Cooking for 2?

Question

I'm trying to eat better, so have made a lot of substitutions in my diet, like switching to light cheeses, wheat breads and pastas, and lean meats. The problem is my boyfriend, who I live with, has absolutely no interest in changing his diet and he does half the cooking.
Any suggestions for dinners that are easy and can be made regular and low cal at the same time?

Answer 1

You can grill, bake, roast, or broil any type of meat/fish without adding calories just by adding simple seasonings like garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, lemon pepper, etc. Just allow a smaller portion for you.

When making pasta...make the regular sauce for him but just add some light cheese to yours or make a tomato based sauce....lower in calories than creamy sauces.

The veggies are a no brainer...steam anything and just add salt/pepper to yours, but add butter or whatever to his. Salads can be made and dressed separately to each of your liking.

Answer 2

Cooking for 2 is hard.

If you access, http://dinnerbydesignkitchen.com and see if there is on by you. I swear by this company! Excellent food, and it's so easy. I just pull out a dinner befor I go to work then when I come back home a healthy dinner is done in 30 minutes. If you do not have a Dinner By Design Kitchen, perhaps you do but, it's called something else!

------HOW THE DINNER BY DESIGN CONCEPT WORKS----

Find the local kitchen of your choice.

Select your menu items (any combination of 12) and book the date and time for your kitchen.

Be ready for some fun. Bring a cooler or basket to bring your entrees home.

Upon arrival you’ll see all the hard work -- recipes and ingredients are ready for you.

You grab an apron, wash your hands and spend two hours or less enjoying the meal assembly process, socializing with others while putting together your entrees in easy to store, complimentary containers. Easy to follow directions on labels are already printed for you, ready to go.

If time is very tight, the Dinner by Design staff will even prepare meals for a pre-scheduled pick up time for a minimal fee.

If you have a smaller family of three or less, you can even split entrées, leaving with 24 smaller meals.

Once home, you put your prepared meals in the freezer for later use.

Each Sunday, you take out as many entrees as you will need for the week and put them in the refrigerator, ready to defrost.

At dinner time, simply follow the preprinted instructions on the label. Most meals go from the refrigerator to table in 30 minutes.

Answer 3

Good luck. Let me know how that works out for you. I have the same problem, the wife refuses to read a cookbook and thinks that she is cooking 'low fat, low carb'. Sheeshhh, I've put on 80lb since we married, mostly from the above cooking method.
She also cooks like she is feeding an army then complains when there are leftovers.

Go figure.
Try http://www.kraftfoods.com, there may be some help for you there.

Answer 4

You didn't mention what his eating interests are, but since he "does half the cooking" it sounds as though he doesn't live on fast food! You don't have to make radical changes to your diet to benefit from good health. If he's a meat and potatoes sort of fellow, then look for leaner cuts of red meat, eat more organic chicken and see if you can entice him into eating some good, hearty, fish some days. Most meat eaters enjoy fish like swordfish, halibut, and ling cod, if they are cooked well and served with a tasty sauce and sides. Substituting low or non fat yogurt for sour cream can offer up more protein and less fat. Also, shift to using light olive oils and canola oil instead of traditional vege oil. Here are some ideas for menus:

1. Roasted chicken with herbs, garlic mashed potatos and fresh green beans.
2. Roast pork rubbed with sage, kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper, served with roasted potatos and steamed carrots (crisp tender) with ginger, brown sugar and butter (trust me, you can substitute lower fat stuff and he'll never know the differentce)
3. Whole grain spaghetti with homemade marinara sauce and Hot Turkey Italian Sausage, whole grain sour dough garlic bread, tossed chopped salad
4. Vegetarian lasagne rollups (mix low fat ricotta with chopped spinach, Italian seasoning, parmesan cheese, and eggs. Take cooked lasagne noodles, put filling on top of each and roll up. Place side by side in baking pan and cover with homemade marinara. Top with a little parmesan. Serve with salad or grilled veges.
5. Chicken tortilla soup: filling, tasty, and very low fat, serve with butter lettuce salad with mandarin oranges, candied walnuts and feta and a low fat French dressing.
6. Porkchops cooked with saurkraut, apples and brown sugar. Serve with potatos and green beans.

Good luck!

Answer 5

If your boyfriend values your health and need for changing a diet lifestyle, then he should support you at home. He can get fat eating out with others on his own time - then one day he'll wake up big and you'll be hot, and it will be very hard for him to change - it happened to me.

Answer 6

go to the grocery store and buy him his favorite frozen meals and get yourself some lean cusines or something. If he really wants you to cook tell him that he doesnt like diet food and that you will only eat healthy stuff because you want to continue looking good for him. if he wants to eat junk food he needs to make it himself.

Answer 7

I suggest you buy Cooking Light Magazine (link attached). They offer lots of recipes by main ingredient, course, cuisine and mode of cooking 9bake, blend, etc). They have lots of recipes and yummy ones for everyone. Your boyfriend wont even feela thing.. LOL Here's a recipe I found. It yields 4 so you can cut all ingredients in half.

Apricot-Nut Turkey-Salad Sandwiches

1 1/2 cups shredded cooked turkey or chicken breast (about 6 ounces)
1/4 cup thinly sliced celery
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
2 tablespoons chopped unsalted cashews
2 tablespoons chopped dried apricots
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
2 tablespoons raisins
2 tablespoons plain low-fat yogurt
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 leaf lettuce leaves
8 (1-ounce) slices pumpernickel bread

Combine first 10 ingredients in a bowl. Place a lettuce leaf on each of 4 bread slices. Spread 1/2 cup turkey salad over lettuce; top with remaining bread slices.

Yield: 4 sandwiches

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 286(23% from fat); FAT 7.2g (sat 1.3g,mono 2.5g,poly 2.3g); PROTEIN 17.6g; CHOLESTEROL 35mg; CALCIUM 81mg; SODIUM 541mg; FIBER 4.4g; IRON 2.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 40.2g

Cooking Light, JUNE 1998

Summer Farfalle Salad with Smoked Salmon

Substitute leftover cooked salmon for the sliced smoked salmon, if you prefer.

3 cups uncooked farfalle (bow tie pasta)
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1 (6-ounce) bag baby spinach
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons cold water
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 ounces (about 8 slices) smoked salmon, cut into thin strips

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain.
Combine pasta, tomatoes, dill, and spinach in a large bowl, tossing gently to combine.

Combine lemon rind and next 5 ingredients (lemon rind through pepper) in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle over pasta mixture; toss gently to coat. Top with salmon.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2 cups)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 206(23% from fat); FAT 5.3g (sat 0.9g,mono 3.1g,poly 1.1g); PROTEIN 9.8g; CHOLESTEROL 4mg; CALCIUM 43mg; SODIUM 603mg; FIBER 2.7g; IRON 2.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 31.4g

Answer 8

lean steaks on the grill could be something you both could enjoy. green salads; he could have his dressing on top yours on the side. baked potatoes he can have reg cheese butter etc. you stick to your light choices...had to cook like this myself. and sometimes you can sneek in healthy foods and your boyfriend may like it.

Answer 9

DAMN girl dont try to mess with your BF stomach you'll get kicked to the curb!!!
But on the other hand if he love's you then a compromise should be in order.

Answer 10

Grilling seasoned veggies and portobella mushrooms are good. what does he cook?