Are these meals healthy? If not, are there ways to cook them so they'll be healthier?

Question

Here's a list of some of the meals we've had recently:

Crock Pot Ribs w/ Baked Red Potatoes & Baked Beans on top.

Meat Loaf, Corn Bread, Mashed Potatoes, & Corn.

Fried Chicken, Fried Plantains (Tostones), and Yellow Rice w/ Habichuelas (a type of beans).

Ground Beef cooked with Elbow Noodles, & Sharp & Parmesian Cheese.

Italian Sausage w/ Green Peppers & Onions.

Beef Cubes & White Rice w/ Gandules (a type of bean), Sazon, Sofrito, and Adobe on top.

Pork Chops, Macaroni & Cheese, String Beans, and Yellow Rice.

Answer 1

It wasn't until the last meal I saw any real veggies! I'd start by adding veggies to each meal, and not sarchy ones like corn or mashed potatoes. Stuff like carrots, broccoli, cabbage, fresh salads, cauliflower, beets, greens, etc.

And my only other thought is to use lean cuts of meat. Maybe instead of ribs, use country ribs w/ the fat removed (more meat, less fat)> Use lean ground beef (<5% fat), Bake your chicken instead of frying, and poke holes in your Italian sausage to drain out as much fat as possible.

Answer 2

Hi there! Here are some suggestions/adaptations that you might want to try.

Crock Pot Ribs w/ Baked Red Potatoes & Baked Beans on top.
-Use low fat ribs, and add some fresh greens, maybe asparagus. Maybe avoid the baked beans, especially if they are from a can. Black bean salad?

Meat Loaf, Corn Bread, Mashed Potatoes, & Corn.
-Use egg substitute and low fat ground turkey for the meatloaf. Avoid the corn & mashed potatoes together, again greens could be great!

Fried Chicken, Fried Plantains (Tostones), and Yellow Rice w/ Habichuelas (a type of beans).
-Yeah, baking chicken(something similar to shake n bake) will be your best option, although it won't have the same taste. What about brown rice instead of yellow?

Ground Beef cooked with Elbow Noodles, & Sharp & Parmesian Cheese.
-Low fat ground turkey, whole wheat elbow noodles and reduced fat parmesan cheese. How about adding some fresh tomatoes to this hotdish?

Italian Sausage w/ Green Peppers & Onions.
-Yikes....the only thing I can say is turkey sausage.

Beef Cubes & White Rice w/ Gandules (a type of bean), Sazon, Sofrito, and Adobe on top.
-Avoid the white rice and go for brown!

Pork Chops, Macaroni & Cheese, String Beans, and Yellow Rice
-Reduced fat pork chops, Instead of mac n cheese how about applesauce and onions side dish? It sounds gross, but it goes great w chops! If you want something a little heartier, go with quinoa-and make it with a bit of an american twist.

Hope this helps. Good luck changing your diet, you are going the right direction!

Answer 3

Ribs & Beans-great. Potatoes too much starch. Meat loaf and mashed potatoes great. Too much corn--add some green.
This sounds like a puerto rican dish, so leave
as is. Beef/noodles/cheese-great add a salad. Sausage dish-great. Another P.R.dish
great. Pork chops/green beans/rice--no
mac and cheese.These are all fairlyheavy
dishes and need more veggies.

Answer 4

1) Crock pot ribs - use back ribs (leaner than side ribs), watch the sodium content in the beans.
2) Meatloaf - use Extra lean beef Corn bread - make with plain yogurt instead of the oil Mashed Potatoes - mash with chicken stock instead of butter
3)Fried chicken... - Bake instead? The flavour just won't be the same though
4)Ground beef, noodles, cheese - Use extra lean beef again, lower fat cheeses
5) Italian sausage - so good but sooooooooo fattening and high in sodium, lower fat versions are sometimes available (I've even seen turkey italian sausage)
6) Beef cubes - choose lean beef Adobe - I believe it is high fat?
7) Pork chops - choose a lean cut and trim all visible fat Mac and cheese - use lower fat chees and skim milk (watch sodium content)

The key is to read labels, ask your butcher for advice on picking leaner cuts of meat, and keep sodium below 2,200 mgs per day. Happy healthy cooking!!

Answer 5

Way too much fat,meat and simple carbs-no meal needs to include both meat and beans unless the meat is more or less used as a condiment (e.g. pinto beans with a little ham for flavor.
I also noted a serious lack of complex carbs-that is, vegetables.
Any of these dishes can be made more healthily by cutting fats
but the way they are combined here is not healthy and many of the items are things I would eat only on occasion anyway (ribs, meatloaf, fried chicken, italian sausage, pork chops).

Answer 6

Too much fat and too many carbs in some of these meals. You need to grill or steam not fry, and there is too mych pasta and potato. You could still use these meals, but you need to vary the types of vegies you eat with them. Corn bread, mashed potato and corn all in one meal is enough carbs & starch for 3 days! Check out www.foodfit.com

Answer 7

When ever you are cooking at home and not eating out it is better for you however you really should increase your fish and seafood intake and limit the amount of red meat you are eating. I would also try not to fry any of my foods. I would also suggest replacing the ground beef in the above recipe for ground chicken or turkey.

Answer 8

Vegetables can be tasty, depending on how you cook them. I added a lot of vegetables in my diet , cut some fats and simple carbohydrates, resulting in a substantial loss of weight and improved health. I am currently on a Low Carb, Low Fat, High Fibre, High Protein diet. See www.lowcarblowfathighfibrehighprotein.bl... In a way, my diet is similar to yours, except for the brown rice and cereal. My family eats the same food as me, plus brown rice. Like you, we take lots of multi grain, fruits, some honey, lean meat. We reduced our dependence on processed food, and go for natural or organic food as much as we can afford. But unlike you, we take our veggies as they give us our much needed fibre and vitamins and minerals. I read labels all the time. And no trans fats for us. But I am no "health nut". I still have my dark chocolate, low fat yoghurt and cheesecake and cookies (esp homemade ones) Why not read some interesting recipes on how to cook delicious vegetables? I have some in my blog under recipes. There are many recipes out there in the web too!!!

Answer 9

Check out cookinglight.com... you can find healthy versions of pretty much all those meals on that site.

Answer 10

Yummy, sounds great to me
Will eat at your place anytime