Foods that make your diet easier
 

We all have them. Those items that make lower calorie meals easier,more convenient, or way tastier. What are your "can't make it without them" items?

Mine are

La Tortilla factory high fiber low carb tortillas- 50 calories for taco and 80 calories for a large wrap sized one.

GOOD quality high end cheese.- I know, I know there are low fat low calorie cheeses out there for half the calories but I'd rather use half as much and have AMAZING cheese. It has so much flavor that just a little bit adds a TON of flavour to a meal.

Herbs. SO much flavor. so little calories

Cantaloupe- I feel like i'm cheating

my grocery stores mini angel food cakes- 120 calories for a HUGE portion controlled cake. Add some strawberries and coolwhip free and yummy

Progresso Light soups I know I know lots of sodium but they are fast, hot easy, and filling

Roasted Veggies. :)

You picked some great ones ie the wraps and canteloupe.

Shrimp uncooked-cooks up quick and tossed with herbs and olive oil-very low cal dinner.

Mixed berries, Raspberries,blueberries and blackberries. Frozen bag. I eat them half frozen as dessert treat.

Tea and my chocolate calcium supplements -chewy little treats.

fat free Total greek yogurt
Pepperidge Farm Deli Flats
turkey deli meat
Progresso Soup
skim milk
Kraft Fat Free shredded cheese
berries
Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches
grilled fish
carrot sticks & cherry tomatoes
squash

Flatout qraps
Activia light yogurt w/ frozen berries mixed in
frozen grapes
roasted brussel sprouts
Arnold's sandwich thins (similar to the Pepperidge Farm flats)
shrimp

My herb garden - fresh herbs at a whim is so valuable!

FiberGourmet pasta - high fiber, lower calorie, lower glycemic. LOVE IT and use it in lieu of any standard pasta.

Small corn tortillas - we found some for 30 calories each. A nice easy thing to toast up and sprinkle on top of tortilla soups, taco salads, etc.

Alvarado Essential Flax bread - 50 cals a slice, so good, very good ingredient list in my opinion.

Naturally More PB - PB, but with more omega-3s from added flax. Love it.

Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk. 40 cals a cup, and great to put on cereal, in protein shakes, or my favorite, half a cup heated up with a little...

Sugar Free Oregon Chai - NO calories, delicious cold or hot with a little almond milk, feels super-indulgent with hardly any caloric impact. I also use it in place of water when making pancakes, making delicious spiced pancakes.

Low sodium chicken broth! I use this instead of oil everywhere - to saute, in salad dressings, to pour on the bottom of a roasting pan to prevent the drippings from scorching in lieu of adding a lot of oil, to replace most of the oil in marinades...not to mention as a base for homemade soups. We buy it in bulk, particularly during the winter when we're eating a lot of soups.

Mandalinn what brand are those corn tortilla's? I will have to try the chicken broth trick. Thank you :)

see this is exactly why i love this site! always picking up the best ideas.....would have never thought to use chicken broth instead of oil.....AWESOME IDEAS guess i'll be trying ALL of the above! :carrot:
THANKS

You know, I'm not sure! They were with the regular tortillas, and are labeled only "Taco Sliders". Two are 60 calories. They're quite small, but I use them places where you don't need much. Or, our latest go to meal: Toast 4 on a cookie sheet until crisp. Top with lean ground beef, a dollop of fat free refried beans, olives, romaine lettuce, a small amount of sour cream, salsa, and if we have avocado, a little guac for healthy fat. Result - gorgeous tostadas delicious enough to cure any Mexican craving.

I also use the chicken broth in sauces. Pesto with olive oil can be heavy, calorie-wise - use basil, garlic, and chicken broth instead of the oil, and you can still use small amounts of parmesan and nuts without blowing your calorie counts out of the water. I also make hummus this way...a tsp of olive oil for mouthfeel, the rest with broth.

People will argue with this, but for me: aspartame. I have a terrible sweet tooth, and aspartame lets me indulge it.

Cottage cheese. SO easy to get enough protein if I am eating plenty of cottage cheese.

There are TONS of cooked and prepared foods that make adhering to my lifestyle easier and incredibly enjoyable - and that's the key for me - getting pleasure from the foods that I eat, but here I'll just list the ready made ones

-Danon Light and Fit yogurt - I eat it partially frozen with 1/4 cup of Fiber One mixed in for crunch
-70 calorie bag of already popped popcorn - Sunrise is the brand
-20 calorie Nestle Fat Free Hot Chocolate
-Garden Goodness Fat Free Raspberry Vinaigrette - 25 calories for 2 tbsp
-Costo Peach Mango Salasa - 25 calories for 2 tbsp. SO good. Great with veggies, great with chicken breasts or salmon
-Balsamic Vinegar
-Rice Vinegar
-Hunts 5 calorie jello
-canned tomatoes - stewed, petite diced, whole
-Non-stick cooking spray
-Schwarma seasoning - so good on grilled cutlets (and there are other spices that I rely heavily on as well)

I'm sure there are others, but that's what's coming to my head now.

So many GREAT ideas. There are several things I am going to look for. Thanks for this thread!

Here is a similar thread from the 100 pound forum:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/100-...your-plan.html

It's not quite a food but it's a huge staple for me is the combination of a blender set and little storage pots. I got tired of giant blenders that you had to use once and then wash straight out, made so much washing up and if you wanted to use it more than once in a recipe then it was really tricky. This set has 6 blender cups in different sizes so you can blend a single portion of fruit for a yoghurt or a big family soup, and you take the blades off and you can put a lid, a shaker lid or a cover for the screw top that means you can drink straight from the blender so you can run up a smoothie and drink it straight down.

The small pots are the ones I used to use for my daughter's baby food and it means I can get a 20oz tub of yoghurt and stir in any flavours I want to (usually fruit out of my blender) and then pop the lid on for portability.

OK they aren't foods, but if you can get the equipment right to motivate you to use your foods then you are more likely to eat the foods, right?

Mmm, definitely. ;)

Greek yogurt
homemade almond butter
Things made with homemade almond butter. :D
Winter squash

definitely need the proper tools, makes all the difference in the world!

my favorite lately is taking my normal turkey sandwich on thin sliced wheat bread w/ plain turkey, cheese and mustard-- and throwing it on the george foreman at work for a couple minutes. It's a quick panini and is more satisfying (to me) than just a plain sandwich.

Avocado!!
Raw veggies - sliced cucumber and green pepper, baby carrots
Blueberries (too bad they're so expensive...)
60-calorie no-sugar-added Swiss Miss hot cocoa
Skim milk
Fat-free cottage cheese
Special K 100-calorie fruit crisps (so good!)
Tea

Fat-free canned refried beans. Easy way to add fiber and protein to soups, sandwiches.

Laughing cow cheese. I put this on almost everything. Its great to put on a sandwich, it takes the place of the mayo and slice of cheese. I'll also spread some on a slice of deli Turkey breast, add a cooked egg white and some avocado. YUM!

100 calorie packs.

Fresh veggies

Steamable veggies

Arnolds Multi grain sandwich thins (LOVE LOVE LOVE these!!)

Old fashioned oats with a tbsp of natural pb (mmmm)

Sugar free fudgesicles

Lettuce. Seriously. I was spending 5 or 6 dollars a day buying salads from restaurants. Half a head of iceberg lettuce, one tomato wedge that went in the trash, and some rubber chicken.

I buy 1 romaine, 1 green or red leaf, and one iceberg each weekend, wash it up and package it with a paper towel in ziplock bags. Each night before bed I make up the salad I want, put it in a bowl with a lid, and grab it in the morning on the way to work. I'll put in it whatever I have on hand, cucumber, bell pepper, carrots, whatever. Then chicken, turkey, or tuna. Oh, and my favorite 10 calorie per serving fat free italian dressing. . .

I've spent less than 6 bucks on 7 days worth of salad. It's saving me a bundle, both monetarily and calorically.

Trader Joe's 2% Greek yogurt (I can't stand the FF stuff, but this is great!)
TJ's reduced carb tortillas, only 45 cals
Raw spinach - on sandwiches and salads, in wraps, and cooked to add bulk and nutrition to anything
Lowfat cottage cheese
Eggs/egg whites - I go through more than a carton a week, usually at a 1 whole egg to 2 egg white ratio. Such cheap, easy protein
Nature's Own light wheat bread - No HFCS and only 35 cals a slice
Hummus - on sandwiches and in wraps, used as dip for veggies. TJ's has some that's only 35 cals for a serving, and others I get are only 50 cals. Definitely worth it.
Black beans - Fiber and bulk and nutrition, I just have to carefully watch portion
Bird's Eye frozen pepper stir-fry mix - a mix of bell peppers and onions, SO quick and easy to use at any time.

Of course, veggies of all kinds, chicken, turkey . . . but the ones above are, at this point, necessary staples.

What a great idea for a thread! I'm loving some of the ideas I'm getting from here!

I'm all about easy and convenient. If it's not then I'm probably not going to bother.

60 calorie sugar free jello pudding snacks (yummers - can't tell they're sugar free)

Gorton's grilled fish portions (a little high in sodium but that's a dragon to slay another day)

tuna fish in water

grapes (to me they're like a dessert type treat - yum!)

egg beaters / egg whites

Ohhh . . . I forgot a new favorite.

Thomas Everything Bagel Thins. It's the best part of a bagel and only 110 calories.

Laughing Cow Cheese - queso flavor - yum
Salsa
Prewashed Spring Greens
Presliced mushrooms
blue cheese (obviously a tiny amount)
Mini Luna bars
Bran cereal
Arctic Zero

I think I need to check out the laughing cow cheese. I got some light string cheese and am not impressed. No flavor!

Frito lay brand baked tortilla scoop chips.
Trader joes trek mixes ( different trail mix combos)
Salsa
Fat free refried beans, black beans
Flat Out wraps
Sandwich thins
Spending the little extra on good deli turkey and roast beef
Good Parmesan cheese. Tiny amount packs a ton of flavor
Popcorn made in my stovetop whirly pop with a small amount of olive oil.

And I'll throw my hat into the aspartame ring. The Target brand packets have no calories and have helped substantially with my water intake.

~Fruit, fresh or dried..apples, cherries, bananas, apricots, strawberries
~Jello Mousse Temptations - a quick chocolate fix for 60 cals :drool:
~Progresso/Campbell's Select Harvest/Cup-a-soup
~Egg beaters
~Instant strawberries and cream oatmeal :drool:
~Healthy Choice meals when I need a meal super quick! :)

I forget one. Boneless skinless chicken breast.

I prolly eat it 4 times a week when I'm on plan. I can do so much with them I never seem to get tired of it.

[QUOTE=goodforme;3574519]Lettuce. Seriously. I was spending 5 or 6 dollars a day buying salads from restaurants. Half a head of iceberg lettuce, one tomato wedge that went in the trash, and some rubber chicken.
QUOTE]

Same for me, lettuce is my favorite food.

Also here in my town they sell tortillas made with prickly pear that are 13 calories each with lots of fiber.

Nthing the roasted vegetables. Especially roasted slices of eggplant and portobello mushroom. (One 5-inch wide mushroom is 30 calories!) I make them for sandwiches at least three times a week, with shavings of parmesan or gran padano cheese.

Also shredded cabbage, what they call on the Low Carb forums Crack Salad. The secret is slicing it really really thin (I use a mandoline). It's not so bitter and "cabbagey" that way.