Help! I have the tastebuds of a toddler!

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alnovasad35
alnovasad35 Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok! I need help! I don't cook (unless you count pre-heating the oven for frozen pizza, chicken nuggets and such cooking :). Lucky for me my husband had done all the cooking! However, with his job, I have been in charge of the meals. I have a few meals I can whip up but they are not healthy by any means. I went through a phase that I am pretty proud of. I lost 25 lbs starting this time last year. I have put 13 of those lost pounds back on :( and I am having an extremely hard time getting motivated again. I am intrigued and curious as to how to get started on preparing my food for a week, but it sound so overwhelming for someone who doesn't cook with tastebuds of a toddler. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get started?

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  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
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    Foods can be prepared all kinds of ways. You have to try different recipes until you find those you enjoy. Try the following sites for starters:

    http://www.campbellskitchen.com/recipecollections
    http://www.mccormick.com/Recipes
    http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/
    http://allrecipes.com/
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    When I'm looking for new recipes, I hop on pinterest with 1 ingredient in mind and then add adjectives, like "broccoli healthy vegetarian" or "eggplant low calorie" or even a very general "italian food 500 calorie." I can usually find something interesting, although I always check the calories to make sure they're actually accurate.
  • debneeds2beskinny
    debneeds2beskinny Posts: 227 Member
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    pinterest is awesome for recipes and I love allrecipes.com. Try something different once or twice a week. make it new and exciting. also - if you work a crock pot is the best thing in the world
    -
  • ForeverSunshine09
    ForeverSunshine09 Posts: 966 Member
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    I also am the pickiest person in the world. Until about a year ago I only knew how to make tacos, some chicken dishes and steak. The crock pot is the best place to start. It takes very little effort for a very nice filling meal like beef stew or roast or a dozen other things. I check out pinterest every once ina while to get a new recipe. I in just the last few weeks learned how to peel a potato in less than 5 mins pathetic I know but, true story.
  • KrunchyMama
    KrunchyMama Posts: 420 Member
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    Something I say to my kids all the time is "you better get used to eating it, because we are going to be eating healthy in this house for a long time!"

    Meal ideas that are quick, easy, and family friendly:

    - Veg fried rice. Cook rice, and while it is cooking, fry up some veggies (fresh and/or frozen), mix them together when they are both ready, and add a splash of vinegar and a few splashes of soy sauce.

    - Protein + vegetable + green + carb combo. So meat, beans, eggs, tofu, lentils, etc + broccoli, carrots, frozen vegetable, etc + sauteed or steamed collards, kale, swiss chard, spinach, cabbage, or a fresh salad, etc + rice or potatoes*** This is our main meal plan, most nights of the week. It's great because my kids are active and my hubby is trying to gain weight, so I load up on the veggies and greens, and they load up on the carbs

    - Homemade tortillas with sauteed veggies or fresh veggies and a protein

    - Stirfry with rice

    - Soup or stew

    - Platter dinner. Basically this means we chop up a bunch of stuff, put it on a tray, and pick away at it. Things like meat, cheese, olives, fruit, vegetables, crackers, and whatever other odds and ends that need to be eaten

    - I also do pasta for the family, but when they eat pasta I make vegetable curry (I love curry, and my family hates it, so it's a good compromise :) )
  • RavenLibra
    RavenLibra Posts: 1,737 Member
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    a crockpot can be your friend :)
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    http://www.companyscoming.com/ is a local phenomenon where the recipes use easily found ingredients. I've never had a company's coming recipe fail me.

    26 foods you should learn to cook first. Success on these will make you feel like a master chef.
  • DirrtyH
    DirrtyH Posts: 664 Member
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    I am with you, my friend. I have embraced my unsophisticated palate and I pretty much eat nothing with more than 3 ingredients. Chopped up ham, a cheese stick, some apple slices, carrots and black olives for lunch. Tuna melt, roasted veggies, eggs, bacon, toast, quesadillas, black beans (not all at the same time) for dinner.
    I don't like cooking and anything that requires me to spend a lot of time in the kitchen won't be sustainable. I had to get on board with what will actually work for me in the long run.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    Best way to learn to cook is just jump in and do it.

    Scour recipe websites - start by just picking two or three things that sound like they could be good.

    Make an ingredient list - what of those ingredients do you already have, and what do you need?

    Go grocery shopping for needed items. By restricting it to just two or three dishes, you won't need to buy a ton of stuff, and you won't have to worry too much about spoilage.

    Read through the recipes at least 2x all the way through before starting so you have a general idea of what you're doing and what order you need to do the steps in.

    After you're done, make notes on your recipes...what did you like? Did you cook it too long? Were there two steps that came quickly and you didn't react quickly enough? Was it too salty? Not salty enough? Those notes will come in handy next time it comes up in the rotation.

    Keep on until you have a standard set of 15-20 dishes that you can rotate through on a regular basis.

    After you've mastered those, experiment a bit. Are there certain ingredients you find in many of the dishes you like? Try adding or swapping that in to other recipes.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I suggest starting with a few basics before launching in to more complicated recipes. Roasts are easy. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice and vegetables.

    Perfect roast chicken. You could salt and pepper the chicken, skipping all the vegetables, and it will still come out nice.

    Perfect roast beef.

    The next easiest is a stew.
  • deandra_carroll
    deandra_carroll Posts: 5 Member
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    Hi :)

    If you like nuggets - these are awesome and healthy!

    http://dukantopia.com/2012/06/13/chicken-nuggets/
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    Honestly, I don't know what the 'tastebuds of a toddler" comment means. The toddlers I know eat food similar to the rest of the family, allowing for personal likes/dislikes, of course.

    But, if you want to learn to cook I'd suggest two things:

    Get an instructor - either take a class, buy some cooking technique DVDs, ask someone you know who is a good cook to give you pointers/lessons

    Get a good beginners recipe book. One that includes common techniques, terms, substitutions, etc.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    Healthy means nothing for weight loss. Make the food you enjoy, track the calories, and eat portions that enable you to eat within your caloric needs. Because you didn't gain weight due to no longer eating healthy, you gained due to overconsuming calories.
  • KrunchyMama
    KrunchyMama Posts: 420 Member
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    ana3067 wrote: »
    Healthy means nothing for weight loss. Make the food you enjoy, track the calories, and eat portions that enable you to eat within your caloric needs. Because you didn't gain weight due to no longer eating healthy, you gained due to overconsuming calories.

    I disagree with this statement. If you eat crap foods you are not properly fueling your body, so you are still hungry, and eat even more because your body is sending signals that it's still deficient in nutrients and to find more food. Eating healthy is a huge factor in a persons weight.
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
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    If you prefer cookbooks over websites, I highly recommend Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution" cookbook. It has a great variety of nutritious and flavorful recipes, with easy step-by-step instructions. It's a good book for learning, I think.

    I like recipes that have a lot of great pictures - they make me want to try them, because they look tasty.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    KrunchyMama wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    Healthy means nothing for weight loss. Make the food you enjoy, track the calories, and eat portions that enable you to eat within your caloric needs. Because you didn't gain weight due to no longer eating healthy, you gained due to overconsuming calories.

    I disagree with this statement. If you eat crap foods you are not properly fueling your body, so you are still hungry, and eat even more because your body is sending signals that it's still deficient in nutrients and to find more food. Eating healthy is a huge factor in a persons weight.

    I eat plenty of "crap food," and unless I am ONLY eating chocolate and ice cream all day, none of this happens to me. If I eat above my goals it is either because I chose that it was worth it or because I am making up for missed calories (e..g last week I was eating 2100, new goal is 2250, so I ate an extra 500 cals last night because I was hungry at midnight and because I decided to get closer to my new weekly average goal).

    "Healthy" means nothing for weight loss because CICO is what determines weight management. There are pleeenty of these supposed healthy foods that will help you gain weight. And healthy is subjective, changing over the decades (e.g. fat used to be demonized way more than it is now, and now carbs are demonized way more. So does that mean that fat was only unhealthy in the 80s and now it's super duper healthy?).

    I could also eat my weight in fruit, which is plenty healthy according to most people, and it would still make me hungry for more because there isn't enough fat and protein in my diet if I emulate Freelee. If eating a poor macronutrient ratio results in you feeling hungry all the time, then that's due to macros... not "health" of the food. Or you're just not eating enough calories.
  • alnovasad35
    alnovasad35 Posts: 8 Member
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    Thanks everyone for your advice and support! I am not sure how to comment on your reply or I would! I have already saved all the suggested websites, printed off the chicken nugget recipe and pinned the 26 foods you should learn to cook first! I am taking coverturf's advice and jumping right in!
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    alnovasad35 wrote: »
    Thanks everyone for your advice and support! I am not sure how to comment on your reply or I would! I have already saved all the suggested websites, printed off the chicken nugget recipe and pinned the 26 foods you should learn to cook first! I am taking coverturf's advice and jumping right in!

    Re: replying to a specific post

    Click on 'Quote' beneath the post. The post will them be copying into the reply box and you can just type your reply below it and click 'Post Reply' ( or 'Preview') if you want to make sure it worked before posting.
  • alnovasad35
    alnovasad35 Posts: 8 Member
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    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    alnovasad35 wrote: »
    Thanks everyone for your advice and support! I am not sure how to comment on your reply or I would! I have already saved all the suggested websites, printed off the chicken nugget recipe and pinned the 26 foods you should learn to cook first! I am taking coverturf's advice and jumping right in!

    Re: replying to a specific post

    Click on 'Quote' beneath the post. The post will them be copying into the reply box and you can just type your reply below it and click 'Post Reply' ( or 'Preview') if you want to make sure it worked before posting.

    Excellent! Thank you!

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