General Wanna talk about cooking for your vet who dislikes alfalfa sprots?

[Never_falter2]

Please join me. He wants to loose weight and we agreed to cook more healthful, but he likes savory dishes like say lasagna or solyanka or chili.

He likes crisps and candy bars. I am searching something to replace that? Please do not say "alfalfa sprots" or "oats" or anything of the category "healthy foods that taste like nothing".

And I am searching for a more healthful way to replace sour cream.

 

[EveHarrington]

Light sour cream? A lot of dairy products can be substituted with the light version with hardly any taste difference. (Just avoid the fat free stuff!)

 

[Never_falter2]

So where I live they sell three kinds of sour cream "Schmand" which has 24 percent fat, "Creme fraiche", which has 30 percent fat and "Creme double" which has between 40 and 60 percent.
I already use Schmand - is this like your light sour cream - for most soups and casseroles and I replaced it with milk and my husband was not pleased.

 

[LuckiLee]

Soups are a great way to eat healthy. When I make spaghetti I don't use meat just vegetables. Mushrooms, onion, green pepper, carrots, zucchini, whatever you like. It's delicious. Also, stir fry's are pretty healthy. Chicken breast with veggies, a little soy sauce over brown rice.

We eat healthy during the week but on the weekends is when I make lasagna and BBQ. Etc.

 

[Crow]

Greek yogurt is a good substitute for sour creme.

 

[Sighs]

My vet loves burgers. I make them without the bread. Bed of lettuce, meat pattie, cheese, tomato, onion, avocado, beetroot (its an Aussie thing - its not a burger without beetroot!), dollop of light mayo, dollop of BBQ sauce. No chips. Eat with a knife and fork. Taste bloody fantastic!

We often have steamed veggies with a little bit of chicken breast. Bit of light mayo and some chilli sauce makes all the difference.

There are heaps of great stir fry recipes out there and you can do them with grated cauliflower instead of rice. It sounds pretty average but is actually surprisingly good. Google paleo fried rice merrymakers - actually merrymakers have lots of great paleo recipes. Paleo is really just a strict way to cut carbs - I am a bit relaxed (I use soy instead of coconut animos etc.) but it still cuts calories.

 

[Sweetpea76]

I love swapping out ground chicken for hamburger and using it to make meatloaf, burgers, chili, meatballs, etc. Chicken meatloaf is the bomb! You can play with seasonings to give it different twists... like Italian seasoning, then top with a little marinara and mozzarella. It takes on a chicken Parmesan flavor. Or you can do southwest, or Asian. Whatever floats your boat. There is a local butcher here that makes chicken and turkey bratwurst, and they are sooo good. They always have different varieties like chicken feta and spinach brats, or turkey basil.

 

[Never_falter2]

Thank you so much, guys.

If you have the time, does any of you have a lean lasagna recipe for me? @Sweetpea76 would you share one if your meatloaf recipes.

@dulcia mentioned the zoodler. They sell something similar called Streifenschneider over here and we neverbought one because we thought it was just for "people who like alfalfa sprots", but now wescussed it again and thought "why not". Hubby is very positive about our plans to eat more healthful because he is unhappy night which is my main motivation. I don't even care how much he weighs
Don't want to loose him along the way, because he hates to be patronize... otoh he is sometimes unable to do something, me choices I think I wrote a thread about it. So I don't wanna be like "shut up and eat your alfalfa sprots", but wanna help him reach his goal in a non patronizing way. That will be also good for me, because I also want to eat healthier.

Do you have some great zoodler recipes?
On a weekday he has dinner at him workplace. Unfortunately it rarely is healthful, but he does not want to have dinner in the afternoon , because he is afraid he won't sleep well. So we decided he will take some fruits and vets to his workplace and add this to the unhealthy dinner. Happy to be in a place here were I can tak about stuff like this. Any ideas for light and healthful things I can give him in the evenings?

Any idea how to replace candy bars, chocolate and so on cause he loves it.

 

[Tornadic Thoughts]

I changed my consumption habits 2 years and 4 months ago to a whole food plant-based vegan lifestyle and have felt and looked better than I have since I was in my late teens and early 20s. I had been told by many docs to just get used to my various miseries back in the day "as it simply comes with aging". I call bullshit. I chose to try giving up meat, dairy, eggs, caffeiene, alcohol, and most highly processed and artificial food-like substances thanks to an ER visit and it's the best damn thing I ever chose. I've since lost 110 lbs. and got my life back in ways I thought were unattainable.

For sweet tooth moments, I buy medjool dates, cut them in half, just enough to remove the pit, stuff it with an english walnut or raw cashew, (I buy the dates and nuts in bulk at a local grocery), then dip it in melted dairy-free chocolate chips and let it cool in the fridge for a bit before eating. You can also stuff it with nut butter instead of nuts. It helps satiate my craving for my old favorites, reese cups and snickers bars, rather easily.

I also mash super ripe bananas, add cocoa, baking powder, and some ground oats or chickpea flour and bake like brownies. The consistency is more moist, of course, since bananas are the main ingredient, but they sure are tasty! Lots of recipes to try with that, too. I also bake bananas with some cinnamon and nutmeg on them. Slice them in half, place on parchment paper, and bake at 350 until they look done enough. (I rarely measure or time anything...I just wing it)

Instead of dairy ice cream, now I eat frozen banana nice cream. I peel and break super ripe bananas (bananas aren't truly ripe until they have spots) into smaller pieces and freeze them on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper for a few hours, then add them to a freezer bag. I then toss them into either my vitamix blender (scored it on craigslist for $95) or the food processor (was a gift), or the yonanas machine (scored at a thrift shop for $3) and make a frozen treat. I add other fruits, sometimes I add lots of greens, sometimes I add nut butters, plant-based milks, wild foraged greens, etc., etc. The food processor and yonanas machine are more like soft-serve ice cream consistency, while the blender is more like a milkshake consistency. Carob powder and cacao powder and dairy-free chocolate chips are my new favorite chocolate craving choices. Sometimes, I'll put a little dollop of peanut butter in a small bowl and sprinkle the chips on top to let them melt into the peanut butter. Damn that's some good stuff. Frozen watermelon makes a divine sorbet!! Especially with some added mint. Yum!

Any fruit can be made into a sorbet or added to the banana for a smoothie. they also make coconut based yogurt so you don't have to use dairy. I learned of mucus forming foods during my adventures and that's what prompted me to give up all the things I did. Then I learned we're taught a bunch of shit from the get go regarding nutritional needs and such, but that's for another thread. If I crave milk and don't have the store bought plant-based stuff on hand, I blend a banana with a little coconut water and it's just like a milk consistency, with a much better flavor. I'll sometimes dice some apples and clelery and pour it over them to have a cereal-like crunchy effect, minus all that shit I can't pronounce.

I make a meat replacement for tacos with english walnuts. Then I add all the ingredients to a romaine lettuce leaf as the taco shell and eat up. Good stuff! There's several different kinds of recipes for it, just add the seasonings you like the best. Smoked paprika and liquid smoke can kick the flavors up a notch quite easily. I make my own marinara by tossing homegrown tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic, onion, oregano, and either stevia to sweeten, or add some mangoes to sweeten. It's divine poured over some zoodles, or the gluten free pastas I get made from lentils and quinoa.

My favorite sprout is mung bean sprouts. I love watching them sprout, too. I'm so easily entertained. lol I add the to salads, soups, and even steamed peas. I like to steam the peas, then add some vegan butter, sea salt, black pepper, some nutritional yeast (has a cheese-like flavor), and a big handful of sprouts, then use the stick blender (scored at the thrift shop for $2) to blend it well and it's like a mashed peas dish.

We make a lentil loaf that replaces our old meatloaf recipe. Time consuming, but delicious! We use marinated portobella mushroom caps as burgers, make bean burgers, and use nut based or chick pea basked replacements for cheeze products. It's taken a lot of time and effort to figure it all out, but it's been worth every painful and frustrating second. Best wishes in finding flavors he'll dig.

 

[Sweetpea76]

@Never_falter, if you have a meatloaf recipe your husband really likes, try just swapping the hamburger for the chicken.

Meatloaf is one of those things I just kind of wing without measuring. It's kind of an old standard here that most people just make off the top of heir head. So I'll do my best to explain. All meat loaves are pretty much just a few pounds of meat, a few eggs, breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs, some seasoning, and some chopped veggies all squished together with a glaze like ketchup or barbecue sauce on top. So, like, when I want to do a chicken parm version of one, I'll use chicken, an egg or two, some Italian breadcrumbs, a generous portion of grated Parmesan cheese, a little garlic and onion (I usually brown these in a skillet first), some Italian seasoning to taste, and glaze with Marinara. Maybe a touch of mozzarella on top. When I do an Asian themed one, I'll add a little ginger, soy sauce, Szechwan sauce, stir fry veggies... I've even swapped the breadcrumbs for rice and had it turn out pretty yummy. whatever I'm in the mood for.

So think of your favorite chicken dishes, then make a base meatloaf (ground chicken, a few eggs, breadcrumbs), then try to add the flavor of that dish with seasonings, sauces, add ins (cheese, bacon, etc).

I do have one recipe with measurements that we like. I'll add the link at the bottom. This one is interesting because it has some sweetness to it. My kids really enjoy this recipe. Tangy Apple Chicken Loaf Recipe

 

[grimalkin]

One of my favorite "healthy" substitutes? Baked chicken/veal/pork parmesan (or schnitzel). Pound your meat of choice (hehehehehe) thin, salt and pepper it, seasoned flour dredge, egg dunk, and second dredge, this time in seasoned bread or panko crumbs, then bake it instead of frying. I have a sprayer of sorts that I use for olive oil, so it will just give a very light coating (Misto makes one - you can get them through Amazon). Spray the sheet pan, spray the tops, bake at 375 - 425F until browned. If you do it parm style, heat tomato sauce of your choice to put over the top, then use long, thin curls of parmesan on top for an extra flavor punch, without a lot of cheese. Serve with spaghetti squash, protein pasta (and follow serving recommendations for pasta), or zoodles.

Or, if you go the German route, with homemade spaetzle (I make mine with egg, so it covers the "must have protein" requirement of my carbs :)), and a mushroom gravy (or sauteed mushrooms).

Another healthier fave is white chicken chili - great for leftover roasted chicken. Shred leftover chicken of your choosing (I use whatever meat is left - breast, thigh, etc), and toss it in chicken broth or stock (homemade if you have it, canned/boxed works just as well). I generally do the meat equivalent of a quarter chicken and two, liter boxes of stock. Add a can of white beans (cannellini beans work), a chopped onion, and some rice (half cup to 3/4 or so). Add some diced, roasted green chilis (we can get them in small cans in the grocery stores here...or in my neck of the woods, roasted hatch chilis). Simmer until the rice is tender. For seasoning, since it's Mexican-ish, I use salt, pepper, cumin, chiltepins (if I have them) or chili flakes, garlic, and whatever else jumps in from the spice cabinet. I add hot sauce as well (I like my heat!). Once the rice is cooked, I add some milk for creaminess, and you can thicken it with a roux or a bit of cornstarch slurry. To serve, top each bowl with some tortilla chips (just a few - it adds just a little crunch and flavor), cubed avocado (good fat!), a bit of sour cream or plain greek yogurt, chopped fresh cilantro, and more hot sauce if so inclined. Also, a squirt of fresh lime.

A go-to comfort food around my house, that still isn't terrible for you, is kielbasa with sauerkraut, and served with potatoes (with their skins!) of some sort, or (the less healthy, carb-heavy option) pierogi. Baked fries make a good potato option, or baked potatoes (with their skins). When they're available, new or fingerling potatoes (multicolored are available here, love them!), tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted until they're crispy-ish and cooked through.

I love to cook, can you tell?
Anyway, the key for me for healthy foods was: pick a protein, preferably lean, and make a serving or two the centerpiece, and then build around that. Have more vegetables than starch. Don't be afraid of fat, but don't drown the meal in it, either. Use fats like olive oil, or butter. I'm a real butter proponent, rather than margarine or the "I Can't Believe It's Not...." fake varieties. European/cultured butter is AMAZING and adds great flavor. Making homemade dressings, aoli and mayonnaise for salads and sides can make all the difference. Other cultured/fermented foods added to your diet are also a good idea - yogurt, pickles, sauerkraut (and other nationalities' varieties like kimchee). Keep healthy snacks on hand so crisps and candy aren't the first go-to. Chocolate, though, too, isn't necessarily bad - just keep darker chocolate with high cocoa content around, instead of mass market candy bars. Nuts, fruits (even canned in juice - it's handy and sweet and good), cubes of cheese...etc.

Something I've found too is...don't try TOO hard to make a favorite dish "healthy." Find other ways to enjoy healthy foods - that is, go ahead, replace a burger with a veggie burger, but don't expect it to be a burger. Enjoy it for what it is - a new dish (another favorite in our house - "The Hypocrite:" a veggie burger with bacon and cheese....:whistling:). Vegetarian lasagna is wonderful in its own right, no need to try to make it replace meat lasagna. *steps off food soapbox*

 

[grimalkin]

Oh! I almost forgot - if the goal is weight loss, cut out soda/pop/soft drinks. Entirely. If it's needed, make it a rare treat (I still love me an occasional root beer ...or ginger ale with rum). If the fizzy and sweet are the craving, use club soda or mineral water with a splash of whole fruit juice for sweetness and nutrients. Don't even use diet soft drinks. I still drink coffee with milk and sugar (or honey), and teas, but my main drink is now water. I changed nothing else but stopped drinking soft drinks, and lost 25 pounds on that alone.