Healthy Dinner Ideas

dubgirl15

I have been on a diet for the past two weeks. Im fine for breakfast, lunch and snacks but when it comes to dinners i do not have a clue what to have. Im looking for some quick and easy ideas for dinners that are healthy.

thanks

olaola

Turkey mince is your friend. Make lasagna, chilli, burgers etc out of it. Don't use oil to cook the meat first, dry fry - get yourself a good non-stick pan, and you'll be laughing.

dubgirl15

olaola wrote: »

Turkey mince is your friend. Make lasagna, chilli, burgers etc out of it. Don't use oil to cook the meat first, dry fry - get yourself a good non-stick pan, and you'll be laughing.

Shows how bad i am!! i have never even heard of turkey mince!

olaola

You'll get it in most supermarkets, but your butcher will happily mince it for you too. You'd get about 1kg for a tenner, and you could portion it up and lash it into the freezer. There isn't a wild lot of a taste from it, but it's very meaty & filling.

OH! And another thing that I find very handy is fat-free fromage frais. It's a life saver - if you're making coleslaw, use one spoon of hellmans light and two spoons of this stuff. It really makes the mayo go further. And it's about 50cals for 100mls.
I use it for making 'creamy' pasta sauces and as a substitute for sour cream in Mexian food. Or if you don't want to go the whole hog, you can just thin down the sour cream with this instead. Tesco do their own brand, which you can get in most stores. Fat free yoghurt if you're really stuck will kinda take its place.

NervousNude

I'm having this problem too, having just overhauled my eating habits. I'm trying not to eat carbs after 6pm which effectively rules them out for dinner time. I used to eat a lot of rice, pasta, spuds, and meals based around these like paella, fish pie, spag bol etc. I'm now mostly eating chicken + veggie stir fries which are lovely, but it'd be really nice to have some variety.

I don't really want to cook my normal dishes, just without the carbs (e.g. curry without rice, bol without spag) as it'd be too tempting to include them.

Sorry to hijack your thread by the way!

rubadub

olaola wrote: »

There isn't a wild lot of a taste from it, but it's very meaty & filling.

Yeah, and it can be dry so best to use it in dishes with sauces like spag bol, most people would not even notice the difference from minced beef if it was in a spicy sauce. It has very little fat and less calories per 100g than that overpriced lean mince meat you get.

Round steak is only 5.50 in tesco at the moment I think/hope. I ordered one of these
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18681


Will let you know if it is any good.

To bulk out mince dishes I just get a iceberg lettuce, rip a load off and shred it by hand into a mixing bowl and mix in spicy, saucy mince ontop. I also sometimes put in a tin of red kidney beans to bulk it out, better than white rice or white pasta.

MissFlitworth

Currently loving roasted butternut squash as my replacement for rice/pasta/spuds. I cut it into chunks (no need to peel) and steam it in the microwave for a few minutes to cut down the time it needs in the oven, spray it in cooking spray or toss it in a teaspoon of olive oil and then roast it for about half an hour until the edges are browning. It's delicious and it scratches an itch when I have a craving for chips.

Omlettes are a great healthy and filling dinner- just avoid the high calorie fillings like cheese, chorizo, big dirty rashers and the like You can make a spanish omlette if you have a few leftover steamed spuds to throw in. Omlettes are also gorgeous with roasted veg thrown in (peppers, courgettes etc.) I have it on good authority that they're lovely with mushrooms and ham but can't stand mushies so can't confirm

Baked fish- wrap a fish fillet in an envelope of tinfoil or baking paper, season and throw in the oven until it flakes easily with a fork, I normally put mine in for about 15 minutes at 180. This is gorgeous with steamed veggies

Healthy-ish all-day brekkie- grilled bacon medallions/turkey rashers, poached, boiled or scrambled eggs, probably not sossies as they are pure lethal, mushrooms or tomatoes if you fancy em, and possibly a few baby spuds, steamed, cubed and then browned on a pan with some cooking spray or a tiny bit of olive oil. (I con myself into believing these are like chips)

rubadub

MissFlitworth wrote: »

just avoid the high calorie fillings like cheese, chorizo

I love chorizo, very high in fat, but a little goes a long way. I sometimes put slices on a dry pan from the start of warming up, the oils fall out and I then fry things in that little bit of spicy oil.

MissFlitworth wrote: »

Healthy-ish all-day brekkie- grilled bacon medallions/turkey rashers, poached, boiled or scrambled eggs,

tesco are now doing "healthy living" rashers, which are just the good round bit with very little fat left on them, easier and cleaner to cook, but although "healthy living" they still loaded them with salt . Pork steak is a good thing to fry too, for those who still live by the strange rule that pigs are the only animal allowed to be eaten before midday.

barbiegirl

I agree on the loving chorizo, I took som elast night, dry fried it, then added tomatoes, tomato puree, mixed beans and herbs, balsamic vinegar and a dash of worchester sauce. Made a gorgeous stew, which OH loved after footie match in the wind last night. The only fat came from the chorizo, and to be honest a lot of the time, I give a lot of my meat to my hubbie as the just the flavour in the dish is perfect.

olaola

I blooooomin love chorizo. I usually dry fry it (a good pan is essential) and the fat will render out - LOTS comes out. Then I would teem most of the fat off and cook ahead as normal.

*Honey*

I've cut out any carbs with dinner and I am addicted to salad... I chop up:

• Cherry Tomatoes
• Red Peppers
• Red Onion
• Cucumber

I grate in carrots and white cabbage and then add in some tinned sweetcorn (I rinse them in cold water beforehand to wash off any excees sugar or salt).

Then add salt, black and white pepper to taste, a great big glug of rosso (pink) balsamic vinegar (Lidl) and a spoon of Light Hellman's Mayo. Mix it all up and add in a handful of rocket.

If I'm feeling like it (and the dinner matches) I will add some chopped apple or mango to the mix too.

My hubby would have potatoes and salad with meat/fish and I just have the salad ... fav additions are grilled smoked mackeral (pat it dry with kitchen roll to remove any excess oil), salmon, roast chicken breast (no skin), spag bol (sauce only which hubby makes with about 5 veg to bulk it out and lean minced beef or turkey) or turkey curry (again sauce only). I have never felt hungry after all this ... and I'm getting tons of veg and it's all very low fat.

I totally agree re turkey mince but you can add so much to flavour it up - spices, herbs, stock cubes etc... it's a very versatile meat and totally undervalued in my opinion.

Dolbert

Grated cauliflower, when boiled for a few minutes is a great low-carb substitute for rice!