How do you cook for your family?

yentess

Hi I'm interested to see how other people who are trying to lose weight cook for their families. Do you make one healthy meal that everyone eats or make one meal for your family and another for yourself? Also I would love some ideas for meals the whole family will like and won't bust my diet. Thanks

careyharv

I do both - it just depends on what we want. As far as ideas for recipes, I have found a few on skinnytaste.com that my family loves. The kids really like their "healthy chicken nuggets" recipe. Tomorrow I am making their chicken sante fe. Yum!

michellereneejenkins

i'm doing this not only for myself but for them also! i want my kids to eat healthy. i want my husband to eat healthy. cooking a lean protein, a whole grain carb, and a veg for dinner every night is balanced. you can take short cuts and use frozen veggies (and even frozen brown rice!!) to make dinner more quickly. kids learn to LIKE dinners that don't include mac and cheese every night. i don't worry about their portion size (just mine.) it's waaaaay too much work to make more than one meal for your family. and they will be healthy right along with you!!

sunfyrejade

I cook one meal, I will say I do not have children to worry about (just one big child in the form of a man). But my thoughts are, if it's not healthy for an adult, why is it good to feed to a child? or vice versa?

I think healthy foods are important for everyone in the house.

Angie0rtiz

I also do both! I love skinnytaste.com the food taste amazingand it counts everything for you per portion size. For the most part I cook one main meal, but with picky eaters, some things are swapped out. Like today we had rice beans and roast pork (sound like a lot, but I measure and weigh all my portions). 2 of them didnt eat beans and one just didn eat meat.

allreceipe.com, and ivillage.com are good sites too, but I think you have to subscribe.

yentess

Thanks! I agree it is important for my kids to eat healthy too. One is very picky and turns her nose up at anything I make. The other 2 are pretty easy, but a little cautious around new food. I'm excited to try out the webpage that was recommended. Thanks again

Ely82010

I cook one meal for both of us, and my husband gets a bigger portion. He eats his own snacks during the day, mostly nuts, and I don't restrict his food, but he is not into calories and macros like I am.

He is not picky at all and just eat what ever I cook (probably because he doesn't know how to cook...:ohwell: ). Kids are all grown up so I don't have to worry about cooking different meals.

FarmerNikki

I just cook one meal for all of us, and if it ends up being a boxed mac n' cheese night I just take an extra helping of fruits or veggies

hsmithway

I live with my husband and our 8 year old son. Most of the time I make us all the same meal, though every once in a while either I or my son and I will eat something different. It's DH that's picky, though, and not my son. So if we're eating something DH won't eat, I'll either do it on a night where he can eat leftovers from the night before, or I keep a few frozen pizzas on hand for him in case he either fusses about what I made or I'm not going to be around at dinnertime.

Really, it's good for the rest of my family to eat lean meats and veggies, so there's no reason they need to eat something different, though Mr. Picky sometimes rears his ugly head :grumble:

0AmyMarie0

I do both too. I cook meals for myself and the kids, but on nights that I have my heart set on something that I know they will NOT eat (like salmon) then I will make them something different. I usually always have something easy on hand for them.

kbw414

My husband and I eat the same healthy foods. I save a little extra calories for dinner so I can make something that's 400-500 calories if I want to. Then he'll just eat a larger portion. For instance, tonight we had salads but he put on extra feta cheese, olives, and extra salad dressing to make it more calorie dense. Then he has healthy snacks while I work out so I don't see him snacking. It works out really well.

fiberartist219

I make whatever I want to eat. If the hubs gets some of it, fine. If he doesn't like it, he can make his own food. I'm his wife, not his b!tch. (I think I respond to a post with that phrase at least once a week.)

sunkisses

I have 2 sons. They eat whatever I'm eating.

Crystal_Pistol

Just me and my hubby- he can eat what I eat or starve. LOL

mjbrenner

I will make one meal for my wife and I, but I will make small changes to meet our needs. On steak night, I make a baked potato for her and stir fried collard greens for me. I make shepherd's pie in individual casseroles so she can have mashed potato on hers and I can have mashed cauliflower on mine. Having a variety of side dishes lets everyone eat what they want.

npellegrino17

I have been wanting to try mashed cauliflower..do you have a recipe?

Camsdette

I have an interesting situation in that my husband is actually under his healthy weight range, so he's trying to gain weight. He also hates half the stuff that I'm trying to eat more of, like whole wheat pasta and brown rice instead of regular pasta and white rice. So, I usually make little tweaks to the meal so that it works for both of us. He has spaghetti with beef, I have whole wheat spaghetti with turkey. He has tacos, I have taco salad. Things like that. I'm still figuring it all out, but so far it's working pretty well. That way I can stick to my diet without having to cook two completely different meals.

tmarie2715

I try to make mostly the same thing. Last night I made red pasta sauce (garlic, cooking spray, onion, crushed tomatoes, spices) with fresh basil, grated Parmesan. I ate everything but the cheese on top of spaghetti squash, while the boys had pasta.

Some nights I do something light and healthy for all of us (think Cooking Light), other days I make a version that is lighter for myself. I'd like to do more of the former, since buying whole wheat fat free tortillas, veggie crumbles, fat free cheese on top of regular versions of all those foods gets expensive, but it is something I am working on.

hiker282

Smart *kitten* answer: I cook the same as I do for myself, just more of it :P

OSC_ESD

I have always found that if you pick one main source of protein ... Fish, Chicken, Lean Meat ..etc ... and add a few sides to give everyone choices works well.

My favorite ...

I eat Salmon with lemon, cubed sweet potatoes with sprinkled cinnamon, steamed mushrooms with garlic and wilted spinach with tarragon.

I serve my 11 yr old son .... Salmon, Broccoli, Rice and steamed apples.

It's a win win .... mine is under 400 Calories and he's happy with his !

ShellyMacchi

one healthy meal that everyone eats

if it's healthy, it's healthy.... i refuse to feed my family crap that i won't eat.
If they want it they can get it for themselves but i refuse to contribute to their eating problems myself any longer.

vanspragg

My wife and I are losing weight using MFP. We have two boys, 15 and 12. We make one thing we all eat. Some of our staples are: 4 oz grilled chicken/med. baked potato/veg, hot ham/seasoned potatoes/veg, chili made with 93% lean beef, taco's with 93% lean beef/ 80cal high fiber shells for wife and I/kraft 2% shredded cheese/lettuce/salsa, spaghetti without meat sauce(but with lean beef that isn't bad either. We also make homemade pizza which isn't horrible at 216 cals a slice. The boys eat until they are full, but my wife and I keep the portions measured for ourselves. There are times one of the boys will have something else, but that is more because of them being picky. We did that before we started eating better. In general we don't eat out much anymore, but the boys don't say much. We are by no means health nuts! We still eat many of the same foods, just in sane amounts. I would imagine it is easier with both parents being on board.

maryjay51

i cook different for myself and make other food for everyone else

char102005

I try to integrate what I'm making for them with what I'm eating, such as fajitas or stir fry, I grill steak / chicken for them and fix the veggies separately. Or sometimes I fix them eggs and toast and I eat, whatever, or I make a vegan soup and they either eat it or find something else.

giraffells

They eat what I eat, and I may make them a starch like rice and potatoes, which I will pass on or measure. The only exception is fish, my hubby and I eat and my daughter eats chicken. If we want to have pizza, I plan my day accordingly.

Karmynzahringer

i'm doing this not only for myself but for them also! i want my kids to eat healthy. i want my husband to eat healthy. cooking a lean protein, a whole grain carb, and a veg for dinner every night is balanced. you can take short cuts and use frozen veggies (and even frozen brown rice!!) to make dinner more quickly. kids learn to LIKE dinners that don't include mac and cheese every night. i don't worry about their portion size (just mine.) it's waaaaay too much work to make more than one meal for your family. and they will be healthy right along with you!!

Agreed! Prior to this diet my 10 year old son had already started battling high cholesterol! I was mortified. My children need this as much if not more than I do! I was always one of those moms that stopped at Mc Donalds after a ballgame or ordered pizza on a family night. Now I am trying to instill healthy eating habits and the enjoyment of being healthy into the whole family. They didn't like it at first, trust me! But over time they are adjusting and asking less and less for "junk food" and starting to enjoy many of the healthier foods! We have also started watching portions on my son, because he does tend to overeat, asking for not only seconds, but thirds and fourths if you let him. He has always been a big boy, at 5ft5 and 169 lbs with size 9.5 mens shoes and he is only 10, but he does have some extra weight in the core area, and what really broke my heart was when I saw he was starting to get stretch marks at such a young age! Not to mention if you do not have your family eat healthy with you, it will make it 10 times harder for you to avoid cheating etc.! Good luck!

adavis59

I cook healthy and low fat for the family. They get bigger serving portions, while I eat just the right amount for my caloric amount. Sometimes I cook something they really enjoy eating, so beforehand, I eat just enough throughout the day to accomodate the calories for later.

Karmynzahringer

Also maybe try Taragon Turkey burgers, my kids loved them even before the diet, and we eat them regularly, plus they are really healthy! (p.s. we substitute mushrooms for the zucchinni, or just leave it out, I do not care for the texture it leaves in these)

These burgers are delicious! And not much more trouble than making beef burgers.
(Joseph Mercola, Dr. Mercola’s Total Health Program)
PREPARATION TIME: 5 minutes
SERVES: 4
1 lb ground turkey
½ cup coarsely shredded zucchini
¼ cup chopped red onion
1 tbsp fresh (or dried) tarragon leaves
2 tsp Dijon-style mustard
½ tsp Spike vegetable seasoning (or salt)
3 grinds black pepper
2 large eggs
Preheat broiler or grill.
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and shape mixture into patties.
Cook 5 minutes per side, or until browned. (Do not overcook.)

Katie41907

The only time I let the kids eat something different is fish night. They refuse to eat fish. They get a PB Sandwich with no treat since they don't eat what we do. The family love my turkey chili! It's SO easy!

2lbs ground turkey
2 Cans Northern Beans
1 Can Tomato sauce
1 Can tomatoes and onions with garlic
1 Jalepenio
1 Bell Pepper
1 Onion
3 tbsp fave meat seasoning (I use Hickory)

Cook turkey and drain. Add back to pan. Add peppers, onion, and seasoning. Cook for about 5 minutes. Then add everything to a stock pot or crock pot. Cook until you are ready to eat. If I'm in a hurry I cook it on the stove for about 20 minutes. If I want it to cook a while, I stick it in the crockpot after breakfast on low and let it cook all day. No need to babysit. Just stir every hour or so.

rubichhs

I totally agree with you. You'll burn out trying to cook separate meals. Your family's health is too important to serve them inferior food. My husband has come around and now prefers whole grain bread after eating white bread for 55 years! Thank goodness my mother was ahead of her time. She always served salads, lots of vegetables, bean dishes. We weren't allowed to drink soft drinks...maybe one a year. Do your kids a favor and save them from a lifetime of poor health. They will then pass on healthy cooking to your grandchildren!

TriciaAllen7251

My thoughts are if you are hungry you will eat what I fix or fix something yourself. My son is 19 do it's time for him to be able to fend for himself. Half the time it's just the hubby and I eating dinner at the table. My hubby needs to eat healthier so it benefits both of us.