Need Help w/Picky Eaters

LadyPathos

I'm trying to make a menu and I'm pulling my hair out. My husband and I both work so time is something we have 'very' little of. My doctor just put me on a low carb diabetic diet because in her words I have pre-diabetes. I eat most things but can't stand sweet potatoes, yams or squash of any type other than zucchini.
That's workable here's my problem my husband will not eat: fish, seafood, nuts, fruits, any veggies except corn and peas (he's learned to swallow those without chewing) and romaine lettuce (only kind he will eat no iceburg or others), foods with cheese on them are limited to hamburgers, no foods with 'chunks' like spaghetti with pieces of tomato it must be completely smooth, no squash, no sweet potatoes, no yams, no beans, no soups, no stews, no chili of any sort, no hot sauce (or buffalo sauce), no creamy dressings, no cottage cheese, no cream cheese.

After 15 yrs of marriage I learned to cook around this and now I'm being told the staples of our diet rice, potatoes, pasta and bread need to be cut and while we've picked up snacks for me around the house that's what I'm doing I'm snacking excessively I went from my normal 1800 cal to closer to 3000. Needless to say not healthy.

Meal ideas and sites would be a god-sent!

Please no derogatory comments about my husband he grew up a latch key kid and was never made to eat these other things when I met him he wouldn't eat lettuce, corn or peas so it's been a low going process but he has tried.

keeptehpeace

have separate meals

knra_grl

have separate meals

that is the only thing I could say here sorry - spaghetti squash has a very mild taste if you haven't tried it

astronomicals

Make some chicken or beef and make him whatever carb he wants.... Eat the chicken or beef with whatever you want. You dont have to eat exactly what he eats. Thats crazy. Itll take like five minutes to put together some vegetables to eat with yours.

I really dont see what the issue is.

wordena

Find a cookbook that would fit well with your diabetic diet. And then let him choose recipes for you to make. Im sorry but I have a hard time imagining what he does eat. Very hard to make suggestions . Clearly with all of these restrictions he's placing on you, it seems only fair he put in effort to find foods you both will eat. I do worry for your husbands health though, it seems he's cutting alotof vital nutrition out of his diet.

LadyPathos

As I said we both work separate meals are not really an option. I walk in the door with the kids from school around 4:45-5pm he gets home shortly after 5 we have to eat between 5-6 because of kids homework and bedtimes at 8pm (not counting clubs, extra-curricular activities, etc) We're on a VERY tight schedule.
Right now I'm looking at quiche I've never made them I see it seems like all of them have cheese and he won't eat cheese and eggs if they touch. Are there recipes out there w/o cheese anyone knows of?

NikkiLong9

What about omelets? They are made to serve (but cook quickly) and each can have different items in them. You could add cut veggies, cheese, bacon/ham to yours and kids, and he can request what goes in his. Purchased spaghetti sauce doesn't usually have tomato chunks. Salads with romaine lettuce, and cut up separate additional veggies for yours and the kids. You are in a bit of a quandary. Try checking cook books out at the library and have him mark recipes he likes (I believe someone else suggested this) and maybe have him make his own side dishes while you make yours and the kids? Crock pot meals would cut down on time too since they would be ready when you get home...if you can agree on a recipe. Good luck!

SeasideOasis

As I said we both work separate meals are not really an option. I walk in the door with the kids from school around 4:45-5pm he gets home shortly after 5 we have to eat between 5-6 because of kids homework and bedtimes at 8pm (not counting clubs, extra-curricular activities, etc) We're on a VERY tight schedule.
Right now I'm looking at quiche I've never made them I see it seems like all of them have cheese and he won't eat cheese and eggs if they touch. Are there recipes out there w/o cheese anyone knows of?

There are two things that I think would be helpful:
1. If he is going to have so many restrictions, he needs to be a bigger help in coming up with meals. You aren't changing your eating because you just got bored, you are changing your eating because of your health. Remind him of this. You won't be much help with the kids if you are hospitalized, bed ridden, or worse...

2. Tell him to man up. I grew up on a single Moms budget (whom also is not the best cook) eating plain white rice, plain buttered noodles, plain chicken...I think you get the idea. Over the last four years, I have forced myself to eat just about everything I 'didn't like. I've found that I have been missing out on so much food. Ask him to make some compromises. One meal a week, he should try a food combination he has never had even if he thinks "he won't like it". I started doing this and it really opened my eyes. I mean, I went 23 years with every eating Lamb!! OMG - A travesty!! :laugh:

If he keeps up his eating, he is likely to end up with health problems too, which he wouldn't want either, I'm sure.

aluethi1

What about making a big batch of stuff he will eat when you have time and freezing individual portions that he can eat when he wants and just making yourself healthy food when you want to eat?

knra_grl

Make some chicken or beef and make him whatever carb he wants.... Eat the chicken or beef with whatever you want. You dont have to eat exactly what he eats. Thats crazy. Itll take like five minutes to put together some vegetables to eat with yours.

I really dont see what the issue is.

This post makes the most sense to me because you do not have to make two separate meals and you can opt out of the pasta, rice or whatever portion and just have some steamed veg for yourself. Cook as you always have just cut out what you cannot have on your own plate with your diet and add the veg.

juiletflt

I completely understand what it is like living with someone that has those food quirks... and how it is impossible to tell them to grow up.

What I do is cook the protein the same, then change up how I serve it to accommodate my diet and his weirdness. For example: I will grill beef or chicken, then serve his with rice and mine with veggies and add whatever sauce I want. I keep those Uncle Ben microwavable pouches around that cook in 90 seconds to plop on his plate and while that is in the microwave I can usually get my veggies ready. Really doesn't take that much longer to do. So although our plates look totally different, the hard and time consuming part of the meal is the same.

crazyincolorado84

Meal prep! That's number one. You can make a big batch of stuff and seperate it into yours, his and kids. I am a full time nursing student, with a husband that works 60+ hours each week and kid who's a competative athlete and active in her school activities too.Plus I go the gym and host some activites and volunteer at the school. Trust me when I tell you that I KNOW busy.

Just take a few hours on your day off, make big batches of eveything and keep your veggies and sides seperate so you can grab eveything, pop it in the microwave, eat and get back to business. This is the only thing that keeps me sane during the week and I feel like I have so much more time. I also cut up lots of veggies to snack on, like celery, carrots, broccli etc. I also make breakfast ahead, some little eggwhite omlet cups or oatmeal, once again grab and go. Hope this helps.

Also, the suggestion of getting a diebetic cookbook and having him go through and pick out some recipes he'd like to try.

Good luck!

jojo37696

if you are pre diabetic then maybe the doctor can make an app't for you with the dietician. They should be able to help you considerably. my hubby is diabetic and in Canada you don't have to pay to see a dietician but only if you are diabetic. me just wanting to lose weight would be a cost then. so see if that would work for you. it's their job to have ideas that would work for you

crazyincolorado84

I also wanted to add that I bought about 20 glass dishes that hold 2 cups of food from the dollar store, they are food grade so I feel comfortable microwaving in them instead of using plastic to store and heat food, but that's a personal preference.

DebbieLyn63

I must ask, does your husband have Aspergers Syndrome? My 13 yo son has it, and my husband has adult residual AS. Both are very picky eaters. Sometimes I end up making 3 separate meals, but they aren't time consuming, so it's not an issue. That said, when I made my commitment to lose this weight, I knew there were some foods that I was not going to be able to eat much anymore if I was going to be successful. I am insulin resistant, so all the carby foods my hubby likes, are horrible for my diet.

I sat down with him and told him that I had to change my diet back to what it was before we got married, but I would do what I could to make sure he had food he liked as well. I explained how certain foods would be very difficult for me to cook and not want to eat, like mac and cheese, but would make him other pastas and things I could easily go without.

I make a main meat, and fix veggies for me, and a side he likes for him. Most of the time, he is fine with just meat and a salad, which he eats more often now that he sees how he can lose weight without all the carbs as well. And he hates for me to have to make something just for him. I will fix him potatoes, rice, or pasta a couple of times a week, and he has even tried a few different things he didn't think he liked, such as spaggetti squash, and grilled Salmon with teriyaki marinade. He is even ok with mashed potatoes made with half pureed cauliflower. With gravy on it, he can't tell the difference.

I buy the big bags of frozen mixed veggies for me and make a big pot of them, then I can just throw a serving in the microwave and it is ready in a couple of minutes.

It really isn't that difficult to maneuver. If you sit down with your hubby and make a list of all the foods he will eat, and find a way to make them lower cal for you, perhaps, you can figure out a system. If you explain to your husband that you need his help to prevent Diabetes for you, then surely he loves you enough to work with you to figure it out.

It basically comes down to focusing more on a solution rather than the problem.
Best of luck to you!

SimplyMicheleR

My husband is gluten free (he has Celiac) and is also diabetic. He eats very few carbs. I am reverse - If I do NOT eat carbs I get "Chinese food hungry" after 20 minutes.

I make all of our meat/protein the same, then make veggies and a starch that may or may not be safe for him, since he doesn't eat it. He is very picky veggie wise, so often the side my son and I eat will be a veggie he won't eat. it is NOt as hard as it sounds!

I also agree with cooking ahead. I will make a whole turkey, cut it up and get several meals out of it in the freezer. I do the same with ham, and will cook anything else I can in bulk (it really takes very little extra time to do so) and then I have meals/lunches for several days at a time. I will even cook chicken breast in 3 trays in the oven (I'm turning it on anyway) with 3 different seasonings. they all take the same amount of time to cook, and I have 3 different meals from this. It is also much cheaper to buy meat in the large size packages (often almost 1/2 price!) so it saves money as well....

knittnponder

If he's that darn picky I think I'd let him cook his own dinner! My husband was extremely picky when we first married but I'm not limiting my own intake nor that of our kids to his narrow spectrum of "acceptable". He's a grown man who managed to survive before we married, he was welcome to make himself something different if he didn't like what I made. Now, more than 22 years later he eats all kinds of things he never would have in the beginning. Sure, most of the reason he ate my food was laziness but he learned to like a lot of good stuff. I adore my husband but I have four children and didn't need another. And my kids eat what's put before them or they wait until the next meal.

Gwen_B

If he's that darn picky I think I'd let him cook his own dinner!

Right!!

Michellekutz1

I have picky eaters at home a son who only wants to eat meat,and a husband who is sure if it isn't itallian he prob won't like it. I have started making Sunday my prep day. I make batches of stuff this week stuffed peppers and Mexican chicken. I make them dinner and then grab a serving of what I have made for me add a salad and we both eat without having to "make" two dinners everynight. Find some good crock pot recipes that way dinner is done when I walk though the door. I also have them both take a bite of what I make for me on Sunday, that way they are trying new things and I have found a few things they will eat as well. Hope this helps.