Quote:
Originally Posted by Runundefined
I also know I need volume foods right now too.. filling, low fat. I seem to want to eat all day and I have to figure out a way to have lots of foods that fill me and stay within my calorie range again.. I used to eat lots of green apples for snacks with raw almonds and huge salads with grilled chicken tenderloins..
I wrote this before, but it could help
Volumetrics eating is an awesome way to stay really satisfied and get a lot of nutrients in. I've been known to make obscenely large meals that are low in calories/points, just because they're bulked up so much with non-starchy vegetables.
For example, with pasta - I'll take my 2oz portion of pasta (sometimes even cut it down to 1oz), sauté onions, an array of colored peppers, sliced mushrooms, and spinach and mix it into my pasta and add tomato sauce. It's a huge bowl of food that sometimes I can't even finish because I've added so many veggies.
Peeling zucchini and/or yellow squash into ribbons
Link) and mixing it 50:50 with fettuccine and making an "alfredo" sauce is another favorite pasta dish. I even add in asparagus and peas for more bulk, nutrients, and general deliciousness . You can also mix your pasta 50:50 with spaghetti squash or just eat the spaghetti squash instead of pasta (
Link).
My Asian noodle bowls and stir fry meals are mainly veggies. I'll use mushrooms, peppers, broccoli, and usually a frozen stir fry mix too. A little bit of oyster/hoisin/sriracha or whatever you like, maybe an added protein, and you have a great meal. You can omit the noodles and serve the mix over brown rice as a regular stir fry.
I shred zucchini and/or squash into my burritos and enchiladas (
Link) so that it's mostly veggie, and the beans are a smaller component of them. I make rice and beans but I use A LOT of bell peppers to bulk it up.
Burgers (
Link), meatloaf, and meatballs can be made with shredded zucchini or any other veggie, but zucchini is my favorite, and veggie nuggets with squash, zucchini or a mixture (
Link OR
Link )
Cauliflower is great to add into everything. I make my dal half cauliflower (
Link), mix it with potatoes in baked potato soup (
Link) or mashed potatoes (
Link), or I'll make mac and cheese with cauliflower puree mixed in (
Link), or just mix a little pasta with a lot of broccoli and cauliflower to give it more nutrition.
I love eating soup - and I'm a thick soup kind of woman - so I use pureed veggies in my soups. I love broccoli soup (
Link ), carrot soup (
Link), and tomato soup (
Link OR
Link ), and I puree them all. I make chili with about every vegetable under the sun (
Link) . It's not vegetarian, but it can EASILY be tweaked.
If you’re using ground beef in a recipe, food process 8-16oz – your preference - of mushrooms into small pieces for each pound of beef when you brown it. You’ll never notice it.
Be creative! Whenever you're making something, think of how many vegetables you can add into it to make it more nutritious. It will fill you up!