CHEAP Healthy or Low-Calorie/Low-Fat Dinner Ideas...

[SassyMummy]

Does anyone have any CHEAP good healthy (as in balanced -with at least a good portion of veg), or low-fat/low-calorie dinner ideas?

I ask because while I cook some lovely dinners, I'm noticing they're not always terribly healthy... and I suppose I could just add a side of steamed veges to make them more balanced... but honestly, I just want something that makes veges taste nice too, so DP and DD will eat them (they don't eat them otherwise).

So anything healthy and/or low-cal/low-fat that doesn't cost too much to make would be absolutely fabulous (because I know fish is super-healthy, and could do a lot with it, if I could only afford to have it more than once every few weeks!).

TIA!

[missie_mack]

I just adore fajitas and they are so cheap and have little to worry about in them. You could use a cheaper cut of beef and trim back the fat too.

I just slice it up and coat the meat in fajita or taco powder and cook it on the grill plate of the BBQ or stove top and wrap it in flat bread (I usually look for the wholegrain ones) with LOTS of salad (spinach leaves or lettuce, chopped up cherry tomatos, cucumber, carrot or avocado all depending on whats cheap at the time) and very little meat. We might use a whole steak for the 2 of us and we probably get 2 wraps each and feel fullish. We would never eat as much salad as we have on the 2 wraps if it was on the side of the plate :o

The only downside is that the powder might be a little high in salt but we dont eat salt on anything else. You can basically do this with chicken too. I find blade steak the best but unfortunately not always the cheapest. I must admit this is one of my FAVOURITE meals :chef:

[Dannielle]

Hi, I love my "Symply too good to be true" cookbooks.

I have the set of 5. They are low fat homestyle cookbooks and were about $12 or $13 each from the newsagents.

[Ashleigh<3]

Tricked my DP the other night, (not too into the veges).
Cooked pasta, added pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, peas and corn some lite mozzarella cheese and some cannelloni beans.

It was absolutely delicious and healthy.
It tasted good cold, or warmed up. :)
I reckon I could of added spinach to it and he would of eaten it, the flavors were great.

[justmum]

What about pita bread pizzas? If you have the pita breads on an oven tray, with the pizza sauce already on the pitas and all the toppings chopped up, everyone can put their own toppings on their pita breads. Into the oven for 15 mins on hot and there's dinner. Low fat cheese for you and DH, full fat for DD.

[phineas]

Chicken breast baked with salsa and vegies on the side is way easy and low fat.
Melted cheese on the top is yummy too.

[Milliner]

I make this low fat sauce that I have with grilled chicken it's:

2 tablespoons of low fat mayo
2 tablespoons of natural no fat yoghurt
Dash of white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon or 2 of mustard (depends on how much you like it)
1/2 teaspoon of honey

It's sooooo YUMMY!

[threeofthem]

honey and soy chicken and vege's with rice is good and my fussy 2 yr old dd eats it. marinate chicken strips in soy and honey ( sorry i don't have measurements) but i would guess about 6 tbs soy and maybe 2-3 of honey tsp of garlic and ginger and some chilli if you want, chop up vege's any with this works. in 1/2 cup water disolve 1 tsp of cornflour. once the preperation is done chuck all in wok or frying pan and cook, add extra water if sauce gets to thick, serve with rice.

[SassyMummy]

Thanks for all the replies - definitely some ideas there. Keep them coming!

Hi, I love my "Symply too good to be true" cookbooks.

I have the set of 5. They are low fat homestyle cookbooks and were about $12 or $13 each from the newsagents.

I have all but one of them...it's number 3 or 4 I don't have. I dunno, the food always turns out weird when I cook them... well, the sweets anyway... so I kinda don't bother...

[fifipirko]

I just adore soups .. there are so many yum soups .. they fill you up nicely.
My fav are:
sauerkraut soup
lentil soup
mixed legume and barley soup
potato soup
goulash soup
chicken soup
beef soup
onion and beans soup

I always use fresh meat and veg .. apart of the legumes .. and instead of making flour and butter I use flour and water at the end .. so much healthier.

[fifipirko]

Ohh the other thing is .. I am not big on the veg on the side either so I make veggie bake .. just get all veg you have .. lightly cook the hard ones .. like cauliflower of pumpkin atc and spread it on the baking tray cover with beaten eggs and milk ..you can add up some breadcrumbs .. and I use no oil. Spicy up with some chilli flakes, vegeta, italian herbs .. or what you preffer. Bake for an hour or so .. till the middle bit is hard and done. It is delish:thumbsup:

[threeofthem]

Here is another one that my kids both love, my dh started to call it special dish and the name stuck. you need: Pasta spirals cooked,(however much you need for your family, we use about 250g for 2 adults and 2 babies), a can of condensed tomato soup, 1 large zucchini grated, 1 large carrot grated, a few mushrooms finely chopped, capsicum finely chopped (about 1/2) 200g chicken cut up small, clove garlic and italian herbs.
Cook pasta drain set aside
cook chicken, add in vegetables and soup cook untill heated through
Mix pasta and soup mix together, put in an oven proof dish, top with cheese and bake untill golden brown and set (about45 min).
This is really yummy, it does take time to prepare but as all the family eat it without fuss it is worth it

[Nex]

Lunch today (we often eat our main meal at lunchtime)

Baked chicken pieces with lemon seasoning. ( Just sprinkle chicken pieces with a seasoning mix and bake on a wire rack or baking paper in the oven.)

Corn salad.
Made with tinned corn kernels, diced capsicum, cucumber,shallot, tomatoes, green beans. Dressed with fat free italian dressing and a dash of balsamic

Microwave baked potato with a small dollop of lite sour cream.

Low fat, tasty and filling.

[phineas]

Do you have a slow cooker?

You can just chuck anything in those......

something cheap and healthy would be, say beef strips, with lots of vegies with a stock or perhaps a soup base.

Or chicken with veg, with a chicken and veg soup base.

Very cheap :thumbsup: