*Feed your family high quality, nutritional food challenge*

[DawnM]

Tonight we are having a huge salad! That is it!

I need some healthy ideas for bagged lunch for my boys. Tomorrow they get PB&J on whole wheat, natural applesause, juice, plain peanuts and crackers (NOT very nutritious crackers, but whatever).

Dawn

 

[mjbaby]

One thing that I'm genuinely curious about is what do you (not specifically you Lisa, but general you) do for eating meals at restaurants, like when vacationing at WDW? I'm not intending to be challenging or snarky at all, but am really curious because there aren't a lot of super healthy, whole food, close to the earth options there. I'm a big believer in all things in moderation and have no problem with less healthy options occasionally, especially while on vacation, but wonder what others do.

For restaurants, we have several locally-owned favorites for which we're confident of the quality of the food. Of course no restaurant would ever do exactly as I do at home (if so, I wouldn't bother going out!) but when we find somewhere that has good healthy options, a decent variety of choice and uses decent ingredients it's all good for us. One place we love offers house-made pasta sauces that are truly yummy. That they don't go over Barilla Plus is a compromise I'm willing to make once in a while, you know?

As for vacation, we typically stay in places where we have some kind of cooking facility. When that's the case, breakfast, lunch and snacks are all made "at home", with dinner's out. One mass-market meal a day on vacation is something I can cope with. Even when we're camping I make good, whole foods. So it can be done without too much of a sweat.

 

[mjbaby]

Tonight we are having a huge salad! That is it!

That's what I did for dinner last night. I was so sick of washing dishes after a weekend of canning that I just couldn't face making a mess cooking again!

Tonight is rice cooked in homemade broth, with stir fried pork, green beans and red onion. The only things not local are the rice, ginger and soy sauce.

I'm living in tomatoville right now (hence all the canning) but we've had a ton of rain so I expect that I'll be dealing with more split fruit that I can handle at one. With some luck I'll have canned a few dozen pints of diced tomatoes by the end of this week, along with maybe 8-10 of roasted tomato sauce and another half dozen or so of salsa. With all this going on it's all I can do to get that stir fry on the table!

 

[weregoingtodw]

What a good question.
I am thinking about going vegetarian, but I am worried about preparing a healthy enough menu for a growing toddler, but you ladies had some wonderful meatless ideas.

There are many great websites out there for this. Try googling, or let me know if you need help! My DD isn't veg, but still always eats the food I prepare for myself, with an occasional meat mixed in.

I am trying to go free-range, hormone free for my chickens, and never ever ever realized such bad things about milk.

That was actually the beginning of my giving up meat, looking at what the hormones in the chicken can do to you.

I am SO JEALOUS of you ladies with Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. What they offer sounds exactly like what I am looking for .. but we don't have it here.

Sorry! Guess we rub it in a bit, eh?

I guess doing a little at a time is better than nothing at all.

Thanks for the inspiration!

ABSOLUTELY!

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Tonight's dinner was Pasta Primaverawith Barilla Plus pasta for the base.

Lots of garden-fresh veggies (zucchini, yellow squash, tomato, parsley) with an onion, some garlic and store-bought asparagus and carrots. I skipped the frozen peas (just another starch, IMO) in the recipe and added extra asparagus. I confess to using real butter (1 Tbl. for 2 people) but the added flavor was necessary. Not a bad dish overall.

 

[canwegosoon]

it is so easy to make your own. In a food processor, mince some garlic and add one can of grabanzo beans. use the juice of one lemon. add olive oil while it is mixing around until you get the conistency you are looking for. It is so much better than what is in the store.

Have you ever tried it with canola oil? This looks great thanks for sharing

 

[LisaR]

Dinner tonight was a last minute simple stir fry. DD was supposed to make dinner and something came up at the last minute. She didn't want me to make what she had planned even though we had all the ingredients. I had to scramble to find something to make. This seemed to satisfy everyone.

1.5 lbs. Pork sirloin cutlets with many herbs and spices for flavor.
24 oz. bags of frozen veggies.
2 cups brown rice

Enough leftovers for DH lunch tomorrow and the next day unless one of the kids eats it for their own lunch tomorrow.

 

[Juliah]

breakfast:
Bear Naked Fruit & Nut Granola with unsweetened soy milk
scrambled eggs
low-carb whole grain toast
milk or orange juice

lunch:
peanut butter on whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread
apple juice

dinner:
Black bean, Corn, and Quinoa Salad (except I didn't have quinoa, so I used whole wheat couscous) http://www.deliciouslivingmag.com/recipes/index.cfm?fuseaction=recipedetails&recipeid=1093
Mexican stew
Spanish (brown) rice
Breyer's Carb Smart ice cream or leftover whole wheat vanilla cake with whipped cream

Snacks:
watermelon
whole wheat sesame pretzels
cashews

 

[grammynelliebelle]

Homemade vegetable soup with fresh local produce for lunch! so many tomtoes now! Grammy

 

[OKWAnneMarie]

Great idea for a thread. I'm so glad to see I'm not the only one who was a little disturbed about how others are eating. Keep up the good work everyone!

 

[tbrenk]

Have you ever tried it with canola oil? This looks great thanks for sharing

No I haven't. I do not cook with it.

 

[jax677]

I love this topic. I was brought up eating anything processed /frozen/canned. When I got married I decided to change my life and eat as healthy as possible. So, this is the place for me. I am going to try and start posting my menus.

I was wondering what mexican stew is?

Also thanks for all the site everyone is posting, they are all great.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

This is not a thread to impress one another with how much money we can save and how nutritionally dense we can make our meals. The challenge is NOT to feed your family PB & Fluff sandwiches for .25 or 1 can of tuna and a slice of bacon for 7 people. The challenge is to feed your family good quality, well balanced, satisfying meals 90% of the time. I am looking for recipes to serve my family which will provide healthy meals and include a lot of fruits and veggies.

No offense, but I think that this thread would be better on the CB then the budget board, since it seems it was just started because of the "$10" thread. And this thread has nothing to do with budgeting, so why is it on the budget board?

I know what I eat, and I know how to eat nutritionally. Even though I don't eat the healthiest every day I still get plenty of fruits and vegetables. I eat at least one salad a day, usually topped with at least carrots and tomatoes. I eat leaner meats usually such as chicken breast and pork tenderloins. I could cut down on carbs if I really wanted to, but I love pastas and bread. I almost always buy whole wheat or multi-grain breads though, and I've gotten bags of organic whole-wheat pasta before for $1 a bag. Eating nutritionally can be done on a budget.

 

[wvjules]

No offense, but I think that this thread would be better on the CB then the budget board, since it seems it was just started because of the "$10" thread. And this thread has nothing to do with budgeting, so why is it on the budget board?

I know what I eat, and I know how to eat nutritionally. Even though I don't eat the healthiest every day I still get plenty of fruits and vegetables. I eat at least one salad a day, usually topped with at least carrots and tomatoes. I eat leaner meats usually such as chicken breast and pork tenderloins. I could cut down on carbs if I really wanted to, but I love pastas and bread. I almost always buy whole wheat or multi-grain breads though, and I've gotten bags of organic whole-wheat pasta before for $1 a bag. Eating nutritionally can be done on a budget.

If you actually read the thread, you will see some tips in here about how to save on healthy food; what stores have the best prices on certain items, buy certain items in season only, etc.

 

[jax677]

I go to the same farmer and get a deep discount by buying in bulk. All you have to do is ask. It really helps the budget.

Right now I have 10lbs. of blueberries. I am making my own fruit leather. NOthing like the kind in the store. This has no sugar or preservatives. Plus the leftover can be a smoothie. Right now I am making blueberry, kiwi, apricot.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

How do you make homemade fruit leather? My DD17 loves the stuff in the produce aisle but it can be pretty darn expensive and I'm not pleased with the ingredients list. Could you share your recipe/technique?

 

[JennyMominRI]

I think this thread belongs here...I'm not trying to feed my family on 10 dollars a day.I spent more than enough years scrimping and saving for evertything...I spent enough time scrimping on quality for cost..Now I do want to eat healthy,but I don't want to break the bank either..That can be tricky too..My budget may not be like some peoples but it's still my budget.
If this thread was moved to the CB it would drop back a couple pages and fall off of the board in 3 days,KWIM

 

[FormrCastMbr]

Subbing...

Tonight will be grilled pork chops, noodles and a veggie.

We just started weight watchers so I would love to see new ideas from this thread.

Thanks!

 

[MELSMICE]

We'll be having home made spaghetti sauce (tomatoes fresh from the garden)

Italian sausage

Salad with fresh tomatoes & peppers from the garden

Italian bread

I didn't even consider to buy wheat or whole grain pasta, so we'll probably have regular (just because I'm too lazy to go back to the store!) but I'm going to try it next time.

We're huge pasta/sauce eaters in the winter!

Also, I agree that even though I'm not trying to feed my family on $10 per day, I have subscribed to both that thread & this one because I think they both have some good ideas - on saving money & also eating healthy. I think this thread should stay where it is.

 

[bavaria]

One thing that I'm genuinely curious about is what do you (not specifically you Lisa, but general you) do for eating meals at restaurants, like when vacationing at WDW?

Great question! I travel 300+ days a year, and have an expense account (I won't tell you how much as it doesn't qualify as 'budget') Eating out every day for every meal really really stinks - it's not glamourous like people think. It's especially difficult for me in some parts of America to find decent veggie food on the menu, and it's no surprise to me that most of my colleagues struggle with our weight.

I usually buy groceries and breakfast in my room while I am working. This is often rye bread and Nutella, or a yoghurt parfait that I make with granola and fruit (but most American yoghurts make me ill, sadly).

My colleagues usually like fast food for lunch; I search out sandwich places or will have crackers and hummus from my room. I also like the veggie/fruit/cheese plates from Starbucks, as these are often around.

I try and limit my dinners 'out' as group meals are often appetizer/entree/dessert. I'll try for an appetizer like tomato/mozzarella salad or something else with cold/fresh veggies. Entrees can be tough in a lot of mid range restaurants, so I often end up with a plate of sides.

My favourite place to eat on a longer trip is at the grocery store - a higher end store like Whole Foods or Wegmans. They usually have a cafe area with some healthier (and not so healthy!) choices, plus it doesn't rob so much of my time to eat there. Or I will take away a prepared meal or bits of meals from those types of stores. The more mid range grocery stores like Safeway, etc don't usually offer up the same range or quality of 'dinner' items, so I don't shop there unless I don't have a choice.

I also like public markets, and have my favourite places. One of my favourites is a 'heart healthy' Indian place which doesn't have the same fat/oil content found in many Americanized Indian restaurants. They do great takeaways and I can get a huge meal of rice, lentils, chick peas, and assorted veggies for under $10.

In Europe I will usually end my day at the grocery store. Places like Monoprix in France have great takeaway items. Then I will stop at a patisserie for some baked goods. My favourite 'dinner' in Paris is a baguette sandwich from Paul or other patisserie. I do something similar in Germany.

Just some random thoughts about my travel experiences!