Foods

Dinners are getting really boring already and I haven't been at it that long.  If it were just me, it would be easy, but I have a husband and two sons that I have to cook for.  I don't like to spend a lot of time cooking and I need it to be low in calories (of course).  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Check out www.eatbetteramerica.com

There are lots of yummy recipes on there (every one I have tried so far has been pretty good) plus they are all pretty healthy and not too time consuming! :)

I've used www.cookinglight.com a lot - they have a section called Dinner Tonight (usually on the left hand side of the site).  I've liked almost everything I've tried off of that.  These are also relatively quick recipes. 

Good luck!

I love to do steak fajitas (or chicken or mushroom even).  Here's what I use:

2 peppers......Red & Yellow

1 large Vidalia Onion

1 package of lean steak (sliced into strips)

 1 pkg of Fajita Seasoning Dry Mix (I use Walmart brand Great Value...it's awesome)

Salsa, Tortillas, whatever else you wanna throw on them

Mix fajita mix according to directions on the package (I use olive oil) and add the meat and let it marinade in the fridge for at least an hour.

Then cut up your peppers & onion and fry them up in a tiny bit of oil...or Pam.

cook the fajita/steak mix separate...no need for any oil as it's very wet.

Then fix up your fajitas.  They are low calorie if you use the low calorie/fat tortillas and not a lot of oil.  If you use mushrooms  instead of meat, they are super low calorie!!!!!!!

Stirfry is another good one. There are quite a few frazon mixed bags of veggies you can use as a base that are good.

Ever heard of Aldi, the discount grocery store?  My husband and I just discovered their recipe site.  It is chock full of amazingly healthy, low cal, low fat recipes for every meal. I was very impressed with the selection! 

www.ALDImeals.com

Chicken Enchiladas:  I use corn tortillas, cooked chicken (seasoned with a little salt, pepper, garlic), sautéed zucchini (seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic), low fat mozzarella cheese, and canned sauce (I like either green or red sauce).  I think I use Rosarita brand.

Lemon chicken stir fry over brown rice:  I use 1 bag of frozen veggies (carrots, cauliflower, broccoli).  I generally steam the veggies in the microwave while I sautee the chicken.  The sauce is: 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup lemon juice, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, mix all the sauce ingredients together and bring to a boil for a couple of minutes and add to the chicken/veggie mixture.  The way I prepared it, it was around 400 calories for a huge plateful of food (1 cup rice, and ¼ of the recipe of the stir fry).

Creamy Tomato Chicken Alfredo: I already listed this in another thread, but I really like it.  When we eat it, DH just eats the pasta, chicken, and alfredo sauce.  I use the spaghetti squash to lighten it up. One serving looks like this: 1 cup cooked spaghetti squash, 1 cup smart taste brand pasta (white pasta with lots of protein and fiber) , 1/4 cup red sauce (I like pizza sauce better than spaghetti sauce), 1/4 cup Classico Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo sauce (only 40 calories per ¼ cup and soooo good), and about 100 grams of chicken…all mixed up. It was around 400 calories.

We grill a lot of steak and chicken too.  For side dishes: we eat lots of zucchini sautéed (in Pam or a little olive oil) with salt, pepper and garlic.  I also make oven-baked French fries….peel the potatoes, cut them up and then soak them in a little sugar and salt (it makes them crisp up better in the oven)…Then toss with a little oil and taco seasoning and bake at 400 degrees until done (around 30 minutes in my oven), turn them once about half way through.  I like butternut squash and sweet potatoes done the same way.

You could make individual pizzas (eat yours on a whole-wheat English muffin), and top with low-fat cheese.  Canadian bacon or turkey pepperoni are both low cal.

Chicken pot pie:  I use the recipe in the Betty Crocker Cookbook (let me know if you don’t have it and I’ll get the recipe for you if you are interested), only I use reduced fat crescent rolls instead of a pie crust…just spray a pan with non-stick spray and lay them out put the filling on and then put more of the roll dough on top.  I also use less butter than the sauce recipe calls for.  Instead of mixing the butter with the flour, I mix the flour with the chicken broth and then add a little reduced fat margarine instead.  It is a fast and yummy meal