Food does make me happy but as I'm changing my relationship with food, different things about food make me happy. So I'll enjoy a smoothie because it nourishes me while tasting good. I'll enjoy the fact that I'm following my plan. Sometimes though, there is a meal that makes me especially happy for various reasons.

Now this morning, I wanted waffles. My normal breakfast is usually a hot cereal like steel cut oats which is fine for the weekdays but I wanted something 'different'. So I decided to go for waffles. Then I wanted something a bit more on the protein side, but wasn't sure what so I went with making some sausage patties. To top my waffles, I wanted something a bit sweet so went with blueberries and a blueberry sauce. Then for a bit of crunch added walnuts. So it sounds like it is a caloric breakfast but it isn't!

2 Whole Foods 365 brand flax waffles
1/2 cup frozen blueberries defrosted (when you defrost them, they make a 'sauce')
4 oz of Gimme lean sausage made into 2 hearty sized patties

My caloric goal is 400 calories for breakfast and I was under that so I added:
1/2 oz walnuts

Total breakfast came to 434 calories, 23g protein, 12g fiber.

So I was happy just because it was overall delicious, filling and seemed like it should have a lot more calories than it does. And I did feel like I was having a treat.

Does anyone else have any other meals that just make you particularly happy for various reasons?

Minestrone soup made from scratch minus any noodles add some garganzo beans and a good crusty, homemade bread (one piece). Or a bowl of steaming clam chowder that is light on the potatoes. I can eat both of these without blowing my diet carbs wise and they are very, very satisfying.

Sheri

I love making home made pizza - pizza night is a happy night for me!

I buy a Boboli whole wheat crust and some spicy marinara. I add spinach leaves, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, pepperocini, kalamata olives and a little bit of low fat/fat free feta.

Chocolate makes me happy! And I eat it everyday!

Nothing fancy. Double Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper. I don't eat it anymore, but I think I may treat myself to a cup of it for Christmas because it's hot, creamy and it makes me happy.

Homemade Pad Thai. *drool*

I'm only happy until the next morning, though, when I wake up 5 lbs heavier from sodium. Haha.

I'm a comfort food, kind of person. I used to LOVE biscuits and gravy, creamy soups, ice cream, fried chicken, etc. So, since I've been vegan, anything that imitates the foods I used to love fairly well makes me happy.

ALSO. One more thing. Spicy food.

Mine is very similar to the OP. I had it this morning. Every Sunday morning, I have two whole/multi-grain pancakes (with lots of cinnamon in them). I top them with a 1/2c 2% Greek yogurt (with 1/2 tsp maple syrup, plus vanilla & cinnamon stirred in, sometimes nutmeg or cardamom), with a half pound of strawberries sliced and stirred in. I absolutely love it .

I'm a happy camper eating 2 Kashi go lean waffles hot from the toaster with a strawberry yogurt poured on top & a sliced banana on top of the yogurt, plus a sprinkle of ground flax on top. Tastes sinfully good at any meal whether I eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Mmmmm good stuff Menard!

Without meat: 650, prepared: 1650 (meat allowance: 1000)
As made to box: 330 cals per serving

It strikes me looking at the above it's the meat that adds most of the calories to the dish. You could try:

lean ground beef (85% lean): 975 cals (no real change)
extra lean gr beef (95% lean): 621 cals (down to 254 cals per serving)
ground turkey: 590 cals (down to 248 cals per serving)
meat substitute: 360 cals (down to 202 cals per serving)

You could also cut back on the meat, however, if you do that remember that 1 cup is no longer a serving as there will be less overall.

I'm a great believer in making things you want. Recently I played with homemade mac 'n cheese, just watching reasonable portions of what I put in. I decided it would be a great side dish (with a piece of turkey sausage and some veggies) for the winter. I'll still get a mac 'n cheese fix without blowing the calories. I can't think of a meal that I have that I wouldn't want to continue having for the rest of my life. I still make homemade hamburgers, they're just half turkey now. I do the same with meatloaf and recently made a great beefy mushroom soup. I don't think that anyone would guess that it's half turkey.

I've served my so-called diet meals to company, and everyone loves them. You don't need to give up the things you love. Well, okay, if lots of fried food is what you love you might. However, you can make some pretty decent oven roasted/fried potatoes without going overboard as well.

What I just had for lunch made me really, really happy. It's something I call a "breakfast salad." Basically it's 2 eggs, scrambled in a little bit of olive oil and garlic, with a handful of cherry tomatoes thrown in, and a couple of big handfuls of baby spinach at the end cooked until barely wilted...so that it looks like a salad, but it's warm and tasty. Today I also added a bunch of salsa while I was cooking the eggs.

Then on the side I had a piece of whole-wheat bread, toasted in the oven with some reduced-fat cheddar cheese on it, and half an avocado on top.

My stomach is so happy and full and I'm warm and I know that I ate a bunch of stuff that was delicious and totally nutritious.

Yesterday for lunch I had:

3 Medium Gingerbread Pancakes (235 calories)
with 1 TBSP of Pumpkin Butter (30 calories)
and Baked Butternut Squash "Fries" (120 calories)

Soo good and filling. Not a lot of protein, but made up for that at breakfast and dinner.

Sushi! It has always been my comfort food. Weird, I know. The awesome thing is, I had it a couple of weeks ago and I got sushi. Not only did I not eat until I was stuffed, half the sushi I got had a cucumber wrap instead of rice which saved me huge on calories.

My latest favorite daily food is kashi go lean ceral. I adore that cereal, couldn't tell you why.

As soon as I read sushi I was like...weird!! LOL!!! But I love love love Wasabi and a good Wasabi is not cheap either so yes, I think sushi can be a comfort food. Good one!

I eat this 3-4 mornings a week:

1/2 cup Fage
1 cup chopped strawberries
1 tsp honey
1/2 cup Organic Flax plus granola

Mix all together and eat. I love this brekkie and look forward to it on the days I have all the stuff on hand. Makes me happy
About 270 calories.
And then cafe au lait with this, about another 130 calories (I eat a big brekkie).

My idea of what makes me happy, in regard to food, has changed.

Eating a meal that is yummy and filling and healthy makes me happy.

When I can make something that no one else would ever suspect was "healthy" or "low calorie" ... that makes me happy.

Tweaking family favorite meals and serving them back to the family and not having them know the different ... that makes me happy.

And I gotta be honest ... a bowl of steel cut oats with some sharp cheddar cheese and ground black pepper on a cold morning. That makes me really happy!

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