Do you all get bored....
 

with what you eat on a daily basis. i have been trying to keep the menu interesting especially since the hubby is doing this too.(don't want him to get bored and fall off the wagon) i could eat spinach salad everyday. he doesn't want to. i am now trying to plan out our evening meals in a week by week manner. does anyone have some quick easy meals that a not so gourmet cook could handle?

WW website has lots of pretty easy and fast recipes that you can access for free. Also many people have made up "staples" shopping lists that help them stay OP. I try to make my staples on Saturday or Sunday so that I always have them on hand throughout the week. Pre-cooked mushrooms, pre-cooked veggies, cut up fresh veggies etc. Lately I've been grilling a big bag of frozen skinless, boneless chicken breasts and keep them for all week eating too. Good to go with wraps, pasta, rice toppings, eaten plain, in omelettes, etc. The thing that has TOTALLY revolutionized my refrigerator are these keep fresh storage containers from the Sharper Image. These. They were worth EVERY penny as my veggies and fruits and meats really do stay fresh all week and are ready to go!!! I am no longer throwing away uneaten, gooey produce which saves me money AND it is all washed and ready to eat which saves me time and helps me have something instantly ready to eat!

This is what I made for dinner last night, I put it along side 1 cup brown rice for DH--the pre-made frozen kind from Trader Joes. You can make your own rice ahead and freeze it tho I rarely do. I ate mine with a salad. I could eat salad every day too. When I lived by myself that is what I would do, eat the same stuff pretty much every week. My DH is not a fan of that practice either, as he has grown quite accustomed to me making delicious things to eat regularly. Now I am trying to make those both tasty AND healthy!

From Allrecipes.com (shared by my friend Trooworld)

Artichoke and Sun-dried Tomato Chicken
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green peppers and onions
1/4 cup sun-dried tomato pesto
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts in water, drained and quartered

Season both sides of chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place chicken in skillet; cook, turning once to brown each side. Remove chicken from pan, and set aside.

Pour tomatoes into pan; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly, and incorporating any brown bits from bottom of pan. Stir in pesto and artichokes, and return chicken to pan. Cover, and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

According to their calculations, the nutritional info is:
makes 4 servings. 249 cals, 6.5g fat, 68mg cholesterol, 1193mg sodium (yikes!), 15.4g carbs, 4.8g fiber, 31.8g protein

Do some looking around thru the older threads here on the WW board and you will discover lots of great ideas! :)

thank you! that recipe does look really good and even though there is a lot of sodium its only 5 pts per serving. the artichoke hearts sound kinda foriegn to me but to make a bigger menu i have to learn to eat new stuff. it is a veggie right?

:lol: Yep! it is a veggie! You should be able to find it in a can or jar in the vegetable aisle of most grocery stores. Get the kind packed in WATER not oil though! The Oil or marinated is delish, but WAY high in calories and fat!

Here are a couple of good ideas threads for you :

Grilling ideas
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140803

Staples http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140214

Speghetti squash with turkey meatballs. (my kids prefer this over regular speghetti and they have no idea it is turkey instead of beef meatballs.)

Also with it being summer, one of my favorite salads is tomatoes (preferably heirloom cause they have such pretty colors), rough chopped fennel, little bit of olive oil, red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper, mix it all together...so refreshing as the salad part of the meal. The fennel lends such a different taste that is SO out of the norm for a salad.

Crock pot ideas are great for me, as I turn them on in the morning and dinner's ready when I get home - with leftovers for lunch and maybe another dinner (if DH doesn't eat 8 helpings at once! :lol:). It's getting too warm to want to eat crock pot meals but I do it anyway. You can cook a whole broiler chicken in the crockpot with herbs, garlic, and chicken broth and it turns out perfect!!

I don't have other good recipe suggestions for you right now, but there are tons of ways to spice things up with condiments and spices/herbs.

Out of some cooked chicken breast, you can quickly whip up stir fry, curry, wraps, fajitas, chicken tacos... you can top chicken with avocado, cook it in tomato sauce and red pepper for something moroccan-inspired, top it with feta and black olives with a cucumber salad for something greek.... oh, the possibilities! :D

wow you guys have some great ideas. i have never thought of using the spagetti squash as actual spagetti. that is a great idea. my mom and dad just happen to be growing them in their garden so i might get some freebies.

manick- those are great links thank you!

what is fennel? if you can't tell i don't think outside of the box much. and have very few spices in my cabinet. maybe i should invest.

thanks again for the suggestions, i'm going to attemp some of them next week and i will let you know how it turns out.;)

Yes I get bored--I was feeling that myself this week--the recipe for artichoke/sundried tomato chicken sounds good--may try it tomorrow. Thanks

That is cool your parents are growing speghetti squash...definately take advantage of some freebies. You just split them length wise, cut side down and bake for about an hour at 375.

Fennel is hard to describe. Looks sort of like a celery cluster with frilly lacey greens at the top. Dont eat the stalk...just the bulb part. You can dice some of the lacy greens at the top and sprinkle over and it looks really pretty.

Yeah, get out of your veggie rut...i had to MAKE myself get to know other veggies too. I was like to too. Then i got to where once a week, i would pick up a veggie i had never had before and learn how to cook it. Boy have i learned a lot (plus i used to watch food network...bad for the waistline but good for knowing what all those weird looking veggies are in produce).

Experiment and enjoy the produce isle.

Yes, I definitely get bored. I try to change up my menu every week, for dinners. For lunches I actually prefer to eat the same thing for awhile. I change my lunch menu every 2-3 months.

For dinners, I go to foodnetwork.com or wholefoodsmarket.com. The WholeFoods website has awesome healthy recipes, and most of them include nutrition info. I just recently found a delicious potato chowder recipe that was only 3 pts per 10-oz serving. Really yummy.

One of my other FAVORITE meals is curry, made with light coconut milk. I make enough for two people with 1 can of light coconut milk, and the only thing that adds points is the coconut milk, the meat (whatever you like), and the rice. I use 0-point veggies, so they don't add points but add lots of fiber to keep you full. All the spices and seasonings are 0-points. Very flavorful, and good for a quick weeknight meal. You can search online for curry recipes and find all kinds of good combinations. My personal favorite is thin sliced chicken or beef with red curry paste and fresh pea pods over brown rice. Yums!

more great ideas! i think i will try buying and learning to cook a new veggie each week. that is a great way to expand my menu slowly as to not feel overwhelmed.

thanks again!

Check out HungryGirl.com for some recipes - she also has a cookbook out now. Her site has WW points for everything!

I have a hard time also. And to make matters worse, when I begin to research for different recipes on here and other sites, every things sounds so tasty that I get hungry and start munching LOL. There are some great recipes out there.