i need dinner recipes!!

Hanna - posted on 08/17/2009

i am married to a restaurant chef who loves to eat (just like me) and being that he cooks the way he does in a restaurant, there is no such thing as low-fat or diet when he cooks -- butter=love & his favorite vegetable is bacon. so i really had to get creative when making "healthier" food at home and the good thing is that our son who is 5.5 months old loves to try new foods (veggies+fruits) and goes with us to restaurants when we go out and we let him try stuff off our plates (if it doesn't have butter, oil, dressing or salt/pepper on it). and we do eat a wide variety of cuisines and ingredients at home.



what goes in a good crock pot? anything you like and the more different veggies you add, the better it'll taste. my secrets for flavor are pepper, garlic, herbs (rosemary, thyme, tarragon, oregano, sage -- and those you can even start an herb garden on your window sill or ur balcony/back yard and save yourself a ton of money), ethnic spices (curries, za'alouk, etc. -- all of them are mixes that add a ton of flavor without adding too many calories and if you buy them in ethnic stores, they're almost always salt/msg-free).

for calories, i don't believe in portion controls or depriving yourself of foods you love to eat (because the moment you decide to stay away from something, it's all you seem to crave and/or you eat 4 times as much just to cover up that craving). so i started doing smart substitutions to still be able to eat the foods i love -- i.e. add more veggies to a dish to 'fill you up'/cut down the calories per portion) -- e.g. lasagna, if you buy leaner meat, low-fat cheese and add a bunch of veggies to tomato sauce, you have a great dish (that you can cook in advance & freeze) that fills you up that's not going to send your diet off the edge. i love making mini-pizzas on whole-wheat pita breads (the bigger size) -- you and your kids can still have a fun dish yet you're sticking to your diet and again you can put anything you want on there -- seafood, veggies, etc. to make it 'healthier'.



starches -- baked potato instead of fried, mix the mashed potatoes with other veggies (e.g. broccoli, cauliflower, parsnips, celery root to make it less calories per serving and it'll still taste like mashed potatoes). alternatively, use sweet potatoes -- they have much less calories & starch per serving and they taste amazing!



salads: sub mayo for yogurt or low-fat sour cream (at least partially) to take out some calories



sanwiches: sub mayo for dijon mustard (much more flavorful than that stuff in a squeeze bottle) or spreads (hummus, bean spread, etc. -- beans or chickpeas, a bit of olive oil, garlic, salt pepper & herbs, mix in a food processor and you're good to go, makes great dip too with wholegrain chips or pita crisps).



pastas -- make pasta salads instead (great way to eat veggies) and/or make thinner sauces i.e. make pasta 'swim' in the sauce as opposed to resemble a big blob of pasta & cheese on the plate. and again you can add veggies to it. and not all pastas require cheese tableside -- traditionally in italian cuisine (in italy that is not in the american version thereof) -- cheese does not go on fish or seafood so if you making pasta with clams or shrimps, you don't put parmesan or pecorino on it :) take it from a person who lived in italy. speaking of cheeses -- if you buy sharper cheeses (i.e. pecorino romano, asiago, parmiggiano reggiano or grana padana -- yes they cost about 5 times more for much less cheese, but they're very flavorful so you use much less of them and a small piece will last you weeks and you'll definitely be able to stick to your diet).



for salads & stir-fries (quick great way to make a meal with a ton of veggies + flavor in it), you can also try quinoa, buckwheat, millet -- all those grains are very flavorful and are more 'diet-friendly" than rice and/or pasta.



steaks -- i'm a read meat lover & you can preach to me about how white meat is much more leaner and healthier and blah blah blah, but i want my steak! so, marinade it in olive oil w/ balsamic or low sodium soy sauce, garlic (just press it down to crush it & throw it in the zip lock bag), herbs and let it sit for a few hrs or overnight. then grill it or sear it off on the stove (hot pan a 1-2 minutes on each side) and finish it in the oven then put it on the back of the stove covered up (where it's warm but no heat) and let it rest of 3-5 minutes -- a secret to a good steak-house quality steak. and the marinade -- take half of it and use it as a sauce for the mushrooms or veggies that you will serve with the steak -- again, ton of flavor, little calories. i also love to use white wine (1/2 cup per dish) to thin out the sauces and add flavor -- if you're cooking for several people, it's not that many calories, but great for flavor.



desserts: baked green apple wiht some raisins, walnuts & brown sugar -- ton of flavor, relatively inexpensive & easy to make, not to mention 'healthy'. i love making built-in glass desserts -- quickly cook fruits in a pan (apples, pears, peaches, bananas) with a teaspoon of butter (or less, this is for 4 people) & some brown suga (add a bit water to thin it out and coat all the fruits) then cool it down and build desserts in glass -- you can layer that with low-fat yogurt or yoplait whips, and even fruit sorbet -- comes out almost restaurant-quality dessert. conventional recipes for pies -- cut out a bit of sugar & butter & substitute it with low-fat stuff -- sour cream, veg oil, etc. for carrot cake & icing use less butter & sugar as well as for icing use low-fat cream cheese & a lower ratio of butter to cream-cheese for icing (i.e. instead of 1:1 use maybe 3:1 or 2.5:1 and use low-fat cream cheese) -- comes out very moist and delicious. btw, crumbles are great "diet" desserts because it's mostly fruit & oatmeal and you can put less sugar & butter in it and sub regular sugar for brown sugar. and also, buy dark chocolate instead of milk/white chocolate (it's less sweet and has much less calories & fat content because it contains less cocoa butter & sugar) i like to buy 70-80% cocoa and make desserts with that -- stuff like chocolate souffle -- chocolate, eggs & a bit of sugar and a bit of butter. but comes out amazing and for the amount of calories, you definitely have a feast and it takes less than 20 minutes to make -- well worth it on special occasions :)



oh and if you have an outdoor or indoor grill -- make a great use of it! much more healthy since you don't use oil and you can make a bunch in advance & freeze it & make some home-made marinades with garlic, herbs, green pineapples, papaya -- sky is the limit, instead of store-bought sauces & marinades that contain a ton of calories, sodium & preserves. not to mention making burgers that are lean, healthy and good for you and taste so much better than fast-food places!



good luck!

Nicole - posted on 08/17/2009

you should sign up with kraftcanada.ca they have a ton of recipies

Leonna - posted on 08/17/2009

The best cookbook you can buy as a Weight Watchers member is Hungry Girl 200 under 200 by Lisa Lillien. It has very tasty recipes for 200 calories and under. My husband doesn't even know that he's eating things for him! Plus the recipes are VERY quick and easy! Good luck!

Patricia - posted on 08/17/2009

have you tried couscous you can make it the night before and add anything you fancy it to it my daughters like it with loads of tom/cucumber/pepers/ onions and you can make it spicy if you like sometimes we have it with a pitte bread but you can add just about anything to it.