I NEED HELP MY HUSBAND IS A FAST FOOD MANAGER!!!!! and i don

no vegi's well looks like you are doomed. Good luck........ I am kidding. I say you power past your visual repugnace of vegi's do that for a few weeks. Your body will start to crave them. Look back at a few ways to prepare sweet potatos and you will love them. Your body was designed for whole living food. Your molars are evidence of that. Get past your vegiphobia. No amount of help is going to get you over that you have to do that one on your own sister. Good luck.

Learn simple things like substituting ground turkey for ground beef. Don't tell your family. They won't know. Look up crock pot recipes online. This is an easy way to learn to cook fresher food. I'm lucky enough to have started cooking at 5 years old, but I realize that is not common anymore. So, hide the vegetables. Mix a little cut broccoli in the macaroni and cheese. Add tiny pieces of celery, carrots, squash to spaghetti sauce. Somethings you just won't get past them. My 12 yr old eats anything, my 7 yr old can spot an onion a mile away, my 4 yr old will eat all the 7 yr olds onions & the baby hates the color green unless it's buried under yellow! If you want to know how to make anything specific I can help! Just let me know. I managed fast food for years & trust me it will catch up with you!

Generally, I've found that people "don't like" vegetables because they a) had "bad experiences" with them as children or b) don't know how to prepare them. If you boil the crap out of a brussels sprout and make it all mushy, or serve up gray broccoli, well sure, I wouldn't eat it either.

Roasting veggies gives them a completely new flavor. You can roast anything - sweet potato wedges, brussels sprouts, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, all the veggies that people generally turn their noses up at, and it gives them this wonderful crispy outside and nutty flavor. Just cut em into reasonable-sized chunks, give em a light spray of Pam or a quick toss of olive oil, spice 'em up and roast!

Also, I don't have kids and don't plan to, but I think getting your kids involved in cooking and food preparation makes them more inclined to eat it. Bring them grocery shopping (or even better, to a farmer's market - or even even better, start a vegetable garden!) Crack open some easy cookbooks and learn and cook together - some of my best memories are me standing on a chair in my grandmother's kitchen cooking with her. It might excite them to eat, because they have seen where their food comes from and have been involved in the preparation. You could even name the dishes after them that they help you with - "Sally's Sweet Potatoes" or whatever - it might give them a sense of pride in the food. Use cooking as a time to bond - that way you can learn together!

he works at whataburger. they have a salad thats basically lettuce and fried chicken tenders with a few shredded carrots and 2 or 3 grape tomatoes thats just way too much lettuce for me. they have grilled chicken but ever time i eat their grilled chicken i throw up. my body just doenst like it for some reason. they have hamburgers, fried chicken sandwiches and breakfast items like breakfast tacos, biscuits and pancakes

OMG I miss Whataburger. When I went home on leave I had it almost daily... *drool*

I'm in the same boat as you as far as knowledge of cooking.. I usually pick a few simple things out of the frozen section (like salsbury steak or cream sauce with chicken and broccoli over rice) then try to make some 'healthy' choices along with it like frozen veggies or salad with lots of veggies and light dressing... it's easy for starters.. Also start looking up quick recipeas... Like home made mashed potatos vs box ones.. Also I LOVE fruit but the more I eat it the sweeter I find it becomes so I've started keeping grapes and strawberries around for dessert as opposed to sugary sweets.
My crockpot is my favorite by far. There are some awesome recipes and a lot of things you can just throw together.

No, you don't have the right to force feed anyone.

Perhaps we have a nomenclature misunderstanding, but even in this advanced year of 2011, the role of a parent is to produce a productive member of society. Just because you cannot spank a misbehaving child in public does not mean that it is not a parental duty to discipline a child.

I did not mean to imply that you should shovel vegetables down your children's throats; however, making a child sit at the table* until he or she finishes the fundamental parts of a meal is not at all out of line.
-wtk



* Or however you choose to deal with that as a parent. I don't give a damn.

I agree with your point. It isn't a "clean your plate" thing (because we know that making people, even children, eat when they are not hungry develops unhealthy eating habits). My daughter has to sit for "family time" at dinner (a protective factor for eating disorders, mental health and substance prevention is eating family meals). She is hungry and needs to sit until we are all done and at least try what is on her plate. If she helps make it, even better, and she is more likely to eat it. We can't force people to eat but it doesn't hurt to spend some time chatting with them over supper and broaden their horizons!

I am sure you do more cooking than you give yourself credit for

There is nothing wrong with using your microwave to cook, I do it 4-5 times a week. I normally use it for steaming frozen veggies to just perfectly cooked. Here are a couple of my go to methods that I use in a time crunch, they take less than 20 minutes.

Cook 2 oz of pasta (i use Ronzoni smart taste- wheat pasta without wheat pasta look/taste) according to directions (no salt)
Take 3 oz precooked frozen chicken breast, 1/2 a bag of frozen california mix veggies (can sub for what you like/have), pop in microwave (cook from frozen, dont add water)and cook until steaming hot all the way through (for one serving it takes me 4 minutes, stirring at 2 minutes)
When pasta and chicken mix are done, add 3 tlbs teryaki baste/glaze (Makes chicken lo mein), or 1/4-1/2 c jarred light alfredo sauce (chicken alfredo)
That serves one and is between 360-450 calories depending on sauces, multiply it for more people. I've also swapped the pasta for cooked brown rice with the teryaki sauce and get chicken fried rice.

Good luck to you, feel free to add me for other meal ideas