This is SO hard! Need some help with meals pls!

Cooks Illustrated has some great recipies that aren't diet, but do good in the calorie department. Some of them sound odd, but so far, everything we've tried from them is tasty.

I understand, suppers are really tough to make both healthy and pleasing to everyone. I don't have pasta much, the tiny serving size is disappointing to me. I will usually have sweet potatoes, roasted butternut squash, red potatoes, or brown rice as my "starch". Have you tried farro? I was sure it would be too healthy tasting, but it's nutty and delicious, and has fiber and protein. I also do flatbread or pita pizzas, which everyone seems to like, or soft tacos or quesadillas with leftover meat, beans or veggies.

One thing weight watchers has are very good cookbooks. One I use a lot and my family likes is
The weight watchers Powerfoods Cookbook. You can get it on amazon.

Most of the weight watchers cookbooks have really good recipes. This may give you ideas as to what to cook. My family gets bored unless I use recipes like these sometimes.
Good luck to you. :flowerforyou:

"Healthy" is often a matter of context and dosage. I don't use "healthy" specific cook books...I just use cook books. I make my meals from healthful, whole, scratch ingredients. What's really important here is serving sizes and portions.

There's nothing inherently wrong with pasta...i eat it regularly...I am very healthy and fit. There is nothing wrong with white rice...there is nothing wrong with potatoes...there is nothing wrong with bread...etc, etc, etc, etc.

Most people have issues here because they have an extremely narrow view of what constitutes "healthy" and healthful eating/living. Reality is that if people took a step back and looked at their diet as a whole they would realize that most things are perfectly fine and healthful given proper context and dosage.

Best answer in this thread! :drinker:

This is my first post but I really wanted to share my diner adventures with you.

For me, I believe all things in moderation. I realized this one day making a family favorite quiche recipe. In an attempt to lower the calories, I replaced 1/3 cup of mayo with 1 avocado (my husband hates avocado too but mush it up enough you cannot taste it) to maintain the fatty consistency and used low fat cheeses. I kept the crust, cause it taste great with crust. Full egg, milk, ham and broccoli. Divided by 4 servings and it was still too many calories, I'd have no room for my glass of wine. So I divided each in half to give 8 servings and added a side of garden salad. YAY! Room for wine

So I started looking more into serving sizes. If a recipe is too many calories, I add another serving. My meatball sub casserole is amazing! But it had to go from 4 to 5 servings, saving me 200 calories. I also added chopped spinach too it because it was a veggiless recipe (if that is a word?). I add a side of salad or raw veggies to keep me full. The extra servings go in the freezer for a day when I don't make enough for lunch leftovers.

I've also started using our crock pot a lot, especially for chicken recipes. Some recipes can be made and will serve 8 or more, break down the calories and one serving is under 200 calories. Then go ahead and add your rice or pasta.

Take advantage of using items with a small amount of calories, Spices, Franks Red Hot, Soya Sauce, Chicken Stock ect..
Best of luck, just remember if you deprive yourself it will be harder to stick with it long term.

Have you looked at the recipe section here on My Fitness Pal??

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/14-recipes

:flowerforyou:

I think it's great that you're involving your kids in deciding what they eat. They're going to have to learn to make choices as adults; might as well practice that now!

I tried so hard to like quinoa. The only way I can eat it is if I add a bunch of shoyu (soy sauce). I can't stand kale, either: clearly, I will never be cool.

I really like millet. You cook it similar to rice. I'm not sure of its fiber content. It has a consistency similar to quinoa, but I find it much tastier.

I'd suggest stir fry. It's an easy way to introduce vegetables, and it makes a little bit of meat go a long way. My current big-time favorite sauce is: 2 tblsp hoisin sauce, 1 tblsp sesame oil, 1 tblsp oyster sauce. Whisk together and dump on stir fry in the last few minutes of cooking.

I love white rice. Seriously love the stuff. Brown rice is okay, but I don't really like it. Several years ago, I told my doctor I'd rather die than give up white rice. She laughed - she's Chinese, and I imagine she'd rather die than give up white rice, too. She pointed out that I didn't need to banish it from my life. I've cut way back on highly processed, ready-made foods and I'm a lot healthier for it. The white rice stays! There's also black rice, also know as "forbidden rice." It's not as processed as white rice. It's a beautiful purple when cooked.

Somen noodles are made with buckwheat, so they have fewer simple carbs than most other noodles. Since your Hubs is not a noodle fan, you can always make the noodles for you & the kids and he can eat his stir fry on something else. You can make large batches of rice or millet or other grains; it reheats easily and can be incorporated into a wide variety of meals. (I grew up eating fried rice for breakfast.)

I'm trying so hard to keep my meals clean and fresh and healthy!
but my gawd I'm not finding it easy! Grocery stores sell so much HORRIBLE foods! I'm an avid pinterest addict and all the foods there always seem to be full of sugar. When you look up healthy recipes you find avocados ( which I just don't like ) and other foods i'm not a fan of. ( brusel sprouts, asparagus etc )
We are taking out most gluten's also. I have noticed that me and my eldest daughter seem to be affected by it ( bloating, bad skin etch). Pasta is something else I'm trying to cut out.
I have a few meals that I currently make that are super yummy and healthy. But I can count them on one hand! I have bought a bunch of healthy cookbooks, but the meals seem silly and too weird. Same thing with recipes online. I can spend HOURS ( wish this was an exaggeration ) on searching for a recipe for that night with no luck.

What am I doing wrong Why does it seem to hard?

What are some of your staple healthy, low calorie no gluten meals? and not pasta?

Things I have done to change our eating:

-Taken away white instant rice - We are slowly adding quinoa instead but the family isn't enjoying it.
-Taken away anything breaded
- Have added salad to almost all our suppers
- Always lots of steamed from fresh or frozen veggies
- No more pop drinks
- always lots of fresh fruits and veggies cut up for easy snacks.

I know I'm doing good, I just struggle so much with suppers! I'm used to making a new recipe almost nightly for my family! that is what they are used to.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

You're trying to change too much at once.

Quick tip for quinoa - cook it in broth, not water. It tastes so much better!!!

It can be really hard to quit foods we like cold turkey and start with foods we don't like. Since your family doesn't like it yet, what if you tried mixing it with rice (or something else they like, such as couscous?) Do a higher portion of rice to start, then slowly up the amount of quinoa and lower the amount of rice as they get used to the taste/texture.

OR, try out different grains/seeds, like millet, farro, wheatberries, etc. There are lots of yummy whole grains out there, you might find something you like if you are willing to explore a bit. If you have a whole foods nearby, they usually have these foods in the bulk section so you can just buy a little to try, rather than a full bag that might go to waste.

You mention a lot of what you don't like, but what kinds of foods do you and your family enjoy? A lot of those can probably be made over to be healthier/cleaner. No need to eat asparagus, brussel sprouts (both way better roasted than steamed, by the way), avocado, or anything else if you aren't interested.