What’s your favourite healthy meal?

[ButteryNut]

Whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner, what’s your favourite thing to eat?

Not necessarily low calorie or anything, just something that makes you feel like you’re getting everything you need.
It also must be delicious!

Fajitas! Chicken cooked in a marinade (no oil needed) lots of fresh veg, ie spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, jalapeños, onions and coleslaw. Wrap and eat, delish and super nutritious.

A plate of salad (finely shredded lettuce, carrot, red cabbage plus raw broccoli, sweetcorn and anything else I fancy) with poached salmon and little roasted potato cubes (I like a mix of sweet and normal potato). I do have full fat mayo as my dressing as I hate most salad dressings but I try to only use a small amount (not that it is unhealthy as such but it does have a huge amount of calories!).

Ooh! I’ve come back to see lots of lovely recipes, thank you!

They sound delicious 🤤

I really like a dal and rice with lots of salady things on the side (kachumber salad or often we slice up red onions, carrots, cucumber with a bit of chaat masala), or a miso udon with baked salmon or tofu, with braised pak choi.

Scrambled tofu (seasoned with nutritional yeast) with baby roma tomatoes, mushrooms & spinach
On wholewheat toast

Salmon rice bowl. Salmon cubed and tossed in any flavours (i just made teriyaki) you like and roasted/air fryer.
Rice and you can add roasted veg or go cucumber and avacado or steamed greens of any sort. Drizzle with siracha or sweet chilli sauce and soy.
Also do similar with chicken breast.

Chicken casserole and baked potato

Lentil salad with goats cheese.

There's a young woman on Instagram/ seen her on YouTube who is vegan who does incredible food, greenfitmind is her handle.

I'm not vegan but find her recipes really easy to follow, cheap, delicious and she's just very sweet to watch, if any of you are after easy cheap healthy stuff, I'd definitely recommend her, it's food my lot are happy to eat, even the dedicated carnivores.

Garlic and Ginger savoury oats with mushrooms and poached egg on top

Homemade lamb or chicken kebab in pitta with lots of salad and homemade coleslaw
Grilled chicken, avocado and bacon in a brioche bun
Chicken fajitas
Beef tacos
Fish tacos
Lamb koftas, marinated fish on skewers or falafel with Greek salad with lemon dressing, black olives and either feta or hummus
Prawn and vegetable stir fry with sweet chilli stir fry sauce
Wrap pizza, I usually use bbq sauce as a base, with chicken strips, peppers, mozzarella and red onion on top
Tuna pasta salad with plenty of vegetables in it (go light on the pasta and Mayo, or switch to a vinaigrette dressing)
Jambalaya
Roast chicken, potato salad and green salad is a nice substitute in summer for roast

Poached eggs on sourdough with avocado and smoked salmon.

Milk. Hot/cold to drink or on cereal. Can't live without milk.

For a healthy lunch I like to roast some cherry tomatoes with oregano, olive oil, S&P, then make some guacamole, boil a couple of eggs and then dry fry a couple of flour tortillas in a hot pan until blistered, then smother them in the guacamole, scatter over the tomatoes and then chop up the boiled eggs on top. So delicious. Great too if you want to make it less healthy and serve with some bacon, chorizo, fried eggs etc...

Pan fried salmon, new potatoes with butter and salad. I adore perfectly cooked salmon with a crispy skin.

Gosh you’re all so healthy… I see where I’ve been going wrong! 🫤
Some lovely ideas!

Anymore breakfast/lunch ideas?

I’d like to start incorporating some seeds etc into my diet… how would I do this?
For example, chia seeds… what do I do with them? Do they need rinsing/soaking?
Same for flax…
The furthest I’ve got is sprinkling some pumpkin seeds on a salad!

I'm not a breakfast eater mostly but sometimes we have a thick yoghurt like greek yoghurt with honey and banana and muesli. Or strawberries when they are sweet.

A simple lunch we do is mozzarella, parma ham, flat peach, grape.

Homemade soups are also good like blue cheese and broccoli with crusty bread and butter.

What do you normally eat then ButterlyNut? (sorry, out of interest?)

I thought of a few others:

• As a side veg, bake cauliflower florets till just browing on the edges. Top with a dressing of tahini, lemon juice and sprinkle on black and white sesame seeds
• I add seeds to homemade coleslaw
• In winter I love pea and ham soup. Smoked ham hock/knuckle, and almost any root/stew veg (carrots, celery, potato, onions) and quick soaked split peas- in the slow cooker overnight
• Chia seed need liquid to be edible. You can soak in milk/water and various liquids though. Chia pudding, no cook jam using chia seed, oak and chia breakfast pudding, protein bars etc. Lots of recipes online

I'm a big fan of a yoghurt based breakfast
I've gone through phases of sweetened yoghurt, granola and fruit, plain yoghurt, ground flaxseed, honey and fruit, muesli, fruit and Greek yoghurt, etc. so some kind of variation, helps me get some good fibre/long lasting carbs in, and is a bit like a dessert for breakfast. I also like porridge with fruit and usually add some flaked almonds or nut butter to that.

Lunch wise, soup or leftovers are my go to. I do sometimes have a sandwich or cheese on toast, but usually try and get as much veg in as I can (often only have 10 minutes though!) In winter a baked potato, I get the microwave ones or get one in the work canteen if I'm in that day. I always try and have 3-4 of my 5 a day at my evening meal, and one at breakfast, so on the days that lunch is supermarket sushi or a protein bar I'm still getting my 5 a day in.

At least monthly I do a bowl of salad leaves per person topped with small roast potatoes, roast beetroot (cooked in olive oil) and chopped smoked mackerel.
It's full of good fats, protein and vitamins and really delicious.
I like a drizzle of horseradish mixed with sour cream over it but DH prefers balsamic.

I only really have 'seeds' as a salad topping but I buy mixed soup grains, soak overnight and then cook in stock to make the tastiest soups and stews with a handful of spinach, one of shredded kale and some sliced onions. Filling, tasty and cheap!

Thai peanut salad with chicken or prawns. Lots of clean, crispy veg and some protein, and a good burn in the sinuses

A massive Mumsnet salad with chicken.

In all honesty, I’d say the last decade I’ve been stuck in a cycle of yo-yo dieting.
Calorie counting mainly, which leads to me either eating only salads or ready meals for dinner so can save calories for the evening 🙄
Then I inevitably get bored of tracking and start eating again… normal dinners, meat & veg, spag Bol, shepherds pie, the usual things. I do eat a fair amount of veg as I do love it.

But I don’t eat properly.
I’ll have coffee in the morning, then when I get hungry I eat up eating crisps because it’s quick. And before I know it I haven’t eaten a proper meal until dinner time.

I just want to reset. I want to lose 2 stone (or just under really)
But I just don’t want to fall down the hole of calorie counting because I’m untrustworthy with it. I’ll cut out the things I know my body needs just because I want that evening chocolate bar.

Sorry, that was a longwinded answer to your simple question! 😆
Thanks for the tip about chia seeds!

A few other ideas for breakfast I had in Greece and now make at home:

• plain yoghurt, walnuts (or any unsalted nut) and drizzle of yoghurt
• Grilled tomato, courgette or aubergine with feta on top
• omelette with tomato, spring onions, mushrooms- or almost any veg/herbs