There was a recipe I used to make pre-op that I loved. Homemade beef and broccoli. I have been wanting it, so I made a crock pot of it yesterday to have for lunches this week.

Well, this is the first time I entered the ingredients and added up calories and WHOA! I was a bit shocked. There really isn't much to it other than BEEF (top round) and BROCCOLI! I mean, in all actuality the calories aren't bad, just more than I eat now for a meal. The random little things added up quick!

340 calories and 28 g protein per serving.

I was just a bit shocked that they added up to that! Next time I will try to tweak the recipe to get it a little lighter and see how it tastes.

Sticker shock, if you will!

I am eating it anyway because like I said, not horrible but not my typical meal. But I am not just going to waste it all so I will enjoy it this week and go from there!

less beef and more broccoli will definitely turn that around - although as we know, protein is really important, too. Although I suppose you could make it with chicken if you wanted...

340 calories per serving and 28 grams of protein is actually decent - although I'm in maintenance, which makes a difference...

I am eating about 1000 calories a day so I try to stay under 300 cals per meal. So like I said, not horrible but a little more than I usually eat. It was more of a shock that all the little ingredients added up so quick.

The actual beef and broccoli was only 205 cals of it.

I wonder if you could enjoy one serving of it and freeze the rest?? I am not a leftover person so I am not the one to ask if it would freeze well. I always think leftovers taste different the next day in fridge, never mind freezing them but alot of people do it.

16 minutes ago, ShoppGirl said:

I wonder if you could enjoy one serving of it and freeze the rest?? I am not a leftover person so I am not the one to ask if it would freeze well. I always think leftovers taste different the next day in fridge, never mind freezing them but alot of people do it.

I am hit or miss with frozen and leftovers in general. I will usually freeze a serving of something to test it out so I don't waste too much if it gets weird.

I will be fine with it this week, cut a few somewhere else if needed but even if I ended up 40-50 cals over it is not going to hurt me.

I might freeze a portion and test it out though, good thinking!

Isn't it crazy the way we evaluate things like that? Pre surgery, 340 calories would have seemed really low to me, even when dieting. Now, I probably couldn't eat that much if I tried.

I suppose there's nothing that says you have to eat a full serving if it doesn't fit your goals. The protein content to calorie ratio seems decent, so one regular serving might actually be two for me right now.

Edited October 24, 20223 yr by SpartanMaker

it’s amazing the stuff that we used to eat is a lot more calorie dense then after changing dietary habits; especially portion size for me so far!