Surprisingly low cal/tips/tricks

[NahThen]

Hello!
I'm stuck in such a food rut, eating the same things all the time just because it's easier when I know the calories. I'm trying to plan my menu for next week and hoping to add some new dishes in to keep me on track. I don't do breakfast but open to lunch & dinner ideas and even just random ingredients/snacks that you might not necessarily realise are lower in cals.

I'm looking for your top tips/suggestions for things that are low calorie but still actually nice 😂 for me and DC and occasionally DP. I don't mind doing odd separate meals but it's nice when we can all have the same things.

No specific restrictions, we all eat everything basically.

A few ideas I've been using/doing to hopefully show you what I mean:

A pepperami instead of chorizo in a pasta dish. 115 cals (Lidl own). Adds lovely flavour and chewy texture (chopped small & fried with the veggies).

Low fat cream cheese- 50g for 70 cals, adds a good creaminess to lots of dishes.

I made a chicken & leek pie with mashed potato top using stock and cream cheese for the sauce that came out at 408 cals a portion.

Potatoes in general are quite good cals for the portion.

Replacing half mince for red lentils lowers the cals & fat in bol & chilli.

A smear of EL mayo instead of butter works really well on sandwiches. Always shove some pickled onions/gherkins/olives etc on mine so don't get the flavour of butter coming through anyway!

Please share your ideas!

Eggs! Omelette with prawns or veg and side salad.
Eggs on toast for a quick lunch.
It's expensive but occasionally I'll buy crab for a treat.

Baked potato - depending what you put on top
If I get the munchies in the afternoon I'll try and have a cup a soup which keeps me going till dinner. Hard boiled eggs also a good snack
Porridge

As you can tell I'm not much of a cook!

Thanks @Ted27 Oh yes eggs are one of my favourite staples! They're so versatile. I made a sort of Moroccan egg bake for lunch last week that went down a treat. Thinking about doing a big crustless quiche for lunches this week.

Cup a soups, how did I forget those?! I keep seeing people talking about drinking hot miso but I haven't tried that yet.

I like porridge but only drenched in golden syrup and peanut butter 🫣

Haven't had crab for ages but prawns can be decent value (frozen) and handy to put in a curry!

I eat boring low cal stuff for breakfast and lunch so that I can save calories for eating with DH and DC and eat largely what they do with some minor adjustments - eg more salad, smaller portions of pasta or rice. So for breakfast I pretty much always have porridge with 5-8g of Demerara sugar. Bit boring but it's just about sweet enough. Then I have these itsu noodle soup things for lunch which are about 220cal. So basically only really get my variety from evening meals- or allow myself more leeway at weekends...:but otherwise I just know that I'll fall off the wagon!

Bone broth is a great snack and very healthy. I make beef bone broth, we buy our meat straight from an organic farm and we always get some bones for free. I cook a huge pot of broth, sometimes plain, sometimes heavily seasoned Korean-style and I batch-freeze it in 300 ml cups. If I feel like snacking I’ll just pop one into the microwave and voila.

Waitrose do a lovely Hearty Chicken and vegetables fresh soup that's 250 calories per pot (serves two but I eat it all myself) that's filling and delicious.
Tuna I like.
Porridge - yes.
Sandwiches with one slice of bread (open)

Filo pastry instead of regular pastry. Spray each layer with a very light squirt of spray oil, instead of brushing with butter.

Stewed rhubarb or apple, sweetened with monkfruit (natural low calorie sweetener). Serve with low fat vanilla yoghurt to help with sweet cravings.

Make a tasty low-fat dip using thick low fat Greek yoghurt, a squeeze of lemon and onion soup powder. Has a lot less fat than hummus. Serve with crudités or rice crackers.

Roasted carrots - OMG they taste like sweet potato chips! Tossed in drizzle of oil and salt and pepper then on the top shelf for about 30min.
If not watching the calories a dollop of Aioli ... well one can dream!
Stuffed mushrooms - fewer calories for the size. I have them on a big salad with a sprinkling of chopped chorizo.
When I need a dessert/sweet fix I have a couple caramel rice cakes. 51 cal each and they look a good size to fool the eye.

Avoid anything labelled low fat; there will be added ingredients, such as sugar, to make it taste good. Full fat Greek yoghurt with berries and a sprinkling of chopped nuts or (preferably homemade) granola will keep you feeling full for as long as, or longer than, porridge.

Keep a set of kitchen scales on your worktop and weigh your food. Portion size is key to weight loss or gain, and those extra spoonfuls of mashed potato, rice, pasta, etc or that extra slice of roast lamb can really add up.

Some great ideas and things I'd forgotten about here! Caramel rice cakes- thanks for the reminder! DC also a fan, added to shopping list.

@mondaytosunday I'll definitely try roasted carrots for a chips alternative, I need some anyway to bulk out the chilli I have planned this week.

I watched a programme about "cleansing" methods and one tried bone broth @CortieTat and was surprised to see that the participant had an increase in <something bad> triglycerides maybe? I think the nutrients would do me good if I could get past the cooking method..

(Some) Tinned soups are really handy to have in. I like chicken noodle when I haven't had chance to make my own.

@DancingFerret I agree on principle but they're not all bad I don't think? I get lidls fat free greek style yoghurt and there's nothing else added that I can see on the label 🧐 definitely agree with keeping scales to hand. I thought I could eyeball a chunk of cheese or whatever - I cannot!

If you do try and like miso, it's much cheaper in the long run to buy packets of miso paste, dashi powder, dehydrated seaweed and then make your own vs the instant packets which can cost ~£4 for 3 servings around here. I also like to throw in some tofu and spring onions to mine.

We eat konjak noodles instead of pasta some times. Also brown rice/quinoa instead of white rice - I actually find this delicious.

Lidl’s 5% fat Greek yoghurt is so much creamier than the 0% for not many more calories.

I make dips for carrot sticks, rice cakes (or nachos if I’m feeling indulgent!) with Greek yoghurt and a dry spice mix stirred in. You can buy a few mixes in most supermarkets or for more choice go to an Asian or African grocer. I like jollof mix, jerk seasoning or harissa spice.

Quark as a dip instead of sour crème. A fraction of the cals .

Bones contain quite a lot of fat within the bone marrow so I’m not surprised about triglycerides. There’s also a lot of collagen and minerals in there so good for skin and joints!

Is cooking method a problem? I use vegetables and usually just one thick slice of a leg bone we get from our farmers and just let it simmer for several hours. It’s very low effort cooking. Spices and a bit of vinegar to taste.

Thanks for the miso tips @SalGoodwoman I'll give it a go and if it's a winner will follow your advice!

@MagpiePi thank you! So glad I saw this before I went shopping, I'll try the 5% for a change. The 0% is more tangy than creamy I have to say, but mixed with some fresh mint & spices it's tasty. I've just got harissa so will give that a go!

Herbs/spices in general are such a good way to get flavour in. I really like the JD seasoning pots, I'm due to put an order in.

I can never seem to find quark when I want it, though I'm a bit put off from my slimming world days..

Re cooking method @CortieTat your way sounds doable- on the programme I watched (something on C4) there were chicken feet and all sorts involved. I'm not usually squeamish but the sound of the claws on the pan turned me right off! Lord knows my skin and joints need all the help they can get 😬

I’m sure chicken feet are very healthy, sounds like lots of good stuff for skin, joints, hair and nails, but I don’t eat chicken at all, and I still manage to cook broth with no feet involved :-)