Help- I need ideas

[momct]

I need to improve my family's diet.My 7 year old son and I are lacto- ovo and my husband is a carnivore who eats lacto- ovo at home.However both of them are picky eaters who mostly agree to eat pasta and pizza.They will eat veggie burgers and assemble your own bean burritos.I have made what they wanted and used a lot of packaged mixes like Lipton's Noodles and rice varieties.The problem is I have high blood pressure and high cholesterol and need to lose weight so I need low salt , low fat ,lower calorie foods.I am tired of fighting with them, do not want to make seperate meals and need ideas for healthy meals that they will eat.They do not like spicy foods.Please tell me food suggestions and recipes that will help . Thanks.

[academama]

Originally Posted by momct

I need to improve my family's diet.My 7 year old son and I are lacto- ovo and my husband is a carnivore who eats lacto- ovo at home.However both of them are picky eaters who mostly agree to eat pasta and pizza.They will eat veggie burgers and assemble your own bean burritos.I have made what they wanted and used a lot of packaged mixes like Lipton's Noodles and rice varieties.The problem is I have high blood pressure and high cholesterol and need to lose weight so I need low salt , low fat ,lower calorie foods.I am tired of fighting with them, do not want to make seperate meals and need ideas for healthy meals that they will eat.They do not like spicy foods.Please tell me food suggestions and recipes that will help . Thanks.

I am sorry to say this because it means a lot more work--but even if they eat pizza and pasta, cooking it from scratch will help a lot. Here is a recipe that I use all the time for rolls or pizzas; it's great and easy (especially if you have a mixer that will knead the dough).

3 cups flour (I use whole wheat for pizza, or 2 cups whole wheat and 1 cup bread flour for rolls)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons yeast
2 teaspoons salt, or even less if you're watching salt--I use 1 teaspoon sometimes and it's fine, especially for pizza when you'll have toppings
1 cup tepid water

I just put everything in my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook and let it run on speed setting 2 until the dough is a smooth, elastic ball. You can knead it by hand, too, of course. Let the dough rise, covered, until double (if you're making pizza, you can rush it and just wait 20 minutes or so). Shape into rolls or roll out for pizza crust.

If you're making rolls, proof again for 20-30 minutes. Bake until golden brown. (Sorry, I don't have details on the temp or baking time, because I have a crappy, unreliable oven with no temperature markings on the dial. But it's easy to tell when they're done because it looks and smells awesome.

If you're making pizza: spray a baking stone (or other pan, but the stone is great for crispy crust) with spray or oil it with olive oil. Roll out dough as evenly as you can. I use a rectangular jelly-roll pan, like what you use to make a sheet cake or brownies, and this is the perfect amount of dough.

Brush lightly with olive oil or apply tomato sauce. Top with your toppings and cheese and bake until crust is golden and cheese is bubbly. This makes a crisp crust.

[momct]

Thanks for your reply.I would need to buy a better mixer to do that.That is something to consider as an alternative to spending money on meals out .We had been doing that to avoid conflict ,but there really aren't that many healthy restaurant vegetarian choices .I really need to get this situation under control.Easier preparation items would be helpful as I going to find it difficult to go from mainstream convenience foods and restaurants to making everything from scratch.I have been attempting this for about a week.I did buy whole wheat Boboli, lower salt sauce, plus fat free cheese for me and low fat for them. They ate it, but it wasn't that great.The Boboli doesn't really resemble real pizza.I am going to go to the natural food store to see what I can find. If anyone knows of any natural foods convenience foods that are healthy and tasty please let me know ,I don't care at this point if they aren't frugal.I am going to need to start assembling a collection of recipes I can use so I appreciate any suggestions.

[academama]

Originally Posted by momct

Thanks for your reply.I would need to buy a better mixer to do that.That is something to consider as an alternative to spending money on meals out .We had been doing that to avoid conflict ,but there really aren't that many healthy restaurant vegetarian choices .I really need to get this situation under control.Easier preparation items would be helpful as I going to find it difficult to go from mainstream convenience foods and restaurants to making everything from scratch.I have been attempting this for about a week.I did buy whole wheat Boboli, lower salt sauce, plus fat free cheese for me and low fat for them. They ate it, but it wasn't that great.The Boboli doesn't really resemble real pizza.I am going to go to the natural food store to see what I can find. If anyone knows of any natural foods convenience foods that are healthy and tasty please let me know ,I don't care at this point if they aren't frugal.I am going to need to start assembling a collection of recipes I can use so I appreciate any suggestions.

Well, I have not tried it myself but my aunt swears by Trader Joe's pizza dough (it's sold in the refrigerator section). That might be an option. There are actually a lot of options at TJ's, if you have one near you--they carry a really good reduced-fat Cheddar (I like it better than most regular Cheddar) and similar things. Also they carry many less-processed kinds of processed foods, if that makes sense.

A couple of things you might try:
* dreamfields pasta or Ancient Harvest's quinoa pasta. These are both lower-glycemic than regular pasta (not particularly more "natural" but still better for you). Dreamfields is some sort of modified starch that theoretically breaks down more slowly. Ancient Harvest is made from part quinoa and part corn flour and it's really good! I do not like their quinoa and whole wheat pasta though.

Eggs are actually pretty good for you even if you're having cholesterol problems--you might consider working them into your meals if your family would eat, say, huevos rancheros?

You could try a veggie lasagna with a tomato sauce (instead of alfredo sauce)--that could be both healthy and possibly family-friendly.

I don't suppose it's an option to tell your family that they eat what they're served or cook their own meals? Sometimes that works, sometimes not.

[es1967]

Since they like Burritos why don't you try

Veggie Tacos. I just put everything on the table and we fix our own. We use black beans, salsa, avocado,lettuce, onion, sour cream (the tofu kind), chopped tomatos etc.

Simple meals like having baked potato or sweet potato, veggies and
Tofu. DS loves tofu any way. You can bake everything. Sometimes I do brown beans and or corn too. I'll do a chicken breast for DH.

Soups- I do all sorts of soups. Broccoli, cauliflower, veggie, lentil soups, black bean and pumpkin soup etc etc etc.

Pasta dish- For a change I'll do Asian noodles like Buckwheat and toss in a peanut sauce. You serve w some stir fryed veggies.

Veggie Kebabs served over rice.

Have you tried the Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day? its awesome and I use it for my pizzas too.

How about Honey baked Lentils-easy to throw together and then you bake it in the oven. I make these often and serve w a baked sweet potato and veggies.

Good luck!

[mumkimum]

Some moderately-healthy veg convienece foods we use:

Can vegetarian chili (I'll top rice or potatoes with it, or we'll do oven fries and turn them into chili-cheese fries. I like trader joes brand best, but it's pretty findable. You can also do similar stuff with a vegetarian chili-flavored bean can).

Veg tacos - we like the pre-seasoned tvp box of veg taco mix a lot. Would probably be well-liked if you like burritos.

Honey-baked lentils are really good and well-liked here too.

I have a no-cook peanut sauce recipe we really like - I'll cook some veggies in soy sauce or just steam them and make rice to go with it. This is sorta similar.

[momct]

Thanks for all your suggestions.Trader Joes's is about 30 minutes away, I will go shopping there when I can go alone and read labels and compare.Next week DH will be away ,so it will have to wait a bit. Veggie lasagna sounds good. I know how to make regular kind .Tips for which veggies and prep? Our build your own burritos are really soft tacos, I guess. Whole wheat tortillas and bowls of ingredients .We use canned vegetarian fat free refried beans.My son usually only picks beans ,cheese, tomatoes and olives. Yesterday for lunch,as a variation, we had wraps with tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers ,celery, carrots and a little shredded cheese.He ate it and said it was good!

I will try the veggie kabobs and topped baked potatoes .My husband will probably complain that those meals are not filling enough- we'll see.
I've never had honey baked lentils- Does anyone have a favorite recipe?

For pasta I had tried Ronzoni Smart Taste which is an enriched white pasta with added fiber- so a little better for you.I got grief from Dh that he didn't like it , although ds and I think it is fine. Dh is difficult about food and resistant to change.Ds will initially claim he doesn't like new things and refuse to eat ,but if I persist he will eat and finish his meal about half the time.Dh says to make what I want and he will eat it or not but then he is crabby if he doesn't like it. Plus it is a bad example for ds. Very frustrating!

[ambereva]

In my house the cook (usually me) gets to decide what to make and if someone doesn't like it, tough luck. So I say, make healthy meals. If they want to eat pizza, they can make it themselves and you can fix yourself a salad.