Diet Food Ideas and Recipes

Busy Moms Need Easy Meals

Life with 5 kids is very busy. I sometimes don't have time to prepare a fancy meal for myself. I really think that part of my trouble in keeping my weight where I want it to be has been not having time to make a good meal. Instead, I just grab whatever I can get as I'm heading out the door.

Dieting Foods Have to Be Quick and Healthy

Since I've been on My FitnessPal for dieting and weight management, I've been trying to come up with diet foods that I can make quickly and foods I can have around the house all the time which are quick to grab for a snack.. In addition, I really wanted to get menus that were ones that didn't just help me lose weight but would help me eat a more healthy diet for the rest of my life. Some of my diet ideas have come from just scanning the shelves at my local grocery market, looking for a food that was basically the same as one I've purchased before, but with fewer calories.

Some Quick Easy Substitutes

Since part of my goal has been not only to get in better shape myself, but to help my family eat better, I wanted to see if there were some easy substitute foods that I could switch out for the whole family. In my Hub on Diet Breakfast Ideas, I mentioned Nature's Own bread, which has some varieties which are much lower in calorie but the same size and taste as any other bread. Even though we were previously all white bread eaters, my family has not really protested at switching to lower calorie, all wheat bread. That hub also mentions Turkey bacon, fat free cheese, and fat-free butter. I also use sprinkles of cinnamon sugar and parmesan cheese on fat-free butter as an alternative to regular butter. Other foods I've made changes in:

Diet Meal Ideas

I've done some hubs with full recipes for some of my favorite quick and low-fat meals like Honey Chicken and Pineapple Sweet and Sour. Here are some other favorites.

Hamburger: Everyone likes a burger, but this All-American treat does not have to be full of fat. For a fast meal, I use frozen ready cooked Turkey or low fat Hamburgers. Or I buy 97% fat free hamburgers to cook myself on the grill or in a pan. To keep the calories down, I use small buns. This can be a great, fast meal for under 250 calories. For gourmet taste, I use slices of pineapple, Turkey bacon and Teriyaki sauce and/or sauteed mushrooms with fat-free cheese to make this a special burger.

Panini or Grilled Sandwich: My mom got me a panini maker, so I often use this for sandwiches. I like sourdough, low fat ham and Swiss with honey mustard. Makes a quick dinner.

Salads to Go: I love a salad but often don't take the time to make them. However, I've found that I can make salads ahead of time and that works so much better for me. To keep them fresh, put a wet paper towel on top of the salad and then cover with plastic wrap. The lettuce really freshens up and stays crisp for even two days.

Skillet Pizza (or in an oven): To make a quick individual pizza, put a flat bread or low calorie tortilla in a skillet, put on sauce and non-fat cheese, with either low fat Turkey pepperoni or chopped leftover chicken or low-fat ham on top. Cook on a low heat until the cheese is melted. Slide on a plate and cut slices. Depending on your ingredients, you can have a very tasty meal for 200-300 calories.

Skillet Fajitta: Same idea as the pizza, but put on chopped low-fat meat, beans, salsa, non-fat cheese, non-fat sour cream. After cooking and sliding on a plate, add lettuce and tomatoes.

Soups: I love a good soup with bread for lunch. I like to make home made soup, but to save time, I often find a good store bought soup and then add more vegetables to it like sauteed mushrooms, a can of tomatoes, onions, navy beans, green beans or corn. I also will often fry up some onions and red peppers to add to a soup or even some carrots. I eat a bowl of soup with two pieces of bread with no fat butter and parmesan cheese.

Quick Snacks

Perhaps the best things I've done in my supermarket scans is find some snack foods that I keep on hand all the time which I like. One of the things which makes dieting work for me is to make sure that if I really feel hungry I eat something. If I have something on hand which is fast but not too many calories, then I can keep myself from grabbing something I shouldn't eat. Here are my favorites:

• sugar free pudding (60-70 calories)
• fat-free yogurt (check calorie counts! Get one which is 70-90)
• Granny Smith Apple Sauce (lower in calories but better taste)
• pretzel sticks (I often eat these with one of the above)
• apple slices (Honey Crisp Apples are fantastic and don't get brown when you slice them)
• banana
• grapes
• canned mandarin oranges
• pineapple
• granola bars (lots of different kinds, look at calories)
• cereal (check calories): mix with raisins, dried cranberries, and mini-marshmallows
• fat-free sliced cheese (with low fat ham) layer, roll up and slice.

I would welcome your ideas and suggestions! We all need to help each other to better eating for ourselves and our families.