Cheap healthy cooking for my meat & potatoes man...

slhall0822
slhall0822 Posts: 128 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Help! I am currently a stay at home mom with a 4 month old. I've never been all that talented in the kitchen but I want to learn how to cook fairly simple, healthy, inexpensive meals for my family. I'll eat pretty much anything except onions, liver, and eggplant (that's probably the reason I'm on MFP LOL). My hubby, however, is a COMPLETELY different story. He is SO SO SO incredibly picky. The only green foods he will eat are lima beans and collard greens. He doesn't like a lot of cheese. He prefers beef, steak, potatoes (no sour cream, only extra butter), etc. He won't eat anything "ethnic"... etc. He will eat ground chicken, but stubs his nose at ground turkey and anything other than beef or pork.

I would like to cook meals for both of us, and keep them healthy for me... but he's SO hard to cook for. PLUS, since I decided to stay home while my baby is young, we are on a pretty strict budget. Anyone have any suggestions?

Replies

  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    Will your husband start trying new foods one bite at a time for the sake of your child? Fussy or healthy habits can be passed on, eating a wide variety of wholefoods is thought to be very important to health. Does he eat beans and lentils? They are super cheap and super healthy. What about oily fish?
  • nydiva1231
    nydiva1231 Posts: 3
    I am having the same problem here, except I am the super picky one and I am the one who needs to loose the weight! The only green things I will eat are iceberg and an occasional pea or two...lol. I am a beef person too and never thought I would like ground turkey. But I did give it a try. I made a turkey chili the other night simple, low fat and if you don't think you could trick him with the turkey meat (which you totally could) you can make it just as easy with ground chicken. Tomato Sauce, kidney beans, ground turkey or chicken and a chili flavor packet. Let me know how you make out!
  • ubermensch13
    ubermensch13 Posts: 824 Member
    skinnytaste.com They have typical comfort meals done in a lighter fashion. Do a search and try a few.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    I am having the same problem here, except I am the super picky one and I am the one who needs to loose the weight! The only green things I will eat are iceberg and an occasional pea or two...lol. I am a beef person too and never thought I would like ground turkey. But I did give it a try. I made a turkey chili the other night simple, low fat and if you don't think you could trick him with the turkey meat (which you totally could) you can make it just as easy with ground chicken. Tomato Sauce, kidney beans, ground turkey or chicken and a chili flavor packet. Let me know how you make out!

    Iceberg is not really green, I'd say it falls in the white family. Have you tried spinach or green beans in berry smoothie? I swear you cannot taste them.

    I also put sweetcorn in chilli con carne or Mexican mince, then either grated carrot or red lentils - even my chef ex didn't seem to notice the carrot or lentils they cook down to nothing.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    My husband is super picky too. For us what works is to make substitutions in recipes I already make, and then I make a smaller amount of food then I used to so his portions are smaller. I use light margarine, low fat cheese, lean cuts of meat (and I trim the extra fat), half the oil, etc. I also try to bake instead of fry when possible and add the few veggies he will eat to other dishes. He likes peas, for example, and I have a parmesan rice recipe he loves. So I cut the cheese and oil in half and I added peas. It works well.
  • slhall0822
    slhall0822 Posts: 128 Member
    Will your husband start trying new foods one bite at a time for the sake of your child? Fussy or healthy habits can be passed on, eating a wide variety of wholefoods is thought to be very important to health. Does he eat beans and lentils? They are super cheap and super healthy. What about oily fish?


    He will eat some fish. And nope, no luck on the trying new foods. Of course, our daughter is only 4 months old, so hopefully by the time she's old enough to start getting fussy, I'll have him convinced to try some new stuff so she doesn't pick up the fussy habits. My hubby's mom is SUPER picky too, so I know that's where he got it from. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! I'll definitely try a few of them and see if I have any luck!

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