Well, it's time to actually get serious on eating healthy, as a family. I have been feeding my son better than the rest of us, but it's getting to the point where we want to eat together, and I'm just wanting all of us (me especially, for much-needed weight loss) to eat better. My son eats a great diet...and he's not picky!!! How'd I get so lucky?? =)
I have some cook books, like a neat Weight Watchers one, but the recipes are NOT practical for us. They are too complicated, full of uncommon ingredients, and some are a little too "far out" sounding for my husband.
I'd like for us to be eating healthy, easy to prepare food. I'd like to cut out processed stuff, cut down on fat and sodium, and eat more veggies and fruit.
My husband is a real simple, "meat and potato" kind of guy. I'd like the food to still be simple and tasty, and not too hard to shop for or prepare. Maybe even some stuff we could make in advance, then re-heat...
Anyway, a recipe favorite, a cookbook idea, or just any pointers and suggestions would all be appreciated!! Thank you in advance!!
allrecipes.com is great. They have nutrition information and you can build an online cook book with your profile. Each recipe is reviewed so you will be able to know you have a good one before you start.
I try to buy 1 new food each month at the produce Dept. Often times things I have never heard of. My picky husband has found fresh veggies that he loves and will even snack on during the day. He also knows that once a month is not so bad if he has to have PB and J for dinner ;)
Some easy things to start with;
-Stir-fry - left over meat and a varity of veggies with your favorite household seasoning over brown rice.
-Crock pot stews- add more pepper and reduce the salt. Half (or quarter) the amount of potatoes by adding parsnip, turnip, jicama.
-Serve some sort of salad with everything!
-Bags of frozen veggies make microwave dinners easy. Just a bit of margarine and cajun seasoning over the top, maybee some cheese.
-Pull out the blender- A smoothie is wonderful with dinner. Frozen fruit, 1 TBS dream whip, a bannana and some milk will make a tall glass for all of you. You can sneak in some veggies in here too.
My husband bought me a cookbook one year for my birthday that is just great it is called Vegetables by James Patterson. It shows you how to prepare and cook all sorts of vegetables and has many simple recipes inside. BTW for a picky eater there are many ways to disguise vegetables by pureeing them and adding them to sauces, meatballs, broths etc.)
The idea of one new thing a month is great!
I would also suggest when you find recipes the whole family likes make a double recipe or even a triple one and save the leftovers in single serving containers in the freezer then you have an easy dinner. It is always easier to make a double recipe than to make the same recipe twice!
Casseroles, stews, and stirfries all freeze really great!
I would also recommend getting a crock pot this makes healthy soups and stews a snap and also produces leftovers for freezing and reheating!
:) Have fun cooking!
Our family is also trying to eat better. My daughter also eats healthier than us and is not picky. Here are some recipe ideas that my meat and potatoes husband will eat.
Chicken & Dumplings
Meatloaf
Roasted Chicken & Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
Annies All Natural Mac N Cheese with desired meat
Spaghetti - Use Brown Rice Pasta, Muir Glen Organic Spaghetti Sauce and choice of meat, if desired.
Pizza - Use Sammy's Pre-cooked whole wheat pizza crust, Muir Glen Pizza Sauce, cheese and desired toppings.
For Snacks we buy natural fig bars, Veggie Booty, Pirate's Booty, Cheerios, Popcorn, String Cheese, Yogurt, etc...
I hope this helps to give you some ideas. A lot of the dishes I make in large quantities because I can freeze leftovers in Tupperware's Rock N Serve Containers to pull out and use at any time.
www.pecanbread.com click on recipes www.GlutenFreeEugene.org
1 in 4 have gluten issues and should e off gluten. Many kids all should be off gluten as they are saying that wheat causes many problems. You will never go hungry eating this way. Much support and recipes. The book is called Breaking the vicious cycle diet
I would highly recommend "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld, in which you puree vegetables and add them to your meals. It's tailored specifically for children, but most of the recipes are ones that adults can enjoy as well. It takes some time to get into the habit of pureeing foods, but I love it. You can check out her website before you buy the book so you can try a couple of recipes first. www.deceptivelydelicious.com
I'm a huge fan of the magazine Cooking Light. I lost some weight on Weight Watchers a few years back, and this was one of the few sources that I enjoyed that had recipes whose points weren't too large. Now, not all of the recipes are quite properly balanced for weight loss, but they are awesome for weight maintenance and have as much flavor as recipes from other sources. The magazine has a section called dinner tonight which has at least four quick and easy meals to put together. They also have sections in the front on exercises and healthy living. I personally like it for the non-meat and potatoes sorts of recipes they have (plus, they have a vegetarian section and my husband recently became vegetarian), but my mom has been using it for years for the more standard recipes.
They also have an online website: www.cookinglight.com
I find the magazine much more fun to page through and get ideas from, but the website does have all the recipes on it as well.
Good luck!
Hi Kelly, It's always hard to change lifestyle, especially where food is concerned. But well worth the effort for a healthier life for the whole family. Not long ago, my husband decided the same thing and decided to do all of the cooking (yes I am in heaven) He descovered a magazine called "Eating Well". The recipes are normal, quick, and easy. But better than that, they are really tastey. You can get recipes from their website also: www.eatingwell.com
Good luck and hope your family appreciates your efforts. Julie
Kelly
Changing eating habits are the hardest for adults. Planning out a weekly menu helps a lot. I can totally relate to your husband though. Betty Crocker's Healthy New Choices cookbook has some great realistic ideas. We also like some of the recipe's in the South Beach cookbooks. We have three girls who are very picky so I don't always get to cook healthy all the time. Eliminating some of the junk is the hardest. Good luck I hope this helps.
Stephanie stey-at-home mom three girls 12,8 1/2 and 4 1/2
I love that people want to help their children eat healthy. I think it's crazy how we as adults want to eat healthy but then we will give our kids fried food, french fries and all sorts of processed stuff. I am totally a snack person so my kids get all of the snack pack stuff like 100 cal. I know all of that can't be great, but it's good for me when it's quick.
I make trail mixes and put them in zip locks for my 3 year old to go and grab herself. I put nuts, cheerios, dried fruit, yogurt covered raisens,pretzels just a variety of things. Dinner time, we always have veggies with our meal. We make homemade pizzas with whole wheat flour. I hope some of these things will help.
The Dr. Phil cookbook is great--Simple low fat recipes. He uses slot of herbs that really flavor the food. I substitute some of the spices if I don't have exactly what the resipes call for.
The Deceptively Delicious cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld is also really good for kids--I have a freezer full of the pureed veges to add to things--I am learning what you can add into other foods I prepare that aren't in the cookbook too.
I enjoy cooking from Rachel Ray's books. I have found her recipes to be easy and turn out delicious. Also, some of my favorite recipes come from those little paperback books- Betty Cocker, Kraft, etc - you find in the checkout line at grocery stores. Good luck in your search for healthy eating.
Hi, Kelly -
I checked out the JOY cookbook from the library and I love it! I wish I had it years ago when I got married.
One thing I do to feed my family healthy is to avoid boxed, packaged foods, unless I know they are healthy ones. Focusing on whole foods is definetly a good way to go. Eating together as a family is also very important. We eat almost every meal together at the table as a family.
Another way we stay healthy is not to waste our money on junk food. Pop, chips, etc. If it's not in the house, you won't eat it, and will be less tempted to snack. If I have junk in the house, it gets eaten. That simple. Hope all goes well!
Veronica
I have 3 children, and a husband that works nights so it's important to get a quick, easy and healthy meal on the table so we can all eat together before he has to go to work. I have a subscription to the magazine Quick Cooking. It has easy, inexpensive meals that you can make with ingredients on hand. If you want to try it before you subscribe you can go to the grocery store and pick up a copy.
Hello, not sure if anyone suggested Taste of Home's Light and Tasty magazine. They have delicious easy to prepare recipes in a bi-monthly pulication. I have been getting it for about 5 years and haven't had a bad experience. Next time you are at the store check the magazine rack. I (unfortunately)have picky eaters and I always find something. Hope it helps!
Hi Kelly,I subscribe to the Light and Tasty magazine from the Taste of Home group. Most recipes are easy to fix and have common ingredients. Also I use a crock pot a lot. I use the Fix It and Forget It cookbook. Sometimes I substitue lower fat ingredients to make them healthier. I hope this helps. Best of luck on your new lifestyle.Laura
Kelly, iVillage Food has been a lifesaver for me. I subscribed to their e-mail list, and was getting a recipe from them once a day. The recipes were easy, tasty and fast. I never made one of their recipes that we didn't like (I didn't like all their recipes, but the ones I made were fantastic!).
Good luck, my son is easy too, but I still hate the meal prep and shopping and all that. I really want us to eat healthy but it is such a strauglle to know what to make.