My cousin visited

So, my cousin came and we had cheeseburgers with fruit salad and potato salad. I also made a pound cake with a chocolate sauce. I would have been happier with french fries, but I would most certainly have eaten too many of them. I ate my burger on a wheat bun. I think I've been doing pretty well by eating the brown bread. The only thing is that I ate too much cake and too much potato salad.

In general, the kids have been doing better at limiting their portions. I did find that eating my meals on the salad plate was helpful. When I have a big plate, it seems like I have too much space and it makes me want to go back and get more. It's a mental thing, I know. But with the smaller plate, I don't eat as much.

Deciding What to Eat

David and I are having this big discussion about what to eat when my cousin comes. He's a little annoyed. He thinks that because I want him to be more conscious about what we eat, that means that he doesn't care what we eat. What I have said is that he is going to have to want to make a change in how we eat. The reasons he comes up for not doing it can be overcome. He says he does not have time. Yes, it does take more time to eat more healthfully, but it's work it. He's got to be willing to put forth a little more effort. With a little planning, he can do it. But he has to want to do it.

Dilemma

So, my cousin is coming Memorial Day weekend. He and his friend are coming for supper. I really want to keep up with my healthy meals. But if I do that, not only will they think that I have forgotten how to eat, they'll also think I have forgotten how to cook. Really, the problem is with me. Everyone else in the house seems to have the ability to stop eating. But not me. Nope. I just keep eating. On the one hand, it's only for one day. On the other hand, even if HE'S just going to be here for one day, when I get off track, I tend to remain off track for a couple of weeks. Something I'll have to consider.

The Results

They tasted the dishes, and seemed to like them. You can see their comments in the youtube links below, if you'd like. They all liked the quinoa. Sophia and Lucas liked the Asparagus. Layla actually asked for more quinoa.

Of course, David has commented that the one bag of quinoa costs $6.00. He's funny how he'll buy a huge case of Oreos because they are on sale, but gawk about the price of healthy foods. The one thing I noticed is that I cooked three cups of quinoa and we still had half of it left. I usually cook four cups of rice and every single bit of it is gone at the end of supper. Maybe it filled them up more. I think we saved on two fronts - healthy food and portion control. I think we have choices about how we spend our money. He has an SUV that gets low gas mileage and costs $100 to fill up. We'll save money by having healthier kids. Besides, it's not like I want to eat that stuff all of the time. My hope is that as that as I teach my kids to cook, they will have healthy recipes in their heads as adults and cooking healthy meals will be second nature to them.
Family Comments
(goes to youtube)

Layla wants more quinoa
(goes to you tube)

Quinoa with Black Beans and Asparagus with Cashews

Well, I tried two new recipes. I got them at the health fair, so my next attempt will take a little more work. The only thing difficult about trying new recipes is that they always take longer to cook. I never use recipes unless I'm baking. It would have been a lot simpler to make mashed potatoes and fried chicken. I have a lot to do and it takes time to keep looking at the ingredients to be sure I'm putting in the correct amount of things.

Sophia says she doesn't like black beans and Raymond says that Qunioa doesn't taste like anything. Of course, neither of them has tasted either of the dishes yet. Below is a you tube video of what the dishes look like.

Asparagus with Cashews
http://youtu.be/S8GRSBuUvZk

Quinoa with Black Beans
http://youtu.be/jHostq8f498

Eat Brown Foods

I'm not so sure how well this one is going to go over. We eat wheat bread, but we could benefit from eating brown rice and wheat pasta. White rice is less expensive, but brown foods are a lot healthier.

Be More Conscious of Portion Sizes

David had his health fair at work today. He brought home this brochure titled What is a serving size? I'm looking at this brochure, and I wonder if this is the serving size for kids, or what? I don't see how I would get full on that amount of food. We certainly cannot all be expected to eat the same portions, can we?


Things to Do

1. Discuss portion sizes with a nutrionist.


2. Use salad plates rather than the larger dinner plates we currently use.

Request that David talk to a nutrionist

I will talk to David about speaking with a nutritionist. I'd like him to get some ideas about what types of breakfasts would be healthy. He doesn't like my suggestions. I'm going to ask him to refrain from buying things like pop tarts, sugary cereals, and toaster streudels. I would like for the kids to eat a protein to last them a few hours. I will make the appointment for him and we will review the suggestions that the nutrionist makes.

He's being pretty stubborn about. He just keeps saying, "I'm doing the best that I can. I don't have time to make a real breakfast in the morning." He thinks I just just make the breakfast. I'm fine with that as long as he takes on one of my morning or evening activities. His choices are ironing clothes the night before or doing hair.

He doesn't want to swap. How annoying is that.

My plan for getting the family on track with eating healthier foods includes:



Get family to think about what they are eating before they eat it

Reading Food Rules

Going through Food Rules to decide which rules we will focus on.

Requesting that David speak with a nutrionist to get ideas about healthy, quicks breakfasts.

Get at least one healthy recipie a month.

I know this doesn't sound like a lot, but I usually don't take the time to search for recipies.

Eat more brown foods.

Cook at least one new recipies per month.

So, I've been thinking that I need a better plan. Yesterday I was really tired and frustrated and a little sad. In general I've been cooking healthfully, but yesterday I wanted my green beans the way I grew up making them. A little bacon, sugar, and salt. . . delicious. I've been making them with just a little canola oil and they never taste quite right. I've had lots of healthy dishes at restaurants that I like. What I will do is get real recipies rather than reconfiguring the recipes that I have in my head. They will never taste quite right and so I will always feel like I am missing something. Linda made this fantastic spinach recipie that I simply loved. I will search for and cook at least two new recipies per month. This will mean buying different ingredients. When I really want food to taste cook, I add ham hocks, bacon, fat back, or butter. I think that if I actually use a healthier recipe, I will learn healthier ways of seasoning foods. There are probably all kinds of spices out there that could help out with that.

We've read Food Rules, but I don't think it's making much of a difference. I think we need to talk about what we're going to do with the information.

Getting Educated

I gave the book to David and amazingly, he's reading it!

Food Rules

HR's book is "Food Rules". I read it and I really don’t see anything earth shattering. I already know that stuff. Maybe I could give it to David to read. Maybe reading it will help him better understand what I want to do and why. Maybe he wouldn't think I was bugging him and we wouldn't have to fight over food. Sometimes people accept changes better when they get the information in a different way.