What are you eating?
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Jenny_Rose77
Posts: 418 Member
I was never a great cook (mainly because I'm lazy), and with a 5 month old, I am finding it REALLY hard to prepare healthy meals. (My son does not have a regular nap schedule, and a normal day of work for my husband is often 8AM-8PM...and baby does not like to be put down unless I am paying attention to him.) Anyway...if you look at my diary, most days you will see take out or frozen meals for lunch and dinner. I want to prepare meals from scratch at home (because it's healthier for all of us, and I want to model that for my son). Do any of you have particular go-to meals that are easy to make and healthy? Would you share the recipe with me?
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Replies
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Unfortunately I'm in the same boat. I've done a search for low sodium recipies and low calorie recipies that turned up some promising leads to check out today.0
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Stir fries are my specialty. You can pair them with brown or white rice, brown being the healthier option, of course.
Basically, all you need to make a good stir fry is:
oil
minced garlic
choice of veggies
choice of meat
soy sauce (opt for lower sodium)
sugar (optional)
It only takes a few minutes to cut the meats and veggies and then maybe 10 minutes to stir fry it all in a pan or wok. When my baby gets fussy, I will turn the heat on low, cover the pan, and just let it simmer, which also tenderizes the meat.
I also work out of the home full time so sometimes I will prep everything the night before to make it easier on me when I do cook it later on.
Do you have a crock pot? There are some awesome crock pot recipes that are also very healthy.0 -
Jenny, do you have a walker to put him in while you cook or prep a meal? Or even a bumbo. When I prep a meal I do it on our dining room table (which is in our kitchen and is huge) I put Jaxon in his bumbo and sit him on the table so I can talk to him and he can see what I'm doing. I don't leave him unattended on it but if I have to turn away from him I scoot him to the middle of the table so he couldn't go anywhere if he tried lol
You can't go wrong with the crock pot, things may take a few minutes to prepare but you can't beat it doing all the work lol I make pinto beans with a ham hock. Roast with potatoes and carrots, i make stew quite a bit and chili every now and then.. They don't take long to prepare and they make enough for lots of leftovers.0 -
We still rely on cooking big batches of stuff on weekends and then we either eat the same thing for a few days in a row, or we freeze individual portions to eat later. We buy frozen individual portions of salmon and tilapia and bake them in the toaster oven, and pair them with a steamed veg and a microwaved sweet potato. The slow cooker is very handy! Some times if I have a meal that requires a little more effort I'll do some prep earlier in the day (ie. chop veggies), and finish it off later on.
The nap schedule will eventually work itself out. Rose is just about 7 months, and we didn't find our groove with a nap schedule until close to 6 months. And he'll soon get used to playing on his own for a little while, too. Don't worry, everything will work itself out!0 -
I have a 3.5yo and another on the way and after my 1st daughter, my crockpot became my new best friend. It also helped that I had her in the fall/winter, so lots of yummy soups. Checkout this website...http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
I love lots of her recipes, but some of my all times faves are...
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2009/05/crockpot-asian-shredded-beef-recipe.html - I usually use boneless pork chops or loin instead of beef, but LOVE it over cabbage and brown rice.
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/11/maple-dijon-chicken-crockpot-recipe.html
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/crockpot-pumpkin-black-bean-soup-recipe.html
I am due with #2 in August, but I plan to make good use of my crockpot as well as lots of salads. Prep once a week and be ready all week long.0 -
I was about to say until I saw someone else's comment that I used to put my older son in a bouncy seat in the kitchen while I cooked. That way I could talk to and otherwise interact with him. When he was too old for that but not old enough to let freely wander the kitchen in safety, I'd put him in his high chair and let him taste food while I was cooking or let him play with toys, etc.0
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My husband and I always struggle with the "What's for dinner" question. It makes it harder that he normally has to cook b/c I'm not home until around 6:30 or 7 from work and he's not the best cook. We tried a website called e-meals.com, but I'm not totally sure I'd reccommend it... we had a groupon so I was only out 35 bucks for the year... but the recipies aren't my favorite and aren't terribly veggie heavy... even the Low Fat one! Its a great concept though and most of the recipies are fairly simple so my husband doesn't feel too overwhelmed. We were definately sick of our rotation of chicken breast w/ veggie, spaghetti and taco rut so it did help a bit with that... may be worth a look!0
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When my husband and I were first married, he did most the cooking. I'm the youngest child in my family and very much live up to that stereotype.....I really didn't know my way around the kitchen.
After having my oldest daughter (who's now almost 3) I felt like we needed a better system...I didn't like each of us coming home from work each day, starting at each other with quizzical looks, and asking each other "What's for dinner". My friend suggested I come up with a week/2 week meal plan, so then we aren't scrambling around at the last minute. So that's what I do- I make a 2 week plan (depending on when we get paid), email it to myself, and then email myself the grocery list. I include several crockpot meals a week (seeing as I still work part-time) and it's made life much easier for all of us!! Especially now that we have two little ones...
I use Allrecipes.com (the free version) for most of my recipes. There's a section for healthy/low calorie recipes, and I just got a lot from there. PM me if you want some examples:)0 -
A couple of things that I've made lately that are quick and easy, pretty healthy, and make large quantities (you could freeze or have leftovers for days) are:
Taco Bake:
1.25 lb Extra Lean Ground Turkey (I get the jennie o)
8-10 fajita size yellow corn tortillas
1 can of black beans (drained & rinsed)
1 rotel (drained)
1/2 red onion
3 cloves garlic
jalapeno peppers (optional)
taco seasoning to taste
salsa
shredded mexican cheese
light sour cream
I brown the ground turkey. Add onion & garlic and sautee until onion is tender. Add taco seasoning, black beans, rotel, jalapenos & mix together. Spray a glass casserole dish with cooking spray. Line the bottom with 4-5 tortillas, layer the turkey mix, tortillas, turkey mix. Sprinkle the top with cheese. Bake 10-15 min at 350 or until cheese is melted. Top with salsa & light sour cream. We ate this for 3 days and it only took me about 20 minutes to prepare.
Pasta Bake:
1 box Whole wheat pasta of your choice
2 cans diced tomatoes
2-3 medium zucchini (chopped)
1.25 lb ground turkey
1 c. part skim mozzarella cheese
garlic & onion
Italian seasoning to taste
Boil pasta, brown turkey add garlic & onion and sautee until tender. Add tomatoes & zucchini. Spray glass casserole dish with cooking spray. Mix pasta and turkey mix together in casserole dish. Top with cheese. Bake at 350 for approx. 20 min. Again, we ate this for 3 days and my husband ate HUGE portions.
I found both of these recipes on Pinterest and just adjusted for our tastes.0 -
Thank you for all the replies, ladies!! I will definitely have to try some of this stuff out. And maybe get a crock pot...
Unfortunately, my son is not amused in either his bouncy seat or his Bumbo. He'll tolerate either for 5 minutes max. I'm have high hopes, however, for the jumperoo we're planning to put him in at 6 months!0 -
Thank you for all the replies, ladies!! I will definitely have to try some of this stuff out. And maybe get a crock pot...
Unfortunately, my son is not amused in either his bouncy seat or his Bumbo. He'll tolerate either for 5 minutes max. I'm have high hopes, however, for the jumperoo we're planning to put him in at 6 months!
Sounds like Mr. Gideon likes all of mommy's attention! Haha! I hope you're able to find a way to keep him occupied while you prep/cook or do what you need to do!0 -
GET AN ERGO CARRIER!!!!! I swear,my daughter sleeps in it while i cook dinner. Most of you will say,what a terrible mother i am cooking while having a baby attached to me?! But,it's the only way, come 5:30pm when It's time to start making dinner and my husband is out of town. I can prep all my food while she naps..or hangs out.
Sweet potatoes- Just chop up into rounds and bake in the oven with olive oil or coconut oil for 30 min. add some garlic salt or cinnamon.
Ground (i prefer white) Turkey- you can make taco stuffing, put over pasta,stir fry,or turkey meat loaf. Season with anything really.
Broccoli- steam,bake or pan fry. Add some parm cheese or butter.
SALADS, lots of veggies,throw in some quinoa and some chicken.
Breakfast for dinner: Eggs,toast and some avocado?!
Frittata- sauté spinach with some oil and garlic,(scramble)throw in eggs,potatoes,mushrooms (Whatever you like),cheese. Let cook half way then put in over (still in frying pan) for 20 mins. Top with goat cheese 10 min before you take it out. YUM!!!
There are so many things that aren't in boxes or frozen. I started getting really freaked out about frozen and processed foods. Of course ill occasionally eat it but if i can,i try to make everything from scratch.
Try getting a carrier,I swear it will change your life!
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I put my daughter in her high chair with toys while I cook and that way I get to talk to her to keep her entertained. I also have a 9 year old and he helps me out a lot with entertaining the baby while she is in the chair, but I have tons of recipes and am able to cook since I do work full time most of the from scratch are left for the weekends because of time. I have recipes for lasagna that is healthy or healthier and it feeds our family of 3 for 3 nights. a chicken parm and sometimes I just make a giant salad for everyone with grilled chicken breasts great for the summertime when its too hot to eat a hot meal0
