Easy low fat dinners

[Jacquetta]

Hi anyone have easy dinner recipes for a busy, overweight carer, please? 😆

[Jellymummy]

Hi Jacquetta! Well done for asking for some ideas for meals to ease your busy schedule...

I would advise against "low-fat" as you need good fats to keep you full longer and replenish your body from all it's spending in nutrients while you work so hard.

For weightloss maybe consider cutting back on "classic" carbs which we eat too many of anyhow (i.e. White potatoes, rice, pasta etc.). Make veggies the main event if each meal and add a carb as a "side".

When I used to work night shifts for example I used to have cold dinner quite often, a slice of ham with an avocado, boiled egg and quinoa salad. Lentils are very filling too, my favourite lentil meal is a lentil salad with bacon bits, mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, red onion and rocket, all dressed with a drop of olive oil and apple cider vinegar and a pinch of salt. Filling and delicious!

Or avocado, tuna, feta, romaine lettuce, cherry tomato and quinoa salad with garlic and lemon dressing (olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic powder all to taste). Filling and majorly yummy and healthy!

Other easy options are steamed broccoli with a dash of olive oil and grated parmesan (the trick is to steam only for 4-5 mins to keep the florets crunchy), with a slice of ham or grilled chicken breast drizzled in lemon juice and paprika.

Or steamed pumpkin, butternut or sweet potato and feta- my new comfort food. So yummy!

[Hidden in reply to Jellymummy]

Mmm. Like the sound of that broccoli! I've been on the verge of a chocolate breakdown tonight, and I need to eat something as I've had nowhere near enough calories today; off to check the parmesan situation!

[Jacquetta in reply to Jellymummy]

Thank you, some unusual ideas there.

[kantara71 in reply to Jellymummy]

Wow jellymummy, now I feel hungry looking at all of your suggestions I would add to your list the good old favourite of home made soup with a small sandwich on wholemeal bread and a side salad.

[Hidden]

Perfect!

[jax58]

Hi

I use my slow cooker to prepare delicious meals that will be ready when I get home. Tonight I will be tucking into a beef casserole that comes in at 210kcal per portion (not including potatoes and extra veg). I use fresh ingredients and no fats and it takes 10 - 15 minutes to prepare. There are plenty of recipes that can be adapted to a slow cooker.

[Jellybelly71]

Agree on the slow cooker. If you're really pressed for time, you can even buy pre chopped veg, pre chopped meat and sling it in the slow cooker with a stock cube and some water/tin of tomatoes. I'd suggest batch cooking a diff slow cooker meal for three days and bag up into portions for the freezer. If you do plain-ish beef, chicken and pork or turkey, you can add various spices on defrost for quite a lot of variation - I have plain beef & potatoes one day, add lots of chilli on another night and only have to sort the rice, pasta on a third night after stirring through some fresh basil. Same with a chicken/pepper slow cook which can go with pasta, spice up and fill a tortilla plus lots of salad... Also read recently you can freeze minced beef that you've browned. That way you can heat up a bit of passata or other sauce and stir a portion of the frozen cooked mince in. It's the browning that can take a bit of an age and feel like one step too many? Also allows you to drain away a bit more fat! Last thought that has really helped me is to be disciplined and write a weekly meal plan. Then when I'm tired and hungry I don't have to think about what to eat - it's there on the fridge door. (because choices, for me at least, lead to bad decisions! the thought of what I really want to eat inevitably pops into my head and it is usually chocolate...)

[Ked1963]

One I always do is tandoori chicken. I mix fat free natural yoghurt with tandoori powder 1-2tbsp and a squeeze of lemon then marinade some skinless and boneless chicken thighs in it . I try and leave for a couple of hours in fridge but have cooked straight away and you then grill them . Best eaten hot with a salad and wedges if you like but can also be eaten cold the next day. Enjoy and good luck 🙂

[Venusflytrap]

Well some great ideas here which I will be pinching. I love the slow cooker idea. Just found out I can use our rice steamer for that so now looking at slow cooker versions of old favourites. BTW brown rice from a rice cooker is a revelation. I was reluctant to give one more gadget houseroom, but have become a fan of this one. Pressure cookers are great in this situation as they are really quick and can be left to get on with it, once they reach pressure point.

My suggestions for actual meals are:

- Omelettes - can be solid with veg like frittata, or with some mushrooms in etc.

- Poached eggs can be put on toast or a salad or into a light vege soup and on top of crumpets, which is my favourite. I do not add butter to the base as the runny yolk is lovely on its own.

- Pizza topping I use chopped toms (can be one with herbs) with a little amount of ketchup, if I'm in a hurry on a toasted or dry fried wrap or a toasted pitta bread is a great way of using little bits of leftover protein and ends of veg. Smaller amounts of grated or sliced cheese can be used than I realised in the past on this. I go for the high flavoured cheeses and use less.

- A beany soup (with an onion, some garlic & chilli, a can of any kind of beans plus 2 cans of chopped toms, stock cube & boiling water simmered for 20mins) is lovely with some plain yog drizzled on top. Eat with a wrap or tortilla toasted flat and cut into nacho shapes.

- Instant mash makes great fish cakes with a can of pilchards, tuna or salmon. I also make this a bit wetter and include some raw porridge oats for a slightly nuttier taste. Better if you can let it stand before making your cakes and frying or baking.

- I always think most breakfast meals are fast. So bacon and egg, etc makes a good lunch or dinner too. And kedgeree is fast, if you have some left over rice.

If you are really time poor, it is worth having some "cupboard" meals that you can just microwave and go. I have been testing these for a family member who is dieting and comes in from work late and ravenous. I have found the canned meats in Sainsbury's Basics range really useful here. They have a sandwich ham and a chicken which is great for high protein low fat sandwiches. They also have a stewed steak which is good and a good quality chicken in white sauce. Have a look at the rest of the range and see what you think. I have managed to fit most of these into my daily plan, but watch the fat content on the nutritional info so chopped pork is a bit high. These would top a baked potato or rice easily. Lidl do some giant cans too including a sausage bacon lentil stew which I can recommend although be careful what you put it with as I found it salty. Nearly all the supermarkets do tuna salads in cans now. Can be eaten as it is or used to top your own salads. Home Bargains, if you have one, was the nicest/best value at a £1, They also sell wholemeal wok ready noodles which are great for instant stir fries.

I am a big fan of frozen. Using the freezer as a sort of longer life larder for storing ingredients and batched meals as well as frozen veg. I can get frozen chopped garlic in little cubes which is a great time saver and unlike a lot of the other versions of quick garlic, is not preserved with oil. If you hanker after something a little more exotic, and can access a shop that sells Asian foods, Chinese ingredients seem designed for the fast cook and can be cooked with tsps of oil rather than tbsp. Indian shops often sell a great range of ready made samosas etc which can be baked instead of fried and have the nutritional info on the packs.

I hope you are soon eating a wider range of foods and will find favourites that can keep you interested and which fit into your tastes and lifestyle.

Bon appetit!