Low Fat Recpies

urahonky

Well it's that time. I finally hit that number on the scale that causes me to watch what I eat (I know... It's sad that it takes a number to sink in, but that's how I am). So tomorrow I'm going to the grocery store to pick up some food.

I realize that I can just Google them, but I'm actually more interested in what you, PAers, have tried and enjoyed. I'm sure there are a lot of them, but I'd just like a few so I can change from being a fat slob, to a slightly less fat slob while enjoying tasty foods.

Prefer NO sea food (unless it's tuna.... I do enjoy Halibut but I'm not sure how to cook it, and/or if it smells). I really prefer chicken/beef recipes if possible. I'd like them easy to make, but my wife will help me out if it's too much. Thanks guys, I'm really interested in seeing what you come up with!

TychoCelchuuu

I know you asked for chicken and beef, but I don't like chicken and beef so instead I'll throw out that most vegetarian dishes that aren't loaded up with tons of butter are pretty low fat. Eating less is also a good way to lose weight.

urahonky

Alternatively: A good site to find said recipes.

urahonky

TychoCelchuuu wrote: »

I know you asked for chicken and beef, but I don't like chicken and beef so instead I'll throw out that most vegetarian dishes that aren't loaded up with tons of butter are pretty low fat. Eating less is also a good way to lose weight.

Aha, good idea. I'm not opposed to eating veggie dishes as well. Thanks for the idea.

And my main problem is self control when I eat. Usually when I eat... I eat until I feel full, which is obviously bad. This is the main thing I'm going to work on. Getting a single serving and drinking a lot of water. See if that helps as well.

Dropping soda like a bad habit, as well as Kool-Aid.

ceres

You aren't supposed to drink with your meals.

I fucking hate this, but I have it on pretty good authority that it's true. You're not supposed to have any liquid for 30 minutes before or after.

No, I have no idea what to do if your meal is soup.

urahonky

Really?? Wow I've never heard that. Does it have something to do with how your body breaks things down, or something?

ceres

I think it's more to do with the fact that when you wash your food down you don't just wash it down your throat, but also through your stomach. If you don't have a ton of liquid in your stomach when you eat it will take your stomach more time to churn it up and pass it to your intestines and you'll feel full faster, and for longer, because you'll BE full longer.

I find it very uncomfortable, but honestly when I bother to tough it out it really works, and I want to eat a LOT less at a time.

TychoCelchuuu

Random recipes, eh? While we're at it, good things to look in to are recipes with lots of protein because they'll make you feel full without having to eat as much.

I think. I don't really know much about eatology. Gastronomy. Foodosophy. Whatever. Low fat sources of protein include tofu, tempeh, other vegeterian/vegan sort of meat alternative things, and chicken especially without skin.

Oh and also some kinds of cuisine, like Indian food or Thai food or Vietnamese food or Japanese food, can get pretty low fat because they're not big on butter and cheese and all that stuff, especially if you just avoid the dishes that are high in fat (whereas eating American food or British [ugh] food or Mexican food or Russian food is just asking for it a lot of the time).

ALSO in general olive oil > butter and the less of either the better. And cut down on cheese.

And exercise can help cut down on the pounds without cutting down on the bacon.

In any case, recipe dump:

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/jamaican-veggie-patties-recipe.html
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/vegetarian-lentil-burgers-recipe.html
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001567.html
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/tofu-burgers-recipe.html
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Orzo-Green-Bean-and-Fennel-Salad-with-Dill-Pesto-242693
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Poblano-and-Mushroom-Tacos-355771
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spanish-White-Beans-with-Spinach-356051
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Rava-Dosas-with-Potato-Chickpea-Masala-356035
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Squash-and-Red-Pepper-Pilaf-356033
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/My-Favorite-Falafel-231755
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Paneer-Curry-with-Peas-358211
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Vegetarian-Black-Bean-Chili-230632
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pita-Sandwiches-with-Eggplant-Peppers-Tomatoes-and-Cucumber-103259
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Potato-Salad-with-Pancetta-Rosemary-and-Lemon-359731
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/White-Bean-Butternut-Squash-Kale-and-Olive-Stew-1195
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lentil-Salad-with-Tomato-and-Dill-232495
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/African-Curried-Coconut-Soup-with-Chickpeas-352349
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Black-Bean-and-Rice-Salad-243130
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Warm-Tofu-with-Spicy-Garlic-Sauce-351871
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spaghetti-with-Olive-and-Pine-Nut-Salsa-236966
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spicy-Two-Bean-Vegetarian-Chili-107274
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spiced-Black-Bean-Burgers-654

Raneados

ceres wrote: »

You aren't supposed to drink with your meals.

I fucking hate this, but I have it on pretty good authority that it's true. You're not supposed to have any liquid for 30 minutes before or after.

No, I have no idea what to do if your meal is soup.

see i've heard it another way

by drinking water 10-20 minutes before you eat, I am told you "spoil" your appetite enough to not eat as much food as you normally would

mully

Raneados wrote: »

ceres wrote: »

You aren't supposed to drink with your meals.

I fucking hate this, but I have it on pretty good authority that it's true. You're not supposed to have any liquid for 30 minutes before or after.

No, I have no idea what to do if your meal is soup.

see i've heard it another way

by drinking water 10-20 minutes before you eat, I am told you "spoil" your appetite enough to not eat as much food as you normally would

i'm curious about this as well, since i've always been told that it takes the stomach 20 minutes to realize it's full ... so drinking a glass of water before eating will assist your stomach in figuring that out faster

TDawg

If you can lightly snack periodically throughout the day, you won't be as friggin starving when its time for meals, and you are less likely to overeat. This is personal experience so everyone is free to refute it out the window.

ceres

mully wrote: »

Raneados wrote: »

ceres wrote: »

You aren't supposed to drink with your meals.

I fucking hate this, but I have it on pretty good authority that it's true. You're not supposed to have any liquid for 30 minutes before or after.

No, I have no idea what to do if your meal is soup.

see i've heard it another way

by drinking water 10-20 minutes before you eat, I am told you "spoil" your appetite enough to not eat as much food as you normally would

i'm curious about this as well, since i've always been told that it takes the stomach 20 minutes to realize it's full ... so drinking a glass of water before eating will assist your stomach in figuring that out faster

I was told this as well by my grandmother when I was little, which I think is why it's such a hard habit for me to break. Drinking with your food is just what you do, according to my grandmother when I was little. She was convinced that not doing so would make you fat.

The word that it isn't so comes from a specialist I had to see last year, and it's been a difficult transition that I've been rather stubborn about because I don't like discomfort. :P I have to say though, in my experience at least, I definitely want to eat less when I don't drink with my food.

urahonky

TDawg wrote: »

If you can lightly snack periodically throughout the day, you won't be as friggin starving when its time for meals, and you are less likely to overeat. This is personal experience so everyone is free to refute it out the window.

Yeah this is a great solution when I'm not in class. Unfortunately I have a stomach condition that makes it incredibly noisy if I eat anything at all. Not sure what it is, but it's not normally gas (which is what I thought it was at first). Eating lightly throughout the day is actually supposed to help you lose weight too because your metabolism is working throughout the day.

But, unfortunately, classes start next week. So I can't go this route.

urahonky

Woah, thanks Tycho. Those veggie patties look INCREDIBLE. I'll sift through your links tomorrow morning.

phoxphyre

If you want a good recipe site try this one.

I use it quite a bit, and have found the recipes are good. This Italian Tuna Pasta is one of my favorites (I add zucchini and broccoli florets for more vegetables).

urahonky

Oh God phoxphyre, that Italian Tuna Pasta sounds incredible!

cmsamo

ceres wrote: »

mully wrote: »

Raneados wrote: »

ceres wrote: »

You aren't supposed to drink with your meals.

I fucking hate this, but I have it on pretty good authority that it's true. You're not supposed to have any liquid for 30 minutes before or after.

No, I have no idea what to do if your meal is soup.

see i've heard it another way

by drinking water 10-20 minutes before you eat, I am told you "spoil" your appetite enough to not eat as much food as you normally would

i'm curious about this as well, since i've always been told that it takes the stomach 20 minutes to realize it's full ... so drinking a glass of water before eating will assist your stomach in figuring that out faster

I was told this as well by my grandmother when I was little, which I think is why it's such a hard habit for me to break. Drinking with your food is just what you do, according to my grandmother when I was little. She was convinced that not doing so would make you fat.

The word that it isn't so comes from a specialist I had to see last year, and it's been a difficult transition that I've been rather stubborn about because I don't like discomfort. :P I have to say though, in my experience at least, I definitely want to eat less when I don't drink with my food.

Indeed, it's true. My gf just discovered this last week while reading a book on detoxes. If you eat during meals, the liquid dilutes the enzymes that break down and digest your food, making them less efficient, and leading to more waste.

Who knew, but ever since, we've taken to not drinking with meals.

Also - the same book said that starting the day with a cold drink is bad for your digestive system. Another weird one because we always liked to start with a nice cold OJ.

Now, we start it with a hot water with lemon, which actually is quite pleasant.

urahonky

Man, that blows my mind. Looks like I need to stop eating spicy foods then.

devCharles

Well, I'm not really a recipe guy because I tend to cook with ingredients that look good, but I can give you some solid general advice about what to look for if you want low fat.

Poultry:
Chicken, while higher in protein, is also higher in fat than Turkey. If you are getting enough protein through other means, Turkey is a low fat alternative to chicken. You can get it ground or in bacon form which can make for solid breakfast food. I like to make a turkey, carve off the meat, and then use that meat throughout the week for sandwiches.

If you do want to use chicken, chicken breast is the lowest fat part of the chicken. To get a lot of flavor, you just need to go with flavorful seasoning. Paprika, garlic, thyme, rosemary, crushed red pepper, and so on.

Red Meat
The cuts of red meat you want that are low in fat. Brisket, top sirloin, and flank steak are generally considered the lower fat cuts. Stay away from ribeye and be careful of chuck cuts.


Adding flavor:

So, it should be obvious that butter is out and olive oil is in. That being said, there are ways to add a ton of flavor to this stuff. In my experience, textures go a long way. Personally, I like adding mushrooms, onions, red bellpeppers, jalapenos, garlic, and tomatoes to all sorts of dishes across all types of food. You just gotta find the type you like. Grilling any of those vegetables, stuffing it in some chicken breast, and coating with a pan sauce will do you well.

Sauces can be kind of tricky without butter, but I've built good sauces out of stock, spices, wine, and vegetables. Cooking shit in alcohol is great. You tend to cook away the alcohol but get all kinds of cool flavors from the wine itself. Vinegar is another thing that's great to get a hold on. I love to use sirachi chili garlic sauce for all kinds of marinades. Yogurt is a good thing to marinade in if you like Greek, Turkish, or Indian food. I love using lime and lemon to add freshness and acidity to a lot of meats.

Seasoning is also important. Learn to love it. To make up for the fat, have a well stocked spice cupboard. Salt and pepper are natural, but paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, rosemary, thyme, parsley, cayenne, crushed red pepper, cumin, bay leaves, coriander, cloves and curry powder can all add tons of flavor giving you full, rich flavors where the fat won't really be missed.

urahonky

Hope you don't mind that I printed out your post, Charles. I figure it can't hurt to have it on the fridge!

devCharles

No problem. I lost about 70 pounds over the last year by cutting out soda, sugary stuff in a general way, and cooking my own meals a lot more. I know how annoying it can be at first to learn that kind of stuff. Seriously though, once you get into cooking, it can be pretty addictive. Once you learn basic techniques for cooking, you can do a surprising amount of stuff.