How do you cook healthy meals for your family?

Question

I'm Italian, I grew up in a family where food was the center for all events......dinner on the table promtly every night......and it was a complete meal.
I recognize the value of family dinner, but in order to please us all.....especially the kids......I cook food that tastes really good, but I think we're all getting fatter! I don't fry or make excessively fattening foods, but I cook stuff that tastes good......and let's face it, it's not the healthiest. When I make broccoli for instance, I steam it, and drizzle it with olive oil and bread crumbs and a little salt......that way the kids will eat it, but it's fattening that way!

How do you cook healthy food that tastes good......I dont' have time for endless recipe books, and I certainly can't cook different things for everyone's tastes.

Answer 1

With difficulty unfortunately from whichever angle you look at it.

I'm a Celiac with food sensitivities and that complicates things. No wheat, corn, maize, rice, peas, carrots - the list is endless and that doesn't even cover ketchup/mayo/mustard/pepper which are all forbidden. And for the same reason that we can't cook five separate meals it's a mix and match affair.

Keep your repertoire simple! Cull the recipes you've got and break down into easiest & quickest, most loved by all, most complex, holiday etc.

I don't think your treatment of the broccoli is that bad but don't know how it's combined with the rest of the meal. So I'd include it but serve with a protein and salad but skip bread as a serving at that meal.

I do a fair bit of fake wok cooking. Everything lands up in the "wok" mix up a simple "sauce" - 3/4 cup white wine, bit of salt, a little oil, some honey or sugar no more than 1 TBSP. We've a meal on the table in 15 minutes after a rough day at work.

Or I'll slap slow cooking stuff either in the old crock pot or the oven. Same idea: meats and veg served with a salad.

I've found that roasting the veggies in the oven under the broiler helps add "taste". Cubed cooks faster - light dusting of salt and a pinch of sugar, light drizzle of olive oil and thump in for 30 - 45 minutes. (Keep an eye on them).

There's always steaming but I never got into this one. (I have to drown it in melted butter!)

Our meat choices tend to fluctuate with income and where we are in the pay check cycle. But my staples are: 1. Lean bacon for flavouring - grilled and crumbled after mopping all the excess oil off with paper. 2. Beef. 3. Turkey - usually the dark meats which are cheaper in the store and cook nicely in the wok. 4. Salmon. 5. Venison. 6. Eggs - so versatile and I'm a wiz at souffle's never had a failure in 33 years. (Eggs absorb the flavour of truffles easily so a nice little truffle does double duty with 1/2 doz eggs in a sealed container in the fridge and adds a sense of luxe when the eggs are scrambled or omletted).

I cut down on the amount of sugar and salt in the recipes and bump up the herbs. Select parmesan rather than cheddar and cut down that way on some of the calories. Cut down on the bread stuff and servings - it's important and a fabulous carb but you don't need more than one serving per day.

Um ... I do have some rules, shuffle feet ... I don't allow more than one cola beverage a week, there are home made juice options and syrups I boil up to be mixed with water. Pure water is always on hand, tea, coffee and herb tissanes. I don't allow ice creams or serve it more than once a month.

We seldom have commercial gooey stuff and because of my condition, cakes and biscuites don't feature much - hell you ever tried to bake a cake with buckwheat? Man! You could knock the burglar out with it! I'll buy or make coconut macaroons or meringues - a couple of small servings goes far.

Candies are a treat and thankfully the kids opt for fruit or yoghurts. We didn't allow them these goodies when they were real tiny which helped.

It's not a fancy diet, good bit of work making bread substitues all the time, relies on some prep time starting from scratch and fresh herbs for flavour.

We live in Britain now and the amount of sweetners & sugars in things is scary. But I've lost 3 stone in weight over 18 months this way, about 45lbs mostly as a reaction to eliminating wheat from my diet. But the family mantained theirs pretty much.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Hey Annie! U won't need 2 cook 2 meals every night. U want 2 start eating healthier & your entire family sb eating healthier as well. U have made the decision to do what's necessary 2 b here 4 U & the family--why not help the rest of the family in the process? Mommy, Daddy & the kids eating right=1 HEALTHY family. Add more vegetables(and fresh fruit) to your diet. It's good 4 u & the family. Try the technique of cooking sev. meals on the weekend & freezing them. Hopefully they will take u through to the middle of the week. Hopefully u will then have the energy to cook enough 2 last Thursday & Friday. I wish u all the best in your quest for healthier eating/living. I know it will be good 4 u & your entire family! :)

Answer 4

You don't need to make riduculously different meals. You just need to cut back on butters, oils, salts, that kind of thing.
Slowly introduce fresh vegtables, lightly seasoned if needed. Use whole weat pastas, whole wheat bread, or better yet, cut bread out of dinners all together.
Encourage drinking water with dinner instead of soda or wine or juice, try switching some of your products to organic.

Answer 5

Paleo diet its a diet based around eating real food unprocessed and organic. Learn here https://tr.im/8evab

Whether you have or not, what you probably don't realize is that it’s the fastest growing “diet” in the world right now. From celebrities, chefs, elite athletes. Even fitness experts is eager to try it or adopt it.

And for good reason, because no other diet or eating plan provides so many benefits so fast.

Answer 6

leave out the butter, less meat, and whip up quick easy, and healthy veggies