Easy healthy foods - your ideas?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Okay - back on WW for the umpteenth time - I want to get rid of at least 30 lbs this time and back into the 120-130 range - I’m very well-versed in the whole points thing, having lost 50 lbs on it two years ago, and gained it back after an accident that had me in a lot of pain. I did quite well last week until the weekend, but I’d planned to be bad, so that was okay. However, I realized I’m relying on way too many Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisines because they’re easy to tote off to work. I need stuff that’s easy to fix and easy to tote:).

I’m an on-again, off-again veg/vegan - right now I’m off - so I can eat recipes with meat in them now. However, I tend to stick more towards the veg food anyway - meat’s usually at a minimum. I’ll easily try new foods and if it’s weird, I’ll probably like it. I’d really like some good, low-fat vegetable recipes - ones that I can make a dish of to last me most of the week. I don’t mind experimentation, but I’m fairly bad in the kitchen, so I can’t do complicated. Because of my hypoglycemia, however, I have to keep sugar to a minimum - so I usually only allow myself a dessert at night and stick to cottage cheese and fruit in the afternoon, which gets boring.

Those that are on WW, I’d love to get an idea of what you use to keep full. I don’t seem to have any problems at night because I have plenty of foods to choose from, but during the day at work, if I get hungry in the afternoon or my blood sugar drops, I have a tendency to get out of control. So having some good food with me at work would help with that.

Thanks!

Ava

2

Legumes are your friends (cheap, health, and filling), and canned beans of various sorts are a vastly underutilized convenience food. If you get really sick of eating them the same way over and over, one of my all-time favorite cookbooks is Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian. It has tons of relatively simple, flavorful veggie recipes, and many require no unusual ingredients. It’s amazing how fresh-tasting the same 6 things can be in slightly different combinations.

A little lemon juice, balsamic or infused vinegar, or the occasional fresh herb can do wonders.

As for snacking during the day: I have a hard time with that one myself. Sometimes a piece of fruit or some carrot sticks help, but I don’t know to what extent you are trying to limit your sugar intake. Dairy products work for me in terms of feeling full for a long time; I figure it’s better to eat yogurt, or even a slice of cheese, that to be ravenous by lunchtime and going out for pizza because I can’t stand the growling stomach anymore.

3

** Vegetarian Appetizer **
Pocket Bread with Vegetables

Bean Sprout Salad with Garlic
Asian Style Salad

**Hearts of Palm with Creamy Vinaegrette **
Dinner Salad

Mixed Seafood Cocktail
Shellfish Medley

Carrot and Raisin Salad
Refreshing Summer Salad

Coleslaw
From “The Pantry”

Greek Salad
Feta Chese and Vegetables with Oil Dressing

4

Yum! But I always thought they had a lot of sugar in it. Tastes sweet to me.

5

Ah, Zenster and Eva Luna, you officially rock (not like you didn’t before, but now you’re on my list of “Official Dopers Who Rock”. That hearts-of-palm salad is getting printed out and more than likely devoured on Thursday night and into the weekend. And I completely forgot about legumes - I should know better since I love them.

Eva, definitely trying to control the sugar intake, but it’s easy most of the time. Certain fruits are okay, but I try to stay away from things like apples and other high-glycemic fruits. I’m also a sucker for balsamic vinaigrette - I usually alternate between Annie’s balsamic dressing and their honey mustard vinaigrette.

Keep ‘em comin’, if you would! The grocery list is being compiled as I type.

Ava

6

heretic Atkins follower here. if your blood sugar dips and soars, you might possibly want to consider cutting down on carbs. the Atkins diet makes claims to leveling out these peaks-and-valleys.

but regarding reasonably easy veggie-type recipes … something you can make a big pan of nearly year-round might be my concoction of Sauteed Squash with Garlic Wine. (a mishmash of influences here, including the Frugal Gourmet’s idea for Garlic Wine, which basically is any bottle of ordinary red wine that you’ve stuffed about 6 garlic cloves into and let sit for at least a month before using.)

basic idea is to saute some diced onion, peppers (green, red, whatever; i suppose you could use hot varieties if you’re into that), and sliced summer squash (green or yellow (or golden, if it’s in your area. i’ve just seen it in our local farmers’ market, not so much the grocery stores)). i season it all with Seasoned Salt and It’s a Dilly seasoning. (the dill goes really well with the squash.) finish off by adding a bit of the garlic wine to the sauteed veggies and simmer for a minute or so.

i suppose it’s even possible to do a version of this in the microwave.

7

Mexican Style Beans
Chili Beans

8

avabeth: I meant to respond earlier today - do you like baked potatoes? It’s incredibly easy to throw together some low-calorie toppings, cook the tator in the morning and bring it to work with you. I’ve been doing so for many years.

9

Do you like tofu? It’s basically just soybeans and water, and sugar-free, and extremely quick and easy to prepare (just drain, rinse with water, and slice), and is good as a chilled dish, right out of the fridge. You can just take a package to work, with condiments and toppings packaged separately. You might try these (using firm tofu):

flavored vinegar and soy sauce (with either finely chopped scallion or dried fish flakes or whatever you like, for added interest).

sesame oil and soy sauce (with the above scallion, maybe a dash of grated ginger, or the fish flakes)

10

Both the low-fat and the low-carb people will agree that chicken breasts are good for you. Marinade one in something you like, throw it on the grill, and you’ve got a decent meal.

11

I don’t know what Virginia is like, but this time of year, I love to go to the local farm stand and pick up whatever is fresh and local. I just finished a stir fry (using very little oil) with yellow squash, green and yellow beans, peas, carrots, and chicken breast. All the veggies were grown within 5 miles of my house! A little sesame garlic sauce, and I was in heaven. The difference with fresh veggies is really noticable to me. Soon we’ll be in fresh tomatoes and corn, which I could eat as an entire meal. Not to mention grape tomatoes for snacks. And Cheerios with fresh blueberries and strawberries…

It’s not designed as a low-fat cookbook, but I like the cookbook “Almost Vegetarian”, because the title describes the way I eat. It has a lot of simple, healthy recipes.

12

lachesis, I used to do Atkins’, and I really like the principles. I don’t do it completely now, but I try to at least stick with whole grains and away from the ‘white stuff’:). And I don’t do high-glycemic fruits - I try to stick to berries and things, which isn’t hard. And although WW emphasizes it, I don’t do low-fat unless it’s naturally low-fat. I won’t eat low-fat products because they’re mainly sugar - I’d rather stick to the stuff with good fats in them.

Blonde, I do baked potatoes on the weekends usually:). Since they’re bad about making my blood sugar spike, I do them when I sleep later and have less hours to eat the same amount of food as the weekdays so that I can eat something within a couple of hours of the potato (does that make ANY sense at all?). I’m a huge sucker for mashed potatoes, though - I think I could eat them by the truckload.

The Scrivener, I was one of those odd vegs who didn’t like tofu. I tried cooking it many times and never succeeded at making anything tasty. I’ll eat it if it’s in a frozen meal, but I’m terrible at cooking it (I think that goes back to the ‘I can’t cook’ thing).

ultrafilter, I have unbreaded chicken tenders in the freezer:). I usually cook them up and eat them with a honey-mustard dressing:).

LilyoftheValley, I went to the grocery store last night and they do bring in a lot of locally-grown produce - we have a LOT of farms around here that grow the yummiest veggies. I did pick up a ton last night - grape tomatoes, some regular tomatoes (which you’re right, I could make a meal of, too), squash and zucchini, blackberries, and strawberries - the homegrown produce always tastes the best and I’m willing to pay a little more for the freshness.

Ava

13

Threw this together yesterday as a healthy dessert type thing. It was amazingly good:

1 - Hull and slice fresh strawberries, put in a dessert bowl.
2 - Drizzle strawberries with balsamic vinegar - just a little, to give 'em some taste. I use some almost syrupy 21 year old balsalmic, but I’d guess any decent balsamic (NOT the crappy stuff that masquerades as balsamic) would work.
3 - top with your favorite vanilla yogurt. I’ll 'fess up, I used Danon Light and Healthy Vanilla yogurt. This stuff is almost pudding-y in consistency, and pretty sweet. A full fat yogurt like Horizon Cream on Top or <gasp> Creme Fraiche would be wonderful here, but we’re trying to stay healthy, so fat-free it is.
4 - Top with chopped fresh mint leaves

Really yummy, easy, and HEALTHY.

14

I’ve been trying to do the healthy thing myself. I’ve been reading Fast Food Nation and it has me really freaked out.

The main problem I’m having in the transition to natural foods is the flavor. We’re used to such heavy flavorings in everything that when we eat naturally it tastes so bland. I’ve been trying to eat some organic vanilla yogurt and granola this morning and it ain’t going so well.

15

Animal crackers (or Arrowroots) and vanilla yogurt is surprisingly delish.

I’m a big fan of soup (it’s ridiculously easy to make, very healthy, and freezes well) - fry onions and garlic, add water, boil vegetables until soft, remove water (reserve it and add it back, bit by bit, if necessary), blend. Tomato and roasted garlic (add the roasted garlic at the end, when blending) is my all-time fave, followed closely by leek and butternut squash, but you pretty much can’t go wrong.

I also recommend ditching store-bought salad dressing, as you can make 'em yourself with much less fat and better flavour. Start with an acid (citrus juice or some kind of vinegar) and an oil (you don’t need much), add nice things like garlic powder, mustard or mustard powder, fresh herbs, salt, pepper, honey, sun-dried tomatoes, etc. Seal in a jar and shake.

I agree with you on the tofu thing: I don’t really love it either, but I eat it because it’s filling and healthy. I usually fry it in lots of oil but that won’t help with your weight-loss aims ! You can change the texture by freezing it (ends up something like feta) or pressing it between two plates (leave a few cans of something on top, and let it sit for an hour) - this makes it absorb flavours much better. Bread it with bread crumbs and nutritional yeast, bake it, and it ends up a bit crunchy. Also the soft kind can be used as a substitute for soft cheese - in dips, lasagne, etc.

Another good filler is TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein), the little/crumbly kind is quite a lot like ground beef (I don’t like the bigger format, reminds me of dog food and the texture is kind of nasty). Add it to tomato sauce - make sure to soak it first or add more water or your sauce will turn to chile.

Snacks: the bulk store is my friend ! Trail mixes will take you far, you can make your own mix of seeds/nuts/dried fruit that satisfies endless cravings - and it doesn’t go bad if you leave it in your desk drawer by accident.

Flavour: fresh herbs and imaginative uses of spices can take you very far. Look at Indian food, for instance. Also there’s a Buddhist place near me that doesn’t use onions, garlic or chiles (or meat or dairy) and ends up being very flavourful nonetheless.

man, I’m getting hungry now.