I feel so lost! Recipe ideas for picky eater?

Question

I'm like an advanced beginner when it comes to cooking. I need ideas that are not too complicated, with prep time up to an hour (not counting baking time if applicable).

The facts:
My husband and I are both trying to lose weight.
I'm lactose intolerant, and I dislike most veggies.
I like salads, but not with onions/tomato.
My stomach gets upset when I eat some non-lactose things. I think I may be sensitive to tomatoes. (No meatloaf, tomato-based pasta sauce, cheese-less pizzas, bbq sauce...)

I hate to punish my husband for my weak stomach, so suggestions of things I can easily modify would be great- a non-tomato, non-milk, non-veggie alternative for me and one with all of the above for him without cooking two separate meals?

I can only take so much chicken salad!

I'm getting very discouraged about this cooking at home thing.

Recipes not necessary but welcome, mostly just need dish ideas. Need to pack his lunch for work, I eat lunch at home, and cook dinner for two.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I have a family history of diabetes. Both parents and one of two siblings. I haven't been off on my glucose level when I've had lab work done, but I have some symptoms of diabetes. I'm quite messed up!

Answer 1

Have you been checked for IBS? That can cause a lot of stomach problems to specific families of foods. Btw, if you are sensitive to tomatos, potatos & eggplant are in the same family -- there are a number of plants in this family that you might want to pay attention to.

The dairy problem is easily overcome by using soy substitutes (yes, there are some that are edible). Use margarine for butter, soy milk for milk, Tofutti products for cream cheese/sour cream/ice cream. Sorry but I have never found a good cheese substitute. You should be able to make a nice "white sauce" out of margarine and Mocha-mix to go over pasta. I would recommend trying this out since it goes well on pasta -- you can make them taste different by adding mustard, fresh basil, tyme, etc. You can always turn a pasta dish into a main dish by adding in canned meat (tuna, salmon, chicken).

Sounds like grains are still on the menu for both of you -- that leaves a lot of working room. A rice pilaf is versatile and easy: start by browning your meat (sausage, chicken, hotdogs, whatever) together with onions & garlic. Then add a cup or two of chicken stock, dump in your rice, plunk on a lid and cook for 20 minutes. For a variation, substitute pasta for the rice.

Answer 2

A website that is good for three of those things (losing weight, diabetes, not liking veggies except for salads) is the Atkins website.

I still use many of the recipes although I no longer follow it strictly. My mother uses it to control her diabetes since it limits carbs and sugars. Atkins is big on salads and has many recipes for them, because lettuce has more vitamins and less carbs/sugars than other veggies.

I was surprised by how flavorful and easy the recipes were.

Anything with milk, you can substitue soymilk or lactaid.

Some recipes from Atkins which I still use today which would be in your guidelines are :

Lemon Rosemary Chicken (Yum!)
Shrimp Scampi
Greek style chicken breasts (just leave out the Feta cheese) I do.

The website is www.atkins.com/recipes

I really think this is the ticket for you....considering the diabetes factor and the wanting to lose weight.

Also, a salad I recently tried is on the food network www.foodnetwork.com)...look up Rachael Ray's *four star salad*.

It was surprisingly good. You would of coarse, leave out the onions...but I can't see that affecting the flavor much...

good luck!

Answer 3

Make Over 200 Juicy, Mouth-Watering Paleo Recipes You've NEVER Seen or Tasted Before?

Answer 4

can you make it anymore difficult?
ok here goes
Ingredients:

2 4 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 oz. plain or vanilla soy yogurt (lactose free)
1 1/2 tsp. cilantro
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder

Utensils:

* stove
* measuring spoons
* mixing bowl

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (191 degrees Celsius).
2. Combine yogurt, cilantro, and curry powder in a shallow bowl.
3. Add chicken to yogurt sauce and coat evenly.
4. Place chicken in a greased casserole dish.
5. Spoon remainder of yogurt sauce on top of the chicken.
6. Bake chicken for 35 minutes or until it's no longer pink in the middle.

Serves: 2

Serving size: 1 chicken breast

Nutritional analysis (per serving):

212 calories
32 g protein
5 g fat
1 g sat. fat
9 g carbohydrate
0 g fiber
84 mg cholesterol
81 mg sodium
42 mg calcium
1.9 mg iron

Grains: Brown rice is better for your blood sugar than white rice.
Check whether it'll work for you. Wild rice is good. (It's a
completely different grain, not really a rice.) I think that there
exist pastas made from brown rice (available in whole foods stores).
Incidentally, rice plus beans (any beans, not necessarily soy) will
give you a complete protein. There are lots of other grains besides
rice and wheat, and people make pastas from some of them (e.g.,
spelt). Find a book on the glycemic index to see which are best for
your blood sugar. Some of the weirder grains can be purchased in
health food stores. I've seen some weird types of flour in health
food stores too (e.g., flour made from ground up almonds).

You can do a lot with lean meats. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
are easy to prepare in a variety of ways. Grill, bake, or sautee them
with seasonings often you would serve this with a side of vegetables but rice will also do the job of filling both you and your husband. Learn how to
cook fish (buy frozen filets and thaw them--easy to broil, but you
have to scrub the broiling pan afterwards; easy to bake). If you can
afford pre-peeled or easy-peel shrimp, sprinkle on Old Bay seasoning
and steam them--extremely easy (though you'll need to get a steamer).

Find some recipes for soups and stews. You can make them on the
weekend and microwave them for dinner during the week. Also, I'm sure
there are some canned soups that would meet your requirements. Go to
the grocery stores and start reading the labels on everything in the
soup aisle.

For breakfast, you could eat eggs. Or get some breakfast sausages
(made from ground turkey is healthier)--cook them on the weekend, then
heat a couple every morning in the microwave. Perhaps you could make
those flavored instant oatmeals if you like them made with water
rather than milk. (Kind of high in sugar and carbs, though.)

For lunches, maybe you could eat a wrap made with a gluten-free
tortilla and with no cheese on it.

Snacks: nuts (especialy almonds) are good. Can you eat whole wheat
crackers like triscuits? If you desperately need something sweet, dark
chocolate with nuts is (marginally) better for blood sugar than milk
chocolate with sugary fillings. Some dark chocolate bars are
milk-free--read the ingredients.

Hope some of this helps.

Answer 5

There is Chicken Alfredo. They have no cheese, veggies, and it tastes great.

You could also do Fried Rice, the beauty of this is that you could cook this rice any way you want. You could just put in egg or add veggies for your husband while making some for yourself in a different way.

Spaghetti is also an alternate. You could make meatballs and sauce for your husband but leave it plain for you.

You could also try going to this website. http://allrecipes.com/

This place not only has receipies but meal ideas for someone like you.

Answer 6

i think you should be friends with beets, radishes, spinach, and broccoli. and remember to make a dressing you need 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar (or acid).

Answer 7

I would suggest seeing a professional nutrionalist or doctor