Dave's Dinner Requests

Many of you will be doing your grocery shopping this weekend. Check out these meal ideas we put on our menu this week!!!! Prepare for success & buy healthy foods this weekend!!!!

You ever go on a diet, you learn the right combo of foods that work in helping you lose weight? You can easily get in a rut of eating the same thing over, and over, and over, and over, huh? For me personally, food doesn't excite me. I'm an 'Eat to Live' person, so for me...I can eat the same thing over and over and not get bored. In my mind it's: egg whites + spinach + tuna + chicken + broccoli + apple/peach/banana = weight loss. And when that's my main goal, that's what I eat.

However, for many, you're all eating fast food, or fried stuff, a ton - a ton of carbs. The benefit of your situation is that whenever you do something different, you're going to get results. Your disadvantage IS your advantage. 

Here is a list of a few dinners that Dave requested yesterday, as I was working on my grocery list. (Note: Dave was saying...'can we please eat something else other than chicken or do something fun w/ chicken?' I responded, 'Like what, a thick fatty steak?' Him: 'No...But I'm tired of chicken'...I said, 'okay....then we need to eat fish, lean pork loins, super lean ground beef...turkey maybe.' (SEE PICS BELOW!)

And so the following is a list of meals (lunch or dinner) we came up with:

1. Turkey Burgers - check the fat content on these, one patty of the turkey burgers at Costco is 200 cals. each. Have w/out mayo & cheese, but put all the fresh veggies on it you can. We will eat these on the Thomas mini-bagels or the sandwich thins.
2. Zucchini Sauce over chicken w/ a dark green salad - Chop up zucchini fine and sub it for the meat that you would normally put in your spaghetti sauce. Measure out the serving of sauce to track calories.
3. Fish Tacos on the super thin, low-cal corn torts. I get the 'Hake' at Costco for this, it's a lean fish, white, cooks up nice to put in a taco, top w/ cabbage or lettuce, tomatoe, onion, hot sauce. Serve w/ 1/2 cup of pot beans/black beans.
4. BBQ Pork Loins w/ veggie kabobs - (This is a weekend meal since Dave will be bbqing it up.) Get the leanest pork loins (cut off any fat that's on the edges), brush some teriyaki sauce & season. Then put some pineapple, mushroom, grape tomatoes, purple onion, bell pepper on some skewer sticks, brush those w/ some teriyaki sauce & grill. Yummy!
5. Black Bean Chicken Salad - Plate of dark green salad, tomatoe, onion, bell pepper, a little finely chopped up jalapeno, cold corn, 1/2 cup of black beans, chicken breast chopped up...top w/ some salsa, (Fresh & Easy has a great Mango Salsa we love on this salad).
6. Good 'ol BBQ chicken w/ 1/2 cup of brown rice & veggies - You can serve this all seperate on a place, add some soy/teriyaki sauce for a stir-fry style bowl, or grill the veggies. Veggies can be anything that is a veggie: broccoli, carrots, corn on the cob, green salad (very low-cal dressings), medley of veggies, mushrooms & tomatoes cooked up together w/ some onion comes out yummy together...squash sauteed (no butter, I use Pam Spray, then add a little water so the veggies don't scorch).
7. Chinese Chicken Salad - greens, purple onion, slivers of carrots, mandarin oranges (rinse before using), slivered almonds, and chow mein crunchy noodle stick/twigs. I get a Paul Newman dressing, low cal, Sesame Ginger only 35 cals. for 2 tbsp. (You can cook your chicken up in the dressing too, to add flavor).
8. Zucchini Pizza - (The P-word, I know....) But these are made on those Flat-Out wraps. I got the 'Light' ones at Target, I think they are at the Super Wal-Mart too. (90 cals/wrap). Dice up zucchini/squash, sauteed, put in your fave spaghetti sauce...spread over the flat-out wrap (spray the back of the wrap so it won't stick to the baking sheet)...measure out the low-fat/low-cal cheese, add some purple onion, dice up some turkey lunchmeat/ham, add bell pepper, tomatoe, mushrooms, whatever veggies you like on a pizza. Bake it for 10 min. & voila: Healthy Pizza - should come in around/under 300 cals. if you keep everything light & measured out.
9. Quiche for Dinner - use mostly, if not all egg whites, add all the veggies you like: tomatoe, mushroom, bell pepper, broccoli, onion, spinach - you can add some diced up lean ham if you want...& bake. Serve it w/ salsa.
10. Egg White Burritos - add the some of the veggies listed above, except scramble it all up together. We eat the low-carb, high fiber wraps by Tortilla Factory at Costco for burritos. (Only 80 cal. per tort...compare to a typical, white tort...those clock in 120/150...all the way up to 200 cals. each).
11. Tomato & cottage cheese wrap - w/ cholula, add lettuce in the 80 cal. tort - add a big dark green salad or your fave fresh veggies on the side.
12. Good 'ol turkey sandwich - made on the Thomas Mini-Bagels (I get mine in bulk at Costco, but they're in most grocery stores). Turkey, lettuce, tomatoe, pepper rings, pickle, purple onion, NO mayo or the light mayo MEASURED OUT! Serve w/ crunchy baby carrots, salad/veggies, or some fresh melon (but don't eat 1/2 of the melon unless it'sa small cantalope or something.)
13. Taco Salad - without the taco shells! Dark greens w/ lean ground turkey/beef, then all the fresh veggies, maybe a little low-fat cheese.
14. Veggie soup - w/ sandwich or veggie soup w/ chicken chopped up in it...scoop of pinto/pot beans. Veggie soup: cabbage, onion, celery, carrots, squash cooked up w/ minimal salt. Eat alone for lunches too, add to main dishes. Great little side dish to get the scale moving downward!

These are just the ones we came up with yesterday. But really, w/ any lean meat - you can create your own salad or stir-fry, add to any low-fat, veggie based soup.

I hope these help get some healthy variety into your kitchens. The benefit is you make all this at home so that you control what goes into it! Measure out your portions when it comes to sauces/condiments/dressings. Prepare food w/out adding fat as much as possible,

We also decided on Saturday mornings, we will prepare a platter of fresh veggies: broccoli, carrots, fresh squash, fresh mushrooms, etc. I like to use low-fat cottage cheese as a dip. I add onion powder, paprika, and some pepper to give it some flavor. If we take the time to prepare fresh foods, we will eat them!

Prepare your foods and eat at home as often as possible - you WILL lose weight when you make these changes!


Hake w/ 1/2 cup brown rice & fresh broccoli



Black Bean Chicken Salad w/ Mango Salsa

Quick Meal: Turkey Wrap w/ side of Cottage Cheese