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2008/02/15, 11:34 AM
I don't have a full family like some on this site, but I have a wife and a dog.
How do those with significant others or even kids manage to eat healthy. I could eat chicken and vegetables 3 times a day for months and be fine with it but my wife likes variety more than I do.
Do you have to cook two different meals each time you cook? Do you force your family to eat your healthy dishes? Again there are only two of us so cooking a different meal for each one of us doesn't make much sense. I find that I struggle to eat to meet my goals all of the time because of this.
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2008/02/15, 03:27 PM
My husband has been eating the healthy meal that I prepare for over a year now along with my daughter. They just sneak in their "junk food" and meals that I will not prepare for them, when we go out to dinner or while I am at the gym.
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2008/02/15, 06:44 PM
We plan a menu each week. My husband and I sit down together and do this. He also eats healthy but we've got two kids, 9 and 3 year olds who are quite picky. We eat chicken twice a week, red meat once a week, pork once a week, turkey once a week and fish twice a week and just rotate everything around. We add a carb side like rice or potatos plus a veggie. The trick isn't necessarily WHAT you cook, but how you COOK it. There are hundreds of different rubs and marinades for chicken for example. You can mix a Chipotle marinaded chicken served with healthy spanish rice and sauteed peppers one night, and the next night lemon pepper chicken with zuchinni and squash ,etc. Still chicken two nights in a row, but totally different taste to the meal. And don't even get me started on the many ways to cook potatos and veggies! WOW! Planning the menu ahead of time also helps with night time prep, especially if you both work and are running ragged. We can pull out meat to thaw, start marinading it, or sometimes will throw a crock pot meal together in the AM so that it's ready at night. I won't lie, there are nights that we come home and think that the turkey breasts we pulled out don't sound yummy and will go out, or decide to make a sandwich or something instead. WE ARE HUMAN! As long as you try to eat healthy more than not. :)
As far as getting the kids to eat it? We've got a rule that they will eat what is served or they can go to bed hungry. Maybe it sounds harsh to some, but they have learned how to make smart meal choices on their own now. Although I was a little embarrased the other day. We went to a restaurant and the lady asked my son what he wanted for dinner off the kids menu. He asked her which meal had the most protein (he's 9). I was proud, but the woman looked at me like I was a child abuser!
Ok, I went totally off topic there. ha ha.
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2008/02/16, 10:33 AM
My family 2 girls-21 & 23, and a boy of 16, all eat healthy (at least at home). Once a week we do go out to dinner (anything from chinese to pizza) and it could be anything. We have to educate our children and prevent them from getting diseases caused from eating wrong. Once in a while they do get sick of chicken! No body is forced to eat anything, but if shown the benefits they will eat healthy. Make it fun!
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Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.
Ivan
Montreal Canada (City of Festivals)
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2008/02/16, 02:58 PM
My kids do as told or the get spanked in the back of the head!
LOL just kidding, I'm lucky as my kids love and eat everything I cook except my oldest hates sweet potatoes even if I put cinnamon and sweetener on it.
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Knock-Um Down & Keep-Um Down!
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2008/02/18, 03:08 PM
I cook chicken or other lean protein for all of us, veggies for all of us (fruit for my daughter if she doesn't like the current vegetable) and a pot of rice or pasta for them. They don't seem to know they are eating in any different way..occasionally they have fast food or fried chicken, but for the most they are used to what I eat being what they eat.
Why wouldn't your wife want to eat healthy?
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2008/02/19, 12:44 PM
Didn't say that. I struggle with cooking healthy foods that taste good. There tends to be a lot of redundancy. I can tolerate redundant bland food, she can't.
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2008/02/19, 01:15 PM
Spices my man! Spices! Mrs Dash makes tons of blends and there are sooo many marinades!
I have also found the weight watcher's cookbooks a big help - the one I have is called take out tonight and slims down recipes like you would have at different ethnic restaurants and delis.
Another good cookbook is an online one called Stella's Kitchen - she flavors up everything!
I also like the South beach cookbooks and the BIggest Loser cookbook.
Spend a little or check them out at the library and you will find all sorts of new ways to eat healthy and enjoy it!
One other thing I like is the South beach email I get almost daily they send you a new recipe - let me see if I can find a link for you to subscribe - really yyummy recipes, too. Sparkpeople.com is another that sends recipes and has a lot of cooking ideas.
And don't forget to check all of our great recipes here :)
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Argue your limitations and they are yours.
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2008/02/19, 01:25 PM
Oh my god! ecle, you need to invest in some good cookbooks, or watch some cooking shows (I LOVE Lion in the Kitchen and Healthy Decadance). Healthy food doesn't HAVE to be bland, that's such a misconception.
As I mentioned in my first post, focus on marinades, rubs, herbs, spices. You don't have to add fat to add flavor.
For instance, I love sauteed squash as a side dish. I used to sautee it up in a gallon of butter and then cover it in a cup of salt (so yummy). As a healthier option, we sautee it up in a very small amount of light margarine or butter and a little splash of olive oil. To add flavor we will dice up some baby sweet peppers, )red, yellow, and orange ones) and tossed them in with the squash. The flavor just popped, and the peppers against the yellow squash and green zuchinni squash was so colorful. Not to mention the added vitamin C and betacarotene (I think) from the peppers. It is far tastier than the old way of butter butter butter. My other favorite dish is Aztec Chicken. I got the idea from Red Lobster, but altered it to be heathlier. Marinate the boneless skinless chix breast in a Chipotle marinade. Bake or grill. Top with a tablespoon of light sour cream and a big helping of pico de gallo. Nothing bland there! And quite healthy. Make up some cheeseburgers with 96% lean beef, low fat cheddar cheese and serve on a wheat bun.
You get my point. I think there are even some recipes here. I got to the point where I have altered almost every one of my favorite foods into a healthy version, otherwise I couldn't do this! I LOVE food.
If you ate plain chicken breast with a side of brown rice and a protein shake mixed in water for desert, no wonder you are asking these questions! Bleh!
Good luck and have fun experimenting! Me and my husband cook our meals together now, it's fun, and gives us time together. Give it a shot! :)
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2008/02/19, 01:25 PM
Jinx Amy. :laugh::laugh::love:
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2008/02/19, 01:35 PM
LOL:big_smile:
I top everything with pico de gallo - my fave healthy condiment!
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2008/02/19, 04:03 PM
I am a closet Rachel Ray fan.
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2008/02/19, 05:11 PM
I like her recipes, but have to mute her, her voice makes me crazy.
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2008/02/20, 09:01 AM
She drives my husband nuts, too. But I like to watch her because it is like food porn...lots of stuff I can't have right now :)
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Argue your limitations and they are yours.
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2008/02/20, 09:07 AM
So true! That's why I like Healthy Decadance, her name is Devin something or other. She makes comfort foods the HEALTHY way. I love that! The other night she made meatloaf, au gratin potatos and red velvet cake. I don't like cake, but the other stuff, YUMMM!!!! Before that she made sliders and chips and dip only in a very healthy way. I never cook any of her stuff, but it's inspirational! ha ha.
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2008/02/20, 11:22 AM
Guess what I had today? Piece of chocolate cake(crap load of frosting) with the richest creamiest vanilla ice cream you ever had.
How's that for "food porn."
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Quoting from asimmer:
She drives my husband nuts, too. But I like to watch her because it is like food porn...lots of stuff I can't have right now :)
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2008/02/20, 01:24 PM
LMAO merrill. I have been bringing 2 hershey kisses to work with me for months to curb my afternoon craving. Not tracking them in my fitday of course, because they are just little tiny measly little pieces of chocolate. I just learned 5 minutes ago that they pack 25 calories and 1 gram of fat EACH! That doesn't sound like much, but YIKES! I'll be cutting those out of my diet. ha ha.
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2008/02/20, 03:06 PM
Just do 10 minutes of extra work and enjoy your kisses.
Almost a pun.
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Quoting from amyksmith76:
LMAO merrill. I have been bringing 2 hershey kisses to work with me for months to curb my afternoon craving. Not tracking them in my fitday of course, because they are just little tiny measly little pieces of chocolate. I just learned 5 minutes ago that they pack 25 calories and 1 gram of fat EACH! That doesn't sound like much, but YIKES! I'll be cutting those out of my diet. ha ha.
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