Need lots of help and support!!

tnewcom

My name is Tracy and I am 27 years old, i have 2 kids ages 9 and 2. I have been married for 9 years. I was diagnosed w/ PCOS when I was 18. I have never counted calories, carbs or sugar which I know w/ PCOS you have to watch your carbs and sugars. When i was diagnosed my dr put me on Metformin...well i could never handle the side effects so never used it...i got back on it recently and have been having no side effects! YEAH! I have made some changes recently in what i eat/drink.
I used to drink mtn dew everyday...well now i only drink water w/ great value drink mix in it...I CAN NOT drink water alone. yuck. I watch how much i eat throughout the day (i work at home) i use to have a HUGE bowl of cereal for breakfast well now i only have 1 cup w/ 1/2 milk. for lunch i would eat whatever was leftover from what i made for the kids...now i eat half a turkey sandwich and was eating progresso soup until found out the sodium. For snacks i would eat 2-3 granola bars, honey buns, cheese danishs, ice cream, candy bars. now i eat 1 100 pk snack in the afternoon and if i am i am still hungry after dinner....Now dinner is what i find that confuses me. i make alot of casseroles so we can have leftovers for hubbys lunches. well most are in a 13x9 dish hubby says that would be 6 servings...is that right..and a 2 qt dish would be 4 servings. I get so confused when making meals and then entering them in the food diary b/c first i have no idea how many servings there are or what size a serving should be! I just been making sure not to eat as much i used too..like going for seconds! Can you lose weight by still making all the regular meals (spaghetti, pasta meals, pizza) but eating a small amount.. Not sure if my kids and hubby want me to totally get rid of everything we normally eat and to try new things.
I dont know much about fruits or fresh veggies b/c never grew up having thing..we never had fruit or fresh veggies! the only fruit i have ever had would be grapes, apples and bananas...never bought veggies...except occasionally cauliflower, carrots and lettuce.

So basically i really need help...in 2 weeks i have lost 4 lbs which is great and all i just dont know if i am doing this right. Anyone wanna come live w/ me for a week to teach me about nutrition and servings! I feel like quitting b/c i am soooo confused but i keep telling myself i CANT Quit and will not quit. I need to change my lifestyle and the way i eat. I just really need some support and LOTS OF HELP!
thanks everyone!


ETA: i do get some excercise in every day at least 20-30 of walking which is something i never did before

epoeraven

Have you considered going to a nutritionist? I am sure your doctor could recommend one. Even just one time would really help you I think. I went just once on my doctor's recommndation and I had several "ah-ha" moments. It really helped me to get just some basic coaching. For examplee two things that were huge for me.....1. I was eating foods that were good for me I just had my portions too big. 2. I was eating most of my calories at the end of the day - I would totally skip breakfast and then by the time lunch would come arounds I would be so hungry I wouldn't make good choices about what I was eating.

As far as counting calories and carbs goes.....MFP is fabulous for tracking just about anything you want to. It defaults with the basics but you can add to also track sodium, sugars, etc. if you want to.

melbhall

I'm right there with you...measuring out things is tricky. I spent a whole afternoon stressed about figuring out how many servings where in the chili I made...then I realized I could put all the ingrediants into a large measuring bowl before they went to the pot to simmer...turns out it was about 10 cups. Maybe you could do that with some things. As far as casseroles, if you follow a recipe, does it tell you how many servings there are in it? You could try to google it or find new ones. I love fresh fruit and veggies but sometimes get discouraged when I log them, a medium banana has about 100 calories so I sometimes feel greedy like I'd rather have 100 calories worth of chips or chocolate then I tell myself a 100 cal banana is way better. Don't be frusterated and want to give up, it's a learning process for us all. I don't think you have to change any of your families favorite meals just revamp them. I now make tacos, chili and lasagna all with ground turkey breast instead of hamburger. We always have FF milk, cottage cheese, and spray butter on hand. We only buy whole wheat light bread check the back of every box before it enters the shopping cart. And you're right it is about portion sizes. I think most people not on the site would be surprised by how little a cup of anything is. Just know that when you think you are alone in struggling with these issues we all are! I know I drive my hubby crazy when he brings me OJ in the moring just to be nice because I nag him about exactly how much he poured, etc. We will all survive this and it will get easier and maybe even routine for us all!

SASSYJAX

Hi, well good for you for coming on here, I know exactly how you feel - it can just all seem like such a big mountain to climb cant it! I find that to start with try having what you normally would eat but have a much smaller serving of it, like you have with your cereal. You can learn along the way, its a marathon not a sprint hun, one step at a time. Dont expect too much of yourself, make healthy swaps for things like you have with your drinks too. That way ou can learn what you need to know and not fill your head with too much info at once.
So swap you white bread for 50/50
Full fat milk for semi skimmed
Full fats yoghurts and ice creams for lower fat versions
Leaner meats.
Healthy snacks instead of sweets ie - air popped popcorn instead of crisps.
This site is just brilliant for healping you and educate you. Just ask there are lots of folk here who are the same as you.
Well done for making the positive step to change.
I find the main problem is portion control.
SO you can look up portion sizes ie - an ounce of hard cheese is about a cubic inch, a chicken breast portion is about the palm of your hand,

You can do it, you go girl!
GOOD ON YA! xxx

kristinlough

I echo the nutritionist! Especially if it's one who lives near you and can point you to a good farmer's market, produce stand, the best grocery store, etc. (I moved to a new area and have found that there is not a good produce stand/farmer's market and I'm heartbroken for lack of good tomatoes ... so having a good stand helps a lot).

I also want to recommend some of the "Eat This, Not That" articles, etc., Hungry Girl, Biggest Loser cookbooks, etc. that show you how to sub out the unhealthy stuff in your meals, replace it with healthy foods and not lose flavor.

Also - stick with MFP. It helps so so so much!

flinchyny

I make casseroles in a 9x13 dish for me and my husband, and we probably divide them into 9 or 12 servings, depending on what's in the casserole, i.e., how heavy it is.

mromnek

Hang in there, eat sensible. Lots of suggestions, but the wife wants to get on the computer.

FabulousFifty

You might also consider joining Weight Watchers. They teach you portion control and balance. It is a good eating plan for life. Congratulations on a good start. I recommend just eating "real food." Anything in a box or bag that has a shelf-life should be thrown out. This will be great for your whole family. Hang in there and take one day at a time. :flowerforyou:

kwardklinck

Add fruit to breakfast and add a salad at lunch. They help you feel full without adding much in calories. For your casseroles, you may have to put in all of your ingredients to get the calorie count and then divide it by the number of servings you have. I do eat with my family a couple of times a week. I just make dinner and put in my cals. Usually I just reserve about 500-600 cals for dinner and keep my portions small. I have been able to lose weight this way. Be careful in your measurements. I was getting a lot of extra cals by not measuring my servings. I also really like the sandwich thins for sandwiches. It's 100 cals for a roll and it has 5 grams of fiber. I toast them and get that crunchiness that I like.

PinguimPraiero

Totally, that is the ticket! Yummy casseroles and turkey sandwiches are perfect foods for your whole family, so just limit how much you eat of that plate each day. I am glad you are seeing a difference already!

I got into a habit of eating whatever I wanted, but never the same thing twice in the same day. I made up this rule to avoid the "I finished the whole bag!" days. This gives you a variety of foods in your diet that will better assure you are full, satisfied, and with the right stores of energy to keep you from over-eating at night. Perhaps, you may start adding things, that probably only you may eat, to compliment what you sit down to eat with your family. Here are some ideas:

have snacks like cut up sticks of carrots and celery to dip into a hearty salad dressing, to eat while you wait for everyone to come to the table (cut up celery stores for a whole week in a container of filtered water)

a busy mom can't prepare a soup everyday, but it freezes well so pick a weekend to make soups and store it away for the whole month, defrosting a container every three days. Then when the others go for second servings, have a piping hot bowl of soup to help you slow down your eating, let your full-meter kick in and alert you that you have just had a tasty and full meal

maybe to acclimate your palate to fresh vegetables, try preparing a salad a few hours ahead to marinate and the tastes and textures will be softer and less tart. Just don't use leafy greens in this type of salad as they wilt quickly (although finely chopped cabbage does well here, too)

have you tried to embellish the toppings on vegetables to make them more welcoming at the table? sliced parmesan works great for all the dark leafy vegs like broccoli and brussel sprouts; carmelized onions with curry powder (or just a dash of cinnamon and paprika) make carrots a totally new experience!

tnewcom

Thanks everyone for you support and suggestions... I am going grocery shopping tonight w/o the kids hopefully so hubby and i can really look at the foods.

i plan on getting some cauliflower and broccoli..think i will steam those and have some low fat cheese dip to dip them in if we desire...(small steps)
i plan on getting some carrots and eating those w/ some salad dressing for snacks.
i am going to get some fruits too, grapes, apples, bananas and whatever else looks good to have on hand when we get the munchie.
getting turkey meat instead of hamburger
gonna get some cheese sticks to snack on or part of a meal.
gonna get some shrimp too! never made it before!

Just gonna look and read everything...this is a start...u normally wouldnt find this stuff in my house but for now on you WILL!!

urso99

I also suffer form PCOS so I know your PAIN!! I have been on a constant diet since having kids it seems! In the beginning I was very ignorant and thought diet pills were the way jusst so i could eat my white bread and butter at every meal!. So fast forward to 15 yrs later and I focus more on healthy options over anything else!

To answer a few questions, the casseroles, I have to suggest maybe making smaller casseroles for the kids and hubby, and making a broke down version for you! Say chicken cass, well have a grilled chick breast with the same sides you put into the casserole! It will be much easier for you to gauge your cals.

As for adding fruits and veggies, heres what I trained myself to do,

Look at your plate in thirds,
Veggie,....... should take up half your plate
Protein........take up a 1/4 of your plate
Complex carbs.... takes up a 1/4 of your plate

It helped to reconfigure" my portions of whats most important nutrition wise on my plate!!

Have you tried different kinds of veggies? I LOVE the frozen green giant boxed and bagged veggs that are lightly sauced! Makes me think I am eating something bad, and it's only 50 cals per serving!
Do you like salads? I will put manderin oranges and almonds in my salad, and cut the dressing in half a serving, 1 T instead of the 2T stated on the label. And once you add a salad to your plate, it takes up so much room, that you only have just enough room for your protein and carb!

Sweet potatoes are a wonderful complex carb! Add some spray butter, and cinnamon, YUM! (I used to be adicted to white potatoes, and now prefer sweet pots!) Brown rice with lime juice squeezed over it is another great carb!

I also wanted to add this, I have found it sooooo beneficial to include FAT!!! I mean healthy whole fats! Nuts, olive oil, avacado, and butter! YES REAL BUTTER! Not the "I can't believe it's not butter tub kinds"!! Your body needs fat, and if you log your cals in to MFP, you can see you are allowed a lot of fat everyday, and if you eat only no-fat foods, where are you going to get that fat from!!

Good luck hun, and really just do some research, head to your library to look for the books listed above. Educating yourself is your best tool!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!

PinguimPraiero

Hey, tnewcom, ex-ce-llent!

Here are some tips on a few of those foods:

When you steam broccoli or cauliflower, do so just until they are a bit soft but still crunchy in the middle; dump them in a colander and rinse them in cold water immediately. This is a modified blanch and it helps stop the cooking. Now cooled off a bit, you will see they are much more palatable for salads. You can always heat in microwave when sitting at the table for a warm meal. Steaming 'al dente' and blanching keeps more of the nutritional value and we're talking cancer-fighting antioxidants, here! I find the texture more palatable than when they get wilty soft.

Also, to store them, lemon juice keeps the cooked broccoli a bright green, and preventing it from turning a purply dark color.

Crunchytxmama

You absolutely can lose weight by making the same things for your family for dinner, and eating smaller portions. Honestly, if you've ever looked at people who seem to be "naturally thin" this is what they do! When I started losing weight one of my "rules" was that I wanted to be able to eat what my family eats. I have found a few lower calorie dinners, but we usually eat a lot of casseroles, soups, pasta dishes, meat &potatoes...all home made and mostly the same recipes I used when I was heavy. I use a recipe calculator....for some things, I'll pour the whole recipe into my large 4-cup pyrex measuring cup so I can get an accurate idea of what a serving is (I do this a lot for stuff like mashed potatoes or soups). For casseroles and stuff, I can pretty closely eyeball what 1/5 or 1/6 of the pan is....err on the side of underestimating. I always portion out my food first, because it's easier to see what a portion is when I'm looking at a full pan. Because it's not exact, I used to have a tendency to want to be a perfectionist about this, and feel like I wanted to throw in the towel because it couldn't be perfect. All or nothing thinking will keep you fat, believe me. I wanted to be able to measure out my dinners just like I could measure out a bowl of cereal--but that's just not reality. After a while, I started to trust what I was doing, and it has worked.

tnewcom

You absolutely can lose weight by making the same things for your family for dinner, and eating smaller portions. Honestly, if you've ever looked at people who seem to be "naturally thin" this is what they do! When I started losing weight one of my "rules" was that I wanted to be able to eat what my family eats. I have found a few lower calorie dinners, but we usually eat a lot of casseroles, soups, pasta dishes, meat &potatoes...all home made and mostly the same recipes I used when I was heavy. I use a recipe calculator....for some things, I'll pour the whole recipe into my large 4-cup pyrex measuring cup so I can get an accurate idea of what a serving is (I do this a lot for stuff like mashed potatoes or soups). For casseroles and stuff, I can pretty closely eyeball what 1/5 or 1/6 of the pan is....err on the side of underestimating. I always portion out my food first, because it's easier to see what a portion is when I'm looking at a full pan. Because it's not exact, I used to have a tendency to want to be a perfectionist about this, and feel like I wanted to throw in the towel because it couldn't be perfect. All or nothing thinking will keep you fat, believe me. I wanted to be able to measure out my dinners just like I could measure out a bowl of cereal--but that's just not reality. After a while, I started to trust what I was doing, and it has worked.

Thank you so much for posting this...seeing your picture and how wonderful you look and still eating what you make for your family is soooo inspiring

WonderNoodle

Everyone has spot on advice. I add this, here is your opportunity to make a healthy diet "natural" for your children. Be sure their portions are relative to them. Make sure they have a veggie on their plate at every meal. Have all those fruits you mentioned on your grocery list availble as snacks for them.

You are so on the right track and "small steps" is right. If you overhaul everyone's diet and put tofu in front of them, you're not going to get any support. If you introduce these changes gradually, ground turkey replaced hamburger you mentioned, everyone will accept them and probably not even notice.

It's my goal for my 7 & 9 year old girls to make them NOT think about food. NOT think about the scale. I want a healthy lifestyle and good choices to be natural, something our generation obviously struggles with. I don't say it's fattening or high calorie, I say it's "not a healthy choice". I don't say "I'm too heavy, overweight, fat", I tell them I'm trying to make my body healthy.

Good luck shopping!

Crunchytxmama

You absolutely can lose weight by making the same things for your family for dinner, and eating smaller portions. Honestly, if you've ever looked at people who seem to be "naturally thin" this is what they do! When I started losing weight one of my "rules" was that I wanted to be able to eat what my family eats. I have found a few lower calorie dinners, but we usually eat a lot of casseroles, soups, pasta dishes, meat &potatoes...all home made and mostly the same recipes I used when I was heavy. I use a recipe calculator....for some things, I'll pour the whole recipe into my large 4-cup pyrex measuring cup so I can get an accurate idea of what a serving is (I do this a lot for stuff like mashed potatoes or soups). For casseroles and stuff, I can pretty closely eyeball what 1/5 or 1/6 of the pan is....err on the side of underestimating. I always portion out my food first, because it's easier to see what a portion is when I'm looking at a full pan. Because it's not exact, I used to have a tendency to want to be a perfectionist about this, and feel like I wanted to throw in the towel because it couldn't be perfect. All or nothing thinking will keep you fat, believe me. I wanted to be able to measure out my dinners just like I could measure out a bowl of cereal--but that's just not reality. After a while, I started to trust what I was doing, and it has worked.

Thank you so much for posting this...seeing your picture and how wonderful you look and still eating what you make for your family is soooo inspiring

Thank you! I'm glad it was helpful! A few tips when you're making home-cooked stuff (especially casseroles): try to use a leaner meat if you can, always cut down on the cheese and butter, avoid toppings like french fried onions and stuff like that, and serve a big veggie on the side. In some things, you can also add extra veggies, which will help you feel more full and sneak in extra fiber for you and the kids. I always grate carrots into my spaghetti sauce--I found out later that traditional Italian sauce is actually made that way! (and here I thought I made it up) My family has never noticed a difference!

farmgirlh

Sounds like you are off to a great start. It all takes time, think of it as a marathon not a sprint. Changing eating habits is hard and not an overnight thing.

When you make your cassaroles measure out everything that you put in (grams/cups/ounces) in a large bowl then measure with a 1 cup measuring up into your pan that will give you how many cups are in it. From there you can go to a recipe calculator is use http://www.caloriecount.about.com you can decide based on how many calories are in the whole dish how many servings you want it to be.

Veggies are important, start with something that you like, green beans, peas (frozen are better), broccoli, ect... I try to make sure that over half of my plate is veggies then the other half I divide between protein and a bit of bread (depends on what we are having).

I have lost most of my weight by still eating my normal foods, changing some of the recipes to be more figure friendly, but mostly just watching portons and always MEASURE.

Good luck and keep going! You can do it.

alagrape

casseroles are a definite nono. They are very high in calories and fat. Green beans have no fat and you can eat all you want of them, the same with cabbage, cooked or raw. Nothing fried, either bake, grill, boil or broil all meats. Broccoli is no fat, snack on raw baby carrots, celery sticks, you can dip them in low calorie dressings. Don't drink anything with caffeine , it slows down your metabolism. Hope this helps! I joined about 10 days ago and I've lost 7lbs. You can do it !

tnewcom

Sounds like you are off to a great start. It all takes time, think of it as a marathon not a sprint. Changing eating habits is hard and not an overnight thing.

When you make your cassaroles measure out everything that you put in (grams/cups/ounces) in a large bowl then measure with a 1 cup measuring up into your pan that will give you how many cups are in it. From there you can go to a recipe calculator is use http://www.caloriecount.about.com you can decide based on how many calories are in the whole dish how many servings you want it to be.

Veggies are important, start with something that you like, green beans, peas (frozen are better), broccoli, ect... I try to make sure that over half of my plate is veggies then the other half I divide between protein and a bit of bread (depends on what we are having).

I have lost most of my weight by still eating my normal foods, changing some of the recipes to be more figure friendly, but mostly just watching portons and always MEASURE.

Good luck and keep going! You can do it.

thanks i will try and do that the next time i make a casserole!

Crunchytxmama

casseroles are a definite nono. They are very high in calories and fat. Green beans have no fat and you can eat all you want of them, the same with cabbage, cooked or raw. Nothing fried, either bake, grill, boil or broil all meats. Broccoli is no fat, snack on raw baby carrots, celery sticks, you can dip them in low calorie dressings. Don't drink anything with caffeine , it slows down your metabolism. Hope this helps! I joined about 10 days ago and I've lost 7lbs. You can do it !

With all due respect, I disagree. Nothing is a no-no. That is the beauty of learning to control your calories and portion sizes. You can eat almost anything in moderation. I eat casseroles 3-4 times a week. Now, I don't smother it in cheese and top it with french fried onions, and I've learned to make my own white sauce since I don't like all the crap in cream soups. Casseroles can have healthy ingredients and fit well into a weight loss plan, if you learn to moderate your portions.

PJilly

casseroles are a definite nono. They are very high in calories and fat. Green beans have no fat and you can eat all you want of them, the same with cabbage, cooked or raw. Nothing fried, either bake, grill, boil or broil all meats. Broccoli is no fat, snack on raw baby carrots, celery sticks, you can dip them in low calorie dressings. Don't drink anything with caffeine , it slows down your metabolism. Hope this helps! I joined about 10 days ago and I've lost 7lbs. You can do it !

With all due respect, I disagree. Nothing is a no-no. That is the beauty of learning to control your calories and portion sizes. You can eat almost anything in moderation. I eat casseroles 3-4 times a week. Now, I don't smother it in cheese and top it with french fried onions, and I've learned to make my own white sauce since I don't like all the crap in cream soups. Casseroles can have healthy ingredients and fit well into a weight loss plan, if you learn to moderate your portions.

I agree. Casseroles are high in calories and fat only if you make them with high-calorie, high-fat foods. Also, everything I've read (and I just now googled it to make sure I wasn't remembering wrongly) says that caffeine speeds up metabolism.

mromnek

You are really on the way to learning with all the good posts on here.

I have a few things to add:

1. If you don't already have one, go out and buy a wok. You can make all kinds of great stir fry dishes really quick. You can find some decent low calorie sauces to go with the stir fry or make your own. Remember to be careful with sauces, though, because they can be really high in sodium. Just keep an eye on the labels.

Some ingredients for stir fry: brocolli, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, green peppers, pineapple, mango, mandarin oranges, bean sprouts, mushrooms, snow peas, peas, chicken, beef, etc.... You get the idea. The last stir fry I made had chicken, pineapple, onions, green peppers, and bean sprouts. We made it with a mandarin sauce. It was phenomenal.

2. You can make your own soups that will be MUCH lower in sodium. Here is a good one we like (Taco Soup), and I guarantee your hubby and kids will love as well.

Brown 1/2 pound of beef with 1/2 onion (diced) and 1/2 green pepper (diced).
When brown, add the following:
1 can tomato sauce
2 cans Rotel tomatoes and green chilis
1 can corn (drained)
1 can kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
Add water to attain desired consistency (I have made it without any additional water)
Serve with tortilla chips for the kids/hubby, and enjoy a few yourself.
Makes 4-5 servings (we double the recipe to freeze several containers for lunches) It works out to about 200 calories per serving.

3. Drink lots of water, eat all your calories, and don't be afraid to treat yourself once in a while (otherwise you will binge).

HonestOmnivore

You're getting great advice!

Don't think you are depriving your family just by making foods a little healthier! There is a big difference between substituting low-fat sour cream or yogurt for regular sour cream in a casserole dish verses making your kids eat fake chocolate Easter Bunnies

Keep taking small steps to move your whole family to healthy whole foods - and you will be doing all of you a huge favor! Here are some easy hints to get great nutrients into your foods without giving up great taste-

Substitute low-fat for regular fat foods in recipes - if its blended in your family won't notice. My husband officially "hates low-fat mayo" and only found out recently that he's been eating it for years. Clueless. And it cuts a TON of fat out of a recipe!

I grate carrots, squash (like summer squash or zucchini), and sweet potatoes into casseroles and meatloaf to add weight and body without adding calories.

If your family hates onions in foods - chop onions up into small pieces and saute in a little olive oil before adding them to recipes - onions and garlic are good for you and a little cooking does wonders for kids!

Put out a small garden this year - even if its only in a few little pots on the back step. Grow herbs and tomatoes and let the kids help - food they grow is food they will try! If you have space let them grow carrots, squash, cucumbers and peppers! Even if your kids don't touch them - put veggies on their plate every day - it's better to throw uneaten food away than to let them grow up without it!

Introduce new foods when your family is hungry! A day of playing outside going sledding or playing in a park is a GREAT time to introduce grilled salmon or asparagus - I've gotten my picky grand kids to fall in love with crazy food just by presenting it to them when they are starving!

Good luck!

lvfunandfit

You're doing great!! You should branch out to trying spinach, asparagus (baked with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon or garlic pepper), squash, zuchinni.... Mmmm... you can add any of those to casseroles. I chop red potatoes into a pan and fry with a couple tablespoons of olive oil (use instead of veg. oil) and oinion. I mix in 1/2 cream mushroom soup, 1 lb browned turkey meat and a couple zuchinnis. I add some garlic and salsa or taco sauce. This is great inside whole wheat tortillas. You can use the left overs for breakfast. Scramble egg whites with 2% cheese and put it on top with salsa! Mmmm...

www.sparkrecipes.com has a lot of great ideas for lower calorie recipes! Everytime you snace, you should have a protein whether it be low fat/fat free yogurt and a handful of almonds, 1% cottage cheese with fruit, etc. I find that those 100 calorie snacks are still empty calories and make me crave more of those types of foods.

I eat the South Beach high protein cereal bars as a snack... I drink protein shakes (2 a day). 1 first thing in the am and the other after I work out. Greek yogurts (low or non fat) are great substitues for sandwhich spreads and plain can be used in place of sour cream (no one will no the differene) or you can add your fav pureed fruit to it as a snack.

Use fillers like cucumbers and sprouts on sandwhiches for fiber to make you feel full longer. Instead of using full fat cheese, use 2% or 1% (fat free doesn't melt well).

And, allow yourself to have your favorite treats. Just keep track of portions.

Tilapia is a non fishy fish you're entire family will like



Ingredients
4 Tilapia fillets
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Country Crock Shed's Spread
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
Dash of salt
Cayenne pepper to taste



Directions
Preheat oven to 400.
Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
Melt butter in microwave.
Add olive oil, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt and parsley and sautee for a few minutes.
Pour over tilapia fillets in baking pan.
Sprinkle some cayenne pepper on top of fish.
Bake in preheated oven for about 13 minutes, and broil for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Number of Servings: 4

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user JENNAGUERRA.

Number of Servings: 4


You can substitute LEAN ground turkey for groundbeef in meatloafs
This recipe is amazing!



Ingredients
1.25 lbs Ground Turkey
.5 cup oatmeal
.5 cup chopped onion
.5 cup BBQ sauce
2 cups of fresh spinach
1.5 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
.5 tsp salt
.5 tsp black pepper
2 large egg whites




Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine the ground turkey, oatmeal and onion 1/3 cup of bbq sauce, and remaining ingredients (except cheese and spinach) in a large bowl.
Take half the meat mixture and spead in a bread pan.
Layer Spinach and 4 oz of cheese.
Layer the remaining mixture on top of spinach and cheese.
Cover with remaining bbq sauce and sprinkle cheese.
Bake for 1 hour.

Number of Servings: 6

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user KPHILDE.

hedkie

water, fresh fruits, and fresh vegetables are essential not only for weight loss but in fact for life, especially for growing and impressionable children.

ractayjon

when you make your casseroles add spinach, zucchini and opther veggie into them, you proabbly wont even know that they are in there!

becabunny

My Mom made a delicious lasagna with cottage cheese, ground turkey breast (if any meat) TONS of veggies ( she and I LOVE the broccoli cole slaw mix because its perfect for layering and retained crunch)

That with a homemade or low sodium tomato sauce is not that bad for you! (just veggies veggies cottage cheese and pasta!)

Sorry I don't have the complete recipe for you but it's pretty easy to just kind of "throw together"


I'm hungry for it now!

mromnek

when you make your casseroles add spinach, zucchini and opther veggie into them, you proabbly wont even know that they are in there!

I can vouch for this.

As a teenager, I worked in the kitchen for a summer camp. We put saurkraut in chocolate cake as a filler. The kids never knew the difference.

You know where carrot cake gets its name, right???

My dad claims to be able to tell when he is eating mushrooms. But not if they are chopped finely.

Moral of the story... get creative with veggies.

muth3rluvx2

Wow - so many great bits and here I am prepared to add more. LOL!

First, to the person that responded to the coffee related issue on metabolism and correctly reported that it increases metabolism - thank you! Beat me to the punch. A few more facts on caffeine: diuretic, decreases appetite, improves libido/sex life (yes, really! not the same was as the mythical oysters thing), increases brain function and for anyone in the ADD/ADHD family, greatly improves focus and concentration. Negatives: dehydrates, strips calcium, dually addictive (psychologically and physically - caffeine headaches SUCK!) and can increase certain physical discomforts such as cramps, muscle spasms/tension - solutions to negatives: for every cup of coffee, drink a glass of water; take a calcium supplement (which women should do anyway!) and if you're not already an addict, keep it down to a cup or two a day. Like anything, coffee/caffeine has its benefits - in moderation and over done, can be very bad for you if not properly mitigated.

You already have tons of suggestions on what to try and add and all that so that only real thing I'm going to offer is to get a rice steamer. I chose a natural bamboo one myself but you can get them all kinds of ways. If you steam your foods - whether its fish, veggies, poultry or even fruit for a natural dessert - this is THE BEST cooking methods. It retains the most nutrients, is a fairly rapid cooking process and retains flavor like crazy. I would suggest, if you decide to try this, to get some recipes and how-to's, particularly for bamboo steamers. They can retain the flavor of teh last thing you made if you're not careful. I almost ruined mine with a salmon steak! Oops? Last night though I made steamed asparagus, carrots, baby portabellas and I want to say I had something else in there but I can't remember now. Anyway, I just sprinkled some curry powder on them and they were delish! Well, the curry didn't do much for the asparagus - they have such a strong flavor of their own.. but the carrots and mushrooms really took on the flavor but not overpoweringly and just added a very nice alternate taste. Took them about 10 minutes to steam. Almost over-cooked them!!! The only thing I don't think I'd cook in a rice steamer is red meat and pork.

Enjoy your experiments - no matter what your next step ends up being! :-)

muth3rluvx2

when you make your casseroles add spinach, zucchini and opther veggie into them, you proabbly wont even know that they are in there!

I can vouch for this.

As a teenager, I worked in the kitchen for a summer camp. We put saurkraut in chocolate cake as a filler. The kids never knew the difference.

You know where carrot cake gets its name, right???

My dad claims to be able to tell when he is eating mushrooms. But not if they are chopped finely.

Moral of the story... get creative with veggies.

Gosh ...really?? This isn't the first time I've read these sorts of things here .. it just amazes me that families have to go to such lengths to get their loved ones to eat vegetables. Good stuff! Where on earth do people get the idea that veggies are yuckie? My kids (7 & 10 next month) will go through POUNDS of raw carrots in a week if I let them. Can't keep apples around to save my life - or pears. Broccoli.. gone. My younger loves frozen peas for a snack - right out of the bag...as in still frozen! lol.. give him a whole bowlfull and its better than any chip you could offer! They even eat brussel sprouts and raw spinach - they love salad! Like everyone, they have the things they genuinely don't like. Neither cares for tomatoes much and my younger doesn't dig potatoes. You know - I think I can be okay with that. LOL!!! I'm not a big zucchini fan. Big whoop. On top of that, we don't do anything special or crazy to hide the vegetables on their plates or in their bowls. So... I ask again - where does this notion come from to the point that hiding produce in a meatloaf is the solution to get them down the fam's throat? :-( I'm genuinely curious about this. Or do I somehow misunderstand what is going on with this phenomena? Thanks all for sharing your insights!!! :-)