Diet Dinner ideas?

moments_of_sanity

Evening All

I am starting Weight Watchers Pro points today but I am not sure what menu choices to make, does anyone have any ideas for dinner/lunch/snacks etc.

Evening meals are a problem for me as I have a DH who loves meat every evening, a DD who will eat most things and another DD who is a vegetarian! I like most veg, fruit, yogurts etc but have no real idea what to cook that everyone will eat.

Any ideas gratefully received

ciderwithrosie_2

use a bit of oil spray and cook some sliced mushrooms, add onion salt, dried chives and plenty of black pepper. When they're softened, chuck in a bit of cornflour and some semi skimmed milk to make a thick mushroom sauce. I love this over a jacket potato. You could have a bit of salad with it too if wanted. The OH could have some sliced ham or a gammon steak with his.

mrsJef

Morning!

I also follow PP plan and with an OH, a bottomless pit of teenager & a 7 year old, thought it was going to be difficult to please everyone. However, I have found that actually just tweaking our normal family meals can fit into the plan really well. If I am making something that is points heavy then i make a large salad bowl up and then serve myself a smaller portion of main dinner with a huge salad.
I also make low/no point soups to have for lunch instead of sandwiches then at weekends allow the others to choose soup or sandwiches-to my suprise quite often they all want soup! This means i can allocate more points to my evening meal, allowing me to eat 'normal' meals with the others.

Serving extra fillers of bread & butter/more potatoes to those who want to eat more i.e. husband & teenage son, has kept them from 'starving', allowed me to only cook once each night and not broken the bank account either! Also making/having cheap puddings-sugar free jelly, meringues, ice cream, means if they are still hungry there is something else to offer, which you can choose not to have, i tend to start loading the dishwasher while they are having pudding, saving any leftover points to have a treat with a cup of tea later in the evening!

Top tip- get a couple of your most used recipes PP'd then when you menu plan you know you have a couple of days when you dont have to worry about it! Pasta bake & Crustless quiche are mine, -good old fall backs which stop me slipping when i am tired & cant really be bothered!
Hope this helps & good luck on your journey. X

Penny-Pincher!!

Eat less carbs, pad out with veggies or salad and still have the meat. I would eat the same meals but maybe just smaller amounts.

natbags

I'd love your crustless quiche recipe, MrsJef - sounds fab
Thanks

PipneyJane

I'd suggest spending an hour or so pointing up any family favourite recipes and checking out your favourite products. Since WW is based on the principle of healthy balanced meals and portion control, you should be pleased and surprised to discover that you can eat virtually all your favourites, but not necessarily in the same quantities or with the same accompaniments.

Also, as far as possible, try to point up your day in the morning, so that you can adjust what you're going to eat to fit the plan before you become tired, stressed and hungry at 6pm. That's not the time to discover that you've only left yourself 5 points for dinner.

Have you joined the WW website? It's a godsend with the new plan for pointing up recipes. (I've been a WW member since 2003, so ProPoints is still "new" to me.) I've used the recipe builder tool to point up all my favourite recipes, and have them stored on the site for further reference. I enter the recipes as I cook them. If the recipe comes from a cookbook, I'll also pencil in the points value beside it, plus any tweeks.

If you like to eat a particular product or ready meal, the WW website has most of those listed and pointed, too.

Simple tweaks to recipes/meals:-

• If you're making a sandwich for yourself, don't butter the bread. You won't miss it and you'll save points.
• Dry fry mince until it's brown, then drain off the fat before cooking a mince-based meal. I use a sieve suspended over a glass jug. Leave the meat in the sieve and use a teaspoon of the drained fat to fry the onions, etc, you're using in the meal. Return the meat to the pan and proceed as usual.
• Halve the amount of meat you use in a meal and bulk up with vegies, dried beans or lentils.
• To make a low point mash, use 50% potatoes and 50% swede. Boil them together, drain the "potato water" into a jug and use that instead of butter/cream/milk in your mash.

Hope this helps.

hilstep2000

I am doing the same as you, and find that filling up on fruit and veg is the answer. I eat very little meat, mainly chicken and fish. If you look at the Weightwatchers website they list filling and healthy foods, so I use that to guide me. I have lost 9lb in two weeks, so it is possible!

Last year I lost 2 stone for my daughters' wedding, and put on a stone due to a holiday and Christmas, so it's coming off again!

oldtractor

defenately filll up on fruit and veg.

angeltreats

I would really recommend the WW cookbooks (although make sure it's one that uses propoints rather than the old points). The library probably has a few, and WH Smith often has them on offer for around a fiver. Cook Smart Nice & Spicy is my favourite, followed by Cook Smart Baking, both are well worth treating yourself to.

I've been following WW for about three months now and have lost 30 pounds (2 st 2lbs, but 30 lbs sounds more!) and have not really given up anything, I just eat smaller portions of things I like, limit the chocolate and wine, and fill up on fruit and veg and zero point soup. I also swear by porridge in the morning as it keeps me full up until lunchtime - a teaspoon of golden syrup and a banana or grated apple make it more interesting for no extra points.

Also whatever you eat for dinner, cut down the portion and serve a big salad made up of rocket, cherry tomatoes, sliced peppers, red onions etc and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. All zero points but very tasty and you'll feel a lot more satisfied.

mrsJef

natbags wrote: »

I'd love your crustless quiche recipe, MrsJef - sounds fab
Thanks

Hi!

i dont really have a recipe as such but basically use a quiche tin (ceramic, not one with a removable bottom as it leaks!) and make up as i would a quiche, chopped onion, peppers, sweetcorn, whatever needs using up basically, then mix about 4 eggs upto 3/4 pint with milk and pour over the top. Add grated cheddar (however much i have-no more than about 80g). Bake in oven for about 30 mins until risen, golden & yummy!

I normally wipe round the dish with some marg before putting the ingrediants in as it helps get it out-this is the best low fat option to quich i have found, slightly more quichy than omellettey IYKWIM and makes enough to easily feed 4 of us. Has saved many a cant be a**ed night!

Enjoy!