Cooking for a family

[hoosiermama]

I have a question. I now need fats in my diet. I'm changing my attitude toward what is healthy and what is not. Dark meat chicken is now healthier, butter is better than smart balance. Full fat sour cream and yogurts are better. Eat meat before veggies and salads.

My question is how do you balance that with cooking family meals? Do you cook two meals, side by side? Do you just give them fat too? How do those with families to cook for manage?

Also, one of my fav salads included a rasberry vinegrette. It had too many sugars in it. Does anyone know of a brand that is low carb for my favorite salad (bleu cheese, nuts, garden mix, grapes, apples, cheese and broiled chicken).

Thanks,

me

[sherbearmama]

This is a great question and I can't wait to hear some good answers. I have a family of 4 (2 kids and a husband) and I'm really worried about my kids developing bad eating habits because of the family history of high cholesterol, obesity, and diabetes. I know that MY eating habits can't be the same as their eating habits--other than the fact that I do push protein on them before they eat anything else. It's not uncommon for my nearly 2 year old to eat a meal of all protein and just a bit of fruits and veggies. But it's the fats that concern me most.

Let's see what the others have to say!!!

Sheri

[hoosiermama]

I have a teenager and she's pretty set in her ways. If she doesn't like what we're having for dinner, she's got chicken strips in the freezer and knows how to cook them LOL.

She also knows how to do dem dishes

I worry about what's available. When I was diagnosed with type II diabetes and actually learned some of what was healthy, what I brought in the house changed. My recipes changed. She eats what's available. Now I'm bringing in real butter. Whole lactaid milk. While I plan on bringing in the old stuff and keeping with whole grain pastas for her and smart balance etc...the good stuff tastes better. I'm going to cook that roast (not sure if I'll do it tomorrow or wait a couple weeks or months for my tummy), but I'll be cooking it with real butter. She's young but still what kind of habits and palate am I effecting in her.

Such a quandary, I didn't consider pre surgery. Then again, I'd still do it again.

[stacee]

I am a little over 10 months out and I have had problems keeping it "healthy" for my family. What I tend to do is make foods that are easy sources of protein for me that I can add fat to my portions. I was doing it the other way and my hubby was gaining weight. Now I make enough meat that I can do an extra serving for me or like when we have tacos, I make mine into a salad and add extra sour cream and cheese, maybe some ranch. or on Spaghetti night I use a slotted spoon and drain off sauce picking out meat and add ricotta cheese and Parmesan to it.. I hope some vets post so I can get more ideas. Because there are nights where I will get lazy and do a double protein drink...

[vanishingmom]

I sometimes still struggle with the healthy for my family too thing.

Sometimes I'll make their meals as I always have and make a tiny portion of mine with extra fat. An example would be tonights dinner which is the famous ENs Hunk o Critter. The Hunk o Critter will be divided so I get the fatiest parts soaked in the grease and theirs will be the meat close to the middle that isn't as fatty. I also load them up with veggies and healthy side dishes.

Christmas Dinner was also pretty easy. I ate the dark meat of the turkey (that I again soaked in grease) and they ate all the white meat.

If I make chicken I get thighs while they get the breasts. The easiest way to go about it is to make a normal lower fat meal and add something like cheese, butter or cream to your servings.

As a family we eat low carb and preservative free here even pre op because of my sons diatery needs. So cooking "special" has taken on a whole new meaning around here. Don't forget too that although a normie should eat a lower fat diet that there are healthier fats they should be consuming such as fish. It keeps our brains healthy. So although I do cook "fattier" the types of fat we consume are different than before. My wife has lost 40lbs since my surgery and my son is looking better too.

[sheanie]

Raised 3 kids successfully. I noticed that the kids wouldn't eat anything they didn't want to eat. You, as mother, have control of one thing: What comes into the house. Period. If you don't buy junk foods and have them in the house, what else will they eat? Delicious, nutritious foods, IF YOU FIX THEM RIGHT. For kids, you always have to have "grazing" foods prepped and ready in the fridge. Seedless grapes washed, cut up carrots, celery, broccoli, with dip in small cups to go with. Sugar-free puddings in serving size containers. Crunchy treats like granola bars (low sugar ones), Nutri-Grain bars, etc. And a water and ice-dispensing refrigerator door is a genius way to get kids to drink more water. It's freaking magical, I tell you.

You can't control what they eat, no matter what you think. Brussels sprouts fit in my pocket when I was a kid. If we were eating something I hated, I put a dish towel in my lap and "dropped" the offending foods into it.

Fix foods the most nutritious way. Blanch, or steam only until tender broccoli and cauliflower and serve them with melted cheese to pour over them. Don't boil the living p*** out of them, like our parents' generation did.

Don't sweat fats. Fats add alot of flavor, and flavor is what tickles kids' appetites. Butter and bacon grease are excellent frying lubricants. Don't fear the fat, folks. It's the hidden sugars that you should fear. That, and all the salt in the prepared foods.

I mixed Kool-Aid with Splenda, and only half the recommended sweetness, too. My kids never tasted full-strength Kool-Aid until they went to school, and they hated it.

For dessert, any kind of fruit and top it with whipped cream in a can or greek yogurt. Kids love to put their own whipped cream on their fruit. It's a real treat.

[amccu18007]

I cook regularly and just add extra fat on my meals. The kids don't even know anything has changed..lol

[sherbearmama]

Dec 29, 2011 8:03:24 GMT -5 vanishingmom said:

I sometimes still struggle with the healthy for my family too thing.

Sometimes I'll make their meals as I always have and make a tiny portion of mine with extra fat. An example would be tonights dinner which is the famous ENs Hunk o Critter. The Hunk o Critter will be divided so I get the fatiest parts soaked in the grease and theirs will be the meat close to the middle that isn't as fatty. I also load them up with veggies and healthy side dishes.

Christmas Dinner was also pretty easy. I ate the dark meat of the turkey (that I again soaked in grease) and they ate all the white meat.

If I make chicken I get thighs while they get the breasts. The easiest way to go about it is to make a normal lower fat meal and add something like cheese, butter or cream to your servings.

As a family we eat low carb and preservative free here even pre op because of my sons diatery needs. So cooking "special" has taken on a whole new meaning around here. Don't forget too that although a normie should eat a lower fat diet that there are healthier fats they should be consuming such as fish. It keeps our brains healthy. So although I do cook "fattier" the types of fat we consume are different than before. My wife has lost 40lbs since my surgery and my son is looking better too.

You sound like a such a great mama! And yay for your wife's success as well!!!

[bb212]

I'm running into this problem post op as well. While I need lots of fat and don't have room for veggies, my husband was blessed with a normal metabolism so my diet would both constipate him and make him fat.

I've had a lot of talks with the hubs about what I can make where we'd both be happy. He loves salads, and so did I pre-op. So I make my own croutons to make a salad more robust for the hubs, and if I cook chicken or other meats and cheeses to go on the salad I have them on a separate plate. So we assemble our salads as we like them on our own plates: we take as much greens as we want, and top them with however much meat, cheese, veggies, and dressing we like. I always try to have extra meat and cheese on hand for myself. I usually end up with a small salad with a large portion of meat and cheese, and hubs has his GIANT salad just how he likes it.

Our favorite is buffalo blue cheese salad. I usually roast a chicken once a week and keep the meat in the fridge for salads- I head some of that chicken in a skillet with some franks and a touch of butter and put it on the greens with blue cheese. So while the chicken isn't as crispy like a buffalo wing, it still tastes nice and zippy.

[abright0]

In my family we are all carb sensitive, so we all eat lots of protein and veggies. As a general rule, when I cook, it consists of a meat and a green vegetable (brussles spouts are a family favorite), no starch and no bread.

[Joanne]

I think many people will benefit from limiting refined carbs, the way we do. My husband was never obese, but a little overweight. He's lost 15 pounds since I had my DS.

I dont cook much differently, I just limit what I eat. For example if I'm making steak and potatoes for the family I'll still serve it the same way, but I'll eat mostly steak and a bite of potato. If I'm making pasta I will make a meaty sauce and I'll eat mostly that with a tiny bit of pasta, while I'll serve it the regular way to my family.

What I am doing differently is less pasta and rice overall, no bread with meals, that kind of thing. But as I said, I think my family has benefited from that.

I dont go out of my way to add fat to what I cook, but I use what I want for my portion. For example I will put plenty of butter on MY veggies, but that doesnt mean everyone uses the same amount.

[Deleted]

Dec 28, 2011 22:24:37 GMT -5 hoosiermama said:

I have a question. I now need fats in my diet. I'm changing my attitude toward what is healthy and what is not. Dark meat chicken is now healthier, butter is better than smart balance. Full fat sour cream and yogurts are better. Eat meat before veggies and salads.

My question is how do you balance that with cooking family meals? Do you cook two meals, side by side? Do you just give them fat too? How do those with families to cook for manage?

Also, one of my fav salads included a rasberry vinegrette. It had too many sugars in it. Does anyone know of a brand that is low carb for my favorite salad (bleu cheese, nuts, garden mix, grapes, apples, cheese and broiled chicken).

Thanks,

me

When it's just Mr. EN and me, I do nothing differently. But I just spent the weekend cooking holiday food for obsessive-compulsive (and in some cases a bit deluded) fat-o-phobes and made it work nicely. My main fat sources were butter, olive oil and heavy cream just like always. I used them very abstemiously in the cooking and then added more to my portions.

(And I do mean ABSTEMIOUSLY. Two meals for ten persons and three meals for five persons, and I used a total of about 3 oz. of olive oil, about the same amount of butter--plus what I put in the cake for the trifle--and a pint of cream, including the trifle topping. I just drizzled more oil, cream, or melted butter on mine. Simple.)

[Deleted]

Dec 29, 2011 1:00:08 GMT -5 stacee said:

I am a little over 10 months out and I have had problems keeping it "healthy" for my family. What I tend to do is make foods that are easy sources of protein for me that I can add fat to my portions. I was doing it the other way and my hubby was gaining weight. Now I make enough meat that I can do an extra serving for me or like when we have tacos, I make mine into a salad and add extra sour cream and cheese, maybe some ranch. or on Spaghetti night I use a slotted spoon and drain off sauce picking out meat and add ricotta cheese and Parmesan to it.. I hope some vets post so I can get more ideas. Because there are nights where I will get lazy and do a double protein drink...

Drizzle some melted butter or olive oil on your meaty stuff. Add some coconut or plain vegetable oil to your protein drink. Make your protein drink with all heavy cream.

[trxxyy]

Dec 28, 2011 22:24:37 GMT -5 hoosiermama said:

Also, one of my fav salads included a rasberry vinegrette. It had too many sugars in it. Does anyone know of a brand that is low carb for my favorite salad (bleu cheese, nuts, garden mix, grapes, apples, cheese and broiled chicken).

Have you tried making your own raspberry vinaigrette? I prefer to make dressings instead of buying pre made. You could use some Splenda to sweeten it up or some other sugar substitute. I have been using EZ-sweets and Erythritol as substitutes since I don't like the taste of Splenda.

-shelly

[vanishingmom]

Dec 29, 2011 11:30:54 GMT -5 sherbearmama said:

Dec 29, 2011 8:03:24 GMT -5 vanishingmom said:

I sometimes still struggle with the healthy for my family too thing.

Sometimes I'll make their meals as I always have and make a tiny portion of mine with extra fat. An example would be tonights dinner which is the famous ENs Hunk o Critter. The Hunk o Critter will be divided so I get the fatiest parts soaked in the grease and theirs will be the meat close to the middle that isn't as fatty. I also load them up with veggies and healthy side dishes.

Christmas Dinner was also pretty easy. I ate the dark meat of the turkey (that I again soaked in grease) and they ate all the white meat.

If I make chicken I get thighs while they get the breasts. The easiest way to go about it is to make a normal lower fat meal and add something like cheese, butter or cream to your servings.

As a family we eat low carb and preservative free here even pre op because of my sons diatery needs. So cooking "special" has taken on a whole new meaning around here. Don't forget too that although a normie should eat a lower fat diet that there are healthier fats they should be consuming such as fish. It keeps our brains healthy. So although I do cook "fattier" the types of fat we consume are different than before. My wife has lost 40lbs since my surgery and my son is looking better too.

You sound like a such a great mama! And yay for your wife's success as well!!!

Thank you soo much!

[anna]

Fat is not a bad thing, for ANYONE. The idea that fat is bad for us is a MYTH, perpetuated for reasons beyond my fathoming, for decades by the government and medical community. The only fat that is bad for you is trans-fat, which is not natural anyway. Go ahead and cook with animal fats and healthy oils. You may want to add extra butter to what's on your plate, but don't worry about what you're cooking with. I highly recommend the book "Why We Get Fat" by Gary Taubes, and the documentary "Fat Head". They are both eye-opening. Carbs are the cause of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes, NOT fat.

[Sandra C.]

With my kids away at college, its just me , my husband, the dog and 3 cats. Only the dog has gained weight with my new diet!! He can't resist smelling the meats cooking, barks incessantly for a taste. My husband has been preparing all his own carb loaded meals, making pasta from scratch some nights. Now with my exercise and weight loss, he has asked me to clear out the kitchen of all his temptations. He has had success with the Atkins diet most like the D.S., and wants to begin his dieting come Jan. first. Its not really a diet he needs, but a lifestyle change. The whole house will benefit, even the dog!! For added fats, I eat more pieces than he does of bacon, sausage, cashews, cheddar and blue cheese, and have frozen single serving chili, spaghetti sauce( he adds his pasta, loves my home cooked sauces), and veggie soups with added olive oil, and cheese ready to heat up for me. I can add unflavored protein powder, olive oil , sour cream,and packaged shredded cheese to my serving from a family cooked dish. We are both together for dinner only during the week. I have most of my high fat foods during the day. I am lucky he is easy going about meals, I don't over think our choices. We both use olive oil for cooking, not much butter. In Austria they served a pumpkin soup before the main course with about 2 tbsp flavorful pumpkin seed oil drizzled on top. This is a perfect way for me to add fat to only my serving. Adding flavored oils to any soup or stew would be great.

[hoosiermama]

Wow great ideas, guys. Thank you!

Anna, the reason i worry is that years back, I must have picked up some information about natural fats being good for you. So I switched from margarine to real butter. When I had my cholesterol checked it was almost 500. They gave me pills that made me sick. Not good. I went home, threw out the butter and started back with smart balance and olive oil. I've kept it managed since then and with malabsorbtion I can now have my beloved butter again .

[valgroce]

Removing the starch from family meals wasn't a detrimental change. We eat meat and veggies. Sometimes I would treat them to some pasta or rice and enjoy a bite or two myself. Sometimes I would add some extra butter to my stuff, but it really wasn't that big of a change.

[anna]

Hoosiermama, I would be willing to bet that there was some other reason for your cholesterol being that high. I know it's traditional to blame the fat, but according to all the latest information, dietary carbs are much more likely to raise your cholesterol levels.

[hoosiermama]

Since I'll never have that problem again, I can't test out the theory. I know that I didn't change much in my diet but eliminating the butter and my triglycerides went down in about 3 mos by almost 300. I know I have a cousin that swears real butter won't hurt you...maybe your both right I know it won't hurt me know LOL

[jillybean720]

To echo what some have already mentioned, fat is NOT bad - CARBS are. Studies support that diets low in carbs and high in fat typically result in healthier weight management (losses for the obese, maintenance for those who do not need to lose weight), glucose metabolism, and cholesterol levels, among other things. The BS we've been fed for years about what is a "healthy" diet is, well, BS! Studies have TRIED to prove that fat is the bad guy, but bad things only happen in the body when the diet is high in BOTH fat and carbs. Limit the carbs, and, lo and behold, the high fat no longer causes increased cholesterol or any other "scary" issues. This is basically because, when the body does not have those fast-acting carbs to turn to for evergy, it burns the fat.

PRE-op, I lost weight, controlled my type 2 diabetes, and saw my triglycerides drop by more than 50% within 3 months on a low-carb, unrestricted fat way of eating. MOST people would benefit from eating low in carbs and high in fat even if they don't currently have a weight, metabolism, or cardiovascular issue/concern.

I'm pregnant and plan on introducing non-starchy veggies and proteins to my child (after at least 6 months of exclusively breastfeeding, hopefully) before ever offering fruits (read: sugars) and grains (read: starchy carbs). There is a reason human breastmilk is more than 50% FAT - it's what our bodies need naturally!

[abright0]

To add to what Jilly said: When we eat carbs it causes excess production of insulin (even in non diabetics). Insulin in the bloodstream is what causes fat to store. If there is not an excess amount of insulin, fat just doesn't hang around, except of course what your body needs. However, higher carbs = more insulin = fat storage. This is why most people do well on low carb/high protein diets. The problem tends to come because it can be an expensive diet to maintain thanks to the subsidization of corn and grains. We need to be subsidizing proteins, and we would see a much healthier nation.

[Deleted]

Dec 30, 2011 19:56:10 GMT -5 hoosiermama said:

Since I'll never have that problem again, I can't test out the theory. I know that I didn't change much in my diet but eliminating the butter and my triglycerides went down in about 3 mos by almost 300. I know I have a cousin that swears real butter won't hurt you...maybe your both right I know it won't hurt me know LOL

You had a correlation between taking out butter and your triglycerides going down. Correlation NEVER equals causation .

[Deleted]

Ditto to what most of the other replies have said. I've got 3 teenage boys + a preteen girl, in addition to myself and my hubby. I make one meal for the whole family and always have. I eat the protein and veggies, and a few bites of whatever carb thing we're having. Increasingly, though, we are leaning more towards omitting the carbs altogether. And my normie husband has cut them out and is eating more like a DS'er, and has lost 20 lbs.

[Deleted]

I am now living at my son's house.

I cook all the meals and he eats like I do except I add extra butter, and use cream, so I don't do the 'extra fat' for him. We do not use margarine or low-fat anything so basically he eats a high-protein, normal fat, low carb diet.

I have been here a little over a year and he has lost weight and his cholesterol has gone down.

When I went on a strict Atkin's diet pre-op the same thing happened to me, I lost weight and my cholesterol went down.

It is the processed foods mixed with the fat that causes the problems of obesity and heart-related issues.

I do not use sugar or processed white flour and try never to buy anything filled with chemicals, artificial ingredients, etc.

[moxi]

i make regular healthful meals like i used to make pre-op - it's my own portion i modify. if that means an extra hunk of meat, or extra butter, then that's fine.

[fullhousemom]

Hoosiermama: I love a great salad just as you described. I put flavored vinegars on my salads. Go to www.fustinis.com. They have a multitude of flavored vinegars and oils with locations in Michigan at some very trendy, upscale towns. Great products and a new cookbook that I have yet to purchase! The difficult part is deciding what flavored vinegar you want!

Gotta love those Hoosiers! Great basketball game against Ohio State last night! I'm a Michigan or Michigan State fan myself, but with a good friend's whose daughter is going to IU next year, my loyalty is now spreading to include the Hoosiers!

PS! OMG! I just said your name outloud to my husband "hoosiermama" and it sounded like "whose your mama." Heck, you may not even be a hoosier fan. hahaha

[hoosiermama]

LOL..better than hoosierdaddy

I'll try the website. It will be a while before I can have salads..I can't wait!!!

[valgroce]

Dec 29, 2011 18:16:04 GMT -5 @en said:

Dec 28, 2011 22:24:37 GMT -5 hoosiermama said:

I have a question. I now need fats in my diet. I'm changing my attitude toward what is healthy and what is not. Dark meat chicken is now healthier, butter is better than smart balance. Full fat sour cream and yogurts are better. Eat meat before veggies and salads.

My question is how do you balance that with cooking family meals? Do you cook two meals, side by side? Do you just give them fat too? How do those with families to cook for manage?

Also, one of my fav salads included a rasberry vinegrette. It had too many sugars in it. Does anyone know of a brand that is low carb for my favorite salad (bleu cheese, nuts, garden mix, grapes, apples, cheese and broiled chicken).

Thanks,

me

When it's just Mr. EN and me, I do nothing differently. But I just spent the weekend cooking holiday food for obsessive-compulsive (and in some cases a bit deluded) fat-o-phobes and made it work nicely. My main fat sources were butter, olive oil and heavy cream just like always. I used them very abstemiously in the cooking and then added more to my portions.

(And I do mean ABSTEMIOUSLY. Two meals for ten persons and three meals for five persons, and I used a total of about 3 oz. of olive oil, about the same amount of butter--plus what I put in the cake for the trifle--and a pint of cream, including the trifle topping. I just drizzled more oil, cream, or melted butter on mine. Simple.)

EN - If I have fatophobes, I passive-aggressively add extra fat to the meals, and tell them of course I was careful about cooking (careful to use whole cream and butter)....call me evil. I think much of the obese 30-40-somethings these days were victims to the all carb and no protein or fat fads of the 90's