Chit Chat

Healthy Recipe Ideas

H and I have been making a conscious effort to eat healthier this year... It's your typical "I feel gross after the holidays and need veggies" New Years Resolution but it seems to be sticking this year! I want to keep the momentum going, but Pinterest is only taking me so far with healthy recipes. What are some of your favorite healthy dinner recipes?

FWIW, I don't really eat red meat (except bacon!)so that limits our meals sometimes. I used to be the pickiest eater in the world, but luckily I've expanded my horizons and eat a wider range of things these days. 

Re: Healthy Recipe Ideas

  • I use sparkrecipes.com. They've got a lot of healthy recipes as well as makeovers of less healthy ones. The roasted root vegetables recipe from there is one of our favorites.
  • We eat a lot of fish (all FI's doing - I never used to eat fish) and tofu (which is actually my influence on him).

    For an easy, healthy recipe, we take tilapia filets, put oil (safflower usually, but olive would work too) and old bay on it, then broil it for about 7 minutes, and voila! dinner. As a side, FI usually takes kale, puts oil, garlic salt, and sesame seeds on it, and broils it as well. I like it crispier, but you can cook it however you like.

    Last night we did a similar thing with shrimp, though I am huge pasta lover, so we had it over pasta. But we love a good shrimp and garlic stir fry.

    If you guys are into tofu, a stir fry is easy to make. We'll use soy sauce, some sesame oil (not really necessary), lots of garlic (I LOVE garlic), sesame seeds, and, if we have, some hot pepper. You can throw in really any vegetables and/or have it over rice.

    In my past life, I subsisted mostly on chicken nuggets and pasta, so I am with you on the former picky eater life. But everything is so much better with delicious food! I've fallen in love with afghan and indian food but, sadly, that doesn't apply to healthy recipes :(
  • This is my favorite new recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/13378/stuffed-pepper-soup-iv/

    You can sub shredded chicken and chicken broth for the ground beef and beef broth.  I'm also planning to experiment with adding taco seasoning and eating it with tortilla chips.  And another thing I love about it is it's very easy to double, triple, whatever, and freeze it.  I have about a dozen quart bags of it in my freezer right now.
  • There's a recipe thread on the Getting in Shape board, come and check it out!
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  • I get a lot of recipes from Cooking Light. Also, these are some of the things I make often:

    Chicken Marsala 
    Chicken fajitas 
    Any kind of baked salmon or cod 
    Turkey meatloaf 
    Turkey tacos 
  • I get a lot of recipes from cooking light and skinny taste as well.  

  • I love the Cooking Light Slow Cooking book because I can make a batch on Sunday and then have healthy lunches or dinners for the week without a ton of work. My downfall is when I don't have anything planned and I end up eating super unhealthy stuff. I'm not a great cook, so I like the recipes because they're easy and don't usually require a lot of unique ingredients. The book is pretty cheap online but you can find a lot of the recipes here, http://www.cookinglight.com/food/top-rated-recipes/slow-cooker-favorites

    Last week I did the potato soup and this week I did the pork chili. H asked that I make them both again so I'd say they were successful. 
  • teddygirl9teddygirl9 member
    Knottie Warrior 500 Love Its 500 Comments Name Dropper
    edited February 2016

    Some of my favourite 'healthy' meals:

    Jerk chicken w/ roasted veg

    Spicy hot pot soup (can be with tofu, veggies, chicken)

    Curry/stirfry over veggie instead of rice.


    I also like to buy a bunch of veggies and use them throughout the week, and anything left over gets made into chili or soup haha. Goes In the freezer into a Tupperware (I just re-use the large yogurt containers) and thawed when you want a quick meal.

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  • I subscribe to cooking light magazine. A lot of their recipes have ingredients that I don't keep around the house, but it's good for some inspiration. 

    Stir fry is always a good go to. You can put any veggies in it that you want- even frozen ones. I make mine with egg noodles usually. Brown rice is good with it too. 

    There are also lots of good healthy pasta recipes out there. The other night I made whole grain linguine with walnut kale pesto. I served beef with mine, but chicken could easily be substituted. The pasta would be excellent by itself too. 

    Next week I'm going to try a recipe for vegetable lasagna with a creamy butternut squash sauce. 

  • We use the EMeals low calorie dinner planner. I'm bad at meal planning so this helps me use up all of the groceries I buy and keep my dinners under 500 calories so I can plan the rest of my day.

    My go to pantry meal is actually pretty low cal too. I start with EVOO, onion and garlic. Add black beans, (canned) tomatoes, and whatever other veggies I have in the house:  mushroom, peppers, spinach, corn, pretty much anything. I too with a little feta, oil and vinegar for taste. If you want a carb add brown rice or whole wheat pasta. 
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  • PamBeesly524PamBeesly524 member
    Seventh Anniversary 1000 Comments 500 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited February 2016
    Thanks for all the ideas everyone! I really like Skinnytaste but will take a closer look at Cooking Light. @thefanciestbeckler that lasagna recipe sounds fantastic!
  • labro said:
    I love www.skinnytaste.com . She seriously has the BEST recipes. Some of them are quick and easy, others can be more complicated (but WORTH IT). She's really great about posting all the nutritional facts, all of her recipes include Weight Watchers points (if you're doing or considering WW). I really love her stuff!

    Completely agree! I've loved every single recipe I've tried and through her recommendation bought a spiralizer and love it!


  • @PamBeesly524 I'm excited to try it. It calls for Swiss chard as one of the veggies, which is kind of hard to find in my area. So I'm going to substitute that with baby kale and spinach I think. We'll see how it goes!

  • @thefanciestbeckler is the recipe online? Let me know if it's good!
  • Thanks for starting this. I'm going to attempt the Skinnytaste tomato soup today. 
  • @PamBeesly524 I can't find the recipe online! I will take some pictures of the page in the magazine and send them to you.

  • @charlotte989875 Which one did you make? Her slow cooker tomato soup? I made that a couple weeks ago and it was SO DELICIOUS!



  • labro said:
    @charlotte989875 Which one did you make? Her slow cooker tomato soup? I made that a couple weeks ago and it was SO DELICIOUS!
    Yes! The slow cooker creamy tomato soup. It turned out SO GOOD and it was super easy. H said it didn't even taste like a healthy soup. 
  • Lots of great ideas. A few other random ideas:

    I roast a lot of veggies on weekends then incorporate them in lunches and dinners throughout the week. Roasted cauliflower pureed with chicken stock (and maybe a bit of cheese or cream) for dinner, roasted mushrooms with most meats, chopped roasted veggies mixed into grains, etc.

    We do lots of stirfrys with different sauces. Generally speaking, you're better off making your own sauces because they end up with a lot less crap in them.

    None of us love whole grain pasta so, when I need a noodle fix, I do half zucchini noodles, half white flour pasta. You still get a big bowl of noodles but stretched out.

    If you like creamy sauces or dressings, try using greek yogurt or silken tofu instead. We make a Thousand Island dressing with tofu that's remarkably good.

    I add frozen chopped spinach to all sorts of stuff: marinara, soups, meatloaf, etc. It adds nutrients, etc. but blends in so that you barely notice it.
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  • @wandajune6 so many good ideas! We are on a bit of a cauliflower kick so maybe I'll try it puréed...  We're also not huge fans of the whole grain pasta, which sucks, but I do like the idea of mixing in some zoodles!
  • Let me tell you about my favorite thing in my kitchen: 

    The spiralizer. 

    This thing is amazing. It has helped me eat so much healthier and really got me out of my kitchen boredom rut! I have the Paderno Tri-Blade. There are other models out there but be careful; my aunt tried to purchase the Paderno and accidentally bought the Palermo instead and was very disappointed with its performance. 

    Visit inspiralized.com for awesome, delicious recipes. Ali, the author, has great taste! I make her recipes all the time and have only ever been disappointed once or twice. 

    (I swear, I should get a commission from Paderno or Ali. I have hooked so many friends and family on the spiralizer & her recipes!)
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