Need lots of help and support!!

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!!! :-)

kgasser

Just a couple more tidbits to consider...fruit is great, but be careful, not all fruit is created the same...as a nurse if a diabetic has a low blood sugar we give them orange juice to quickly bring it up...but what goes up, must come down...again, fruit is great, just don't think that just because it is healthy you can use it to substutute the other sweets you want...don't forget, 2 large bananas are more calories than a bag of M&M's!

Point 2 - really make an effort to increase your protien each meal...the more protien, the less hunger later

Point 3 - Throw away all of your plates! Yep, that's what I said. My entire family eat off of children's plates and it really does help control portion size. I am getting tired of plastic, though, so I have been looking for some of the smaller ceramic plates.:bigsmile:

Just some thoughts!

Crunchytxmama

Just a couple more tidbits to consider...fruit is great, but be careful, not all fruit is created the same...as a nurse if a diabetic has a low blood sugar we give them orange juice to quickly bring it up...but what goes up, must come down...again, fruit is great, just don't think that just because it is healthy you can use it to substutute the other sweets you want...don't forget, 2 large bananas are more calories than a bag of M&M's!

Point 2 - really make an effort to increase your protien each meal...the more protien, the less hunger later

Point 3 - Throw away all of your plates! Yep, that's what I said. My entire family eat off of children's plates and it really does help control portion size. I am getting tired of plastic, though, so I have been looking for some of the smaller ceramic plates.:bigsmile:

Just some thoughts!

I also eat off of a salad plate every night. We bought a set of pretty, square china plates at Walmart and they come with a HUGE dinner plate, and a salad plate that is smaller than a regular dinner plate, but bigger than a normal salad plate. It's worked great for keeping portions down. We only eat off the big dinner plates on holidays, lol.

Crunchytxmama

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!!! :-)

I add extra veggies to casseroles, soups, and sauces to stretch the recipe and get a little extra veggies in, but we always have a large side of veggies with dinner. My kids love and ask for collard and turnip greens, broccoli, salad, etc. We go through an insane amount of fruit each week, and my son's lunchbox always has a veggie and a fruit with whatever his main thing is. I'm actually the one who struggles to eat enough produce, because I just didn't grow up on it! I think I sneak them in more for me than for them.

kgasser

We bought a set of pretty, square china plates at Walmart and they come with a HUGE dinner plate, and a salad plate that is smaller than a regular dinner plate, but bigger than a normal salad plate. It's worked great for keeping portions down. We only eat off the big dinner plates on holidays, lol.

I will look for those! Thanks!

tnewcom

i am gonna have to check into those! thanks