I live in the south where all the food is delicious, but it is all very bad for you.....?

Question

To give you an example, here's what I ate yesterday:
Breakfast: sausage, grits, biscuits & brown gravy, and fried apples

Dinner: Country ham biscuits (they are small home made biscuits and you put them and the already cooked ham in an electric pot to keep them warm on the table and just grab and munch....sooooo good)

Supper:collard greens, soup beans, corn bread, corn on the cob (fresh from the garden), fried potatoes, and deer steak with black berry cobbler for desert.

Think me and my family weigh about 350 pds each? lol, actually we're all very thin and um, tall (yeah, I'm 5'11"). So its not a matter of wanting to lose weight, but wanting to have clean arteries....lol. So, any healthy recipes? Thanks for sharing!

Answer 1

Actually balance is the key and if you are all excercising regularly, you should be alright. Just go see your doctor and he can let you know if you have any problems you may not be aware of.

Answer 2

Your supper seems very healthy. For lunch, try adding a salad to your ham biscuits. It's breakfast you might need to worry about. It's hard for me too. Maybe add some scrambled eggs to your sausage and have either grits or biscuits and gravy, and bake the apples instead of frying them.
I think being heart healthy is about the small changes. Drastic changes are less likely to stick.

Answer 3

I'm from the south to and love my southern cooking, but had to adjust a little because my cardioligist was sitting on the porch waiting..... anyway, a few good kickers for the southern way of life without the lard.
Eggs, use the egg beaters, they make great omelettes, and grits are no worry, there good for you, collards are good to, but use turkey bacon to season them with and not a ham hock. a little kick for corn bread, dice up a green or red pepper, (and a jalapena if you want true southwest cornbread), and put it in the batter and mix it good and bake. try cooking the catfish on the grill to, there good with the smoke flavor the grill adds, coat them with your favorite spice and put them in a pouch of foil with a little olive oil to keep them moist, and cook them on the grill along with corn in the husk, soaked in water for a hour, the corn will roast nice and crisp. add a big pot of collards and some cheese grits and you have a afternoon meal.

Answer 4

A healthy recipe in my opinon is a meal made with fresh or frozen vegetables. I like to eat a meal of 4 vegetables. That consists of potatoes, stir-fry, canned vegetable(peas, corn, green beans, yellow beans, carrots) that compliment the stir-fry, and fresh celery or carrots.(a side salad would do also.) If you have to have a meat I suggest a piece of grilled chicken 3 oz. Just enough to say you had some meat. This is served with a large glass of water. If you want a dessert - pudding or jello.

Answer 5

You could start by not having the grits and biscuits and gravy and don't fry the apples. Have it fresh.
Skip the fried potatoes. Mash them instead.
Remember to slowly chew your food and have them in smaller portions. And fresh is best. Stay away form processed food and sugars.

Answer 6

Can I come eat with you? That sounds so good. Except for the brown gravy for breakfast. You're supposed to use sausage gravy on your biscuits. Then pile scrambeld eggs on top of that.

A healthy alternative....instead of using ham to season, get ham flavoring form the grocery store.

Answer 7

I am a Pampered Chef consultant, and we've got lots of healthier ideas in our "It's Good For You" cookbook. Here is one recipe that I found on our main website. Enjoy!

For more info on products or consulting, visit
www.pamperedchef.biz/ candiceskitchen

Tropical Fruit Salsa

Ingredients:
1 mango, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes (1 cup)
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
2 kiwi, peeled and diced
1/4 cup sliced green onions with tops
2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro
1 lime
1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple in juice, undrained

Directions:
1. Cut mango into 1/4-inch cubes and dice bell pepper and kiwi using knife. Thinly slice green onions. Snip cilantro. Zest lime to measure 1 teaspoon zest and juice lime to measure 1 tablespoon juice. Chop jalapeño pepper using Food Chopper.

2. In bowl, combine mango, bell pepper, kiwi, green onions, cilantro, lime zest and juice, jalapeño and crushed pineapple; mix gently. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

3. Spoon salsa over grilled or baked chicken or fish using Small Bamboo Spoons.

Yield: 3 cups (12 servings)

Nutrients per serving: (Low Fat) (1/4 cup salsa): Calories 30, Total Fat 0 g, Saturated Fat 0 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Carbohydrate 8 g, Protein 0 g, Sodium 0 mg, Fiber 1 g

©The Pampered Chef, Ltd. 2003

Answer 8

i love southern food
went to boston for vacation and missed my good southern chow so much
anyway could you consider using no or less butter
switching to vegetarian alternatives to meat such as soy or textured vegetable protein i know it's difficult but if you spice it up right it gets better
maybe don't do this all the time
i am not a vegetarian and am not suggesting you become one either but just give it a try
i also heard splenda is a great sugar substitute but haven't tried it yet

Answer 9

That's always my problem - my boyfriend wants food he grew up with but I hate how unhealthy it is. I make grilled chicken salad a lot, or baked fish. I just sprinkle some cracker crumbs and diced tomatoes on top of fish and bake it for about 30 minutes. Any seafood, especially if it's baked, is more healthy for you.

Answer 10

Yeah I know...in Bama. All those type foods are normal for us. I can't even think of much of anything for breakfast that is healthy AND appealing that isn't fruit or bland cereal. I eat cereal and stuff like that all week...come sunday I want the good stuff. Supper bf works his booty off and wants REAL FOOD!