Meal Ideas

As I stated throughout my blog, I cook most of my meals.  Don't think I'm cooking every day, all day long either.  I make a few recipes per week and that gives me leftovers for the rest of the week.  For those days I want something else, I'll make something quick with a different protein, for example, poached salmon, steak, a burger, etc.  During the summer though, my kitchen is off limits when the weather is 90-106 degrees day in and day out.  Forget about using the oven!  Somehow though, I make do without resorting to processed meals or fast foods.  I just make simpler meals that don't require me to spend too much time in the kitchen.

I've been collecting cookbooks forever and I probably have enough to start my own bookstore.  I make anything I want as long as I stay within my daily caloric allowance.  Some of these books I can only use rarely because their recipes are way too rich.  Don't forget that MyFitnessPal.com ("MFP") has a great recipe builder program so you can add any recipe you want in order to get the nutritional values per serving if you don't have that information already (older cookbooks don't list nutritional facts).  I also get recipes online and the nice thing about those is that most often, they're already listed on MFP.  In fact, sometimes a recipe off one of my cookbooks is already in MFP.  I search MFP by inputting the name of the cookbook and the name of the recipe and sometimes it's already in there.

If you don't know how to cook, take the time to learn.  Cooking for every day doesn't have to be difficult although there are certain techniques that make life easier.  Nowadays there are videos on YouTube that teach you how to do anything and everything, and I often watch them to learn how to make something I never made before or to get answers to a specific problem I keep having.  Every imaginable cookbook is out there, including for one-pot meals which means you just throw ingredients in one pot so they're easy.  I suggest you look for cookbooks that have simple recipes with the least amount of ingredients to start out.

Two of the cookbooks I use most often that are still available:

The Skinnytaste Cookbook by Gina Homolka.  Amazon sells it for about $18.  You can also check out her website (Skinnytaste.com), she's got tons of good stuff there.  I've made several recipes from her book many times over and they always come out delicious.  She uses cheese a lot, but the recipes are still reasonable in calories.  I'm sure you can find it in a bookstore, too.

One of the vegetarian books I use often is Martha Stewart's Meatless cookbook.  Amazon sells it for about $18.  I'm sure you can find it in a bookstore, too.  

Here are some quick meal/snack ideas:

Zucchini and yellow squash pasta:  

Since I can't eat pasta as often as I used to (empty calories), I switched to making zucchini and yellow squash spaghetti.   This is a great dish especially when I indulged too much on a particular day and I only have a few calories left for dinner.  I spiralize them into long strands, sauté them with a little oil, garlic, and fresh tomatoes or sun dried tomatoes.  It's a quick, easy, tasty, low calorie meal. The calories, of course, depend on what you use and how much of it you used.

The spiralizer gizmos can be found anywhere:  Target; Bed, Bath and Beyond; Amazon; and in some cases at the market if they have a wide kitchen section.  The price ranges from $15 to $40.  They're really easy to use.  You take a zucchini or yellow squash, cut off the ends, insert it into the opening of the gizmo, and then turn it like a pencil sharpener.  In seconds you have long strands of veggie spaghetti.  Just make sure that the zucchini or yellow squash you buy isn't too thick to fit into the gizmo.  Most come with a few recipes.  These gizmos have two sides, sometimes one side will be thicker strands than the other side, sometimes one side is for slices.  Read the package, but this is basically what they look like although they come in different colors:

Hard boiled eggs:   I make a batch (6 or 7) of hard boiled eggs at a time that I keep in the fridge for a quick snack or to throw in a salad.  I don't eat them all the time, especially if I ate egg whites for breakfast, but they're great in a pinch.  One egg is 70 calories.

Salads:  I like salads that contain many ingredients, but sometimes I don't have the patience to chop the vegetables I want to include, especially when I'm already hungry.  What I've been doing is when I get home from the market, I wash everything, I use a spinner to get all the water out, then I shred the lettuce, chop all the vegetables I'm going to use in my salads, and I keep them in separate plastic containers or plastic bags in the fridge.  Whenever I want a salad, I just grab whatever I want and I have an instant salad in seconds.  I sometimes also throw in some beans or canned corn, but canned vegetables are high in sodium so I don't use them too much or too often.  

I sometimes also throw in some pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or wonton strips.  Note that some vegetables do better if you cut them right before serving, like avocados (although technically they're a fruit) because they might turn brown otherwise.  I love avocados and although they're healthy, they're really high in calories so I don't use them too often (one small avocado is 240 calories).  The calories for a salad depend on what you put in and how much you used.  For salad dressing, I use one of my low-calorie dressings that I listed under "Products."

Rice:  Personally, I don't like brown rice even though it's healthier.  I don't force myself to eat something I don't like just because it's healthier.  I prefer white rice which I eat a few times a week.  I have a rice cooker and once a week I make a batch of rice so it's readily available when I want some.  A cup, however, is about 205 calories. 

Stir fry:  I'll chop bell peppers (red, orange, and/or green), shallots, ginger and cut up some chicken or beef.  Sometimes I throw bamboo shoots or bean sprouts in, too.  I cook it all in a deep pan or wok with a little oil, and just in minutes I have a tasty meal.  There are stir fry sauces you can buy in jars or packages to add flavor, just read the labels because these add calories, sugar, and sodium, too.  I use them sparingly.

Fajitas:   I get some flank steak and season it to my liking (sometimes the market will sell it pre-seasoned) and slice the beef into bite size strips.  I slice bell peppers (red, orange, green), some red onion, and I grill the beef first in a little oil (sometimes I just use an oil spray) in my grill pan and then I throw in the sliced vegetables and grill them, too.  In a couple of minutes, I have a meal.   Bolthouse (salad dressing I listed under "Products") has a Salsa Ranch flavor that I use on my fajitas from time to time.

Tacos:   I get Jennie-O ground turkey and cook it in a pan with a little oil (sometimes I just use the oil spray) until it's browned.  For my tacos I use just about anything:  bell peppers, red onions, cilantro, canned corn, sliced tomatoes, avocado, etc.  I sometimes grill the bell peppers and onions.   Avocados are high in calories so I use it sparingly (one small avocado is 240 calories).  I'll also throw in some red salsa on top, maybe a little shredded cheddar cheese, too.  Bolthouse (salad dressing I listed under "Products") has a Salsa Ranch flavor that I use on my tacos from time to time, too. For the taco shells, instead of using flour tortillas (my favorite), I now use butter lettuce leaves as the shells.  If I want sour cream, I'll use plain non-fat Greek yogurt instead.  I have to definitely figure out the calories before I eat these because sometimes I get carried away and they end up being too many calories so then I have to pull some ingredients, like cheese.

Roasted chicken/breast:   At just about every market I go to, they sell roasted chicken or roasted turkey that's already cooked and ready to serve.  Just remember to remove the skin.  The sodium is high on these, but they're great for a quick meal.  It's better than going to KFC and getting fried chicken - which I used to do often pre-journey.  

Soups:   When the weather is cooler, I like to make soup now and then.  It's perfect for when I'm not very hungry at which time I'll have some soup and a salad.

Pressure Cooker:  I was afraid of pressure cookers for years because I thought they might explode, but models today have locking mechanisms and are easy to use.  I love my pressure cooker!   Follow the instructions on your model (make sure you read the instructions before using it), but you can cook meats in a fraction of the time than if you made the same dish in a casserole or the oven. 

For a quick meal, I sauté a chopped onion, some garlic, throw in a chopped carrot, chopped celery, canned tomatoes, seasonings, and the protein.  My pressure cooker requires 2 cups of liquid so I include chicken broth or beef broth and a bit of water.  For the protein, I use lamb, turkey legs, chicken, or short ribs which I brown first in a pan with a little oil before putting it in the pressure cooker.  Depending on the protein you use, your meal can be done in 20-40 minutes.   Your particular pressure cooker will come with instructions as to how long to cook particular foods.

There are cookbooks for pressure cookers, too.

Smoothies:   When I was on Weight Watchers, where most fruits are not tracked, I drank smoothies almost every day.  However, MFP tracks everything so I only drink smoothies when I have the calories available.  I use almond unsweetened milk, vanilla flavor (30 calories for 1 cup).  When my fruit is starting to go mushy (which I won't eat), many times I freeze them so I can throw them in a smoothie later.  Hint:  peel bananas before freezing, as I found out too late!  DUH!

My favorite is a banana, some strawberries, and a few pineapple chunks with the milk.  Hint:  if you use pineapple for your smoothies, freeze the chunks first.  If you don't and you use fresh, your drink will be full of little strings that resemble the bristles from a brush.

Another one I like is a mango (peeled), a peach (peeled), a banana, and the milk.  Mangos are 200 calories alone so I need to make sure I have the calories available.

Basically, with smoothies, you can use whatever you want.  Sometimes I make a smoothie with berries (blueberries or raspberries).

Smoothies versus juicing:  The big thing that came out a few years ago was juicing.  People cleanse by juicing (using both vegetables and fruits).  Everybody talked about how healthy it was so I went out and bought a pricey juicer.  I still use it but rarely after I found out that juicing removes the insoluble fiber from these foods.  Insoluble fiber slows down digestion and keeps you feeling fuller longer.  From what I read, too, the sugar from these foods is processed through your system faster when it's juiced, too.   

You often hear fruits have a lot of sugar and that's true, but they're healthy foods.  From what I understand, the true evil is added sugar, like the granulated sugar we have on our tables, not to mention the sugar food companies add to their products. 

Whatever you make, just track the calories.