Need Help on Eating Properly....

[iluvtig2]

Does anyone have suggestions for us?

DH works nights, so DS & I eat alone 15 nights or so each month. I work days and we don't get home until at least 6, and often not until 7 or later with DS9. We now have to fit in dinner & homework.

What works for you? How do you stay on track with crazy schedules? I always end up nuking something that is low on time & high in calories & fat. Or, if it's really late, and we're still driving home, those golden arches often call my name........

Any ideas, insights, and suggestions are very welcome!

iluvtig

 

[lisah0711]

Hello, Karen! Welcome to the WISH boards.

Congratulations on quitting smoking. It is tough but so much healthier for you. If you've quit and made it on down the road, you are well on your way to success.

You may want to check out a website called SparkPeople. A lot of WISHers are subscribers. www.sparkpeople.com They have suggested menus for your calories. I like to look at them because they emphasize healthy foods so you can eat more than you can of high fat food. Weight Watchers (WW) is also a good thing to check out.

I guess the good thing about DH not being there many nights is that you can fix what you want and not feel that he wants something else more than "rabbit food." That is, if your DS will eat it.

It takes a lot of planning to eat healthy. Ever hear the saying "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail?" That is especially true in trying to eat healthy. Do some menu planning, get that healthy food in the house. Use the crockpot so you have something healthy waiting for you at home. Look at 30 minute, 5 ingredient dishes to cook at home. Have healthy snacks in the car so the siren's call of the Golden Arches isn't so tempting.

It will take time and perserverance to make it work but you and your family are worth the effort!

Good luck on your journey!

 

[iluvtig2]

I will check them both out. If anyone has any tried & true recipes, I would be eternally grateful!

Thanks, again, for the info & support!

iluvtig

 

[Sarah_Rose]

My big suggestion is to pick one day that you have free and to cook for the week on that day, and then fridge/freeze the meals. That way you can get home and just take something out of the fridge and put it in the oven. Our favorites for doing this are chicken chili, veggie lasagna (a pack of thawed and drained frozen spinach mixed in with the ricotta cheese layer really makes it more filling and go farther, with no extra calories or fat!), shepherd's pie, and stuffed peppers.

I also second the crockpot idea - one of our favorites and literally takes only one minute to prepare is salsa chicken. Just put a couple boneless-skinless chicken breasts in the crockpot, pour over enough salsa to cover, and let it cook on low for 8 hours. Once you get home, you can shred the chicken with two forks and serve the chicken over rice with some grated cheese on top. It's yummy and so easy.

Our life-saving healthy cooking appliance is also our fuzzy-logic programmable rice cooker. We paid $125 for a good Panasonic model and it makes perfect rice every time. And best of all, you can program it to be done at a certain time, and then it just keeps the rice warm until you use it. So, program the crockpot with chicken or beef in a sauce with veggies, and program the rice cooker to be done at the same time. Voila, you have dinner when you get home with no effort. Or else we just set the rice cooker to be done when we get home, and then throw a bag of frozen stir-fry veggies in the wok; quick and healthy stirfried veggies with rice in less than 10 minutes of walking in the door.

Eating healthy with a tight schedule isn't too hard, but it does take a lot of pre-planning!

 

[johamna]

I've found that I tend to gain weight when I have too many options available for meals. What has worked, for me, has been to abide by a 'food calendar' that I have set up, eradicating the need to "consider my options" and know what I am going to eat ahead of time.

With this structure in place I don't feel obligated to go down the list of nearby takeout -- I buy the ingredients for the week on Sunday and work through it like I would a stack of papers.

This, coupled with some minor exercise, has had me shedding pounds.

Best of luck to you!

 

[iluvtig2]

My big suggestion is to pick one day that you have free and to cook for the week on that day, and then fridge/freeze the meals. That way you can get home and just take something out of the fridge and put it in the oven. Our favorites for doing this are chicken chili, veggie lasagna (a pack of thawed and drained frozen spinach mixed in with the ricotta cheese layer really makes it more filling and go farther, with no extra calories or fat!), shepherd's pie, and stuffed peppers.

I also second the crockpot idea - one of our favorites and literally takes only one minute to prepare is salsa chicken. Just put a couple boneless-skinless chicken breasts in the crockpot, pour over enough salsa to cover, and let it cook on low for 8 hours. Once you get home, you can shred the chicken with two forks and serve the chicken over rice with some grated cheese on top. It's yummy and so easy.

Our life-saving healthy cooking appliance is also our fuzzy-logic programmable rice cooker. We paid $125 for a good Panasonic model and it makes perfect rice every time. And best of all, you can program it to be done at a certain time, and then it just keeps the rice warm until you use it. So, program the crockpot with chicken or beef in a sauce with veggies, and program the rice cooker to be done at the same time. Voila, you have dinner when you get home with no effort. Or else we just set the rice cooker to be done when we get home, and then throw a bag of frozen stir-fry veggies in the wok; quick and healthy stirfried veggies with rice in less than 10 minutes of walking in the door.

Eating healthy with a tight schedule isn't too hard, but it does take a lot of pre-planning!

But, I have one & will haul it back out. I also have some cookbooks for it. Thanks!

K

 

[iluvtig2]

I've found that I tend to gain weight when I have too many options available for meals. What has worked, for me, has been to abide by a 'food calendar' that I have set up, eradicating the need to "consider my options" and know what I am going to eat ahead of time.

With this structure in place I don't feel obligated to go down the list of nearby takeout -- I buy the ingredients for the week on Sunday and work through it like I would a stack of papers.

This, coupled with some minor exercise, has had me shedding pounds.

Best of luck to you!

But, on our late days, I just threw my hands up, and wrote in "TV Dinner" or "Mickey D's". And, now that I am back to full time, they are getting to be more frequent.

I will work on that this weekend. DS9 has a huge project due on Friday, which has been neglected due to illnesses & my being out of town, so I can work alongside him.

Thanks for the reminder!

K

iluvtig

 

[corinnak]

We eat a lot of things that are healthy and work into my plan but aren't difficult or time consuming to make.

We like whole grain pasta - I often cook extra and then reheat as needed throughout the week. I like 1/2 cup of whole wheat pasta, 1/2 cup of a low fat, low sugar spaghetti sauce like Classico Spicy Red Pepper, 1/2 ounce low fat cheese and about a cup of green beans, broccoli or spinach. I just heat the whole thing in the microwave. Of course depending on how much food you need, you can adjust the portions to suit your needs. I am a vegetarian and sometimes will add a boca burger to this as well.

Other things we like:

Amy's Bean Burritos - dressed up with a bunch of lettuce, tomato, salsa etc, these are fast and great.

Sandwiches

Pita (or english muffin) Pizzas

Eggs are good too - scrambled eggs in a pita or scrambled egg sandwiches. My kids like these on bagels. I love the egg beaters southwest version. With a laughing cow cheese wedge in a whole wheat pita and a little salsa - mmm - one of my favorites!

I also like to make a soup or chili about once a week and have the leftovers on hand for a quick lunch or dinner.

Nothing too brilliant or exciting, but with a few staples, you can definitely have something fast, easy and healthy at home almost as quickly as you can get something from out.

 

[pjlla]

Plan, plan, plan... and did I mention?.... PLAN!

This is truly the only way this is going to work for you.

First.... find a bunch of recipes and/or meal ideas that fit your healthy eating lifestyle.... preferably skillet meals that cook in under 30 minutes, meals that freeze well, and crockpot meals. Make up menus (I do one week at a time usually, but longer would work too) ahead of time. Include on that day's menu what you need to do for the next night (or two nights ahead). For example..... my menu for Monday might read:

"Pierogies
grilled onions and peppers
cauliflower (cook extra for Wednesday)
(take pork for Thursday from freezer)"

That way I know that when Wednesday arrives I'll have the extra cauliflower cooked and ready to be mashed to go with that night's dinner... and on Thursday the meat I removed on Monday should be defrosted and ready to cook. And make life a bit easier on yourself by repeating things a bit during the week if necessary.

When you ARE making something a bit more time consuming, make LOTS and freeze in either individual portions or family meal size portions. It only takes a bit more time and maybe just a few more dirty dishes to make a triple batch of lasagna, chicken stew, or pulled pork... but the rewards of having those meals ready to use in the freezer are PRICELESS.

I love the idea of the rice cooker that a PP mentioned. We eat a LOT of of long cooking brown rice in our house.... but I don't want to spend that money or have another one-task appliance around, so I cook up my rice in a double batch and stick it in the fridge... it lasts several days and reheats well in the microwave. I have never tried freezing it in large portions, but I will freeze smaller one-serving portions to reheat for lunches and it always seems fine.

Other than the crockpot, think of things that cook QUICKLY. Pasta, small chunks of meat (like for a stir fry), canned beans. And think outside the usual "dinner" box.... breakfast for dinner is quick and easy.... scrambled eggs, frittata, breakfast burritos.

I hope you are able to come up with a good list of easy, healthy meals that you can fall back on..............P

 

[iluvtig2]

We eat a lot of things that are healthy and work into my plan but aren't difficult or time consuming to make.

We like whole grain pasta - I often cook extra and then reheat as needed throughout the week. I like 1/2 cup of whole wheat pasta, 1/2 cup of a low fat, low sugar spaghetti sauce like Classico Spicy Red Pepper, 1/2 ounce low fat cheese and about a cup of green beans, broccoli or spinach. I just heat the whole thing in the microwave. Of course depending on how much food you need, you can adjust the portions to suit your needs. I am a vegetarian and sometimes will add a boca burger to this as well.

Other things we like:

Amy's Bean Burritos - dressed up with a bunch of lettuce, tomato, salsa etc, these are fast and great.

Sandwiches

Pita (or english muffin) Pizzas

Eggs are good too - scrambled eggs in a pita or scrambled egg sandwiches. My kids like these on bagels. I love the egg beaters southwest version. With a laughing cow cheese wedge in a whole wheat pita and a little salsa - mmm - one of my favorites!

I also like to make a soup or chili about once a week and have the leftovers on hand for a quick lunch or dinner.

Nothing too brilliant or exciting, but with a few staples, you can definitely have something fast, easy and healthy at home almost as quickly as you can get something from out.

Love the eggs idea! We both love them! The pizzas would work, too!

Where do you get "Amy's Burrito's"? All the ones I look at have 5 zillion calories, and even more fat.

Great ideas!

Thanks!

tig

 

[iluvtig2]

Plan, plan, plan... and did I mention?.... PLAN!

This is truly the only way this is going to work for you.

First.... find a bunch of recipes and/or meal ideas that fit your healthy eating lifestyle.... preferably skillet meals that cook in under 30 minutes, meals that freeze well, and crockpot meals. Make up menus (I do one week at a time usually, but longer would work too) ahead of time. Include on that day's menu what you need to do for the next night (or two nights ahead). For example..... my menu for Monday might read:

"Pierogies
grilled onions and peppers
cauliflower (cook extra for Wednesday)
(take pork for Thursday from freezer)"

That way I know that when Wednesday arrives I'll have the extra cauliflower cooked and ready to be mashed to go with that night's dinner... and on Thursday the meat I removed on Monday should be defrosted and ready to cook. And make life a bit easier on yourself by repeating things a bit during the week if necessary.

When you ARE making something a bit more time consuming, make LOTS and freeze in either individual portions or family meal size portions. It only takes a bit more time and maybe just a few more dirty dishes to make a triple batch of lasagna, chicken stew, or pulled pork... but the rewards of having those meals ready to use in the freezer are PRICELESS.

I love the idea of the rice cooker that a PP mentioned. We eat a LOT of of long cooking brown rice in our house.... but I don't want to spend that money or have another one-task appliance around, so I cook up my rice in a double batch and stick it in the fridge... it lasts several days and reheats well in the microwave. I have never tried freezing it in large portions, but I will freeze smaller one-serving portions to reheat for lunches and it always seems fine.

Other than the crockpot, think of things that cook QUICKLY. Pasta, small chunks of meat (like for a stir fry), canned beans. And think outside the usual "dinner" box.... breakfast for dinner is quick and easy.... scrambled eggs, frittata, breakfast burritos.

I hope you are able to come up with a good list of easy, healthy meals that you can fall back on..............P

and that's probably where I fall apart!

Thanks for the tips. These will help immensely!

tig