ginger, and 1 tsp minced garlic. If divided into 4 servings, the marinade has 20 calories per serving, 0g fat, 1g carbs, and 2g protein (again, not including the fish).
Pork tenderloin. I buy it pre-seasoned. It is super low in calories and you just pop it in the oven for half an hour or so. Since it is so low in calories I'll serve it with wild rice or a sweet potato and a green salad.
Chili. There are tons of varieties--search on "chili" on cookinglight.com. My old standby version is 1 1/4 lbs lean ground beef, 1 cup diced onion, 1 cup diced green pepper, 2 tsp minced garlic, 28 oz canned tomatoes, 8 oz canned tomato sauce, 1-2 tsp dried basil, 1-3 tsp chili powder, 1/4 tsp pepper, 15 oz canned beans (pinto, black, kidney, or a mix). Saute beef with onion, peppers, and garlic until beef is cooked. Drain fat if necessary. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Makes 4 servings at about 365 calories per serving, 6.5g fat, 37g carbs, 40g protein. I serve it with a green salad.
Chicken Adobo. I got the recipe from Sunset Magazine. It is easy and you can add all sorts of veggies to it to make an endless variety of dishes. 1 tsp olive oil, 24 oz chicken (cut into large pieces), 2 tsp minced garlic, 2/3 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1 tsp whole peppercorns (or 1/4 tsp ground pepper), 1 bay leaf. Saute chicken in olive oil until light browned. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer covered for about 20 minutes. Remove cover and simmer for another 15-20 minutes, until sauce is thickened. Remove bay leaf before eating. Makes 4 servings at about 205 calories per serving, 4.5g fat, 4g carbs, 32 g protein. I serve with it with rice (brown or wild).
Here are a few of my favorite Cooking Light recipes:
Spicy Chicken Cakes with Horseradish Aioli. This is low enough in calories that I would serve it with a veggie side or small sweet potato (and a large sweet potato for my SO).
Chicken with Lime Sauce. Super easy and comes out great every time. I serve it with a veggie side or sweet potato.
Greek Flavored Turkey Burgers. BIG burgers! I served them on whole wheat pitas (just 1/2 a pita for me, a whole pita for my SO) to cut the calories further with a salad.
Asian-Style Meat Loaves. These are fabulous! I sub Trader Joe's General Tsao's stir fry sauce for the hoisin sauce and celery for the water chestnuts (I'm not a fan of water chestnuts). I generally serve with a veggie side or sweet potatoes.
Jamaican Jerk Chicken Hash. Another fab recipe. I sub sweet potatoes for the baking potato and add red pepper. I serve it with a green salad.
Pork Chops Stuffed with Feta and Spinach. My SO doesn't like spinach so I sub chard for it. This is low enough in calories that I can serve it with wild rice, if not a sweet potato or veggie side.
Lemon Chicken Piccata. Another easy recipe and something I usually have ingredients for on hand, so it makes a good emergency meal for us. I usually pound the chicken to a 1/4 thickness before cooking it. I serve with a veggie side or sweet potato and a salad.
Veggie Sides
My favorite veggies sides are:
Turnips (usually glazed in red wine vinegar and 1 tbsp butter).
Carrots, either roasted with coriander or braised in lemon juice, chicken broth, and cumin.
Chard, sauteed in 1 tsp olive oil with red onions, garlic, and red wine vinegar.
Snap or snow peas, sauteed in 1 tsp olive oil and garlic. Sometimes I also add thinly sliced lemon or lemon juice and stir in fresh basil or dill at the very end.
Roasted okra, onions, corn, fresh rosemary, and fresh basil. Sometimes I also add fennel.
Fennel bulb sauteed with onions and garlic.
Green beans sauteed with 1 tsp olive oil, onions, and garlic and then braised in red wine vinegar and worcestershire sauce.
I'm pretty lazy in the kitchen, but I'm trying to eat more quality foods instead of just looking at the cals. But I look at the cals too.
Lately we are eating: Lentil loaf (cooked lentils, onion, oil, walnuts, evap milk, egg and sage...baked) sweet potato tacos (shredded sweet potato, onions and olive oil, salt, in a ww tortolla) Tuna pasta salad (ww pasta, tuna, onion, carrot, FF mayo dressing with lemon juice, dill, salt, sugar) Burritos with refried black beans (canned) and ww tortilla, ff sour cream and salsa)
Wow, this is great. I'm in such a rut with dinners, esp since I've been going to so many meetings/events the last couple of weeks, and you've given me so many good ideas. THanks.
Weekly Dinner Menus
