I would like to change the way we eat - expecially for my ds

[delphine]

Hello!

I have decided it's time to really look at changing how we eat as a family. To give a little history, we are a family of 4. If we eat at home, I am the one to cook it. My dh has NO experience in preparing food and no desire to learn (he has many good points, I promise). This is to say that if we eat at home, I am the one responsible for preparing/planning/shopping for the meal.

We have 2 boys, ages 8 and 6. They are both good eaters in the sense that they are not picky.

So, in 2006, I did weight watchers for about a year. I lost 70 pounds and gained about 25 of that back in 2007. Since then, I have maintained my weight, but am still 25 pounds heavier than I would like to be.

The main problem, though, is that I don't feel like I am eating healthy or that I am providing healthy food for my family. My dh works in the evenings M-F so the kids and I either eat dinner at my mom's house or we eat out. On the weekends, we usually eat out (fast food and some sit down or carry-out) at least 3-4 times.

On top of that, my 6 year old is getting a little bit chunky (for lack of a better word). I would not say that he is obese but is definitely on the borderline for overweight.

So, I would like to start cooking and would like to cook healthy foods. I do know how to cook but don't particularly enjoy spending a lot of time doing so.

Any ideas on how I should start?

[Alyantavid]

What do you like? The first step for meal planning (at least for me) is to make up a list of things you all like to eat. Then plan from that. Without a meal plan, I'm pretty much lost and those are the nights we end up not eating so well. It will probably be easier to keep up with the plan if you start with basics. Make sure there's a protein, a veg or two and some fat in every dinner. I need a starch too but I know alot of people don't.

Some good healthy ideas (I have no idea of any food restrictions)
stir fry - I usually use pork chops, steak or chicken with whatever veggies I have, a sauce of ginger and honey, served over noodles
chicken strips - bread and bake cut up pieces of chicken, serve with a vegetable and I love baked fries, just sliced up potatoes baked with a little salt
roasts - could be beef, pork or chicken. Serve with a veg and some mashed potatoes
fish - whatever you like, baked or grilled with some veggies and rice or pasta
spaghetti - I just add some browned ground beef to the sauce, serve with noodles (my kids love macaroni noodles, but whatever), salad and bread
grilled chicken with some grilled veggies
steak, again with veggies

Good luck!

[GardenStream]

We used to be really bad about eating out and everything was processed. We decided to change out habits when we had our first child.

The first steps were meal planning, always having fruit and veggies in the house to snack on, not buying junk food (I have no willpower, if it's in the house I eat it) and having a few quick prep meals on hand at all times.

Cooking was never a problem for us. Our issue was being crunched for time and deciding it was quicker to just grab something than to spend 10 minutes cooking. I always have a box of whole wheat pasta and some homemade sauce (frozen or canned) that I can have on the table in less than 15 minutes. That's nice for those times when things don't go according to plan and you have to scrap the meal plan at the last minute.

[ammiga]

Find substitutes for some of your "worst offenders".

We cut out all white flour from noodles and bread. Trader Joe's sells really good brown rice noodles and pretty decent whole wheat ones. Whole wheat bread with no sugar and no hfcs is easy to find, just read labels.

We don't do "dessert" as a concept, but that might be hard with the ages of your kids if they are used to it. Fruit is always an option.

Oven-fried potatoes are easy and a great substitute for french fries.

[LauraLoo]

1. Menu plan for the week a week ahead. Be consistent on what day you plan, so that you always have a plan.
2. Grocery shop for the menu plan.
3. Make sure that you set aside time to prep the food (work backwards from the time needed to cook the recipe) --- I look at my menu plan every night so I know what I need to defrost the next day, etc.
4. Make extra and freeze it for quick meals when you are short on time. Cooking extra can also be used for leftover meals later in the week (ie. if you roast a chicken on Mon., you can have chicken salad or chicken stir fry later in the week.)
5. Start off slowly & simply -- don't try to do time consuming meals until you've worked doing meals into your lifestyle.
6. Have a couple of back ups in case you fall behind so you don't fall off the wagon -- scrambled eggs, grilled cheese & soup, spaghetti & salad are some of my "fast" meals.
7. Make this a family adventure by including your boys in the planning and preparation as much as possible. It will be more fun, they'll learn to cook, and it will lighten your work. Maybe have them each choose a night where they get to choose a meal and have a big part in preparing it. Maybe your dh will get into it as well.
8. Find inspiration by picking up a new cookbook and/or subscribing to a couple of food blogs. I get new recipes in my inbox every day -- some of them are great, some I pass over, but I'm always getting new ideas which keeps me fresh and motivated.

It can be done. I prepare all of our meals and follow a TF diet, which means that I have considerable preparation time that is worked into my week since the great majority of what we eat is cooked from scratch. But not every day requires significant prep because I follow points #4 and #6.

GL!

[peaceful_mama]

I read this great book a few months or so ago...I don't remember the whole title, but "A fork and spoon field guide" sticks in my head. I think it was something simple like feeding the kids.

Anyway, they have a great gradual plan and some recipes.

The short of it is they suggest one week at a time adding in something new or making subsitutions.

week 1 is fruit, mainly because most people (and kids!) like *some* sort of fruit. The goal is to get used to serving and eating fruit 2-3 times a day. Does not matter if it is the same few fruits that your kids like, but get used to doing it.

I think the next week is veggies. Same concept.

(of course it is good to offer and try new things too. They don't HAVE TO eat it, they may not LIKE it, but the point is to OFFER it and get used to *offering.*)

Then you move on to substitutions for white grains, and they advocate lower-fat dairy. (I don't. )

The point is that you do it gradually, the after-school snack changes to being fruit or veggies maybe.
they talk about things like baked and/or whole grain tortilla chips and salsa being a better choice than potato chips, making substitutions like that. Or fruit and yogurt sometimes instead of ice cream--not that you NEVER EVER have ice cream, just that you've gone from maybe a few times a week to once or something like that.

And of course, there's still your occasional junk.
but the point is, at the end of 5-6 weeks, you have *gradually* made these changes...the kids don't end up *really missing* the junk because you haven't made it FORBIDDEN, you've substituted other things they learn to like.

and there's some simple ideas for different snacks and some good recipes. Also a guide to evaluating some of your favorite snacks to find brands that are better---like granola bars or cereal that have a better fiber-to-sugar ratio. Or yogurt should have more calcium than sugar--they tell you how to read the food labels to find healthy brands basically. (So you don't have to give up *all* quick stuff. )